Partials

Review: Fragments by Dan Wells

by Stefani

fragmentsFragments by Dan Wells

Published February 26th, 2013 by Balzer & Bray

Buy this book at: B&N / Amazon / Books A Million / Book Depository

 

Synopsis:

Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence—it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that involves Kira, a plan that could save both races. Her companions are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them?

Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what’s left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira’s journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic America, and Kira and Marcus both will discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn’t even know existed.

The second installment in the pulse-pounding Partials saga is the story of the eleventh hour of humanity’s time on Earth, a journey deep into places unknown to discover the means—and even more important, a reason—for our survival.

 

Rating: 4 star

 

Review:

I cannot guarantee that this review won’t contain spoilers for book 1, but should be free of spoilers for this book.. So if you don’t want to read spoilers only read this first paragraph please. I loved this book. I was kid of lukewarm on the first book but was interested enough to continue, and boy am I glad I did. If you get nothing else out of this review, read this series. Now stop reading or else it’s your own damn fault if you get spoiled.

Like I mentioned a moment ago, I was pretty lukewarm on Partials (book 1). I thought it was decent but nothing out of this world. But the ending piqued my interest and so I wanted to see what happened. That brings us to Fragments. From the beginning of this book you know the stakes are high. Kira has discovered a cure for RM but apart from that one child they haven’t been able to replicate it. Samm is off to parts unknown and Kira has run off to find answers that Nandita sent her after at ParaGen. And this is where our second story begins.

Kira was still such a good character. I found her to be tough, real, gritty, and has a real soft spot to her as well. At times she got on my nerves a little bit with her whole, “OMG I’m a Partial, but I love the humans!’ routine but overall I had few complaints with her. I will just say that I loved the interaction with her and Vale. I won’t say anything else about that because it would ruin it, but it was fantastic! I felt just as confused and conflicted as Kira did just reading that part.

Samm and Marcus are officially my book boyfriends. I love them both so much I can’t even put it into words. They are so different but both so awesome at the same time. I think if I was forced to choose who I like more it would have to be Samm because he made me cry in this book, but that doesn’t diminish my love for Marcus. Although Marcus did get a bit reckless in this book, but it was all for the right reasons and that was important.

The plot moved along rapidly but it was well structured so it wasn’t too hard to follow. I really liked the introduction of Afa, he was a much needed and useful character. I really liked how many answers we got in this book. But at the same time those answers created more questions so it was a good balance. I LOVED the descriptions of this world so much in this book. It felt real and raw and I could see it in my head as we went along.

And the ending…whoa, is all I have to say. Even though I finished the book hours ago I can’t get over the ending. It took me by complete surprise and made me cry. I ended up putting the book down and just sat there with my mouth hanging open for a few minutes before I could wrap my head around what happened. I am already salivating over the idea of the final book and it causes me physical pain that it isn’t coming out until 2014. I am sold on this series, completely and utterly sold.

Advertisement

Partials by Dan Wells

by Stefani

Image

Partials by Dan Wells

Published by HarperCollins Publishing on 2/28/12

Synopsis from Barnes & Noble website:

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what’s left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she’s not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

Review:

Once again, let me warn you this review may contain spoilers, pretty much everything I post probably will!  I was really excited about this book.  I saw it on the shelf at the bookstore and I thought it looked interesting and then when I picked it up and read the quote on the back I was sold.  I took the book home that day and eagerly waited for the right moment for me to read it.  Overall, I will give this book a solid 3 stars, maybe closer to 3 and a half (out of 5).  I enjoyed it even though I felt that some of the plot was very flawed.

The main problem with this book was the predictability of it.  Pretty much everything I thought would happen, happened.  No matter how passing the thought might have been, it came true.  I really doubt that I’m that good of a guesser!  Just being a writer doesn’t mean I know secret plot formulas for books and movies, I can be surprised just like anyone else.  For example,the author makes it a point to tell you that Kira is different from everyone else around her.  My first thought was, well maybe she’s a Partial.  I was correct and I didn’t want to be correct since it seemed like a cliche.  Another terrible cliche in this book was the old “the government is the real bad guy”.  I spent most of the book praying that wasn’t the case.  I have read that plot a million times and I didn’t want this to be one of those books.  To a certain extent I was correct on that aspect as well, though not in the way I expected.

However, even though I felt the plot had many flaws and holes, there were some moments of brilliance that I just loved.  The world building in this book is above reproach. You can see everything that is being described to you and you can feel what the characters must be thinking and feeling.  It takes a talented writer to achieve that without falling into the trap of just telling you what’s going on rather than showing you.  The characters were equally well constructed and I emotionally connected to all of them by the end.  Kira was the most likable character and that was a good thing since she’s the main narrator.  But I also found myself liking characters who weren’t quite a likable like Marcus or Jayden.  They were a bit more objectionable and had more annoying qualities but I still liked them.  Samm presented an interesting dilemma as a character because you are not supposed to like or trust him, but you can’t help it.  And that lulls you into trusting him, even when you know you shouldn’t, and then a potential betrayal from him is all the more emotionally jarring.

The ending of this book was what clinched it for me however.  Up until that last chapter or two I was not liking the book nearly as much as I expected.  But that last 30 pages was spectacular!  I never suspected it was going that way and I felt caught off guard by the last sentence.  It was a great way to end the book and made me ravenous for the sequel just to get some answers for the questions that were raised.  Unfortunately I will have to wait for February 2013, the expected publication date of Fragments.  I will also have to read Isolation, a short story, available as an ebook only, about the events which led to the Partials War and the release of the RM virus.