Fragments (Partials Sequence)

So many things happening in so little time! That seems to be the main motto of Fragments. Kira is still searching for a way to cure both the Partials and the Humans and this goal leads her to many surprising discoveries. Meanwhile Marcus is trying to replicate the cure without success. The worst thing though is that the Partials are threatening to start a war if they can't get their hands on Kira. Fragments is the living proof that sequels CAN be as good as their prequels, or even better!

The thing that I liked the most about Fragments was the different perspectives. I liked to know about Kira and Samm but Marcus' side of the story was as interesting. And that's saying something, since I didn't like Marcus that much in the first installment. I almost devoured the 564 pages, always wanting to know more about what was going to happen. And the ending left me hungry for more. The romance takes a backseat in this action and informative sequel. While Fragments will answer many of your questions, it will also lead to more. But fear not, the tension between Samm and Kira is still entertaining enough.

Kira is a strong main character and she proves this again and again. The problem is that her persistence that she will find an answer to everything can get on your nerves; it certainly got on mine. Heron was also a bit of a pain because she was always complaining. But while I didn't like these flaws, they are what made these characters so unique in the first place. Samm is still my favorite character in this series and that's because he can be so sweet but still Partial enough at the same time.

Fragments was a fantastic sequel to Partials. It was full of surprises and interesting twists and turns. I was foremost interested in Kira's journey to the West, where she certainly found some answers, but were they the right ones? I can't wait to get my hands on the next installment, since it will certainly entail more action and the long awaited answers to the mystery around Kira and the cure.

This story literally swept me up and took me to a whole new world- it was a bleak and dangerous world to be sure. In the midst of this apocalyptic place, there was also room for hope and determination for a brighter future. It was one thrilling ride to the end in one of those 'race for the cure while fighting the corrupt system oh and toss in a little past government project cover up' just to really keep it all interesting. And it was that- interesting- because I couldn't put the book down; I was so into it. So glad I went with hearsay from others and the blurb to convince me to get this one.

This apocalyptic-style dystopian takes place in earth's future of course. I was centered mostly on the last pure human stronghold of Long Island where even there after the wars and spread of germ warfare disease they are fighting for survival. The disease that wiped out most of the world's population has morphed and is still attacking, but it only kills newborns. There are two main factions on the island- those who conform to the Senate's rules and those who live for freedom- the Voice. For survival, people have to grow up a lot sooner. There are no intact families left and everyone must go to work from a young age.

Oh and hey, just in case that isn't taxing enough for the human, just across the sound in NYC and all across the Continent is a cyborg like race called the Partials (partial human) who were once designed as the military, but rebelled and turned on the humans who made them. There has been an armed peace for over eleven years, but now things are about to change.

Kira, a 16 yr old medic, is a very determined young girl. She sees that without a cure to the disease killing their babies there will be no future even withstanding the presence of the Partials. Surrounded by a group of friends who are like family, she determines to find the cure when the friend closest to her becomes pregnant.

Kira's search for the cure takes her and the others who believe in her on quite the quest even across into Partial-held territory. It is not without sacrifice and it reveals that there is so much more than she has ever been taught about the circumstances she and the rest live in.

The world-building was painted so vividly and was so well crafted that I just soaked up the details about the world that Kira and her friends lived in. The plot reminded me of an odyssey-type story in ways both because Kira has to go out and search for answers, but not just in the physical-sense of travel thought there is that too. Kira must find herself and what she wants for her future. I loved the adventure and intensity that pours out of the story as it moves forward.

There is very little time to catch your breath so to speak before the next thrilling moment descends though this doesn't take away from there being character development. There are several prominent characters that function in the support role, but yet are very prominent too. All have a rich depth to them and several became very dear to me. I actually teared up at one moment.

I eagerly await the next installment after the huge reveal near the end and also the one at the end.

The story has mild language and no sex, but it offers moderate violence and some disturbing scenes that younger teens might not be ready for.

I can recommend this one for those who enjoy dystopian/apocalyptic adventure.

How does an almost 600 page book end up feeling too short? Masterful plotting, harrowing danger, meticulously detailed worldbuilding with a complex history, and truly human characters even when they aren’t actually human.

I called PARTIALS, the first book in the Partials Sequence, ‘the first truly great dystopian debut of the year!’ in 2012, and FRAGMENTS is even better. So much so that I’m calling the Partials Sequence one of the best dystopian series since The Hunger Games. The medical thriller elements are just as prominent as in the debut, and while the concepts became necessarily more complex, I found them to be more easily comprehended this time. We learn more about the geneticists who created the Partials, how and why they were made, and how the RM virus that attacks humans is connected to the expiration date for Partials. Not to mention Kira’s unique role and explanation for her existence.

Books with amazing concepts often fall into a rut with their sequels either regurgitating essentially the same story or breaking so far from their original premise that they alienate fans of the debut. FRAGMENTS neatly sidesteps both common pitfalls. Author Dan Wells has carried over his brilliant balance of characters who possess opposing viewpoints and has still made them all sympathetic to readers. He raises numerous ethical quandaries in FRAGMENTS and Mr. Wells respects both his characters and his readers enough not to give them easy answers. At the same time, he forces his characters into new environments and drops MIND ALTERING revelations that we rarely see in middle books for trilogies.

The beginning of FRAGMENTS was a little slow, and I did prefer the chapters with Kira more than Marcus back on Long Island (fortunately the ratio is 3:1 so most of the book follows Kira). The plot is crazy dense and amazingly well paced, but it didn’t leave a lot of room for character development until the showstopping end (which will leave readers breathless). But those criticisms are so minor in the face of everything that this book gets so right. The conclusion to the Partials Sequence can’t come soon enough.

Sexual Content:
Kissing

Kira now knows she's a Partial, but much different from the others. Together with Afa, Samm, and Heron, Kira decides to track down more information about the Trust and their plans at the headquarters of ParaGen. Kira is smart and resourceful, with a driven determination to heal both humans and Partials. Afa is suffering from severe PTSD, mentally unstable, but is needed to gather information from the computers. Samm and Heron have turned their backs on their Partial sect, but Kira isn't sure how much she can really trust them. Kira and Samm are also oblivious to their growing feelings for each other. Their emotional immaturity leads to petty bickering. But that changes as the near the end of the story.

Meanwhile, Marcus takes his own journey of discovery. Starting with hunting for clues to Kira's past, to trying to find allies with a Partial sect at war with the same enemy as the human colony. Marcus' voyage is closer to home, yet no less perilous.

I enjoyed this epic adventure just as much as Partials, if not more. More suspense and heart-pounding adventure, more secrets are revealed, and more plot twists and surprises lead to a range of emotional drama and intrigue. Fragments is a fantastic addition to the Partials trilogy, well-paced and hard to put down. I love this future dystopian world where the human-made Partials have fought back against oppression. But both sides are losing - humanity is dying out because of a virus, and the only cure is in the Partials themselves. While the Partials are sterile, have a very short lifespan, and are quickly dying off. It's a unique and inspired story with memorable characters and an unforgettable world. My only complaint is that we have to wait a whole year for the final installment in this impressive series.

This review was previously posted at SciFiChick.

I'm giving this one a reluctant four stars. Don't get me wrong, it was good, written well, vivid, and it kept me reading, but when I think about what happened in this one, well it really wasn't that much. Not to mention the completely unlikely meeting of a rare human survivor in NY, who just happened to be the main IT guy for Paragen. Did anyone who worked for that company die?

I can sum up the whole book:
** SPOILER **
Kira finds the Paragen IT guy, then Samm and Heron find her. They all go to Chicago to find Paragen info. Then they go to Denver to find more Paragen info. They find a small group of humans being led by yet another Paragen employee. Meanwhile, back on the island the Partials have invaded, Nandita has returned and we find out that Kira's two sisters are also 'special' Partials like her

There you have it, four lines telling you the story. I'm not usually a fan of book two in most series and this is the reason why. They are mostly a filler between the two important ones. If you liked the first book, obviously you have to read this to know all the little things before Ruins. And you will like it, I just don't think you'll love it.

I don't know why its taken me this long to get around to reading this book maybe because it wasn't on my iPad but boy iv been missing out. i love discovering new authors as well as new trilogies. I was drawn to the cover of all things initially & not so much the synopses of this book however it was the comments of other people that made me pick this up & read it. Now afterwards the description / synopses makes more sense somehow.
from the very beginning of this book i was gripped, its so vivid & descriptive that you get so immersed in this world you literally can't stop reading. The characters are strong & quite diverse with amazing twists & turns in every chapter. For anyone who loves Dystopia or post apocalyptic novels this will be right up there with some of the best you've ever read. Im so excited that now i can go straight into book 2 then just a slight wait for the final installment later this year. ill be keeping my eyes on anything from Dan Wells
A Must Read

Second in a trilogy, which is usually where a series goes off the rails and we have to slog through a right boring old mess to get to book three when it 'gets good' again.

WRONGO this time! Fragments is top notch entertainment with a story that does not quit and moves so quickly I was breathless at all the stuff Dan Wells was able to cram in!!

Kira and the characters from book 1 continue their mission to save the humans and the Partials. There is exploration, violence, super humans and adventures that boggle the mind in their scope. The world building here in this post apocalyptic America is fantastic, everything detail is perfect. And the surprises and plot twists keep coming over & over.

So many secrets, lies misdirections and how sneaky decisions made years ago are still haunting the survivors in the present. I can't believe I'm just now reading this series-it is great storytelling.  Do not pass it up because it's billed as YA.  I can't wait to start reading book three!

Some people believe the Dystopian Craze is dying, that it has been overdone and we are all burnt out. Sometimes I begin to feel like I agree with them, thinking "Can't we just move on!" Then I read a book like Partials, and my hope for the dystopian genre is revived !

You ever have those times, when words don't come, and you want to start spouting off cliche overused lines? "Action packed Thrill ride!" "Roller-coaster of emotions!" "Gripping and addictive!'

hmm.. .wait. That about sums it up! >.<

Though I suppose I should give you more than just that, huh?

Partials is a story, that as a girl can hit you hard. The idea of being told. "You MUST get pregnant" at a certain age, one in many's eyes that is too young, frightens me. Knowing that, even if you do get pregnant, and come to term all fine and dandy, your baby will only live to take a few breaths, in a time period filled with being poked and prodded for tests. Could you do it? Kira knows the tests are not making a difference, that people are being forced to suffer this loss over and over again, with no forseen progress. So she takes action!

Kira doesn't take no for an answer, she is a character that I could relate to at times, and looked up to at others for her strength.

Now just because an intense part of this dystopian world is based around forced pregnancy and giving birth, that does NOT mean a guy couldn't love this book as much as I did. Did I mention it was an "Action packed thrill ride?"

Bombs, hand to hand combat, partials ( AKA Robots, Cyborgs, whatever you want to consider them ) and so much more. I can't lie, I'm not usually an action girl, Bombs are ho-hum to me and Robots are old school. Partials by Dan Wells has made me eat my words. I couldn't get enough of the intensity! I gripped my book, I held the book right up to my face eagerly awaiting the next page.

Then we have the Partials - think.. Battle Star Galactica ( If you haven't watched this show, and you like Sci Fi, you're missing out! ) Highly evolved robots, created to look just like us, used to help fight out battles. But what happens when the machine starts thinking for itself ? Don't look at me like it's not a possibility! Science is insane, and who knows what could happen, this is just one possible outcome of many,.

Eventually ( Not soon enough ) Kira meets Samm, or well.. Kidnaps him to use in experiments to find out if Partial DNA can help solve the RM problem. I didn't expect to like Samm, but he grew on me more and more through the story.

If I talk to much more I will get into spoiler ville, and we wouldn't want that now would we? let me just say this - The end will leave you REELING - A twist I didn't see coming, though; I haven't read very much sci fi, so who knows... maybe it's the norm lol.

Do I have you curious? Itching to pick up the book?

Reviews can be hard sometimes. I seriously LOVED this book. But sitting down to write this review, I don't feel as if I reviewed it at all, didn't give it justice. Maybe soon out of the blue, a better way of explaining the review will come to me, and I will give it a overhaul. But until then I shall just say: READ THIS BOOK.

Rating: 5/5

I love checking out what is new in YA SciFi/ Fantasy and I am always looking for stuff to hand off to my preteen kids. I have been listening to the Audible version while I fold laundry and do dishes. Stylistically this is a typical post apocalyptic futuristic read, and it isn’t perfect writing, but I just got to the part where Samm offers his “answer” and his sacrifice actually made me gasp. I wasn’t prepared for it, and my heart was touched. Which is really why we read. Bravo Dan Wells!

The story of Kira's quest to save both the Partials (who have an expiration date) and her human family/friends (who still can't have babies who survive without the Partial cure) heats up as Partials start to invade the former human refuge of Long Island and Kira finds herself trekking across crumbling cities, raging rivers, and toxic wastelands in search of the last missing puzzle pieces about who the Trust is, what her former foster mother Nandita did, and how everything ties together.

The non-stop action both frustrated and kept me enthralled. I still wanted more relationshipping and less scrambling through dangerous territory (and much less summary of the way people got from one place to another) and the ultimate secret goal regarding partials and humans that one faction of the Trust conspired to create was a bit obvious (and i kind of wanted to bonk Kira over the head that it took her so long to figure it out) but really, the book rocks.

Coolness in the way bits of leftover technology, empty stores, and submerged barges are used abound. Kira and Heron and Samm were already quite entertaining, but now we get the addition of crazy Afra as tech-enabler (although I am disappointed by Afra's ending, I felt he deserved more than that) and Marcus emerging as a force on his own to be reckoned with.

Readers who enjoy adventuring, cool post-apocalyptic landscapes, tech-fiddling, and light science in their stories will continue to enjoy Kira's adventures in this, the second installment.

This Book's Snack Rating: Salt and Vineger Kettle chips for the sturdier characterization in this 2nd book along with addictive action

THE GOOD:
Dan's descriptions are vivid, and his pacing is great. There's not really any slow part to this book, as he keeps plowing forward with a great combination of information, plot, and action. He leaves enough to keep you ready for a second book, but wraps up enough to not make you feel like, "Well, what the heck?" In that instance, I really liked it. He definitely has great world-building skills and you feel for Kira as she reveals each layer behind the secrets she never knew existed. Marcus was great and I absolutely loved Xochi. She was definitely my favorite character of the bunch, and also displayed the most true emotion, in my opinion.

THE BAD:
This is Mr. Wells' first foray into YA, and for me, it definitely shows. I felt as though this was an adult novel written with teenage characters. It wasn't bad, it just didn't feel as genuine YA as others I've read. There is a LOT of science behind his plot, so you need to be ready to truly pay attention to different parts of a virus, etc. to really understand what's going on. Also, the core of the story is that the human race is dying out. Every baby that is born, dies within days from a virus. For me, it just hit a little close to home, because I have a young son, so that part made me a little sad to read and imagine the loss I would have felt personally. Although, that can be a good thing, since Wells is illiciting emotion in his readers. Another issue I had was that I really didn't feel attached to many of the characters. At one point, Kira calls two soldiers "Skinny" and "Scruffy," and a lot of the characters felt like that to me - Medic #1, Senator #2, etc. I wanted to feel emotionally attached to characters. Kira says she loves Marcus, but I never really felt like she did, and then Samm...well, I wondered if anything would happen for a second, but then it didn't. Kira doesn't strike me as a girl that will stop for anyone, and I won't give spoilers, but I just felt like Kira didn't have too many hormones, and neither did anyone else. Perhaps it's because these teens had to grow up so quickly, and that would definitely attribute to it. I just didn't feel like this was a YA, and that's okay, but if that was his target audience, I felt like it missed the mark a little.

