Partials (Partials Sequence #1)

The world ended eleven years ago when humans battled a deadly virus and engineered beings called Partials. Now there is little left of the human race and every child that is born dies. With tensions and an appending attack between two human groups the cure is needed more than ever. Kira must venture into Partial territories in hopes of finding some answers but what she finds will both threaten and save her world.

I picked Partials up a year ago, there was an autographed copy waiting for someone to take it home and so I did. The synopsis pulled me in and I have to say the cover is appealing. However, books by male authors usually don’t satisfy me, so I never read it. I did end up buying the second book Fragments and now with the third coming out I figured it’s a good time to start reading. Right from the first page I was drawn in:

“Newborn #485GA18M died on June 30, 2067.....The average lifespan of a human child, in the time since the Break, was fifty-six hours.”

“They didn’t even name them anymore.”

Partials had me on the edge of my seat for the whole book, I couldn’t put it down. When I thought the story would slow down everything escaladed and didn’t stop. Dan created a complex world full of politics, gun fights, fight scenes, intrigue, and great characters. I loved his characters; they were developed well and were very realistic. Everyone had their own agendas and opinions of what was right and wrong. Kira is in the middle when it comes to what she believes. She doesn’t follow anyone blindly but carves out her own path. She just knows she has to cure RM and that’s what she sets out to do. Kira never whined or complained, she persevered and that’s what I loved about her.

Partials is a great quick read everyone can enjoy. I can’t wait to discover the truth about Kira and the Trust. On to Fragments I go. :)

Before I start reviewing this book I need to point something out. This book came out more than a year ago and that's how long it's been sitting on my shelf collecting dust. I could kick myself for not picking it up sooner but I guess, back then, I wasn't into sci-fi dystopian novels. Even today I'm sceptic cause I find most of them boring.

That's not the case with Partials. It blew me away. The beginning was rather slow but once you figure out who's who and their whole world starts making sense it's captivating.

Kira is living on Long Island with other remaining survivors after the war with Partials and deadly virus RM which wiped out 99.996% world population. Newborns die couple of hours after their birth because their immune system can't fight RM. Kira is tired of watching babies die(she works as a medic) and after her friend ends up pregnant she is determined to find the cure for RM. They decide to capture one of the Partials to run some tests on him.

Kira is one of the strongest heroines I've come across but she can be so infuriating. She's dead set on doing the right thing even if that thing would get her hurt or even killed. She doesn't see any gray areas. Her world is all black and white and it was pretty annoying hearing her judge everyone. Don't get me wrong, she's great but she was a little bit too good for my taste. I need to see some flaws in my main characters.

I couldn't get this out of my head and if some of you reading this already read Partials, please help me out get this one thing which didn't make any sense. Why did people create partials? I know there was a mention of a war and humans didn't wanted to kill each others so they created partials, terminators who look like regular people to fight instead of them. Who were they fighting against? Which nation? After that war partials turned against their creators because they were treated as slaves. I can understand why they rebelled and fought back to earn their freedom but it puzzles me why were they even created. And one more thing wouldn't be cheaper to create a partial with the same face and clone him, or whatever they did rather than creating other races and sexes? That's what I would do, to save up. I'm not racist or sexist.

There were some interesting characters, Marcus, Kira's boyfriend who's always up for a laugh, Samm, a partial who ends up helping Kira to find the cure and the loyal and fierce soldier, Jayden. Now I'm just gonna say something which is very typical of me. I had a crush on Jayden. There. I said it. I can't control my feelings towards fictional characters. I'm not crazy for lusting over a guy in almost every book I read, right?

Now that I've read Partials I want to bash my head on my desk because I don't have the sequel and I'm broke so who knows when I'm going to find out what happens next with Kira and the gang. This is why I don't read the first book in a series if I don't already have the sequel. It's pure torture.

Wow! This book was amazing! Set in a world where only a small number of people are alive and working to survive. A virus has killed off the rest of the population and continues to kill off any babies they have. The tiny government keeps lowering the age of mandatory impregnation in the hopes that eventually a child will survive. Kira works at the hospital and is a medic. When her friend becomes pregnant, she refuses to let the baby die. her and some of her friends set off to capture a Partial, the man made beings that are said to have created the virus. She figures that since they created it and are immune, that she can figure out a cure from testing their bodies.
The group captures a Partial and Kira is allowed to experiment on it, but the Partial isn't what she expected. Soon she has humanized Samm. With the lives on the line, Kira must discover a cure in the small amount of time she has been given. With forces working against her, Kira must try her best. Can she figure out a cure and save Samm? Kira will discover that everything is different than what she has been told, including herself.
I can't wait for the next book of this series! This is def one of the greats!

