Summary from Goodreads:
Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with partials--engineered organic beings identical to humans--has decimated the world’s population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. The threat of the partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to the disease in over a decade. Humanity’s time is running out.
When sixteen-year-old Kira learns of her best friend’s pregnancy, she’s determined to find a solution. Then one rash decision forces Kira to flee her community with the unlikeliest of allies. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that the survival of both humans and partials rests in her attempts to answer questions of the war’s origin that she never knew to ask.
Combining the fast-paced action of The Hunger Games with the provocative themes of Battlestar Galactica, Partials is a pulse-pounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question--one where our sense of humanity is both our greatest liability, and our only hope for survival.
My Thoughts:
I loved this book. It was well written, compelling, and was full of intrigue and excitement. The premise had me hooked right from the beginning - the stakes couldn't be higher as the human race is facing extinction. Yet the story is told in a very human way with the specific story of Kira and her friends.
I loved Kira. I have a soft spot for strong heroines who are ready to take action and not wait for someone to save them. Kira is strong, smart, passionate and willing to stand up for what she believes in. I could really feel for her and her dilemma, as well as her frustration in dealing with bureaucracy.
Dan Wells creates a vivid and horrific dystopian world. The desperation of the people to survive is palpable. The way the Senate pushes everyone and obviously has ulterior motives and the rebellions and conspiracy theories that stem from this are authentic feeling.
I liked the pacing of this book. There was lots of action and excitement, but there were also some slower times. For me, this is good, as I find myself getting too tense when the characters are involved in non-stop action. This also allows for some of the commentary on how humanity ultimately pushed itself into this position through its greed and disregard for the environment that is very topical right now and could lead to some interesting discussions.
I can hardly wait for the next book in this series to come out to see what happens next.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher.
Here is the book trailer from YouTube:
This book is so damn exciting with its military and medical talk. I mean, our main character is a medic, so the medical bit is a given. Not to mention, post-apocalypse novel, so, obvious need of military talk too. I did find my eyes glazing over at some of the medical or military talk, but overall, I was able to keep up. Thank goodness, for my biology teacher. I found myself keeping up moreso with the med talk than military talk. In other reviews that I have read, this "jargon" was infuriating to some. I will tell you know, if you are not knowledgable of biology or military talk, you will probably be skipping a lot of pages to get to the "good stuff."
ReplyDeleteOverall, this book has got me wanting more. I am so ready to figure out more about the Partials, more about Kira, and am hoping that the human government will stop being so damn governmental.
Interesting comment, I didn't mind all of the medical and military talk either - I thought it added to the authenticity.
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