OVERALL:
It's not that this book was bad, so don't get me wrong there. It was a good read, and I enjoyed it. It just...wasn't what I was expecting. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't my favorite book, either. I'll read the sequel, which I'm assuming there will be one, but it won't be one that I run out to get, either. Maybe you'll have different feelings and you'll love it. It just wasn't my favorite I've read.

FAVORITE QUOTE:
"I've never been a real traditional guy," said Marcus. "Besides, I'm not saying I know a bright side, I just think this would be a good time to look at one."

Jayden raised his fist, and the group stopped walking.

"Jayden just heard a bright side," whispered Marcus. "There's an uplifting metaphor creeping through those bushes."

RATING: 3 of 5 Books

Really, really good book. First off, it was grittier than most YA is . . . it almost wasn't YA.

Kira is a 16 year old medic-in-training who is trying to figure out how to cure RM, a virus that almost completely obliterated the human race and infects every newborn, killing them within days. As a result, the youngest human alive is 14. The world Kira lives in is quite small. She and other humans are holed up on Long Island, with no outside contact, so they don't know if the rest of the world is still out there or not.

A war over a decade back started with Partials (part human part tech soldiers) rebelling against their masters. They then released the virus and killed off the humans. While Kira is doing her research, she realizes that the Partials are immune to the virus they engineered, so her next logical thought is to go find a Partial and test his blood to see if she can find a cure. Needless to say, no one else thinks this is a good idea, so she bucks the system and takes some friends to find a Partial, something that is easier than she expects. It turns out that maybe Partials aren't what they originally thought they were.

Amidst all the medical research, there are political overtones. In this sense, the book reminded me a bit of the Hunger Games. There is a lot going on politically and it all affects the storyline drastically. From the Hope Act, which forces girls 18 and over to get pregnant as often as possible in hopes of a healthy baby being born, to the Senate preventing potential peace treaties, there is no end to the intrigue.

Overall, this is a well written, meaty book. I was surprised at the level of detail described in the viral research areas, but it was simplified enough that anyone should be able to understand most of it. Everything is well developed and you get a very good sense of the world in the book, as well as the characters which are quite varied.

There are a few reasons this was almost not YA. There is no nervous teen, embarrassed about nudity or other inevitable things (it bugs me in a book where there are BIG things happening and the protagonist is horrified that she is naked and completely focused on her embarrassment instead of survival/helping others, etc. This book is NOT like that) or skirting around unpleasant subjects.

There is also a rather realistic portrayal of romance. None of this head-over-heels, OMG-I'll-do-anything-to-keep-you-near-me business. In fact, Kira and her boyfriend, Marcus, act like most of us after we've been in a relationship for a while, focused on other things besides the whole romance part of life. I liked that about the book. It may be because it was written by a man, but whatever the reason, I liked that it was closer to real life, something that really worked here.

This was an action-packed book right from the beginning. Events move quickly and the author does a great job incorporating background information into the action in a natural way. The writing was fairly standard for a good YA book, well done but not too complex. The protagonist, Kira, was one of my favorite YA characters ever. She has a very strong moral code and is willing to act in accordance with her beliefs even if no one else agrees with her. She's also a great leader, capable of bringing other people together. I think her ethics, leadership abilities, and intelligence are what make her special, which made her a lot more relatable for me than a heroine who suddenly discovers super powers of some variety. She managed to be the driving force for change in this book, without unrealistically doing everything herself.

I also enjoyed the complexity of the ethical questions raised by the plot, including everything from reproductive rights to the question of what makes us human. I feel like many dystopians are more black and white, while this book definitely reflected the shades of gray present in the real world. The science included in the book added another interesting layer to the story and was handled pretty well. You never get bogged down in the details and the information that was provided didn't contradict any of the science I'm familiar with. Based on my recent read of Physics of the Future, the science is beyond anything we're likely to have in the next 100 years, but it could definitely happen some day. Finally, the ending was just enough of a cliff hanger to feel satisfying but still leave me counting the days until the sequel, Fragments, comes out next month.

Lately I've been interested in a lot of different types of books-ones I previously never would have cast a second glance at. Partials is one of those books. A year ago I never would have dreamed of reading a post-apocalyptic book about engineered organic beings! I'm glad that I've started to broaden my interests as Partials was a great read and shouldn't be missed!

The first part of the book was extremely slow paced for me however. It explains quite a bit about why the world is in the disarray that it is, and of Kira and her family. You will learn a lot of the characters in the first section which is good because at least they are well developed. Kira is the main character and she was an incredibly strong minded, positive, female character. I felt there was something missing though, like there was more to her that wasn't being said. And I certainly found out why in the third part of the book but I won't reveal that as that will spoil everything!

The second part of the book was much more fast paced and to be honest, I was reading this for a read a long and did an awful job with keeping to the schedule! I just wanted to keep reading-which I did! We are also introduced to Maxx in the second part, a partial. I know the story is designed to make you hate Partials but I immediately fell in love with him! I really liked how he had a soft spot for Kira and eventually started to give her answers.

The third part of the book is extremely fast paced and you won't be able to put it down. I can't reveal anything about it because the entire third section would be spoiler after to spoiler!

Dan Wells is a fantastic writer and he does an excellent job of weaving you into a story you won't be able to put down.

I can't wait till the second book

Where do I even begin? Partials ruffled my feathers so much, I'm surprised I have any left. I can't even pinpoint what exactly made this book brilliant, but I do know that it kept me up until 4am since I couldn't bear to put it down. Kira Walker is a 16 year old intern in the maternity ward, who has yet to see a newborn live for longer than a few days. No one has for years. When her friend becomes pregnant, thanks to the Hope Act which makes it mandatory to conceive when you're 18, Kira makes it her mission to find an impossible cure for RM. How will she succeed when so many experts have tried and failed?

Partials is an exciting and action-packed sci-fi read that I fell in love with immediately. Some may say it's slow to start, due to the detailed explanations, but I loved the world development. 11 years after the Break, it's 2076 and there are only 40 000 humans left. A violent rebel group has been born in response to the barbaric Hope Act and the citizens live in fear of a partial attack. Partials were engineered years ago to fight the humans' war, stronger and smarter than any man, before they turned against their creators and almost wiped out the entire world. Add in the RM virus and its mysterious link to the partials and we have one hell of a story. Wells doesn't shy away from the scientific aspect of sci-fi and I can honestly say that this is one of the most exciting books I've ever read, with its plentiful and heart-racing twists!

Unlike so many young adult books, Partials does not focus on the romance, nor does it try to create one in an obvious manner. Subtlety is key! In the beginning, Kira is already in an established relationship with Marcus Valencio and I enjoyed exploring their bond on multiple levels. I felt like I understood the two well as a couple, even in the short time that they were actually together. I loved Kira as a character! Just as a heroine should be, she's intelligent, brave, loyal and, dare I say, a little stubborn? I think many people will be impressed by the way she handles everything that's thrown at her in this book. Sure, she may sometimes rush into situations but you've got to admire her serious brains.

I'm going to be brief here because I don't want to spoil a single thing, but Kira takes it upon herself to kidnap a partial to study. They're terrifying creatures, as we know next to nothing about them, and I'm guessing I wasn't the only one who stopped breathing whenever Kira had to get close! The highlight of this book is definitely the partials themselves. They harbour many secrets and Kira's interaction with the one she catches is priceless. Don't even get me started on the crazy conspiracy theories that were flying around my head while reading! The partials constantly threw my feelings of disbelief, sympathy and excitement around in a tumble dryer, but there was always a stream of "OMG" looping through my mind.

I must reiterate how addictive the mysteries are throughout this book. Just when we think we've got it figured out, Wells hits us with another bombshell. Other times, we have many bits of information but just can't figure out how they all piece together! What's the key to solving the RM puzzle? Who are the true villains - the partials, the Voice or the government? Who can Kira trust? Partials is a genuine edge-of-your-seat read. Killer partials sneak around with their scary masks and had me screaming "RUN AWAY!" more than once! Wells is a genius and I am so looking forward to reading the sequel after the serious game-changing ending. A truly addictive read, Partials is not one to be missed!

I've been on apocalyptic trip lately; I think the last 5 YA books that I have reviewed have been an "after the world ends" novel. This will be the last one in this category for a little bit I think. I enjoyed Partials, but it was way longer than it needed to be.

Summary: Kira is a medic working in the maternity ward. She's only been there for a little while and has already seen the death of several babies. Since the Partial war and the release of the plague virus RM, new births have not been possible. The only survivors have some immunity to RM, but the babies do not. The council is doing all that they can to increase the chances of survival for the human species, but their actions have consequences. The HOPE act has been put into place forcing all women over the age of 18 to become pregnant as often as possible. This has caused unrest in the community, and a new group called the Voice has begun to rebel. As the council begins to contemplate lowering the age of pregnancy to 16, the Voice pushes harder blowing up buildings and generally causing unrest. Kira also has an idea on how to research a new cure for RM. She wants to go into New York city and capture a Partial to test on. Backing up slightly, a partial is a manufactured humanoid that was developed to be a war machine. They look exactly like a human, but are virtually unstoppable. After their job was done in the war, they ended up turning against humans and causing the Partial war. At this time, RM was released and wiped out most of the human race. Fast forwarding again, Kira and a group of friends travel to Manhattan to get a test subject to cure RM and save the human race.

My thoughts: I already said this, but this book was REALLY long. Overall, it was not that there was a lot of pages, it just seemed like there were several story lines that were introduced and then solved. I am very certain that this is going to be a serial book, so why shove so much in the first one? Kira is a likeable character. She is very intelligent and trusting. I like the fact that she reveals prejudice and fights against it. I think that is a very positive message throughout the book. I don't like how the adults are all bad or killed off. Any time that a new adult was brought up, you could bet that they were evil or going to die. After the first couple of pages, this was evident.

----SPOILER ALERT----
I wanted the book to end once the kids escape with the Partial. I felt like that was a natural end to all of the adventures that they had gone through. Then, the development of the activities that happen with the other Partials could have been detailed within their own book. I would have liked to have more insight into the Partial world once Kira is captured, but if it was incorporated into this book it would have been upwards of 700 pages. This is really what drew me away from the second part of the book. There were just too many beginnings and ends for me.

It has been 11 years since the world changed completely. Kira was a small child when the Partials destroyed most of the human population. She has grown up in a world of fear and strict rules, a world in which children grow up far too quickly and are expected to marry early in an effort to produce a baby immune to the virus that is going to mean the end of all humans. Teens cannot be teens like they were in the old world and although they still like a good party and they really enjoy listening to music on old iPods, every human has a job to do to make the new society work.

Kira's skills are in medical research. She grows more determined that she knows of a way to immunize against the virus and to save every newborn from an early death. She enlists the help of her friends to go on a quest to help kidnap a Partial so that she can prove her theories.

Lo and behold, chaos ensues, secrets are revealed, and Kira finds out that the world is not quite the way she has been told it is.

Let me just say that I truly enjoyed this story. I agree with some other reviewers that some of the details could be left out without affecting the overall story, but I think the plot is interesting, and I really like the characters. I love the YA trend of creating such strong young heroines, and Kira fits the bill. This is a book that left me wanting more, and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Partials was okay. I really had to stick with it and not give up. The 1st 150 pages were all boring nonsense. I almost stopped reading it, but I kept going and it got better. I think what bothered me the most was that there wasn't enough of a background on this world these partials & humans live in. If the beginning had gone into great detail explaining the wars, the partials, how the humans came to be on the Island, and more it would've been much more interesting in the beginning. That didn't happen, though, and I was floundering for bits and pieces of details I never got.

That being said, things eventually got more interesting, more questions were answered, more questions popped up. There was action and excitement once I got past the boring parts.

I recommend this book if you're patient. I had it loaned to me from my library, and I'm glad I didn't buy it. I'll read the next book because it was also loaned to me, but I'm taking a short break because this book exhausted me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Previously, I had never read anything remotely like Mira Grant's Newsflesh series. I found this to be an unfortunate fact, as I have found those to be some of the best books I have ever read. Partials bears the closest resemblance, at least tangentially, to Feed and Deadline of all the books I've read. In case you do not know of my love for this series, let me break it down for you: this is a very good thing. Here are some of the things these novels have in common: The novel is set in the post-apocalyptic remnants of a world trashed by a virus. The remaining society is dystopian and built on fear. Politics end up playing an important role. The novel ends up getting really science-y. And things are not always what you expect.

The society in which Kira lives is a tough one. From the outset, Dan Wells presents the reader with a world in which women are forced to become pregnant in a timely manner under the Hope Act. Not only that, but the infants are all but guaranteed to die shortly after birth. After all, the point of the Hope Act legislation was to provide a high enough population sample that perhaps a genetic anomaly would eventually pop up, affording resistance to that infant. From there, perhaps a cure could finally be developed for the other babies. Thus it is the invariable responsibility for all women of age to get pregnant as soon as they can, and as often as they can. Additionally, all survivors on Long Island live in constant fear of the Partials, whom they blame for the more than decimation of the human race. Salvage runs out into the surrounding ruins are risky, but necessary to obtain supplies for the survivors.

Kira, a young medic, fears that they will never find a cure for the virus. However, when her best friend becomes pregnant, she becomes desperate and willing to take matters into her own hands. What results is a thrilling battle to the finish line to develop a cure. What Kira learns along the way about humans, the Partials, and herself alike leave her and the reader grappling for the truth. How can she stop impending civil war when she doesn't truly understand the origins?

I'd recommend this book very highly to fans of post-apocalyptic science fiction and dystopian thrillers. This novel deals with some interesting issues, but it does so in an action-packed, science-filled, political gambit, pulse-pounding way that I've never read anything like it before (except for, as I said before, Mira Grant's Newsflesh series). If it sounds up your alley, give it a try. You won't regret it!

I'm going to make a shocking confession here... I'd never read a dystopian book before picking up Partials, but I'd heard so many good things about the dystopian novels out there that I wanted to give one a try. Since Harper Collins rarely lets me down, I decided this would be as good a book as any to start with. However, I did not enjoy this book, and that has nothing to do with the writing or the plot... After I read this book, I looked into other dystopian books as well, just to compare, and I discovered that I just do not like this genre of literature. Because of that, I didn't rate this book as highly as I should have if my rating had been based on simply the writing. But since this is my place to say what I think about books, I allowed myself to be a bit subjective. That being said, I've rated this book higher than I would have the other dystopian books I attempted to read.

Wells is terrific at world-building. Through his elaborate descriptions, I could picture exactly what a dystopian society would look like. The anthropologist in me reveled in that, and I truly enjoyed that aspect of the book. Also, the action was intense and suspenseful. I was kept on the edge of my seat throughout most of this novel. That was another aspect I enjoyed. I spent the whole time, not worrying about romantic relationships (like I usually do with books), but instead worrying about the fate of the world. Will humans and/or Partials survive? If they both survive, what will happen to them? Can Kira find a cure for RM? Who is guilty, the Partials or the humans? How innocent is Samm really? Those are the types of questions that kept running through my head during this novel. It was an intense experience. The reason I decided I don't like dystopian novels, though, is because they are so depressing! I know, that's kind of a vital part of the definition of dystopian. I know the world is supposed to be post-apocalyptic and barren and not a happy place. The thought of that just made me sad, though. The rigid laws of the society made me feel an intense sympathy for these characters, and they didn't even know that the way they were living was sad. That made me sadder. Yea, I'm a pansy, what can I say?

I really liked Kira. She is an inspiration. Living in this depressing, oppressing world, where no one will find the cure for a disease that's killing off the few remaining humans, Kira steps up and takes matters into her own hands. She's incredibly grown up for a 16 year old, but if a 16-year-old-me had seen all that she saw throughout the book, then I probably would have been incredibly grown up as well. Somehow, though, this depressing society didn't completely kill Kira's ambition and compassion, and when she had seen enough babies die of this disease, she set out to do something about it. Go Kira!

