Monday, February 20, 2012

Book Review: Partials by Dan Wells


Humanity is on its last legs. North American survivors of war and a weaponized virus hunker down in Long Island, afraid of Partials – man-made organic beings that seem to be their greatest enemy. No baby has been born immune to the virus in over 10 years which means time is running out.

16 year old Kira doesn’t believe in her community leaders’ plans, especially a law that all females must get pregnant at a certain age. But when one of her best friends gets pregnant, Kira will do anything to make her baby survives – even seek help from the Partials.

PARTIALS is a twisty thrill-ride with some real depth.  Even though it was long (nearly 500 pages), it read quickly.  I loved how resourceful Kira was and that she actively searched for a cure (in fact, the scientific lab scenes were some of my favorites).

Many people are going to make BATTLESTAR GALACTICA comparisons here.  The partials and their history with humans are much like the cylons, though there are some very key differences that you discover over the course of the narrative. I kept thinking there was going to be some partial/human romance (a la Helo & Athena in BSG) - what PARTIALS delivered was arguably much cooler than anything I expected.  Its’ Big Twists Zombie Chicken Merit Badge is well deserved – and I can’t wait to read the next book, FAILSAFE.

I also wanted to point out that while BSG is from the point of view of the government, so you naturally sympathize with them and their tough choices, PARTIALS is from an oppressed teen's point of view and the government looks pretty dystopian from this angle.  

PARTIALS comes out next week on Feb 28, 2012.  Find out more about the series at the author's website.


FTC disclosure: I read a copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Dystopian AND reminding you of BSG. I've seen a lot of rave reviews of this book and I can't wait to read it myself now. It's been on my wishlist for a while! :)

Natalie Aguirre said...

I've been hearing a lot about this book. Thanks for the review.

Evie said...

I already like that the main character seems so strong!I can't wait to read this one.
I have added so many book to my wishlist this month!

Irish said...

I think you may have just pushed this one up higher on my TBR list than it was. Love that it reminded you of BSG. Looking forward to reading this one.

ivanova said...

Ooh, I love me a "humanity is on its last legs" book. Sounds great.

Unknown said...

1. Partials sounds AWESOME. 2. My husband is OBSESSED with BSG so I'm sending him this review right now. 3. The Zombie Chicken Merit badges still make me smile every time I see them :)

Unknown said...

I can't wait for this book!

Ellz said...

I love the cover to this book, it is what attracted my attention initially. Sounds like a great story...long though. Glad it is fast paced! thanks for the review.

Vivien said...

I've been obsessed with this book for months. I really cannot wait. After the zombie badge...I know it's be great!

Zibilee said...

I like the comparisons that you make to BSG with this one. That was my favorite show on television. I have added this book to my wishlist so that I can grab it the day it's released, and I am really excited about it! Great review, Lenore!

Lea (YA Book Queen) said...

"twisty thrill-ride with some real depth" - sounds like a must-read!

Great review! :)

Kailana said...

I have seen a couple reviews of this all ready and added it to my wish list. I am glad you liked it, too!

Amy said...

This actually sounds kind of good.

Julie@My5monkeys said...

Loved this book too and I could relate this too to BSG :)

Cecelia said...

I've never seen BSG, but you make the book sound pretty fantastic in other ways, so I'll be looking out for this. Great review!

Mary @ BookSwarm said...

Definitely some BSG/Terminator connections here (inspiration, perhaps) but the plot is its own. I love the twisty chicken award because it definitely deserves that! Can't wait for the next installment.

Lizzy said...

I stumbled onto your blog by chance,as I normally only go to The book (reporthttp://bookreportradio.com) for my reviews, but I really liked yours, this is definitely going on my shopping list.

Netherland said...

There are some books where you set them down and the story is ALL that you can think about. I have a forgetful memory, so a lot of the time I think of the story then, "What am I thinking of?" and then I get all excited again when I realize it's a book and I'm not done reading it. Yay! Reading Partials was like that for me. Oh man, this book took my breath away! I LOVED IT.

I don't even know where to begin, so I guess I'll begin with the writing style: it's written in third person past, and a lot of the time, I forgot it was written that way. I was just so sucked into the story that I forgot it was written in third, which IS AWESOME and job well done.