Partials Reveiw

Partials
by Dan Wells
Expected Publication: 02.28.2012
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:  First you should know that I am already a fan of Dan Wells.  His John Wayne Cleaver series that starts with I Am Not A Serial Killer, pretty much has cemented me as life long fan.  I'm not quite ready to go Annie Wilkes on him, but our literary relationship is getting to that level of crazy.  Fortunately for Wells and my other favorite writers I don't live out in the country and I'm actually quite lazy.  And my Hubs and friends would totally turn me in for any reward money if I ever actually kidnap any authors.

So how excited was I to see that Dan Wells had a new dystopian YA book out?  If your picturing me running around the house screaming like a crazed 1960's Beatles fan, they you win a doughnut (oops, sorry, all out of doughnuts, but feel free to treat yourself).  Wells is, after all, the author who created a popular literary sociopath (with a nice supernatural twist).  Honestly I like John Wayne Cleaver better than Dexter (book Dexter, not Showtime Dexter), and he's almost tied with Hannibal Lector.  So I was pretty much on board for any dystopian tales Dan Wells wants to turn out.

Partials was not quite what I expected.  The first half of the book went a little slow for me, but it was dealing with the set up of this particularly dystopian world.  I didn't immediately love the main character, Kira, like I did sociopath John in IaNaSK, but that probably says something disturbing about me.  And I did like the plot of Partials, I just think the set up could have been done in a prologue similar to the opening quote used in the book (which was awesome, btw).

About halfway through the book, when Kira and crew capture a Partial, was when the book finally grabbed me.  Samm (the Partial) was a great character, and brought a new angle to the what the readers, and Kira, were previously told about Partials.  Basically Partials were engineered to be super humans by the government to be the ultimate solider.  Of course it's no surprise that their treatment by the hands of our government is less than cozy.  You almost can't blame them for wanting to kill off the human race.

And because it's a dystopian novel, some things are quite what they seem, and some characters aren't who you think they are.  Some of the twists I saw coming, one I'd already known about so it's not like I had my Nancy Drew sweater set on, and a few that I really didn't see coming.

Things I loved: the society left behind after the disease devastates humanity is truly a melting pot.  Since no whole families have been left intact, the survivors have all banded, and bonded, together.  The Hope Act in the book- basically saying that all women 18 and over have to try to get pregnant as often as possible in hopes of saving mankind and giving birth to a child who will be immune- would make for a great book club debate.  Especially when there's talk of lowering the age to 16.  I think there is a good reason dystopians are dysfunctional and not perfect utopias, I don't believe that it's humanly possible to have a society where everything is fair and everyone is equal.  There will always be those in power, there will always be those that learn to make their living off others, and there will always be people who want personal freedom.  The society Kira lives is deeply flawed, and whether they mean well or if they're blatantly lying to the masses, is for us to discover.    I also really liked the friendships that Kira has forged, and every one of her friends has their strengths and also their weaknesses, just like Kira herself.

Things I loved not so much: Kira's skills in medicine and science despite her young age actually doesn't bother me.  It makes sense in a world where there's not a lot of distractions that you could cram a whole lot of learning in at a younger age.  What I didn't like was Kira's arrogance.  She just assumes that she's capable of coming up with a cure to save the babies, and she puts her friends at grave risk in her pursuit.  Of course, she has a point, what's the point in living if there's literally no future?  But still, it was a bit grating in the beginning.  And I thought the book got off to a slow, clunky start, but other than those two things, I enjoyed the book.

Partials is the first in a series, and it left me with just enough questions answered, and just enough new questions raised to keep me invested in future books.  Their are side characters that I care about, contrary Haru, joker Marcus, pregnant Isolde, and Partial Samm.   Overall I think it's a worthy novel for lovers of dytopias. And be sure to read I Am Not A Serial Killer, which is sadly a phrase I've personally had to use a few times to clear things up with new friends.

Partials gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover or Partials gets a Midnight Book Cover Rating of:

I think the cover immediately gives you a heads up that some dystopian shiz is going down.

Disclaimer: The books that I receive are either purchased by me, given to me by either the author or publisher, or borrowed from Around the World ARC Tours in exchange for an honest review or won by me in a contest.  All opinion, snark and wit are my own.