Samm was an interesting character, and he really complicated the plot. I liked that, and I liked him. I've never encountered the idea of Partials, so it was interesting to get to know him and see what a part-human, part-machine creature may be like. Wells did a terrific job with Samm's character.

There wasn't much romance in this book, and the characters aren't that emotional. While I admired and liked most of the characters, I couldn't exactly relate to them or feel anything other than sympathy for them. However, after reading a few dystopian novels for comparison, I've noticed that's just par for the course. While the writing, plot, pacing, and character development of this book was top notch, I think I'll be sticking with my paranormal books that aren't as depressing. I know that a lot of people like dystopian novels, and if you do, then you do not want to miss this book. This seems to be one of the best dystopian books out there.

This was an action-packed book right from the beginning. Events move quickly and the author does a great job incorporating background information into the action in a natural way. The writing was fairly standard for a good YA book, well done but not too complex. The protagonist, Kira, was one of my favorite YA characters ever. She has a very strong moral code and is willing to act in accordance with her beliefs even if no one else agrees with her. She's also a great leader, capable of bringing other people together. I think her ethics, leadership abilities, and intelligence are what make her special, which made her a lot more relatable for me than a heroine who suddenly discovers super powers of some variety. She managed to be the driving force for change in this book, without unrealistically doing everything herself.

I also enjoyed the complexity of the ethical questions raised by the plot, including everything from reproductive rights to the question of what makes us human. I feel like many dystopians are more black and white, while this book definitely reflected the shades of gray present in the real world. The science included in the book added another interesting layer to the story and was handled pretty well. You never get bogged down in the details and the information that was provided didn't contradict any of the science I'm familiar with. Based on my recent read of Physics of the Future, the science is beyond anything we're likely to have in the next 100 years, but it could definitely happen some day. Finally, the ending was just enough of a cliff hanger to feel satisfying but still leave me counting the days until the sequel, Fragments, comes out next month.

Lately I've been interested in a lot of different types of books-ones I previously never would have cast a second glance at. Partials is one of those books. A year ago I never would have dreamed of reading a post-apocalyptic book about engineered organic beings! I'm glad that I've started to broaden my interests as Partials was a great read and shouldn't be missed!

The first part of the book was extremely slow paced for me however. It explains quite a bit about why the world is in the disarray that it is, and of Kira and her family. You will learn a lot of the characters in the first section which is good because at least they are well developed. Kira is the main character and she was an incredibly strong minded, positive, female character. I felt there was something missing though, like there was more to her that wasn't being said. And I certainly found out why in the third part of the book but I won't reveal that as that will spoil everything!

The second part of the book was much more fast paced and to be honest, I was reading this for a read a long and did an awful job with keeping to the schedule! I just wanted to keep reading-which I did! We are also introduced to Maxx in the second part, a partial. I know the story is designed to make you hate Partials but I immediately fell in love with him! I really liked how he had a soft spot for Kira and eventually started to give her answers.

The third part of the book is extremely fast paced and you won't be able to put it down. I can't reveal anything about it because the entire third section would be spoiler after to spoiler!

Dan Wells is a fantastic writer and he does an excellent job of weaving you into a story you won't be able to put down.

I can't wait till the second book

Where do I even begin? Partials ruffled my feathers so much, I'm surprised I have any left. I can't even pinpoint what exactly made this book brilliant, but I do know that it kept me up until 4am since I couldn't bear to put it down. Kira Walker is a 16 year old intern in the maternity ward, who has yet to see a newborn live for longer than a few days. No one has for years. When her friend becomes pregnant, thanks to the Hope Act which makes it mandatory to conceive when you're 18, Kira makes it her mission to find an impossible cure for RM. How will she succeed when so many experts have tried and failed?

Partials is an exciting and action-packed sci-fi read that I fell in love with immediately. Some may say it's slow to start, due to the detailed explanations, but I loved the world development. 11 years after the Break, it's 2076 and there are only 40 000 humans left. A violent rebel group has been born in response to the barbaric Hope Act and the citizens live in fear of a partial attack. Partials were engineered years ago to fight the humans' war, stronger and smarter than any man, before they turned against their creators and almost wiped out the entire world. Add in the RM virus and its mysterious link to the partials and we have one hell of a story. Wells doesn't shy away from the scientific aspect of sci-fi and I can honestly say that this is one of the most exciting books I've ever read, with its plentiful and heart-racing twists!

Unlike so many young adult books, Partials does not focus on the romance, nor does it try to create one in an obvious manner. Subtlety is key! In the beginning, Kira is already in an established relationship with Marcus Valencio and I enjoyed exploring their bond on multiple levels. I felt like I understood the two well as a couple, even in the short time that they were actually together. I loved Kira as a character! Just as a heroine should be, she's intelligent, brave, loyal and, dare I say, a little stubborn? I think many people will be impressed by the way she handles everything that's thrown at her in this book. Sure, she may sometimes rush into situations but you've got to admire her serious brains.

I'm going to be brief here because I don't want to spoil a single thing, but Kira takes it upon herself to kidnap a partial to study. They're terrifying creatures, as we know next to nothing about them, and I'm guessing I wasn't the only one who stopped breathing whenever Kira had to get close! The highlight of this book is definitely the partials themselves. They harbour many secrets and Kira's interaction with the one she catches is priceless. Don't even get me started on the crazy conspiracy theories that were flying around my head while reading! The partials constantly threw my feelings of disbelief, sympathy and excitement around in a tumble dryer, but there was always a stream of "OMG" looping through my mind.

I must reiterate how addictive the mysteries are throughout this book. Just when we think we've got it figured out, Wells hits us with another bombshell. Other times, we have many bits of information but just can't figure out how they all piece together! What's the key to solving the RM puzzle? Who are the true villains - the partials, the Voice or the government? Who can Kira trust? Partials is a genuine edge-of-your-seat read. Killer partials sneak around with their scary masks and had me screaming "RUN AWAY!" more than once! Wells is a genius and I am so looking forward to reading the sequel after the serious game-changing ending. A truly addictive read, Partials is not one to be missed!

I've been on apocalyptic trip lately; I think the last 5 YA books that I have reviewed have been an "after the world ends" novel. This will be the last one in this category for a little bit I think. I enjoyed Partials, but it was way longer than it needed to be.

Summary: Kira is a medic working in the maternity ward. She's only been there for a little while and has already seen the death of several babies. Since the Partial war and the release of the plague virus RM, new births have not been possible. The only survivors have some immunity to RM, but the babies do not. The council is doing all that they can to increase the chances of survival for the human species, but their actions have consequences. The HOPE act has been put into place forcing all women over the age of 18 to become pregnant as often as possible. This has caused unrest in the community, and a new group called the Voice has begun to rebel. As the council begins to contemplate lowering the age of pregnancy to 16, the Voice pushes harder blowing up buildings and generally causing unrest. Kira also has an idea on how to research a new cure for RM. She wants to go into New York city and capture a Partial to test on. Backing up slightly, a partial is a manufactured humanoid that was developed to be a war machine. They look exactly like a human, but are virtually unstoppable. After their job was done in the war, they ended up turning against humans and causing the Partial war. At this time, RM was released and wiped out most of the human race. Fast forwarding again, Kira and a group of friends travel to Manhattan to get a test subject to cure RM and save the human race.

My thoughts: I already said this, but this book was REALLY long. Overall, it was not that there was a lot of pages, it just seemed like there were several story lines that were introduced and then solved. I am very certain that this is going to be a serial book, so why shove so much in the first one? Kira is a likeable character. She is very intelligent and trusting. I like the fact that she reveals prejudice and fights against it. I think that is a very positive message throughout the book. I don't like how the adults are all bad or killed off. Any time that a new adult was brought up, you could bet that they were evil or going to die. After the first couple of pages, this was evident.

----SPOILER ALERT----
I wanted the book to end once the kids escape with the Partial. I felt like that was a natural end to all of the adventures that they had gone through. Then, the development of the activities that happen with the other Partials could have been detailed within their own book. I would have liked to have more insight into the Partial world once Kira is captured, but if it was incorporated into this book it would have been upwards of 700 pages. This is really what drew me away from the second part of the book. There were just too many beginnings and ends for me.

It has been 11 years since the world changed completely. Kira was a small child when the Partials destroyed most of the human population. She has grown up in a world of fear and strict rules, a world in which children grow up far too quickly and are expected to marry early in an effort to produce a baby immune to the virus that is going to mean the end of all humans. Teens cannot be teens like they were in the old world and although they still like a good party and they really enjoy listening to music on old iPods, every human has a job to do to make the new society work.

Kira's skills are in medical research. She grows more determined that she knows of a way to immunize against the virus and to save every newborn from an early death. She enlists the help of her friends to go on a quest to help kidnap a Partial so that she can prove her theories.

Lo and behold, chaos ensues, secrets are revealed, and Kira finds out that the world is not quite the way she has been told it is.

Let me just say that I truly enjoyed this story. I agree with some other reviewers that some of the details could be left out without affecting the overall story, but I think the plot is interesting, and I really like the characters. I love the YA trend of creating such strong young heroines, and Kira fits the bill. This is a book that left me wanting more, and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Partials was okay. I really had to stick with it and not give up. The 1st 150 pages were all boring nonsense. I almost stopped reading it, but I kept going and it got better. I think what bothered me the most was that there wasn't enough of a background on this world these partials & humans live in. If the beginning had gone into great detail explaining the wars, the partials, how the humans came to be on the Island, and more it would've been much more interesting in the beginning. That didn't happen, though, and I was floundering for bits and pieces of details I never got.

That being said, things eventually got more interesting, more questions were answered, more questions popped up. There was action and excitement once I got past the boring parts.

I recommend this book if you're patient. I had it loaned to me from my library, and I'm glad I didn't buy it. I'll read the next book because it was also loaned to me, but I'm taking a short break because this book exhausted me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Previously, I had never read anything remotely like Mira Grant's Newsflesh series. I found this to be an unfortunate fact, as I have found those to be some of the best books I have ever read. Partials bears the closest resemblance, at least tangentially, to Feed and Deadline of all the books I've read. In case you do not know of my love for this series, let me break it down for you: this is a very good thing. Here are some of the things these novels have in common: The novel is set in the post-apocalyptic remnants of a world trashed by a virus. The remaining society is dystopian and built on fear. Politics end up playing an important role. The novel ends up getting really science-y. And things are not always what you expect.

The society in which Kira lives is a tough one. From the outset, Dan Wells presents the reader with a world in which women are forced to become pregnant in a timely manner under the Hope Act. Not only that, but the infants are all but guaranteed to die shortly after birth. After all, the point of the Hope Act legislation was to provide a high enough population sample that perhaps a genetic anomaly would eventually pop up, affording resistance to that infant. From there, perhaps a cure could finally be developed for the other babies. Thus it is the invariable responsibility for all women of age to get pregnant as soon as they can, and as often as they can. Additionally, all survivors on Long Island live in constant fear of the Partials, whom they blame for the more than decimation of the human race. Salvage runs out into the surrounding ruins are risky, but necessary to obtain supplies for the survivors.

Kira, a young medic, fears that they will never find a cure for the virus. However, when her best friend becomes pregnant, she becomes desperate and willing to take matters into her own hands. What results is a thrilling battle to the finish line to develop a cure. What Kira learns along the way about humans, the Partials, and herself alike leave her and the reader grappling for the truth. How can she stop impending civil war when she doesn't truly understand the origins?

I'd recommend this book very highly to fans of post-apocalyptic science fiction and dystopian thrillers. This novel deals with some interesting issues, but it does so in an action-packed, science-filled, political gambit, pulse-pounding way that I've never read anything like it before (except for, as I said before, Mira Grant's Newsflesh series). If it sounds up your alley, give it a try. You won't regret it!

I'm going to make a shocking confession here... I'd never read a dystopian book before picking up Partials, but I'd heard so many good things about the dystopian novels out there that I wanted to give one a try. Since Harper Collins rarely lets me down, I decided this would be as good a book as any to start with. However, I did not enjoy this book, and that has nothing to do with the writing or the plot... After I read this book, I looked into other dystopian books as well, just to compare, and I discovered that I just do not like this genre of literature. Because of that, I didn't rate this book as highly as I should have if my rating had been based on simply the writing. But since this is my place to say what I think about books, I allowed myself to be a bit subjective. That being said, I've rated this book higher than I would have the other dystopian books I attempted to read.

Wells is terrific at world-building. Through his elaborate descriptions, I could picture exactly what a dystopian society would look like. The anthropologist in me reveled in that, and I truly enjoyed that aspect of the book. Also, the action was intense and suspenseful. I was kept on the edge of my seat throughout most of this novel. That was another aspect I enjoyed. I spent the whole time, not worrying about romantic relationships (like I usually do with books), but instead worrying about the fate of the world. Will humans and/or Partials survive? If they both survive, what will happen to them? Can Kira find a cure for RM? Who is guilty, the Partials or the humans? How innocent is Samm really? Those are the types of questions that kept running through my head during this novel. It was an intense experience. The reason I decided I don't like dystopian novels, though, is because they are so depressing! I know, that's kind of a vital part of the definition of dystopian. I know the world is supposed to be post-apocalyptic and barren and not a happy place. The thought of that just made me sad, though. The rigid laws of the society made me feel an intense sympathy for these characters, and they didn't even know that the way they were living was sad. That made me sadder. Yea, I'm a pansy, what can I say?

I really liked Kira. She is an inspiration. Living in this depressing, oppressing world, where no one will find the cure for a disease that's killing off the few remaining humans, Kira steps up and takes matters into her own hands. She's incredibly grown up for a 16 year old, but if a 16-year-old-me had seen all that she saw throughout the book, then I probably would have been incredibly grown up as well. Somehow, though, this depressing society didn't completely kill Kira's ambition and compassion, and when she had seen enough babies die of this disease, she set out to do something about it. Go Kira!

Samm was an interesting character, and he really complicated the plot. I liked that, and I liked him. I've never encountered the idea of Partials, so it was interesting to get to know him and see what a part-human, part-machine creature may be like. Wells did a terrific job with Samm's character.

There wasn't much romance in this book, and the characters aren't that emotional. While I admired and liked most of the characters, I couldn't exactly relate to them or feel anything other than sympathy for them. However, after reading a few dystopian novels for comparison, I've noticed that's just par for the course. While the writing, plot, pacing, and character development of this book was top notch, I think I'll be sticking with my paranormal books that aren't as depressing. I know that a lot of people like dystopian novels, and if you do, then you do not want to miss this book. This seems to be one of the best dystopian books out there.

Dan Wells's Partials is how a post-apocalyptic, dystopian novel should be. Not only is Partials entertaining, but left me questioning about what it means to be human. Wells creates a riveting story, packed with realistic multi-dimensional characters, heart-pounding action, and suspense that will leave you wanting more. Wells knows how to build a word while telling a captivating story. Partials is the sci-fi book for people that don't read sci-fi.

A brilliant dystopian novel always leaves me with introspective questions, and Partials did just that. Partials left me thinking about the ethics behind man-made humanity and what makes the Partials "scary" (as opposed to just another ethic group, who just happens to be gifted with extra strength and health); if Partials are stronger, healthier, and are just like humans aside from a few differences in DNA, then why don't we all become Partials already? If everyone had super strength (through steroids or something), then the Partials would not be feared, right?

