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.