Pure

'Pure' is dark, twisted and beautiful all at the same time. It’s an intense read, one that absorbed my attention and made me think about it even when I wasn’t reading the novel. I was hooked from the first page, and I had a hard time putting it down; it's the kind of book that made me stay up extremely late even when I had work the next morning, knowing I'll need to live off coffee the next day. That kind of book is becoming increasingly rare for me, so I was delighted to find ‘Pure.’

The story is about multiple characters, but it focuses on the story of Pressia, a kind-hearted, resourceful, inventive girl who has a doll’s head for one hand, and Partridge, a determined, sheltered Pure boy from the Dome who is searching for his mother, who he has recently discovered might be alive. After Pressia saves Patridge, they search for his mother together and discover secrets about the Detonations, the world they live in and their connection to each other. They are joined by El Capitan and his brother Helmud, who is fused to him in a permanent piggyback, and Bradwell, a conspiracy-theorist with live birds fused into his back. Their journey takes them through destroyed suburbia, abandoned city streets, creature-ridden wastelands and situations that are almost completely lose-lose. The discoveries that Pressia and Partridge make about themselves and their world will change them forever and have the possibility to affect every remaining survivor.

Baggott’s main skill lies in world-creating; in ‘Pure,’ she creates a world that is devastating, realistic and entrancingly horrible. I seriously loved learning more about Pressia and Partridge’s environments and meeting the people who populated this post-apocalyptic world. However, I would have liked to see more of normal life in the Dome, just so I could get a better feel for exactly how different the Dome is from the outside world of the ‘wretches’. Baggott is just a fantastic writer, with a great feel for scene-setting, description, dialogue and phrasing.

I would not recommend this book to younger middle schoolers because of the fusings, multiple deaths and the intense grittiness of the novel. However, I think high schoolers, especially senior and juniors, would benefit greatly from reading this novel and not just because of its entertainment value. It brings up serious ethical questions and provides a mature prospective on a society that has experienced a very recent apocalyptic event. The outside world in Pure hasn’t had time to rebuild a stable society after the Detonations, and it’s intriguing to see the brutal nature of the chaotic time. Not everyone will enjoy this gritty novel, but some will find it a treasure for their shelf.

I think that this book definitely reminds of the fact that people are people, even though they might not be "Pure", or perfect, as many people aren't. Probably, of all the eight million people on the planet, most of them are definitely not pure. Most are probably poor and starving, living in desperate poverty while the rest of us enjoy the high life.

Pressia is one of the "wretches", as teh Pures call them. They are the part of everyone that were left outside of the Dome when the apocalypse struck, fusing everyone outside the protection of the Dome to things, animals or even other people. Juliana definitely makes it easy to imagine exactly what the wretches would look like. Pressia has a dolls head fused to her wrist, and her grandfather has a fan inside his throat. But she got off lightly, I think. Some people for example have been fused to the ground and have become Dusts, while others are now half human half animal abominations.

Partridge is one of the lucky ones, inside the Dome. They are called the Pures, as they are Pure and were not damaged by the apocalypse. Partridge is the son of the most important person in the Dome. But his father is not kind, or loving. And when he lets slip that Partridges mother might be alive instead of dead like he had always thought, he is quick to make up his mind about escaping from the Dome as soon as possible.

These two teenagers from completely different worlds meet and set off on a journey to find Partridges mother (who, it is found out later in the book, is Pressia's mother as well). They are joined by El Capitan who has had his little brother fused to him, so obviously wherever one goes, the other goes as well. They are also joined by Bradwell, a boy who has had birds fused to his back. Together they all go against forces greater than them, but they will never give up. Not for anything.

Pure is a really great book that tells us about the value of not judging someone immediately. Behind the awful scarred skin of the wretches may lie a trusting friend, or, in Partridges case, a long-lost sister.