Plot:
Sixteen year old medic, Kira Walker is one of the forty thousand lucky survivors of The Break eleven years ago in Long Island. A deadly virus has wiped out not only the rest of the population but any hope for rebuilding it for the virus also affects newborns. In a desperate attempt to preserve the species, teenagers are to be impregnated like cattle incessantly in hopes of having one lucky survivor.
However, the virus is not their only worry. The Partials, a group of man-made genetically modified beings made for military reasons, is an impending threat. They are stronger, healthier, and immune to the virus. Kira sets off on a journey to find them and to find a cure for the virus that obliterated humanity--only to find some secrets she rather not know.

Dystopian World:
Partials felt like a dystopian novel with their flawed government which would do quite well as a PR company. Even though calling the society an "utopia" would be stretching it since there are riots, and women are forced to breed. But being one of the few people left on the world, you don't have to pay for anything. Since the population is borderline extinct, your health (especially if you are pregnant) is valued. You don't need to worry about paying for clothes since you can just go to your favorite, abandoned store and grab whatever you desire (I know I would head straight to the Apple store to grab a few IPads and IPhones). If you think going to a store is too troublesome, just go next door; if the house is empty, the previous owners are probably dead, so you might as well take their stuff and their house too if you are inclined. Ok, there's that problem with electricity, and no cars...but traveling by horseback sounds fun too.

Sci-fi:
I'm a Science-fiction fan, but even for those who aren't, Partials keeps the fancy scientific stuff to a minimum: enough for explanations, but not so much that you end up lost. To be honest, despite my best efforts, I glazed over the science stuff. Something about several forms of the virus that transforms into a blob, and something about canceling out the virus with pheromones. Since Science isn't one of my strengths, and Kira is the medic, I will just take her word for it.

Characters:
Whenever Kira is with a group of people, I get extremely confused. So many of them get introduced, only to disappear...or reappear later, but by then I've already forgot who they are. The characters are what makes the story "young adult." Even if they are all teenagers, they have jobs, and their own houses--like children who are desperately trying to be an "adult." At one point they try to fight for the right to be tried as an "adult." But while they are given "adult" responsibilities, their logic is a too rash, and feels naive.

Kira: I am conflicted about her. I can't say I like her, but she did feel real. She is too naive, and drags people with her stupidity, but perhaps her positivity is what gives her peers hope. She is young, naive, but she has an abundance of luck. I have to admire her fearlessness. Rather than liking her, it's more accurate to say I am intrigued with her. I wish she had more opportunity to show off her capabilities as a fighter, I expected more from a girl trained to use a gun at eight years old.

Marcus: Even as Kira's boyfriend, he is set up to be unlikable. He isn't the perfect boyfriend who goes along with his girlfriend...and I admired him for it, though I can see others disliking him (it definitely makes his love proclamations seem less meaningful.) Boyfriends are not obligated go along with their girlfriend's stupid ideas. But he holds on to traditional beliefs and is eager to marry Kira, protect her, and live happily ever after minding their own business.

Romance:
Not much romance going on. There's kissing, and love proclamations...but there's no fancy metaphors about the beauty of one's eyes. Kira has a boyfriend, Marcus, but while they claim to love each other, even that sounds too forced coming from two young teenagers who are probably each other's first love.

Pace:
It took about a third of the book before the book really picks up. I think my eyes were going to fall out from the first hundred or so pages, but it got TONS better as the story progresses, and the action starts happening. By the ending third, I couldn't put it down even when my eyes were about to fall out of their sockets from staying up too late.

3 stars

For me Partials was somewhat hard to get in to. Don't get me wrong, it is well written and has an interesting story. The plot is well thought out and the setting is dismal and desolate, perfect for a YA dystopian novel. Plenty of death and violence, also perfect for a YA dystopian novel. I just could not seem to connect with the MC's. At least not the kind of connection where I get lost in the story and realize that hours have past and I just finished the book. Maybe Partials is a little too cerebral. This book is chalked full of medical terms and procedures and I tend to skim past a lot of the technical stuff.

Partials is a solid 3 stars. It is a good book, not terrible but not great. I fully plan on reading books 2 (Fragments) and 3 (Ruins). But I am not rushing out to buy them. My TBR list is very long and, well... I'll get to them sooner or later.

What I Liked: 1) Kira. Kira was an intelligent, curious, caring girl. So many MCs have one or two of these qualities, but I love how curious she was about everything. That's not something that I think is celebrated enough in YA literature, so I loved seeing that in her. She was also written very well, very likeable, and I think a lot of people will be able to relate to her. 2) Science! With a book like this, where there are so many things that are different than the world that we live in, I always wonder how did they get from here to this future place. Well, it's not all explained here in Partials, but some of the medical science is. We hear from Kira about the machines she's using to run tests, and even some of the machines that they used to have (aka, the ones we use today) and how the knowledge of how to use them is completely gone. They don't even have the internet, so it's not like they can google it! 3) Questions. You'll have more questions at the end of this book than answers. That didn't bother me so much with this one, because it's a very in-depth story. There are a lot of details and a lot of things you have to understand in order to kind of understand what's going on. I really enjoyed how in depth the plot went. 4) Pacing. Even with the level of detail, the plot moved steadily along. It held my interest really well, to the point of I was sad when I had to put a bookmark in it to go do something else. Like brush my teeth or shower.

What I Didn't Like: The hardest thing is to figure out what exactly a "Partial" is. And I don't think that was on purpose. In the summary here it says "identical to humans" but if you didn't read that, (which I didn't) then you are a little lost for most of the book. Since I tend to visualize things pretty completely, having that kind of confusion interrupts the flow for me.

Overall thoughts: Partials is a plot-driven story, heavy on the details and with a main character that you can't help but like. The mystery is woven through it so intricately that you won't even realize you're overwhelmed with questions until you start getting the answers. Partials is a fantastic dystopian that fans of the genre will definitely enjoy!

When does book 2 come out? Anyone know? HA! Going to have to wait a bit for book 2 since this one hasn't been out very long. But I guess you can tell that I liked it.

At the beginning of Partials, Kira and Marcus are already together. On the one hand, it was a different experience to jump into a book with an already established relationship. And you know me, I like different. I revel in different. And perhaps under different circumstances I might have loved jumping into the middle of their relationship. However, I just kind of didn't. I'm not sure if it was the building of the relationship that was really missing or the fact that for a large chunk of the book Marcus is MIA, but overall, I felt a general lack of attachment to his character's relationship with Kira. It could be that had I been able to experience the beginning of their relationship--where they initially fall in love--I would have felt more attached to him and thus them as a couple. But instead Kira and Marcus have one of those relationships that has been for just about always--at least for about as long as they've known each other. And we all know how sometimes those relationships need a good stir. Sometimes they need to be reminded of why they love each other, and sometimes they need to realize that there's so much more out there than what they have. It could have also been that we just don't get to spend enough one on one time with Marcus and Kira, I'm not sure. And while Kira and Marcus repeatedly declare their love for one another, I'm left...well...unconvinced. I've got questions in my head about where this is headed and how it's going to turn out, but I'll let you read it and raise your own questions.

Partials is not a "funny" book by any means, but Marcus still made me actually laugh out loud--a rarity but I do so love when that happens. I won't spoil that for you either, but I will say that it involves maintaining control over his bladder functions. -"YAY" for him and "YAY" for Dan Wells.

I enjoyed Kira's character. Kira desperately wants a better future for her world. She's willing to do whatever is in her power to effect change in her world. She creates the change she wishes to see in her world. Yet another strong, independent, capable female lead. She's a medic. She goes on scavenger trips. She decides she's personally responsible for finding a cure to this awful virus plaguing their newborn babies and their world. She breaks the law. She carries a rifle (and uses it). She's not scared to attack and hopefully capture the enemy and thus perform lab tests and experiments upon him for the sole purpose of finding this cure. She forces herself to run on a recently burned leg. She breaks into places and breaks out of places. She's smart, brave, purpose-driven, and compassionate. And this is only the beginning. Never a victim, Kira repeats over and over to herself that she is stronger than her trials. (If there's one thing I can't stand, it's the victim mentality.) Kudos Kira!

And yet I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of Partials. It's a highly suggested read. 4.5 Stars. Check it out!

I'm a big fan of dystopian and apocalyptic literature and have read quite a few YA novels that fit into this genre. I was excited to finally get around to Partials as it seemed to have all the elements of a good post-apocalyptic novel. It has a good strong lead character, a rag tag bunch of human survivors and a mostly unseen enemy that threatens the survival of the human race. The problem is, this story just didn't have much else. There's not a lot here that's new and interesting, as if the author was writing to a set formula and didn't want to stray too far away from the model.

Pacing seems to be this novel's worst enemy. It drags in places, suffering from a sometimes endless use of description that doesn't seem to add much to the world building. It zips along in others, often when I found myself craving a bit more development. By the end, I was getting very frustrated, just wanting this over-long story to be done.

Aside from needing a good edit, there was nothing wrong with this entry into the dystopian/apocalyptic genre. There just wasn't a whole lot right with it. I brought this home from the library along with its sequel, Fragments. I returned them both with absolutely no urge to read Fragments. I just didn't care enough to invest the time in a story that was just okay.

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: With the last of the human race trapped on Long Island and rapidly going extinct, Wells explores the lengths society will go to for survival and control. This post-apocalypse sci-fi is a face paced read with an engaging heroine.

Opening Sentence: Newborn #485GA18M died June 30, 2076, at 6:07 in the morning.

The Review:

Eleven years after the RM virus was released, what's left of humanity is trapped on Long Island. Trapped, because leaving the island puts them into enemy territory-enemies they created. The Partials are super-soldiers, genetically engineered killing machines, that were created by the US company ParaGen to help fight the Isolation War against China. But when the war ended we had no use for super-soldiers. Humanity treated them as less than human, almost like slaves. So they rebelled. They fought back and no amount of infantry could have stopped them. Not that they gave humanity much of a chance. Once they released the RM virus, humans dropped like flies.

RM destroyed society. It's what caused the Break, the division between the war and everything after. People who live in East Meadow have the security of the Defense Grid and the Senate who keep them protected from the Partials, but the Voice has begun attacking. The Voice is a faction of radicals, but their main goal is actually something a lot of people want. An end to the Hope Act. The Hope Act is, essentially, government institutionalized rape. At the age of 18 women are required by law to become pregnant. To try and keep the human race going. The women average about a baby a year, but the required age keeps dropping. Because the babies aren't living longer than a few days. The RM from the Partials War is killing them no matter how quarantined they keep the mother and child.

Our heroine is Kira, a sixteen year old medic intern in the maternity ward. She thought that being in maternity would be where she could do the most good, but watching babies die as she records their heart rate isn't how she plans to save the world. The hospital barely has enough solar panels to run their monitors and equipment, much less any of the older, more advanced pre-Break equipment. Not that they could use the old technology anyway. The people who built it, or even just knew how to run it, had died already. Even the elevators are shut down.

So Kira changes to her specialty: virology. While running tests on some blood work-donated more or less graciously by her boyfriend Marcus-Kira begins to understand just what RM has done to humanity. But the only way she can think to move the research in RM forward is by doing something dangerous, if not deadly. Because no one's seen a Partial in eleven years. At least, no one who's lived to tell about it. And getting a sample from the Partials, the cause of the RM and the only research avenue left to explore might do more than get Kira and her friends killed. She could very easily be responsible for the next Partial War.

Wells has spun a deep post-apocalypse that rides on the idea of the United State's indisputable desire to maintain its role in the world as a superpower. These Partials are both more and less than human. Wells does a great job exploring how much power is too much, both politically and physically. He has created adults out of those that should have been children, if children still existed, and he did it with such clarity that you never for a second doubt the relationships he's built.

If there were aspects of the plot that seemed predictable, then this books strongest point is having so many aspects working together that by the time one plot reaches its conclusion, you've forgotten what the ending would be. He has worked so many variables into this story, beginning with politics and rights, while ending in romantic relationships. This story was a great start a series that I can't wait to read more of!

The Partials Series:

1. Partials

2. Fragments

FTC Advisory: Harper Teen provided me with a copy of Partials. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review.

My Thoughts: Okay, so I absolutely loved this book. It was brilliant.

I love dystopian books, I love books where the world could end, where things are rough, where we can see the unimaginable happen without really experiencing it of course.

I was so excited to dive right into Partials. We are introduced to Kira Walker, and her friends. She has a bunch of them but I just wanted to talk about a few who stood out the most for me.

First there is Madison who is Kira's best friend. Than there is Jayden who is Madison's brother. Next up is Marcus who is Kira's boyfriend. There is also Samm, but we don't meet him for a while. Of course, throughout the novel we meet a lot of interesting characters.

The book starts out telling us about the world and what has happened. Kira works in the maternity ward but soon gets transferred to research. This is a world where a weaponized virus has taken hold and people have died. This is because of the Partials. They created the RM and the deadly virus is everywhere. No baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade.

All girls must give birth by the age of 18 but soon Kira is torn because the age is dropped to 16. She is 16 and she knows she's not ready to have a baby just to have the baby die.

Kira is one smart cookie. She is motivated and she decides she will be the one to cure this virus. She will set things right and make sure babies start to survive. If she doesn't than the world will eventually end because everyone will die. If there is no way to reproduce, all human life will seize to exist.

Big shoes to fill right? Kira sets out to go into unknown territory and capture a Partial. This is where she meets Samm. With the helps of her friends, they bring him back and she gets to study him. He's a partial. He can communicate with other partials, they all are linked together. He seems so much like a human.

Kira starts to really bond with him and thinks of him as more than a monster. But of course the Senate won't have this and they plan to kill him once she's done experimenting on him.

All Kira wants is to find the cure, to make the world go on.

But Samm isn't who she thought he was, and she isn't the person she thought herself to be. Things are changing, and changing fast. Will Kira live long enough to find the cure? Will she be forced into pregnancy and will her life will change all at once? Will the world end with no cure?

Kira is at a battle with herself, her feelings for Marcus, she loves him but can he really ever love her for the person she is?

Partials was a brilliantly crafted book. I loved it. Never a dull moment, always something going on. I loved all the characters, they added spice to it.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series, I'm so pumped up for it. I can't wait until it releases, at least I hope there is another one!

Overall: Partials was a wonderful novel! I loved the world Wells introduced us too, I loved the plot. I loved the way Samm came off. He was different but in a good way. I loved how smart and dedicated Kira was. She would do anything for her friends, and to find a cure to save Madison's baby.

I loved the relationship with each one of her friends from her boyfriend Marcus to the Partial Samm. Kira was a special girl, caring and secure.

Basically, Partials is definitely a book you should check out soon! I thought it was amazing!

Cover: Love it! It fits so well. I love how we can only see her back and she is looking towards the city. The buildings, the open road, love this cover!

What I'd Give It: 5/5 Cupcakes

Review Based On Hardcover Edition

Taken From Princess Bookie

In Partials, Dan Wells creates a realistic future in which humans have suffered through a couple more wars before being decimated by the RM virus. Now, the remainder of North America, at least to Kira's knowledge, has retreated to Long Island. Humanity is now divided in their argument for how to fight for the survival of humanity even as they guard themselves against the Partials, super soldiers they believe to be responsible for the release of the RM virus.

It is eerie how Dan Wells is able to create such a realistic future in light of the events that have passed in his world. The Senate is made up of older people who survived the attack of both the Partials and the RM virus unleashed upon humanity, and they are unwilling to take risks with the remnants of the human population. Instead, they decide to use statistics and pass the Hope Act, forcing women eighteen and older to have a baby every year in the hopes that one will be immune to RM. Kira and her younger friends believe that something else can be done, and her friends take little convincing to go along with her outrageous plans that follow.

