Partials

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.


Partials is a new release from Dan Wells (brother to Robinson Wells - author of Variant which is also a new release this year). What a talented family! I'd like to know what the Wells' parents did to inspire such creativity in their kids. :D

I really enjoyed Partials. I thought it was intense and thought-provoking. And what world-building! It was so atmospheric and I could feel what it would be like to live in this future world. Dan Wells really took his time thinking out exactly how future New York would be if 99% of the population died of war and the Partial virus: the excess of clothes and housing, the constant salvage runs to find supplies from likely places (like high school nurse offices), the abandoned technology (Kira has one friend whose hobby is collecting abandoned mp3 players and they try to figure out the personality of that person by listening to his or her playlist), the difficulty of organizing and governing the population, the moral and ethical questions of how best to help the remaining people - all of these things were described with detail and believability.

I loved all the characters. Kira was strong and bold. I liked that she had a boyfriend already at the beginning of the book, so while there were some lightly romantic moments, the focus of this book was on the plot and on Kira's determination to find a cure for the virus to save her pregnant friend's baby. Kira breaks rules and makes shocking discoveries. She is also incredibly smart in the medical field and I've always loved a bit of a medical thriller. Lots of science in this book!

Plenty of action, twists and turns, and lots to look forward to from Dan Wells. Can't wait for the sequel.

Under the Never Sky

From the book cover:

Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

You know I have a weakness for these dystopian post-apocalyptic books. It always fascinates me to see the way these different authors project our world into the future. Under the Never Sky does it better than so many of the others out there. It felt realistic and I could easily see how our current world could turn into this. In general, Veronica Rossi did an amazing job building her world. She didn't slog things down with long descriptive passages (in fact, she left quite a few of my questions unanswered), but she let me discover the world gradually until it felt very real and I could see it all.

Not only does she have a cool name, but Aria is a great main character. She doesn't remain static, but changes and matures. She begins naive and a little annoying, but gradually becomes a fighter and a survivor. The story is told both from her point of view and from Perry's point of view, which really worked and I liked seeing things from both of their perspectives. 

Another plus for this book is that while it has a wonderful romance, the plot is more of an adventure story. The focus isn't on some lust-filled, fast-moving, doomed love story. No, in fact, the love is very real. Perry and Aria really are from different worlds and at first they hardly even see each other as human. They are brought together by need, and trust and friendship build slowly throughout the novel. So, instead of being overwhelmed by the love story, the intricate plot is perfectly enhanced by slowly-revealed real love.

This book isn't groundbreaking or original for this genre. There are lots of things here I've seen before, but I gave it five stars on goodreads because it does those things better than so many other books in this genre. Plus, I can't deny that I zipped right through it and enjoyed every moment.

Read-alikes: Blood Red Road, Matched/Crossed