Partials (Partials, # 1)
By: Dan Wells
Published:February 28th 2012 by Balzer + Bray
468 Pages
Source: Won in a giveaway hosted by ReadingDiva's Blog
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian
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Goodreads description—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 stillimminent, 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 rest 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 does book 2 come out? Anyone know? HA! Going to have to wait a bit for book 2 since this one hasn’t been out very long. But I guess you can tell that I liked it.
At the beginning of Partials, Kira and Marcus are already together. On the one hand, it was a different experience to jump into a book with an already established relationship. And you know me, I like different. I revel in different. And perhaps under different circumstances I might have loved jumping into the middle of their relationship. However, I just kind of didn’t. I’m not sure if it was the building of the relationship that was really missing or the fact that for a large chunk of the book Marcus is MIA, but overall, I felt a general lack of attachment to his character’s relationship with Kira. It could be that had I been able to experience the beginning of their relationship—where they initially fall in love—I would have felt more attached to him and thus them as a couple. But instead Kira and Marcus have one of those relationships that has been for just about always—at least for about as long as they’ve known each other. And we all know how sometimes those relationships need a good stir. Sometimes they need to be reminded of why they love each other, and sometimes they need to realize that there’s so much more out there than what they have. It could have also been that we just don’t get to spend enough one on one time with Marcus and Kira, I’m not sure. And while Kira and Marcus repeatedly declare their love for one another, I’m left…well…unconvinced. I’ve got questions in my head about where this is headed and how it’s going to turn out, but I’ll let you read it and raise your own questions.
Partials is not a “funny” book by any means, but Marcus still made me actually laugh out loud—a rarity but I do so love when that happens. I won’t spoil that for you either, but I will say that it involves maintaining control over his bladder functions. –“YAY” for him and “YAY” for Dan Wells.
I enjoyed Kira’s character. Kira desperately wants a better future for her world. She’s willing to do whatever is in her power to effect change in her world. She creates the change she wishes to see in her world. Yet another strong, independent, capable female lead. She’s a medic. She goes on scavenger trips. She decides she’s personally responsible for finding a cure to this awful virus plaguing their newborn babies and their world. She breaks the law. She carries a rifle (and uses it). She’s not scared to attack and hopefully capture the enemy and thus perform lab tests and experiments upon him for the sole purpose of finding this cure. She forces herself to run on a recently burned leg. She breaks into places and breaks out of places. She’s smart, brave, purpose-driven, and compassionate. And this is only the beginning. Never a victim, Kira repeats over and over to herself that she is stronger than her trials. (If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s the victim mentality.) Kudos Kira!
And yet I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of Partials. It’s a highly suggested read. 4.5 Stars. Check it out!
Updated: July 7, 2018
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