The medical focus of the novel interested me the most. Kira first trained to be a medical intern in the maternity ward, because she thought that the dying newborn babies were the ones she needed to observe to find a way to save humanity, before deciding to research Partials. Kira's conflicting scientific and emotional views give her a unique voice. While there is a lot of scientist in her, Kira will let her emotions get in the way when there are lives in danger, and she will jeopardize more lives along with the mission to save a single person.

The events in the novel take time to unfold, and more questions are raised than are answered. Partials is the start of what promises to be a thrilling series about a girl's journey to find herself and the reason behind humanity's destruction.

Partials is a post-apocalyptic, dystopian novel where we see the world, eleven years since the break where humans are slowly faltering, and the babies born from each woman most inevitably dies because of a virus they called the RM which hindered the survival of newborns. We follow Kira Walker, a medic in training as she struggles to find the cure for this virus which slowly wipes out the human race. Danger lurks in every direction, and dark secrets begin to spill.

The only word I can say for this book is WOW!! Really! Wow! Partial is such a brilliant novel that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. There were no dull moments at all and I easily devoured it in one sitting!

Let's start with the characters. Each of them was well developed and I found myself loving every single one of them! Kira is a very inspiring heroine. At such a young age, she already thinks maturely. She's strong, independent, determined and very dedicated to her role as a medic. She's also an idealist who aspires something that everyone believed is already impossible: Finding a cure for the deadly RM virus. She believed in that one goal and she's willing to risk everything to find it, even if she dies just to achieve it. I really admired her for that. Marcus, her boyfriend is a really sweet guy. During serious moments, he never fails to lighten the mood with his antics. Of all Kira's adoptive sisters, I loved Xochi the most. She's one tough girl and is not afraid to say what she thinks is right. And I most definitely can NOT forget Samm, our hot, kick-ass partial! Yum!

Next is the plot. Dan Wells is a genius for writing such a magnificent book that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The storyline is unique and Kira's world was wonderfully made and very realistic. There were a lot of medical terms and processes that I really tried to understand. Being a graduate from the medical field, I thoroughly enjoyed every explanation about the virus and everything just seemed plausible! Another thing I loved in this book is that Romance only played a very, very minor role. Survival was the main plot here, and it's something new for me! (And although I liked Kira and Marcus, I can't help but root for Kira and Samm as well!) The writing style was really amazing. The book was brilliantly written in such a way that it's easy to understand, not boring, and even though there were a lot of information about the virus and the medicines, I didn't have these "info dump" feeling at all.

Over all, Partials is the best book I've read this month so far and it was instantly included on my favorite books! I love, love, love this book! I am definitely stalking the next book, Fragments and I cannot wait for it to come out.

Another dystopian book...they are more common than vampire books now and I love it! Partials, written by Dan Welles was surprisingly good. I was expecting mostly fluff.

Humanity is near extinction after a war with an engineered humanoid-ish race called Partials. A deadly virus was released and only those immune survived...about 0.002 % of humanity (something like that). Humans have retreated to Long Island, the alleged last bastion of humanity. partials have not been seen in over 12 years. But, war is the least of their issues. Newborns won't last past 3 days. There hasn't been a surviving child in over a decade. Kira Walker, a teenager and a medic, wants to find the cure for the virus. Her best friend is pregnant and she will do anything to make sure her baby survives.

Along the way we get to meet some very generic characters, both teens and adults. They pretty much blended together. There is the most-obliged romance triangle (yawn) and the expected sudden twist (saw this coming a mile away). Besides all the cliché shortcomings of the books, it was well narrated. I found myself a bit invested in the story (but not most of the characters) and I enjoyed reading it.

The author needs to flesh the story, yes. The characters need to be less bland, yes again. (Insert a host of other problems). The book has issues. It is a freshman book trying to do too much within its pages. But, it is still full of action and super interesting. I love that the author finally realized that a dystopian world would be full of resources, ripe for the taking. There are more clothes than you could ever use, there are buildings that need to be maintained, medicine that needs to be sorted and food that needs to be found. I appreciated that he went in this direction, instead of the "there is nothing left and we must struggle to survive."

I will be reading the next in the series and I hope to see some improvements in character formation.

I was very excited to start this book...VERY excited. And not only because it's a Dystopian. Ok, ok...maybe because it was a Dystopian, but still. This book was fantastic! The beginning did grab my attention instantly, and held it for the duration of the book. Partials was jam packed with action, suspense, humour, and unbelievable twists. There were plot twists all over the place. I loved it! I was gasping, and reeling, and trying to speed read just to get to the end. I needed to know what was going to happen, where everything was leading to, what the outcome for our heroine, Kira Walker would be.

Dan Wells writing was amazing. He put together an unforgettable story that has left me crying out for more. I need to know what is going to happen next! Wells does a fantastic job of describing a world where the existence of mankind hangs in the balance and where a world of engineered organic beings identical to humans called Partials are the reason why all of the world's population is nearly extinct. Unable to pro-create, Kira and a band of misfits venture out in search of a cure. Exceptional world building and character development are just a few things that made this book extraordinary.

One of my favorite characters in this book is Marcus, Kira's boyfriend. Pretty much anything that comes out of his mouth is comedic relief. I found myself constantly looking forward to seeing what he would say next. There was one part in the book where I was cracking up! It was a pretty tense moment in the book, my eyes glued to the pages wondering how they were going to get out of a sticky situation, and out of Marcus' mouth is "My contribution was to somehow refrain from peeing myself. You can thank me later." Hilarious!

In the end, my absolute favorite character is our leading lady, Kira. Reminiscent of Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games, she is one tough cookie and determination is her best quality. She doesn't put up with crap, and she's not one of those heroines who is blinded by love. In this case, love is what leads her. Love for her best friend's baby...love for humanity...love for the future.

And did I already bring up the plot twists? Just when I thought I had it all figured out, Wells turns it all around and presents a whole new picture that leaves you reeling! And ummmm, yes I totally crushed on a Partial. Don't judge me. Read the book, meet Samm and I dare you to tell me you didn't crush on him too...

Overall, Partials was a fantastic read that I am so happy to have had the opportunity to read. Fans of The Hunger Games and Dystopian reads will completely devour Partials. Expected release date for the next installment, Fragments, is September 2013. The wait is going to be brutal!

First Impression:

Partials has been sitting on my shelf for quite awhile. The reason for the hesitance stems from the belief that the book dealt with aliens. Not exactly sure where this idea came from. But after glancing at a few reviews, I was beginning to get excited about this one.

While Reading:

Ok, ok, so my initial thought of aliens was off... but not by much.

Partials takes place in the not too distant future. Our world has gone to war with itself in the Isolation War and in the process created the Partials (bio-engineered humanoids) to help win that battle. Flash forward a few years, the U.S. won the war, but the Partials turned against humanity and subsequently 99.996% of humanity was killed by the RM virus, which the humans believe the Partials created.

See what I did there? I basically gave you all the background for Partials in a paragraph. This book was close to 500 pages and that was all the basic background that was given throughout those almost 500 pages. Now, I love me a well done post-apocalyptic tale. But one of the biggest factors for the tale to be well done is the world building. Sadly, Partials had very, very little of it. Even with those almost 500 pages, I have no clue what the basis for the Isolation War was, although I do remember China being mentioned in passing, nor do I have any clue what the "RM" in the RM virus stands for. Now for some these may be trivial issues, and even I will admit I am probably being over critical, but if I am to accept the Partials' world, then I have to understand how these people got to this point. Or else, the subsequent struggles throughout the novel almost seem pointless.

I wish that I could say that this was the only issue that I had with Partials... but it wasn't. The characters, and there are more than plenty of them, were more one-dimensional than I wanted. Out of 10 plus characters that are mentioned, Kira was the only one that stood out. And even with her, I had a pretty hard time feeling a connection.

The one major positive for Partials was the lack of the love-triangle. The romance was already in place as readers began that first page, so it was never a question of will there or will there not be some insta-love. However, there seems to be the possibility of a romance developing, but that all takes a back seat for everything else that is going on in the book.

Verdict:

I had a very time time getting started with Partials. A slow beginning and lack of world building did not endear the book to me. But as things started to unravel, I found myself completely absorbed by the book. Partials does end on a bit of a cliff-hanger, so I am curious to see what comes next.

I love and read a lot of dystopian/post-apocalyptic YA, and what I enjoyed most about this book are the things that make it different from all the others.

The story is not so new (plague has wiped out most of humanity and our teenage protagonist must save the world - and of course this involves a sort-of love triangle), but the way the author handles it is very refreshing. First of all, the romance is almost nonexistent - there's just some issues/tension between the main character's boyfriend and the Partial (think cyborg) she gets mixed up with. More friendship/trust triangle than love triangle, really. But it's interesting nonetheless because when the story opens Kira and her squeeze seem all happy and whatnot, but then the Partial engages some other part of her and makes her question things (in a very thoughtful and intelligent way, not in omg-he's-so-dreamy way).

Secondly, this is probably the first book of its kind to give an actual explanation as to why a bunch of teenagers are running around saving the world. This seriously bugs me about a lot of books in this genre - the adults (who have more power, wisdom and life experience) fail at saving the world, while the kids (who tend to be powerless, ignorant and completely lacking in life experience) somehow figure it out. Here, there is a very good reason why Kira and her friends are equipped to save the world while their elders are not: everyone over a certain age remembers the world the way it used to be, and clings to the notions of that world. They also cling to their hatred for the enemy who took that world away from them. The youngsters, on the other hand, know no other world - and they are much more open to rethinking the world that they do know. (I realize that's sort of vague, but it's hard to explain without giving away the story.)

The only thing that really bugged me about the book is that the "big twist" is very predictable. The foreshadowing was a little over the top for me - I prefer to be surprised and yell out "No way!!!" in the middle of a crowded subway train. :) But that quibble aside, this is a solid read. Like many dystopian novels, it asks a lot of interesting questions about what it means to be human - and what makes humanity worth saving.

This book was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2012- everything about it intrigued me (especially the tagline, "The only hope for humanity isn't human"), however, after having finished it I must admit that I am a tad disappointed with it (I can't help but wonder, did I set my expectations too high? To an almost unattainable level?).

My largest complaint about this book would be how militaristic and science-y the storyline was and how in-depth of detail the author went into said parts. While I was reading all of the science-y stuff I constantly found my mind drifting off/ my eyes crossing, for instance portions of the book such as this: "... a screen full of viral images, a series of reports on the viral structure. It had two forms, one for blood and one for air; the Blob and the Spore, the yellow and the blue... The Spore was tiny, perfect for traveling through the air..." (46%). If I had to guesstimate I would say that at least a quarter of the book involved Kira standing in front of a computer screen analyzing the Paritals blood (while reading these parts I was super grateful that I have some background knowledge of how the human body works because had I not I know that I would have been even more so lost).

That being said, I LOVED the characters of this book- main characters and secondary characters alike! I think that this batch of characters is actually the strongest (mentally, physically, and emotionally) that I have ever read before (from Kira, to Samm, to Isolde, to Madison and Xochi). Furthermore, while it was one of the "big secrets" that was revealed in this book was somewhat glaringly obvious in my opinion, that didn't alter my opinion of the book whatsoever (unlike a few other books that I have read recently, including "Blood Magic" and "Cinder") because the possibilities that it presents are endless (AKA the sequel is bound to be epic).

All in all, while I was a tad disappointed with this book was a tad disappointing I did enjoy it overall. This is a book that I know that I will read time and time again and I cannot wait to see what Dan has in store for us in the next book (here's hoping that a relationship between Samm and Kira develops in the next book- I can't be the only person who wants this to happen, right?).

I love dystopian and post apocalyptic stories, especially the ones with solid science fiction elements included. Partials is heavier on the science than most YA sci-fi books I've read recently but don't let that daunt you. Dan Wells expertly weaves the science elements with action and romance that creates a fascinating book that had me glued to the pages.

Partials is set in 2076 in the aftermath of a war, a rebellion and a virus that wiped out most of the population. The humans who survived have made a stand on Long Island, barricading themselves against the partials, genetically engineered humanoid soldiers, and against human rebels who oppose the government. Instead of a big, faceless, evil government in most dystopias, this survivor community is run by a small but devious and power hungry group of senators.

Before I start talking about the individual characters, I have to give Dan Wells massive kudos for including a racially diverse group of people in his novel. As a reader who loves to see multi-culturalism in fiction, I am thrilled to tell you that the population of survivors looks a lot like the world's current population and the story is richer because of it.

Kira is a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training who is super smart and determined. Weary of seeing newborn babies die from the virus and knowing that the government is not close to finding a cure, Kira comes up with a crazy, desperate plan to find a solution before her best friend's baby is born. Kira is not the kick-butt character you typically see in dystopia but she is brilliant, brave, a quick thinker and has devoted herself completely to finding a cure. It's her all-in attitude that makes her so awesome.

Kira's boyfriend, Marcus, is sweet and loves her but they have different priorities. Marcus wants to live a happy, safe life with Kira and let others worry about humanity's future. Samm is the partial that Kira helps to kidnap and study and while there is no love triangle in this first book, I can see the possibility of some romantic tension in the sequel. Normally I don't like love triangles but I may be in favor of one in this case.

In the sea of dystopian/post apocalyptic YA novels, Partials stands out from the rest. Awesome world building, exciting action scenes along with betrayals and fantastic plot twists make Partials a great read. I cannot wait for Fragments, the next book in the series, to be released.

Partials focuses on a post-apocalyptic world where several humans were wiped out by RM, a virus created by the enemy in a terrible act of biological warfare. Now the human population is smaller and has a major problem - it cannot reproduce. All infants die within days of being born. The government's solution is to have teens get pregnant by law, but Kira knows there has to be a better way. If they could just capture a Partial they could study their immunity. But Kira's plan soon turns her and her friends into a group of outlaws as both sides of the war resist their efforts.

The most interesting part of the novel for me was the science behind the RM virus and Kira's attempts to solve it. I really enjoyed reading the sections of the book that focused on her in the lab studying the virus and I was glad to see Kira given that opportunity from the hospital administration. She'd only been working in the hospital for a short time studying infants and it was clear that wasn't the job for her. It only goes to show you have to do what you love!

The book loses some points from me however for being very drawn out. Partials falls victim to "info dumps" where the author goes on for paragraphs describing background information. I was much more interested in the actual action-packed sections of the novel, which picked up as the book continued on. There was a particular plot twist on page 409 that really caught my attention and helped me plow through to the end.

Three stars - while I did enjoy this book, there were parts where I was bored and I admit I did skim a lot of the info dump sections. However, hardcore fans of post-apocalyptic literature and books with medical mysteries will enjoy Partials and I highly recommend it to them.

This book introduces us to one heck of a strong female character. I've read quite a few good female characters lately, but even though they are kick butt and totally worth rooting for, I don't think any of them has been as strong as Kira. This girl risks her life, more than once, to try and ensure a future for her people. The world she's grown up in is nothing like our own, the population is a miniscule percentage of the one we are currently used to, and there is growing unrest between the two factions the people have split into. Add into that, the constant overhanging threat of the Partials, and being a teenager doesn't necessarily mean young and naive.

The thing Kira wants most, is to find a cure for RM, a disease that kills all newborn babies within hours of birth. Since no new babies survive, they can all see the end of their world, very clearly. In this world, kids don't really get to be kids, at sixteen Kira has already been working as a medic for a while and she's very good at what she does. She comes up with a very dangerous plan for finding a cure and it sets in motion a crazy, action packed chain of events. Once things start in this book, they just keep coming. If things like working and eating weren't a necessity, I'm not sure I would have put this one down until I was done.

When I first started reading I wanted things to go one specific way, but as I kept reading I thought it was going in a different direction and that started growing on me, but then there is a big left turn and by the end it's not anywhere near where I thought it might be. I know that doesn't really make any sense, but I don't want to give anything away. I most definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes a good dystopian novel. It's full of action, bad guys, and people trying to do the right thing.