Review originally posted at: http://framed-in-words.blogspot.co.nz/

I got this out a few weeks ago but only just got around to finish it today. This is what happens when all the library books you have requested ages ago come in for you all at once. I have about one month to read something like 17 books!
Anyway, I read the synopsis for this book and was instantly drawn to it, so I was very excited to start reading it a few days ago. I had quite a high expectation, and I'm very glad to tell you: "Yay!! I loved this book"!

Science fictions, especially for young adults, are usually quite hard to write. Because the background of the book have to be somewhat scientific, full of imagination, be able to capture the reader's interest yet have deepth. Most YA science fictions I have read disappointed me a little, but Dan Wells did a darn good job at this book, it captured and contained my interest, full of action, had deepth and knowledge as well as managing to write at a high standard. I'm impressed.

Partials started off a bit slow, I was not as entertained at the beginning as I was after that, but I was still curious enough to read on. But I guess this is understandable as the beginning needed to explain a lot of things, let the reader get used to the science-fiction environment and some terminology. So if you aren't too impressed by the first 30 or so pages, don't scream in frustration and throw down the book! Calm yourself and continue, you will be positively rewarded and grateful for that decision. The pace then gradually built up towards the climax and the whole story/plot evolved to the next level, drawing the reader right in. I didn't want to put the book down after the first 30 or so pages. From that point on, it was action-packed and would make your blood pump harder (or mine did as I "ran" along with the actions the main characters took part in). The climax was awesome, and you could clearly see where the climatic point was. Do you know what's one of the most annoying things that can happen while you read? Having to put the book down right in the middle of the climax! That's what I had to endure while reading between classes. *sigh* once again, the ending was a huge cliffhanger and I can't emphasis enough on how MUCH I WANT the next book. I didn't want the story to end and am looking forward to more actions (perferably not stupid actions) in the next book!

There were a lot of medical related knowledge in this book, involving many scientific calculations and examinations as well as some futuristic approaches to problems. I really liked that as the science subjects are my favourite subjects and I'm kind of good at that area, so it's nice to read something that had the right knowledge in it and was able to develop a story around it so well. Kira, the main character herself, was a medic.

The heroine was kick-ass and strong. I love strong central female characters. Kira was solid, brave and intelligent. She was so smart! Also, she never gave up and always believed there would be a solution to the problems she encountered, she was determined and trusting. She was always the lead in whatever action they need to take and was able to make others listen to her and help her. Some called her crazy (not really in a bad way) and I found lots of the conversations and actions funny and entertaining. Jayden and Samm were also other characters whom I really liked.

The writing style was a balanced combination of extended description and short sharp sentence/dialogues that pushed the pace forward. Dan Wells used the human senses to help in his descriptions and did so successfully. I couldn't complain much about his writing style as I did many other YA novels, so congrats! The book is written in third-person but using Kira as the central character. I have always found male authors who wrote in a girl's perspective weird and uncomfortable, but Dan Wells really gave me a brillant suprise. He is almost the only male author so far in books I read who has successfully written in a girl's perspective. I didn't found many faults in there and there were only a few places where I felt he could have written a little better as a girl which suggested that the author is a guy. But overall it was great.

All in all, it was an excellent read and I have to endure another long wait until Fragments comes out!!

Sometimes when I read a book I can kind of predict what comes next or at least the ultimate outcome. Well, that certainly wasn’t the case with Partials. Just when I thought I had everything figured out Wells threw something at me that took me completely by surprise. It’s safe to say that I didn’t find Partials the least bit predictable.

I’m not going to lie, sometimes I found myself wishing Kira would make the easy decision, but I can ultimately appreciate that it was a part of her personality. You’re probably thinking that sounds bad, but someone would fall down dead in a battle and she’d be all “I need to help them!” and I’m sitting there thinking “He’s dead! Run! Save yourself!” But like I said, I can appreciate that it’s just a flaw of her character.

I quite liked Samm and was incredibly surprised when a love triangle didn’t sprout up because of him. Marcus was a fantastic guy, but I’m not going to lie, if a love triangle were to pop up I’d be all about the Samm. I mean, this is a guy who saved Kira instead of himself (I won’t say any more than that for fear of spoiling).

The storyline of Partials was fantastic. I was a little bored in the beginning. It’s not that it was really going too slowly, but it just took a bit for me to get immersed into the story, but once I did I was never bored. Don’t let the size scare you off because once you get into the story you won’t even realize how quickly you’re turning the pages.

I also really appreciated that we got a few answers, but enough questions were left to leave me wanting more.

The Nutshell: Though it might take a little bit to get fully immersed in the story, Partials is definitely worth the read. There are plot twists and turns that Wells throws at the reader out of the blue and plenty of action but still enough down time to appreciate the finer aspects of the story. If you love dystopian and having your mind blown multiple times, read Partials.