For the past couple of weeks, I have been reading Partials by Dan Wells. This is my review.
Partials is a book that follows sixteen-year-old Kira, who is a medic. She lives in a world that takes place in the distant future, after the human population has been reduced to thousands. This is because of the Partials, genetically engineered human beings who were made to serve in the military, but then turned on the humans. The humans and the Partials went to war, and during the war, the Partials created a virus called RM, to which they are immune, that affects humans. The only humans remaining also have immunity.
Because all of the babies die of RM shortly after birth, the government is desperately trying to find a cure, by making people have as many babies they can, starting at sixteen years old. Kira works in maternity and runs tests on the babies until they eventually die. She is contempt with her job until her friend Madison becomes pregnant. After she learns of this news, she goes on an adventure to find a Partial, so she can cure RM.
I think Partials was an enjoyable book. I liked the adventure Kira went on initially, in which she first captured the Partial. It was interesting to see how she and her friends reacted to the dangers present outside of the city boundaries. The story was interesting enough that I could suspend my disbelief of Kira and her friends' stupidity. It was also interesting to see the dynamic between her and her boyfriend, Marcus. Marcus was deeply in love with Kira, and fully trusts her, but is the only sane person out of their friend group, and decides to stay behind. It was nice to see his shift from being too scared to go beyond the city limits, where the partials are, to going with Kira on her second adventure outside of the limits, not able to stand another second without being with Kira.
(spoilers)
When Kira found Samm (a partial) and the government let her do tests on him, I could see the twist about the government being evil and the Partials not creating RM from a mile away. It seemed unreal the Kira would trust everything that Samm said, even though he was supposed to be an enemy. This is why it came as no shock to me that Samm turns on Kira, and hands her over to the Partials. The predictability of the story is really the only thing that brings my rating of the book down. There was, however, one thing that I would never have guessed: the fact that Kira was a Partial. That never seemed like it could be a possibility, because Kira talks about her father, and Partials can't have children. I think the author did a good job with that twist, and it sets up the sequel really well. After RM is cured, there is still this lingering mystery of what Kira really is (She has traits of both Partials and humans), and it makes me want to start reading the second book immediately.
Overall, I would give the book a 4/5.
Partials is a book that follows sixteen-year-old Kira, who is a medic. She lives in a world that takes place in the distant future, after the human population has been reduced to thousands. This is because of the Partials, genetically engineered human beings who were made to serve in the military, but then turned on the humans. The humans and the Partials went to war, and during the war, the Partials created a virus called RM, to which they are immune, that affects humans. The only humans remaining also have immunity.
Because all of the babies die of RM shortly after birth, the government is desperately trying to find a cure, by making people have as many babies they can, starting at sixteen years old. Kira works in maternity and runs tests on the babies until they eventually die. She is contempt with her job until her friend Madison becomes pregnant. After she learns of this news, she goes on an adventure to find a Partial, so she can cure RM.
I think Partials was an enjoyable book. I liked the adventure Kira went on initially, in which she first captured the Partial. It was interesting to see how she and her friends reacted to the dangers present outside of the city boundaries. The story was interesting enough that I could suspend my disbelief of Kira and her friends' stupidity. It was also interesting to see the dynamic between her and her boyfriend, Marcus. Marcus was deeply in love with Kira, and fully trusts her, but is the only sane person out of their friend group, and decides to stay behind. It was nice to see his shift from being too scared to go beyond the city limits, where the partials are, to going with Kira on her second adventure outside of the limits, not able to stand another second without being with Kira.
(spoilers)
When Kira found Samm (a partial) and the government let her do tests on him, I could see the twist about the government being evil and the Partials not creating RM from a mile away. It seemed unreal the Kira would trust everything that Samm said, even though he was supposed to be an enemy. This is why it came as no shock to me that Samm turns on Kira, and hands her over to the Partials. The predictability of the story is really the only thing that brings my rating of the book down. There was, however, one thing that I would never have guessed: the fact that Kira was a Partial. That never seemed like it could be a possibility, because Kira talks about her father, and Partials can't have children. I think the author did a good job with that twist, and it sets up the sequel really well. After RM is cured, there is still this lingering mystery of what Kira really is (She has traits of both Partials and humans), and it makes me want to start reading the second book immediately.
Overall, I would give the book a 4/5.
I like how you don't waste time any time in your review and you immediately give the reader of your blog the information they need to determine whether or not the book is for them. I also like how as soon as you give them enough information for your reader to form an opinion, you share your own so they can see what one of their class mates thought about the book which can help them determine whether or not the book is for them. Good job.
ReplyDeleteI find the premise of the story deeply interesting, and I think you did a very good job going through and summarizing the important bits for us to have context. I appreciated that you actually went over the character dynamics in the story (Kira and Marcus), instead of just saying what the characters do. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteI think your review did a great job of introducing Partial's interesting and unique setting. I like how you summarized and described the story setting and plot without actually spoiling everything. I also thought your analysis of the dynamics in Kira and Marcus's relationship was insightful. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI think this review did a good job of describing the book in thorough detail and has a good explanation of the characters. This book actually seems very interesting and I might take a look at it. I like how you mix the idea of a summary of the characters and the plot and a rate of the book rather than just putting the rate at the end. great job!
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