This was great :)

The Story
Humans created Partials as a biological experiment...they are not human, but they have wiped out the human population by releasing a virus. There are less than 50,000 people left that were immune and they have banded on Long Island and created a society. The problem is all of the babies born die within days of being born from the virus. Kira is trying very hard to find a cure, as far as going against everything the Senate set in place because now her sister is pregnant. Will she find a cure in time? Will the Partials come back to destroy the rest of humanity? Will the problems within the society destroy itself?

Likes
--It was well written, plot developed quite well, pretty good character depth.
--I liked that she had a boyfriend (no YA love triangle in this book!)
--Her and her boyfriend Marcus had some pretty hilarious banter
--Jayden! I really liked him
--Samm, knowing there will be more of him in the next book!!!

Dislikes
--What the hell was the Isolation War?? Never explained and this was the whole reason they built the Partials.
--The beginning was a bit slow and I was thinking....why the heck was this book named Partials, where are they and what are they??
--The fact that I have to wait for the next book

Conclusion
If you like dystopian books then I would definitely recommend this to you. It was well thought out, it didn't have a big romance angsty teenage thing going on, it was entertaining and there was some action. I would say YA, but there were more mature concepts so I would say, on average, age 15 up appropriate.

I've had Partials sitting on my shelf for awhile and I finally got a chance to pick it up and read it. I love dystopians and this one didn't disappoint. It also had some post- apocalyptic and sci-fi aspects. There was a ton of action but also awesome world building and science/ research/ medical parts that sucked me in. And hello, how about the bomb that Wells drops? I need answers now!! I also liked how the author wasn't afraid to make readers love a character and then kill them off.
I found Kira to be an enjoyable character to read about. I could relate to her need to save people, even if some was unrealistically hopeful. I am hoping that she does get some more romance in her life and i'm hoping it's not with Marcus. Also I need to know her background! She needs to know and so do I. I also want more Samm.
I would definitely recommend this book to post apocalyptic/ dystopian fans. Now I need the rest of the series.

he population of the world has been more than decimated. Ninety-nine percent of the human population is dead. That isn't even the worst part. All babies that are born die within days of the same virus that took the rest of the population. The youngest human is now 14 years old. Kira is a 16 year old medic who is gifted at research. She feels compelled to try anything to discover a real cure for the virus. The government's plan is to amend the Hope Act. The Hope Act requires all females to get pregnant as quickly and as often as possible in hopes that eventually a baby will be born immune. In the 11 years since the beginning of the Hope Act it hasn't happened once. All babies die and the human race is staring extinction in the face.

I loved, loved this book! I stayed up late two nights in a a row because I wanted to keep reading. The pace is perfect: plenty of action without being repetitive. I've read plenty of post-apocalyptic fiction but the concept of no healthy babies being born is terrific fiction. What better motivator could there be? Trying to fix that one problem would be worth sacrificing anything.
Kira is a fantastic character. Very strong and determined. Her friends are great characters too. They're willing to help her and they still have all their own personalities.
The story does have one or two plot holes but they don't distract too much from the story. And actually, I'm pretty sure one of them is just setting up for the sequel. I will definitely be looking out for that sequel.

I have to say, I have a thing for the dystopic future novels that have become popular lately. This one fits right into the genre. The world self destructed after the creation of a part human part mechanical race that turns on us. You may think you have heard this story line before, but this one has a twist. Not only did our "super-humans" turn on us in this novel, they also unleashed a virus that wiped out the majority of the population. Humanity tries to rebuild, but they quickly find out that this virus kills every newborn within hours of its birth. The human race is dwindling and there is no cure in sight.

The idea was great. The characters, likable. The plot...had a few holes, but it was tolerable. The "surprise" twist, wasn't surprising at all. I knew what was going to happen in the end before the first chapter was finished. That is really my only major complaint about the book. Although i could predict the ending, I still found the events and storyline leading up to it pleasing. I enjoyed the writers style and I was pleased to see a male author capture a young female protagonist so well.

As the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, I assume there will be more in the series. I would most certainly pick up the next book upon its release.

As someone who reads a ton of Dystopia, it was such a delight to read this refreshingly original novel. Having read so many books in this genre I did notice some similarities between this book and others, but I did feel that the twists were original. Dystopian seems to have surpassed Paranormal in terms of popularity and as such there is a huge flood of dung being pushed out in this genre every day.

Luckily Partials is one of the few gems and it's what makes the grueling search for great YA novels worth it. I couldn't put this book down, I read it late in the night and absolutely devoured it. I loved the characters, the plot, the subplots the world building. It was all there for me. I still have a lot of questions but I am confident that they will get answered in the next two books, which I can't wait to read. Great work Mr. Wells! 5/5

Apocalypse aftermath book usually fascinates me. So when I found this one I jumped right in.

Humans created partials - or super human - to fight a war for them. But feeling oppressed after the war ended, the partials rebelled. Humans blamed the partials for the creation of RM, a airborne disease that killed 99.96% of the population.
Kira is a medical intern at the maternity at their only hospital. One day her friend gets pregnant and she decides to cure RM. From there many crazy plans are created. One of them being to study a partial.
The explanations of Kira's scientific experimentation are very detailed, but get boring after a while.

The book dragged too long on details and forgot action. The last 80 to 60 pages is where the action really is. We learn secrets, betrayals and start to understand many things.

Kira's actions were too spontaneous at times and forgot to take facts into consideration. She came out as being to self-righteous. I must do it, and I alone am capable.

Still an interesting book and worth reading it.

This was definitely better than the first book. There is more action and more pace and Kira's role and part in the book is a lot more interesting. Everyone's roles in general are more than before.

Spoiler alert:(mild anyway but just in case)

I really enjoyed the relationship and banter between heron, Kira and Samm. Heron made things more realistic with her sarcasm. I have to admit the long journey through out the journey of the book was semi interesting semi boring and probably could have been left out. There's only so many struggles of trying to find a bridge that I was willing to read through and then I'd have to put the book down for a rest. However, the encounters while on their journey were interesting. The talking dogs were slightly creepy.

Only complaint besides some parts being way too long was the overload of information. The cure, it's backup cure the fail safe, the this the that became hard to follow at some points. Even the points where the characters had a light go off as things made sense, my light was still ticking.

The fight for survival of both Partials and Humans continues as both parties fight each other. Everyone blames the other for the imminent expiration date and dying population, yet only our brave heroes see the need for a truce in order to work together. As Marcus fights on the East Coast for peace, Kira undertakes a dangerous trek across the badlands to find answers, and hopefully a cure for Humans and Partials. Along the way, not only will they need to fight a hostile nature, but also enemies bent on destruction.
The author has created a captivating take off adventure and survival that will leave you riveted to the edge of your seat.

This book started out really boring to me. And it didn't get interesting till chapters 10-20. Somewhere in there. I nearly put the book down and said screw this series. But then it was interesting then it got boring again. Then at the end during the climax it got super confusing. The last 3-5 chapters I understood it. It was a good book but there was a lot of boring traveling parts and I forgot some stuff from the first book like Ariel. Don't remember any mention of her in the first book. Any ways I'll read the third book cause I want to see how it ends but I hope it's better than this one. I won't read them again when I am finished

I loved this book. Loved it. I was on the edge of my seat for most of it and now I can't wait for the next book. I thought the trip Kira and Samm took was fascinating, even though it was harrowing and stressful to read. This story took a ton of twists and turns, some are easy to see coming but others caught me completely off guard. All the information about the Trust was well played and pretty skillfully managed since it ended up being a lot of different names to keep track of but I had no problem. I thought the pace was spot on--it does get wild in a few places and you won't be able to put the book down!

I saw a few other reviewers mentioned the length, but as far as I am concerned longer is better. I really enjoyed all the world building and detail that went into this book and highly recommend it. I ended up getting both the book and the audio book from audible because I was so impatient to finish it. Julia Whelan was amazing and I really enjoyed her performance.

PARTIALS is quick, fun read. The concepts of the RM virus, Partials, and the remaining world structure are interesting. The characters are also fun, though personally I thought the book shone brightest when it's dealing with politics and straight forward action sequences.

One other thing I liked was that the author didn't relegate secondary characters to any standard cliche experiences. Which is to say that when I expected that character-A would be done in to give that old tug-on-the-heart-straings, they ended up sticking around. Refreshing.

Not so fresh were one or two of the plot twists that I can't describe without handed out a fatal 'spoiler'; but honestly the action moves through these spots fairly quickly so that it doesn't hurt the story. The real serious flaw were places in the story where the story stuttered as if there were some missing material, and that's harder to forgive. (Bad editor, bad.)

Overall, I'd say this is a book that's going to appeal more to younger Young Adults than Adults with a lot of scifi under their belts.

Worth taking a look at.

Pam T~
mom/dystopia lover/blogger

This might not normally be my type of book, but I've loved it enough to listen to the Audible version twice. Dan Wells does a great job with creating a compelling motivation--saving the human race and then some--along with characters who are intriguing and unique. It's also something I felt comfortable recommending to teen and even tween readers.

Humanity hangs by its final thread. Genetically engineered beings called Partials brutally demolished much of the human population. And then the virus RM was unleashed, reducing the humans down to about 25,000 who were immune. And while peace withe the Partials seems to ultimately have been achieved, a much larger issue is slapped on the plate of a race facing extinction. Every one of their offspring is dieing of the same virus to which they are immune.

Kira, in training to become a medic, can no longer stand to watch baby after baby die without a chance. In a desperate tumble to find the cure for the malicious disease, Kira discovers the slightest hope of a chance for a cure. But to even tread down this path will mean betraying everything she stands for.

Partials is a book I stumbled upon by accident. When a bookstore did not cary the books I was looking for, I searched the shelves for anything seeming interesting, and ultimately decided upon this book. I am so glad I did. Partials achieves what most books strive for, but few attain. While distopian to the core, this novel instantly draws you in to a world completely alien yet oddly attractive and bestows a sense of awe. I instantly connected with the characters' distinctive personalities, and cheered for them from the beginning. I felt this book held a great balance of suspense. The plot twisted often, and I always wanted to read just one more chapter. This book does have a sense of creepyness. It is not particularly scary, but it may get the adrenaline going a little. Absolutely 5 stars; I look forward to reading the next novel in the Partials Sequence.

I've read a lot of post-apocalyptic YA, so I didn't think this was going to be much different. But it's got a great voice and concept. There's also a lot of science, for people who want more "sci" in their "sci-fi." The characters feel like they have very adult problems, which actually really worked for me. There's a ton of crossover potential here.

I also really enjoyed the side characters. Marcus is hilarious, Harou seems really genuine, Sochi is sassy, and Samm is really interesting.

I ended up listening to this on 2.5x the speed on audio because I wanted to know what happened. I feel like that tells you exactly how much I enjoyed it.

I loved a lot of aspects of this book. First, it has the absolute BEST back-of-book summary I've ever read. Seriously- it's the whole reason I bought the book on the spot. I must preface that I am a big fan of dystopian novels, and plague novels, post apocalyptic stories, etc. And this story has all of it. Sometimes to its detriment.

I wish some things were different. Here's what I disliked:

First, the stupid YA romance- if this had been written OUTSIDE of YA, I think I would have liked it more. The romance part seemed like such a waste of time, at least at first. There's a love triangle (that you discover more through the rest of the series) and that's stupid too. It seems like an afterthought. But I'm in my 20's- maybe I've outgrown YA and shouldn't dabble in it anymore- when I was 16 I would have loved this book/ series like you have no idea.
Second- The idea that a 16 year old, who was schooled AFTER the "apocalypse" took place in their makeshift schooling system, could decode and discover these scientific advances that her older counterparts couldn't is so ridiculous.Look, I actually AM a scientist (Biologist, although focused in environmental research), and to suggest that a 16 year old could be an expert at all these different subcategories of medical science is laughable. She's a brilliant geneticist, microbiologist, general doctor, medic, OB/GYN, etc. is ridiculous. You can't be good at everything. And not as a child obviously. Not to mention, she does these things in a matter of days.
Third- I think sometimes the plot gets too convoluted. It's too much going on, all of it while taking too long to unravel.

Here's what I liked and what kept me reading:

First- this book was very science heavy. I LOVE novels that explain why things happened, how things happened, all within a scientific context. Don't just tell me everyone on the planet is dead- tell me WHY! HOW? What were the events that led up to that?!?! Explain it! And this book and series explains everything. (Although I had lots of issues in the third book, this book handled it great!) It didn't make you feel stupid by dumbing down the science, although I know (because of my science background and career) that a lot of the explanations are stretching the truth, it's fun! It's a book! It's cool!
Second- the idea behind all of this was so intriguing to me. I just love the concept. And there were twists and turns I didn't see coming that kept it exciting. The concept kept you interested in reading on, even if the story was seeming to drag along in parts. The concept was everything I personally could hope for in a book, since it's my preference, and maybe if it weren't a YA novel I would have enjoyed it more. Who knows?

So, if you are a fan of well explained, great concepts with an interweaving storyline that (although at times is convoluted and too complicated) with mostly likeable characters and lots of action- read this! Just remember its a sci-fi book- it isn't perfect, and it doesn't have to be. It's a fun read, and if you look past the flaws you will find an intriguing story that interweaves science, post-apocalyptic adventure, with lots of reality in the nature of human behavior, you'll enjoy it.

Dan Wells is the only YA author that I read with any regularity. Sure I read the Hunger Games so I could be conversant with the throngs of acquaintances and friends who thought Collins' trilogy was the second coming. Honestly, I much prefer Wells' work, though there are shades of Collins' formula present in his Partials Sequence. I found the first volume, Partials, to be a good if not stellar start to the series, but decided to continue the series based on my experiences with the excellent John Cleaver books. Wells doesn't disappoint at all, with his second installment. Fragments succeeds on every level, easily ratcheting up the momentum from Partials and improves by leaps and bounds leaving me anxious for the continuation of the series.

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.
Wells ups the ante with this volume, immediately removing Kira from the familiar surroundings of East Meadow and her circle of friends. Away from familiar surroundings, Kira begins her exploration of the unsettled areas of Well's post-apocalyptic setting. While the landscape offers very little new to genre readers familiar with similar dystopian settings, the internal monologue that accompanies Kira's exploration is fresh and revealing. Even with the problem of the RM virus, partially solved Kira is surrounded by mysteries both about her own history and the history of the Break that left both the humans and Partials on the edge of extinction.

Removed from the medical setting so prevalent in Partials, I found Kira to be a much more relatable character. Her youth made her proficiency in virology a bit of a strain of credibility, though Wells' manages to shore that up with the revelation of Kira's heritage at the end of that novel. As she explores the mysteries of her own identity and faces not only the perils of travelling in the blighted remains of post-Break America but the complications brought on by her travelling companions.

And what companions they are. Between the mentally unstable tech wizard, Afa and the Partials; Samm and Heron, Kira is pulled in multiple directions for most of the narrative. Afa, in particular, provides an almost bottomless well of story beats and complications. Samm is far more well developed here, as the attraction between he and Kira is further explored. Wells' wisely gives him more screen time, and develops him beyond the more machine than man archetype that he filled in Partials. Heron is an excellent foil for the idealistic Kira. Her pragmatic, 'the end justifies the means' attitude is often at odds with the rest of the companions, and comes to head in the final chapters.

