Friday, April 20, 2012

Partials by Dan Wells

Partials by Dan Wells
Publication Date: February 28th, 2012
Reviewed by: Honorary Sis Beth
Sister Says: Powerful, Plotting, and Perilous
Summary from goodreads.com
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.
When I first read the summary for Partials, I was immediately intrigued. I absolutely love dystopian books and it sounded a lot like something I would be interested in reading. Which is why I hate to admit, that I fell asleep multiple times while reading this book. Let me explain....as I have stated many times before, I am not a person who likes a lot of "world set-ups". Personally, I do not care how soceity became the way it is, I just want to know what the problem is and start diving into solving it. Partials, on the other hand, utilizes a substantial part of the first half of the book establishing the society and how everything works within it. So, it is just personal preference. If you like to know how and why the world fell and the structure of the current dystopian governmen, you will love this book.
All that being said, I ended up telling my friends and husband the book was really good. After I "powered through" the set-up, I was hooked. Kira, the main character, is an amazingly strong, determined, and fearless heroine. Multiple times I said to myself, if only I had her tenacity and smarts. She is spunky and rebellious; I just love her! She says many times throughout the book that she is willing to risk her life for the possibility of saving her bestfriend's baby. What a true friend!
The book takes many unexpected twists and turns. I do not want to spoil the book for anyone, but let me just say, at one point I put the book down and said to myself, "I did NOT see that coming!" Right when I thought I knew what was going to happen, BAM, a major plot twist that totally throws you off course. Any author that can keep their reader guessing until the very last page is a genius and Dan Wells did just that.
Romance is not a major theme. Kira does have a boyfriend, Marcus, but their relationship is very minor in the scope of the book. Mr. Wells does set up for more romance in the second book and possibly even a love triange; given the nature of the first book, however, I would doubt if it is a major theme. True to Kira's character, she is more concerned about saving her species than she is about boys...man, I love this girl!
All in all, I would recommend this book. It definitely is a worthwhile read and perfectly sets up for the second book without leaving you frustrated. If you are like me, "power through" the "world set-up", it is worth it. If you are not like me and like world set-ups, this is definitely the book for you. I am very excited for the second book to come out and will definitely be reading it as soon as it's released. So, go ahead and add Partials to your ever growing to-be-read pile; you will not regret it!
Buy it.....Read it.....Love it!!!