Latest Read: Partials by Dan Wells

Here are the basics ...
Partials (Partials Sequence #1) by Dan Wells
Publication date: February 28th 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Category: Young Adult - Science Fiction / Dystopian
Source: Purchased

Summary: The human race is almost extinct after a war with the Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune (and no one has been born immune in over a decade), the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. But time is running out. Kira is on the front lines, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war. She makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race and finds that their survival rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them & Partials. (Adapted goodreads.com)

My thoughts…

The good: Partials takes place in the future, in a world where the human race is almost extinct, plagued by an incurable virus called RM and no babies have been born in over a decade because of it. Well, because of that and the Partials - genetically engineered soldiers made to look human - who turned on society by starting a war which left very few survivors. Now, what's left of a government is run by the Senate but the level of control they want to exert has created more division among the survivors. This is the world Kira, an extremely intelligent sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, lives in and while it took me some time to get into the story.. once I was in, I was all in.

It was both easy and difficult to picture the world the author created. Easy because he does a great job of setting it up for us with his bleak descriptions, the desperation of the people and just that feeling of chaos on the brink of spilling over if someone doesn't do something soon. But it was difficult because it felt very real. Too real, which was a scary thought. This is not a world I'd want to live in! (Especially since there's a law stating women must get pregnant by the time they're 18. Can you imagine?) I really appreciated his details like the science and military jargon because it added to the authenticity of his world. It's also those same things though that made the beginning slow but the pay off is worth it. (So if you decide to pick it up, just keep going!)

Kira is another reason why I really enjoyed Partials.  In dystopians, it's so important to have a strong female point-of-view. I mean it's hard to root for someone who's trying to save the world when they're whining every step of the way. She was this great balance of smarts, compassion and kick-ass attitude. Extremely idealistic in her desire to find a cure for RM and willing to give her life up to save the world. It's hard to imagine a 16-year-old with that kind of mindset but it worked. She's also balanced out by the people around her - the girls she considers sisters, her boyfriend Marcus (I loved their banter and sweet dedication to each other without being overly gushy) and others who end up joining her cause. It was definitely an intense ride of them trying to do what's right even when everyone was against them.

(Minor) reservations: The book is divided into three parts and I would just keep in mind that the first part is slow. It's a lot of set up but necessary set up to get a firm grasp on their society, the past and who the Partials are. I still have a few questions but I felt like a good amount of information was given in the first part of this trilogy.

Do I recommend?: I do. Partials has been sitting on my shelf for a month now and every time I would go over to pick up a new book, I'd look at it but choose something else instead. I'm glad I finally picked it up! I already requested book 2 from the library.

Happy reading!