Wells' wisely keeps readers abreast of what is happening in East Meadow, with almost all of the secondary characters from Partials making appearances. Marcus gets the most screen time, and he seems to benefit from being out from under Kira's shadow. I found his deadpan humor and his complete averageness, much more appealing this go around. The twin plot lines, keep the tension well balanced and give Wells plenty of room to explore the various mysteries of both the nature of the Break and the organization and motives of the Partials. I never felt the urge to rush to get to the other section of the novel, with Wells balancing the action and suspense equally over the various plot threads.

The slowly unfolding mystery of the Break and Kira's role in the schemes of ParaGen is the real strength of Fragments. Through this plot device, Wells reveals more and more details not only about the world the cast travels through, but the events leading up to the Break and how those events shaped the current landscape. We are treated not just to New York and it's immediate environs, but to the whole of the Midwest, which is now toxic due to the after effects of massive fires in the Texas oil fields. But more important than the trials of the road, are the moral and ethical puzzles that permeate Kira's internal monologue and much of the conversations between her and her travelling companions.

All in all, Fragments barely feels like a YA novel, especially in terms of its handling of the subject matter. Wells' never turns away from the hard questions, and resists the urge to provide the pat answers. Sure there is a definite lack of realistically described violence, so fans of Abercrombian grit need not apply. There are a few places where I found the sheer young-adult friendly dialogue a bit cringe worthy, as real teenagers would have cursed a blue-streak, but these quibbles are largely forgivable. Wells continues to mature and the intricacies of his plot and nuance of his characterization promise more rousing adventures in this fascinating setting.

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4.5 stars

This book was nothing I was excepting it to be and everything I had hoped it would be. It's a thrilling, intense roller coaster ride with a little bit of everything in this book. There's an incredibly engaging blend of science, medicine, and survival all mixed into this book. Not to mention the army like staggery that is present in parts of the book which makes up for the storyline's action. I hope that doesn't scare anyone off, because when you read Partials you'll know what I'm talking about. Dan Wells has created a truly fascinating story that left me wanting much more.

What would you do if the world you lived in was dying? Not the world, but the race. In Kira's world the youngest human is a young teen. Babies are dying as quickly as they're born, and girls at a certain age are required to get pregnant to help grow the race to compensate for those who are dying. With only a fixed number of humans alive they're now faced with the fear of extinction. Or are they. Not one to give up, the story's main character Kira is a young med student who isn't about to give up on finding a cure, no matter how risky finding it will be.

Kira is a character I loved. She has all the things I look for in a well written protagonist. She's a strong independent girl who's incredibly intelligent, isn't afraid to speak her mind, and she thinks things out. She's also driven, determined and completely dedicated to her cause. How can I not admire someone like Kira. She's someone you could deem insane at times, but that's only, because she risks her life to find a cure for mankind. One of the things I really admired about her, is she follows her heart. She doesn't let her relationship get in the way of doing what she thinks is right. She sacrifices a lot to get what she needs, and to find the answers she's looking for.

Huge props to Dan Wells for creating a dystopian that is truly that. This isn't a dystopian that is fueled by romance, and though I love a good romance, this story's romance sits on the back burner. It's a story that is made up of a society living in chaos and on the brink of extinction. While there's a relationship between Kira and her boyfriend Marcus, it's not one that sees a lot of action. In fact, Marcus for me was a complex character to get to know. I understood his fears for Kira and I got that he loved her, but he didn't step up to the plate enough for me. That's okay, because it made sense for the society they live in. There's a lot that's going on and emotions and fears are running high. While Marcus wanted more from Kira, I liked that Kira was open and honest with him did what she felt was right and what she wanted to do. Had Marcus written in a different way I think it would have changed a bit of who Kira was and the things she does.

This book is full of fabulous secondary characters who all contribute something to this story. They're the kind of people who fit in perfectly with the world in which they live in. I liked that some of them accept what's happening around them, others what to aid Kira in her desire to save the human race, some want to strike fear into the people and keep things the way they are and others are just doing the best they can to adjust to their own way of life. Collectively each of these characters adds something to this exciting story line, and has a purpose for being in it. If the incredible world building, and well written characters don't pull you in than the intense, fast paced story line will.

Partials is full of secrets, betrayals, and plot twists that keep the action coming and the excitement level high. Much like Kira I kept trying to figure out who I could trust, and who the real enemy was. Was it the Partials, the rebellion known as the Voice of the government. As Kira's story unfolds and she digs deeper into what's really happening I thought I had it figured out and then just as I had my "I knew it" moment, Dan threw another surprising twist into his plot line. The kind that makes you realize you clearly have no idea what's really going on any more and you desperately want to get the next book in your hands so you can figure it out. If you're a fan of dystopians I highly recommend picking this book up. It definitely stands out among the recent YA dystopians I've read.

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.

The science. HOLY WOW. A lot of dystopians/post-apocalyptic books now don't usually delve into the science part, which is weird since those genres are subgenres to SCIENCE FICTION. C'mon, where's the science?! But in Partials there is science--the medical kind. Which is one of my favorite kinds. I come from a very medical oriented background, so it was so refreshing to read a book where the main character actually did medical things! And talked about the medical things! And TRIED to find a cure for RM and actually did things to find a cure for RM. HUZZAH!

The Partials themselves are interesting, too, and how they were built. I found them so weird how they were wired but MAN, are they interesting. I want to know MORE about them and judging by the ending of Partials, we will know more in book two!

So, from the reviews I've seen, some talk about a cliffhanger at the end of Partials and I just want to say, HA! There really isn't a cliffhanger here. I guess it depends on how you view cliffhangers; the one at the end of Partials? Probably the weakest "cliffhanger" I've ever read... the one at the end of Vanish? Horrible, horrible cliffhanger. So for those who are thinking "I'll read Partials when the rest of the books are out..." read it now. Please. You won't regret it, especially if you are a huge science fiction lover.

The characters in this book are kickbutt. I loved Kira and Marcus's relationship, with all its bumps and obstacles. This book is about survival, and I loved that their relationship wasn't all happy. Yippy! Although it sucks for them, to be honest. But I love angsty relationships. ;D

Even though I guessed the big twist (seriously--guessed it around page thirty, it was confirmed for me on page 166, and then I knew I was right on page 400), I wish I had like a secret rating--six stars--just for this book. I haven't read a book this wonderful in a really long time. A MUST read!

Just when I thought that YA dystopian fiction with decent world building was a myth akin to a Unicorn, Dan Wells' Partials rekindled my faith and happily Fragments confirmed it. Wells' carefully crafted a world that was both visually and descriptively solid and realistic in the first of his series and Fragments picks up where it left off never once letting go of the reins with another stunning and compelling instalment that left me breathless by the end.

Partials ends on a hopeful note as our protagonist Kira has returned to East Meadow, triumphant with the cure for RM, saving the life of her beloved adopted sister's baby. However when Fragments begins, all is not well in her world. It is as brutal and harsh as ever as the last humans' left deal with betrayal from those elected to protect and defend them. With power still up for grabs and riots breaking out as fear of extinction still pervades the air; peace is still a ways off.

The story is told from two perspectives, Kira whom we know well from Partials and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Marcus. This was a great move by Wells' as it allowed the reader to always have a keen perspective and knowledge of what was happening first hand, both in the human world and the partial world. Kira, who was devastated to learn that her origins may not be as simple and clear-cut as she has always believed, leaves East Meadow looking for answers, both for RM as her "cure" is unable to be synthesised and also as to who she really is, where are her parents and how did she really come to be a part of the East Meadow community. Her journey takes her to New York where she meets up with computer genius and ParaGen tech, Afa Demoux, who has believed for 12 years that he is the last human on earth. With his help and that of Samm, a Partial with whom Kira feels an inexplicable connection and Heron, a covert Partial model, Kira sets off on a perilous and harrowing journey across the rough and wild terrain of an America that has forgotten who used to be in charge.

I love how Wells' drops us right into the action with little back-story to weigh us down. In the world he's created, it is so richly vivid that it isn't needed. Partials was still very clear in my mind as I read Fragments which allowed Wells to expand on the scientific and technological aspects of this brave new world. As in Partials, at times, the "info-dump" can be a little overwhelming, this time it is computer knowledge whilst in Partials, it was genetic science. However it is all extremely interesting and any fan of Michael Crichton or Battlestar Galactica will be in heaven. I certainly was.

The addition of Afa was brilliant; his sweet, complex character highlighted the compassionate side of Kira and added an extra layer to the emotional aspects of the story. Samm made a welcome return; his quiet, affable nature always complimented Kira's more emotional and fiery character. Their relationship grows in complexity throughout this story and was one of my favourite aspects of the plot. Heron was at times the most human of all characters despite her cybernetic origins. Feisty, opinionated but above all loyal to both her race and her friends, she was a welcome addition to the core group of characters. At times, Kira's journey through the wastelands of what remains of the US was a little slow paced at times and hampered the action. My only gripe with the whole book was its length, at over 500 pages, it is a hefty weight and it was at these junctures that the length was truly felt.

Marcus's journey however was more action packed as the Partials bring war to the humans' front door. It was fascinating again to read about the ease in which society can be destabilised and how utterly terrifying it is when power breeds corruption. As the humans battle to save themselves from RM, the Partials are facing an equally terrifying fate, an expiration date, which they believe the answer to lies somewhere in the human world. As both races battle to save themselves, they foolishly allow emotion to get the better of each other rather than realising that the answer to their prayers lies in trusting each other and working together. Again as in Partials, Humanity and its treatment of its "children" comes under scrutiny and we see how en masse, the race is fragile and utterly incapable of saving itself from it's own destruction. The sub-plot of the "Failsafe" highlights this and was one of the more sinister aspects of the story. Marcus teams up with Ariel, the mysterious sister of Kira's who left her home as soon as she turned 16 and together they search for answers to Nandita's identity and what her role in Kira's background truly is. While Marcus attempts to save the world by bringing the fight to the Partials, Kira feels its weight as she follows the endless clues to the true reasons for the "beginning of the end of the civilisation."

The book is in four parts and it is in part three that the action really excels. The sense of hopelessness and fatigue as the journey towards the answers they seek grows more perilous comes flooding through the words and the pace picks up as the race against time grows shorter. The final part of the book was a thrill ride from start to finish and the tension as both Marcus and Kira get closer to the end of their missions was unbearable at times. A new threat, Kira's true and terrifying fate, the progression of new relationships are some of the things we have to look forward to in the next book as Wells' leaves us with a cliff hanger that is seriously mind-blowing and will be a wrench to wait for. An amazing addition to the series, Wells' once again gives us a glimpse into a terrifying future that awaits humanity with just a few simple yet misguided choices. Unmissable.

I just started reading this book today and am probably only about 150 pages in, but so far I can say that I am utterly relieved that I rented the book rather than purchased it. There are several things getting in the way of me truly losing myself in the pages, and I find myself wanting to put it down more than I am wanting to read on. Begin lengthy rant:

At first I was sort of looking forward to this book, as it sounded interesting and had a decent plot behind it. However, that's unfortunately where the quality ended. It felt as if the author hatched an idea on a whim, and hurried to write it all down before he forgot it. We're talking second draft at best. (I even found editing errors.)

Normally, I like being thrown into a character's life and picking up background information as I read. This technique catches my attention and serves as a reason to continue reading so I can quench my curiosity. I think the author attempted this at first, but then settled for an info-dump. I understand it can be difficult to catch the reader up on what the author already previously knew before writing the book, but I can only handle so much info-dumping before I feel like I'm studying the book rather than enjoying the experience along side the characters.

Also, although the way the author wrote the beginning was intriguing at first, I felt as if I was suffering from whiplash afterward. It could just be me, but it felt a little choppy and kind of hard to keep up. It might have been the way the author crammed in so much background info in early on; I felt like I was racing to keep up with everything.

I am still curious to see what happens, but so far I am left disappointed and frustrated as I find myself picking out plot hole after plot hole. If I could choose any three things that bother me more than anything else, it's plot holes, whiny main characters (or the flip side, authors who try to stress the fact that their main character is not a good-for-nothing spineless whiner, and force feed the character's independent ambitions down your throat), and of course info-dumping. Unfortunately, the book almost struck out.

The worst of these three sins are plot holes; by far. Yes, there needs to be room for growth and creativity during the writing process to expand and complicate the plot, but before characters can flourish in their newly birthed worlds, there needs to be a solid, fully-worked plot. Without this, the whole story falls flat. Especially when the plot so far is as complicated as it is well written.

So. Many. Plot holes.

However, I do have to say that I dont hate the main character. I just sort of dont care for her either. Yeah, sure she's strong willed, I guess. I just feel like I can't really connect with her. And her relationship with her boyfriend is boring to say the least. It might be for a reason, but it only shows me a side of her personality that I dont like and dont connect with.

In my opinion, her drive is flimsy and the author is trying way too hard to make her important. She just barely crosses the line into the previously stated flip side of the coin. We know you're strong willed sweety, stop flaunting it in everybody's faces. However, it is still much better than a whiny bimbo.

I truly hope I'm wrong and that the rest of the book works out all the kinks. Maybe it was more enjoyable for others to read, but I find that I'm becoming more picky with what I'm reading. It could be just a YA genre thing, but its still no excuse when you're a professional writing for peoples' money.

Then again, it was good considering the price I paid for it.

Being a teenager, I thought this book was super good.

Personally, I truly appreciate the presence of so many characters of color. And guess what? The protagonist is also a (non-token) POC! She's also non-male! This is a really big deal!

Dan Wells did a really neat job writing the main character (Kira is not hypersexualized, is not romanticized, is not a purposely quirky, I'm-not-like-other-girls girl, actually does stuff!!, and is the best.) and I feel like he worked really hard making everything make sense: the romance is not rushed nor super in-yo-face; all of the characters have feelings and seem like real people (but they're not!!1!??!?).

Such a perfect series! I feel so fulfilled! This book is everything I was looking for I mean the storyline is so good and it's definitely worth your time yes everyone should read this and it's not a difficult read at all and I hate that no one told me about this earlier and it deserves so much more attention and five stars i'm so confused why it only has four on the store please read this i promise it's great it's going to change the world definitely 10/10 very very very recommends

I really enjoyed reading the physical survival of the main characters but was really disappointed with emotional development between them. No romance at all! I was so looking forward to read about Sam and Kira's sparks and growing love but there was nothing until the very end. Just one scene, that's all.
But the main reason why I rated this book 4, not 5, is the scene with the watchdogs. That, honestly, disappointed me even more than lack of romance.
Otherwise, despite the length of the book, it took me about 2 days to read it.
Looking forward to reading 3rd book and, hopefully, there will be much more development in Sam and Kira's relationship.

I just started Book 3 in the series and it is really compelling. I have a hard time putting it down. Dan Wells did a great job of jumping into a future that took a lot of imagination, but has some serious ethical considerations for our times. And the future science is really interesting too!

The second book in the Partials series brings in another perspective to tell the story. This one is told from both Kira and Marcus' views. Each of them are dealing with different sides of the war that is beginning. Kira has traveled into the the heart of the city and further, even onto Denver to find the inventors of the Partials to find the answers. Marcus is still back home on Long Island where the war is officially beginning and trying to round the troops and deal with the evil Dr Morgan who has her eyes set on capturing Kira, and threatening to kill people every day until she has her.
The main focus of this 2nd book in the series is that both Partials and Humans are now dying off. Neither have been able to regenerate for too long and now even the Partials are dying of old age, they have an expiration date. That means it will soon be the end of all human life on Earth. Kira is traveling with Sam to find the original members of the Trust and ParaGen leaders to find the answers and a cure.
The first book, Partials is one of my favorite books of all times. It got me interested in the author so much that I purchased all of this other books. I was beyond excited to get this book but did feel a little disappointed that it was not as action packed as the original. I do feel that the length of the novel also didn't help on the enjoyability of the story. Just too much information with not enough breaks between details. I do think that it was a necessity in the series to build up to what must come in the final book....WAR...? But most of all, the answers, will they be able to breed again and save mankind?

