Partials

DNF. I'll come back to this book eventually, but right now it's not holding my interest.

Well, once again my dear “Real review!!” friend has demanded a review for this book that I read two years ago. Therefore, this review won't be as good or as reliable as some of my others. So bear with me.

When you first pick up Partials, it seems like every other YA dystopian story. End of the world crisis? Check. Strong hero/ine? Check. Romance? Check. However, as soon as you start to read Partials, you realize that it is so much more than that. Unlike most YA dystopias, Partials is based on science and genetics. It revolves around a disease called RM that is killing off the human race. Not to mention, there is also another group of stronger, faster, better, genetically engineered beings called Partials, that seem to be like humans, but at the same time aren't. The human race is dying out, there are corrupt leaders, and while all of this is happening, they are still being hunted by Partials.

Enter Kira, a medic at the front of this disaster. She witnesses firsthand what happens to infants when the RM virus attacks them, and then kills them within days. When it's clear that something needs to be done or else the human race will become extinct, Kira does something about it. However, her quest to save humanity may come at a price that Kira could never have imagined.

The characters are memorable, and the book is seriously intense. There are twists and turns at every corner, and once you finish it, you just know that you need to read the second one. Partials will appeal to any reader who is looking for a YA dystopian novel that breaks the dystopian mold.

2.5 stars. Don't want to click on stars & bring down the average since I'm not YA audience.

I am not particularly shy when it comes to my general dislike of dystopian fiction. I tend to get angry when I read it, and since I read primarily for enjoyment and entertainment it makes little sense for me to seek out stories that do not provide those things. (There is also the fact that so much of the dystopian fiction I have read has strained my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point...that does not exactly recommend the genre to me.)

So with that in mind, based on the way people have shelved and tagged Partials on Goodreads and other book sites, I shouldn't like it. The thing is, while there are definite dystopian elements to this book, I would not classify it as dystopian fiction. It is much more a post-apocalyptic survival story, and that is how it is presented from the start. The dystopian elements are not the front and center focus of the story, and with that I find I can care about the characters. I think it not being in first person also helps with this.

Now I just need to find a print (or ebook) copy of the sequel to borrow.

As good an example of YA dystopian science fiction as I have read in a while

I loved this book!
I got this as an audiobook because I liked the sound of the plot description. I'm a biomedical scientist (3rd year student) and microbiology & genetics are my favourite areas of study. So reading about a virus that killed 99.99% of the human population really appealed to me. And I was not disappointed at all. This book isn't the kind of book that has a super exciting blurb, but then turns out to be more about the main character's love life. This book had some love (Kira has a boyfriend - not a spoiler), but it was so little compared to the science-y story. I loved reading (hearing) about life after the break, the Voice, the Partials. The big plot twist wasn't a total surprise to me, but I think it was intentional. There were hints along the way.
So yeah, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves dystopian. I can't wait to read the second book.

A fun, quick summer read. Kyra is strong and smart and stands up for her beliefs. Getting to see the dystopian government corruption and the decisions that lead up to it were interesting. And, although it was a small moment, I enjoyed Wells addressing that it is nice to feel protected, but that Kyra doesn't have to be because she is strong enough to do it herself.

Looking forward to Book 2.

This book had a slow start that was too concerned with witty dialogue instead of focusing on accurate and interesting world building. There were also come glaring mistakes in both the set up of the Partials world and the continuity as the story progressed. That being said, Partials, a story about the aftermath of a plague is a solid offering to the dystopian/apocalypse genre. I appreciated that the romance that is always inherent in books of this nature was put aside for the sake of the cause. That's a decision that is more realistic, though most dystopian books seem to spend more time on relations rather than the stark reality of the world sucks how are we going to solve it? The dialogue, though I complained about it earlier, is a strength though. For fans of the witty comeback, Marcus has some pretty awesome quips that he sets loose throughout the book that defuse tension and make him a more dimensional character than the stock love interest. If you can stand to ignore some of the plot holes and world building fails, this series will definitely entertain you.

Great book for those who like speculation on the future!

Pros: realistic societal tensions in a post-apocalyptic world, compelling quests, strong female protagonist

Cons: don't learn as much about the partials as you'd like, the protagonists get out of several tough situations with surprising ease

For Parents: no sex, no swearing, lots of violence, but nothing too graphic (shooting/death, off stage torture)

It's been 11 years since the genetically engineered partials rose up against their human creators, unleashing a virus that decimated the human population. Now, the remaining survivors live on Long Island, most in the community of East Meadow, which, due to its Hope Act of forcing all women 18 and over to give birth as often as possible, has created a resistance movement called the Voice. Into this turmoil comes a brilliant young hospital intern, Kira. She wants to study the one thus far unstudied aspect of the plague that still kills all human children born. Partials.

Partials is quite an adrenaline rush. There's a lot of action and several quests, starting, but not ending, with Kira's quest to find and capture a partial. While I wasn't always convinced that their plans would work as well as they did, enough things went wrong that I was willing to overlook how often enough went right.

Kira herself was an interesting character. She's borderline irritating, in that she's stubborn and ‘knows' the best course of action, despite only being 16 and a ‘plague baby' (ie, someone born just before the end of the modern world and too young to know what happened with the partials from personal experience). What redeems her is her reliance on her friends and her willingness to accept a change of plans when necessary.

What really sets this book apart is in its realistic depiction of society. There's a wide spectrum of viewpoints, each valid given the circumstances. East Meadows slowly becomes more and more of a dictatorship, as the Voice attacks escalate and the senate institutes more laws to keep the citizens ‘safe', or, as Kira starts to believe, ‘controlled'. Even the principle characters argue over the right and wrong of the senate's decrees. Particularly the debated decision of lowering the Hope Act to include those 16 and up (which would affect them directly). The disconnect between the older generation and the ‘plague babies', shown by the adults' disdain, was also well written.

My only complaint was that you don't learn as much about the partials as you'd like. This book is set up for a sequel, so I'm hoping the partials - and ParaGen, the company that created them - will have more of a part to play.

I'll be waiting eagerly for the next book in this series.

Another great book by Dan Wells. It has some parallels with the new Battlestar Galactica in regards to the human-like Partials/Cylons, but takes it in a different direction with a different setting. The ending was satisfying, resolving the focused plotline, while leaving me excited for the sequel to continue and explore the larger scale conflict going on.

Imagine if you will the skyline of Manhattan as it crumbles in disrepair. Whole buildings overgrown with creeping vines. Wild animals running through the streets. The chilling sound of your footsteps echoing through the emptiness around you. This is the reality that Kira and her fellow survivors live every day. If you are thinking that Partials sounds like a haunting story, you'd be right on track with me. When I first picked up this book I was so excited to dive into the dystopian world that Dan Wells had built. I wanted to get lost in the vast ruins of the New York area. So I settled in, and started to read.

Kira's character was really the saving grace of this book for me. In fact, the majority of her fellow compatriots were. Kira is strong, opinionated, and one of the most selfless characters that I've ever met. Kira and her friends don't just sit by and let the government feed them lies, they stand up and do something about it. They of course still make mistakes, which shows the human side of them. These beautifully rendered characters are what brought the story to life for me. In this same vein, I loved the distinct lack of romance in this story. While there are still definitely connections between the characters, they don't overshadow the one goal that is key in this story. Survival.

My love affair with Partials didn't actually start until the second half of the book though. I'll be honest, I understood the aim of Dan Wells in the first half of the book. He uses it to build up the desolation of the city, to describe the way that RM works, and to map out the way that the government functions. It's all necessary. Still, it just didn't flow for me. After pages of reading about Kira's findings and scientific jargon related to RM, I was ready to put this book down. Now that I've finished, I'm honestly glad I didn't. Once all of the groundwork is laid, Kira and her rebellion take center stage and things pick up speed quickly. If the pacing had been a little different, I know I would have enjoyed this book much more.

At the end of the day, I also still had a lot of unanswered questions about the world in Partials. A few things had loose ends, and the ending felt to me like it came completely out of left field. It is intended to make things more interesting I'm sure, but I'm still not sure how it actually all fits together. On the bright side, this is the first in the series so I'm sure there is more explanation to be had. That's what I'm looking forward to. Though this started out slow, I would definitely still recommend Partials as a good first in the series. I'm excited to see what comes next.