Only 0.001 percent of the entire human population remains.

When? The year 2076. Where? Long Island, NY. Why? Humanity's own foolishness, of course.

After a war with the Partials - beings genetically engineered for fighting in the war, but are physically identical to humans - the human population is almost nil. A deadly virus dubbed "RM" was released by the Partials and killed all but the small fraction who were immune.

The threat of the Partials still remains in a far-off way, but the remaining humans gathered on Long Island are busy dealing with the issues at hand. Their main concern is creating a future, and this is difficult considering no child born after the war has lived. Every single baby dies of RM within 72 hours of being born. The Hope Act was created in hopes of overcoming this sad fact. Women are required at age 18 to become pregnant as soon as possible, and as often as possible - by law.

16-year-old Kira Walker is one of the medics assigned to the maternity ward at the hospital. She is devastated each day as she watches newborn after newborn die of the virus. She begins to question the methods being used; question why it's been 11 years and not one baby has been born immune. Kira is pushed over the edge when she learns that her best friend is pregnant. She takes it upon herself to personally save that baby, as well as future ones. In her studies, she comes to the realization that to cure RM they must go to the source of the virus: The Partials.

Thus begins a deadly journey to cure RM and save the human race.

Jayden laughed grimly. "Press the attack and hope for the best."
"Hope is not a strategy," said Kira
"It's not plan A," said Jayden, "and it shouldn't be plan B, but it is every plan C that has ever been made."

- - -

Okay, wow. I had to wait days to review this just so I could get my thoughts in order - and even now, they aren't in order. This book was such a breath of fresh air. I have been waiting for something fantastic to knock me off my feet, and Partials has done it; done it without gobs of romance and/or a sappy love story. That's impressive all in itself.

The world building was fantastic. The post-apocalyptic world Wells has created is believable and easy to picture. Dark. Desolate. Dangerous. Wells paid great attention to detail and it had me poring over this book for hours. It was quite hard to put down.

The characters were really wonderful. Kira was a little different from your average YA heroine. She wasn't `girly' so to speak. She was super strong and determined. I found her to be a very inspiring protagonist. She questioned everything and never fell into the mold the Senate wanted her to be in; or anyone wanted her to be in, for that matter. She was definitely what I'd call kick-ass.

Supporting characters such as Jayden, Haru, Xochi, and Samm were all fantastic in their own ways. Each one had a distinct personality and played their own part in how the story panned out.

The writing was beautiful and flowed perfectly. The story was fast paced and riveting. It was one that made you think and wonder. It's one of those stories that you just can't wait to find out what the heck is going on. It's packed with adrenaline filled action scenes, plenty of politics, war, betrayal, and people fighting the system for what's right. It's inspiring and the end left me in tears and totally begging for more. If you're a dystopian fan, you need to read this one. It's a truly powerful story

After a string of disappointing YA books, particularly of the speculative fiction/dystopian sort, I am thrilled to finally find something that delivered everything a good book should: an interesting premise, fast-paced action that kept me reading, and a strong female protagonist. Some minor spoilers will follow.

First off, I would love to sing Mr. Wells' praises for creating a believable, flawed, strong, strong, strong female lead. Seriously, I can't emphasize that enough. I find it frankly alarming how many weak, frail female 'heroines' exist in YA lit. I'm sick to death of reading about whiny girls who need boys to rescue them. Kira is none of these things. She is hot-headed, highly intelligent, and more than capable of taking care of herself. That's not to say that she's perfect. At times, I wanted to shake her soundly or talk sternly to her about how mean she was being, but I felt that this only added to her character. Good characters need flaws, and Kira has them. However, she also has many attributes that I really loved. She's fiercely loyal to her friends and is willing to sacrifice herself for her ideals. Though she does sometimes need her friends' help, this is for logistical reasons and not because she's too weak to handle things on her own. I really think Wells deserves a badge of honor for creating such an awesome female lead.

I also really admired the way romance was handled in this book. Though Marcus is Kira's boyfriend, he doesn't own her. Sometimes they have differences of opinions that cause them to argue and that even create rifts between them. I thought Wells did a fantastic job of capturing how difficult it can be to maintain a relationship. I was also very happy to see that when the females in the book don't agree with their male significant others, they voice that opinion. This is very true of Kira, but also of Madison, who defies her husband in several big ways throughout the course of the book. These are not females who are defined by their relationships, which I sincerely and heartily applaud.

Wells's world building was pretty stellar. His descriptions of the crumbling remnants of New York made me think of the series Life after People, with nature taking over in a big way. I found it fascinating to read the descriptions of the buildings and of the scavenging habits of the people left behind. Wells has created a real, stark contrast between the world as we know it and the world as it could be. We like to think we're so significant but, really, everything we've created could simply crumble in a matter of decades if we weren't around to care for it. Wells uses iPods to particular effect, when he describes the inscriptions on the backs of them, the reminders of a consumer culture that was powerless to stop the collapse of the world.

I enjoyed the many factions that he created within this world, and I found them all quite believable. If the world fell apart, would humanity really hold hands and put aside their differences? The motivations of the various groups were eminently believable, in my opinion, and Wells handles them very well. No one is really clearly good or clearly evil in this book. The good characters sometimes do bad things and the bad characters have facets that make them more than just a cartoon villain.

Though this book was tied up in the end, there are still many compelling questions that make me look forward to the next in the series. I'm very interested in learning still more about the Voice and about the Partials, as well as Kira's background. At three quarters of the way through the book, I had a feeling that Wells was leading me somewhere juicy with Nandita, so I'm very eager to find out exactly what's in store there.

The one thing that kept me from giving this book five stars was the writing. Though Well is very innovative and I found the book exciting and a fast read, he lacks the polish of some of the other YA authors I've read. I couldn't shake the feeling that if I could combine him and, say, Maggie Stiefvater, the end result would be something exciting that also had a lot of lovely writing--something more like Ship Breaker. Still, much like James Dashner, Wells has a real flair for the high concept, rip roaring, pulse-pounding novel, and I am very much looking forward to the next installment.

This review is for the ARC version..

Fundamentally this book is OOOHHHH so right and absolutely perfect. The idea, the conflict, the set-up is all sooo juicy and enticing. There are GREAT moments in the story but flow is inconsistent and sometimes too forced.
Unfortunately I did not feel the characters meshed or developed as solidly as they should (except maybe Marcus and Samm they were consistent and had the most real personality) . The people or their relationships really did not emotionally grab me or make me care. They were almost too forced into a specific mold, instead of a natural development of their own persona and relationship with each other. I think we need a stronger history to feel the "family" and friend attachments, when we do find out some good bits and pieces about characters' actual history it is too late in the story to care as much as we should. As they say actions speak louder than words, I can't believe a person cares for someone just because the writes says so, I need to feel it and see it to believe it. They are just not strong enough. The senate and military persons were definitely stereotypical.
I also found this book fell into the trap of the main character "just knowing" something was going to happen, or exactly what they needed to do way too frequently.
The character dialog felt pretty forced and sometimes choppy.
I found a time issue that bugged me in regards to Madison's pregnancy and the sequence of events, I think a few months are "missing" in her pregnancy.

Fundamentally this book has HUGE potential for a strong dystopian book.

I totally loved Fragments by Dan Wells. I read Partials, book 1 in this series, a few months ago. In short, I loved it! I was very excited to read the second one. I put a request in to my library, and actually got my hands on the copy pretty quickly. Warning: there may be mild spoilers for book 1. Read this review at your own peril.

We start not long after book 1 left off. Kira is roaming the big, empty city of New York, looking for clues as to who she is, who her father was, how Nandita figured in her past, and who the Trust was. Meanwhile, back in East Meadow, the Partials are attacking. A war is imminent and Marcus is right in the middle of it, stressing his life away. Despite the fact that Kira*spoiler for book 1* found the cure for RM, the remaining humans can't seem to synthesize it, which means newborns are still in peril. *End of spoiler.* And Sam is off creating his own kind of resistance.

I thought we got a lot more world-building in this book. Wells helps us totally see the abandoned ruins of the once-great city, and feel its loneliness. I thought the somewhat deranged companion Kira stumbles upon was handled well, and the action moves right along. I love Wells's writing and am totally impressed with this story. When I settle down with it, I just can't stop reading it!

I won't give more spoilers but I think where the story went was excellent. Fragments was definitely not the last book in the series, and I think it left off at an awesome place--one that both gives us some closure but leaves us hungry for book 3. (Anyone know when it'll be out? I don't even think it's on goodreads yet.)

We also finally see how what the twist in the relationship situation will be. Not really a love triangle--at least not yet--but there will definitely be some drama. (Can't wait! :D)

Anyway, loving this series and would totally recommend it to anyone who likes dystopians, scifi, stories about adults with earth-shattering problems, or just plain, old-fashioned, awesome reads. :D

The year is 2076, and the world has been decimated after the Partials, genetically engineered super soldiers, rebelled against their human creators. Having replaced the world's armies, humans were unable to defend themselves when the Partials launched their attacks. It was a biological weapon, a deadly virus known as RM, that managed to wipe out 99.9% of the world's human population. The Partials retreated after the RM plague and haven't been seen for eleven years, but now the human race is on the verge of extinction as every newborn in the survivor settlement of East Meadow on Long Island succumbs to the virus. The survivors themselves are inexplicably immune to RM, but the inability to produce new generations threatens to put the final nail in the coffin that was humanity. In response to this overwhelming problem, the government of East Meadow created the Hope Act: a law that requires all women age 18 and over to be pregnant at all times. Sixteen-year-old Kira Walker was only five when RM was released, but she still remembers a time before every infant died within hours of birth. Kira works as a medic in East Meadow hospital's maternity unit. Everyday she helps her fellow scientists try to discover a cure for RM by studying the newborns before they quickly die. When her best friend Madison becomes pregnant, however, Kira is determined that her baby will live. Convinced that the answer to curing RM lies in the physiology of the Partials, all of whom are immune to the virus, Kira sets out for the deserted island of Manhattan with one mission: to bring a live Partial back to East Meadow and find a cure.

Continuing the dystopian craze that seems to have taken over young adult literature is Dan Wells' Partials, the exciting and well-written first installment in a new post-apocalyptic series for teens. A cross between Lauren DeStefano's Chemical Garden trilogy, Battlestar Galactica and Terminator, some common ideas (i.e. the revolting robot/machine, world-ending plague, totalitarian government, etc.) get a fresh and interesting take in this novel. From the beginning, it is clear that the Partials, the human race's enemy number one, are going to have a role in curing the deadly RM virus. Unraveling exactly what that role will be is one of the most intriguing parts of the story. The author does an excellent job of creating an action packed plot, making Partials an ideal recommendation for male readers who want something exciting. Teen girls will also find a lot to identify with in Kira, the smart and dedicated scientist who is determined to save the life of her best friend's unborn baby. Unlike other dystopian novels, and young adult novels in general, the romantic part of the novel takes a bit of a backseat to the rest of the story. Readers might pick up on a potential future love triangle, but the book isn't particularly lovey-dovey, adding to its male appeal. Overall, Partials is an enjoyable and interesting beginning to a series with lots of potential. The sequel, Fragments, is set to be released in 2013.

I was a bit worried that this novel would be irritatingly similar to other dystopian books I've read recently when I heard what it was about, but was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case. Although I definitely recognized some concepts from other popular books, TV shows or movies, the overlap didn't bother me. In fact, I found the author's take to be fresh and interesting. One of my favorite parts of the novel was the presence of strong, intelligent female protagonist, Kira. Not only is she described as beautiful, she is also very smart, explaining the science of her research to the reader and giving teen girl's a positive role model who is proud of her knowledge and uses it for a purpose she believes in. I'm looking forward to seeing how Kira develops in the following installments, and can't wait to read Fragments when it's released in 2013.

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**Originally reviewed at my blog, That Artsy Reader Girl. The copy I received was complimentary, in exchange for an honest review.**

I was pretty excited to read this book! As a result of my massive dystopia overdose recently, my expectations were extremely high for Partials. Unfortunately, it paled in comparison to the other dystopias I've read, and I would not compare it to The Hunger Games like the book's summary does. Partials was given some pretty big shoes to fill, and going in with thoughts of The Hunger Games proved to cause a letdown. I'm not saying this book wasn't good. I'm very intrigued, and plan to read the next book. My advice to you would be to take the book at face value and not expect it to be as good or as great as a book that pretty much knocked the genre out of the ball park.

1. It took quite a while (like half the book) to build up to something really on-the-edge-of-your-seat exciting. There's some minor action and a lot of science talk in the beginning of the book, and pages and pages of thoughts and explanations with not a lot of character interaction. Like I said, though, about halfway through it things really pick up and I had a hard time putting it down from that point on. I'm not going to say much about the plot because I think the story is more exciting if you discover it on your own. There was a few surprises nestled in there, that were very eye-opening and interesting to learn about.

2. We are kept guessing a lot. Who do I trust? The partials, or the humans? I kept jumping back and forth from one to the other. I felt sorry for the partials. They were engineered for a selfish purpose (to help the humans win a war), and thrown out to pasture when they were no longer needed. They were essentially abandoned with no way to make a life for themselves. I'd hate the humans too, if that happened to me. And then I felt sorry for the humans because their venture backfired, and most of their species died as a result. They both had reasons to hate and deceive each other, but they really needed to get along in order to survive. It was hard to know who was right. And on top of that, there's a third group of people: The Voice. They are a group of humans who rebelled against the Senate for establishing the Hope Act, which forced all girls 18 and older to be pregnant pretty much all the time and produce as many babies as possible, in the hopes that one of them would be immune to the virus. In 11 years, not one baby had survived. That's a lot of death. So really, I felt bad for everyone, found myself siding with each group at different times, and was never really convinced who was right! It was pretty entertaining.

3. My favorite character was Samm (a partial). He actually seemed the most humane and the most realistic. He risked the most in the hope of finding answers. I liked that even though he was engineered to be an emotionless fighting machine, he seemed to have a conscience and a thought process that was extremely human. I found myself rooting for the partials more than the humans, because I felt it was not their fault. The humans made them this way. But again, I was having a hard time sticking to one side. Haha. I liked Kira, but she was a little too self-destructive for me. I liked her boyfriend, Marcus as well. I would have enjoyed getting to know him better. The supporting characters were well done, but forgettable after a while.

4. The end was action-packed. I really, really liked the last 10-or-so chapters. It was definitely my favorite part of the book. Dan has some great suspense scenes, and his writing style was gripping. I went from casually reading when I had time, to staying up until 4:00 AM and reading until I could not keep my eyes open.

5. There were a lot of questions raised throughout the book, but Dan did a great job of wrapping some of the major ones up. There was still a cliff-hanger ending, but it could have been so much worse! Right up to the end, I was biting my nails. New crazy things kept happening, and I kept worrying the book was going to end right then and there. Then I'd click the "next page" button on my Kindle, and I'd see I had at least one more page to lessen the impact of the ending. You will be satisfied with the ending, but curious about where the next book will take you.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. You need to take it for what it is, and not go into it with grand expectations. You also need to be patient and read a ways to get to the good parts. It was very a multidimensional story, and I appreciate that. It gives young adult fiction a good name. The plot was complex even though the original premise of the story is simple: humanity is becoming extinct. The characters were likable, although I never grew close to any of them. Dan Wells's writing was enjoyable to read. He gave lots of details, and created some exciting, action-packed scenes. Fans of post-apocalyptic dystopians will enjoy this, and crave book #2. I definitely think it's worth the read, and will appeal to many audiences.

The idea of mankind building super-humans and those creations turning on them is as old as well, Frankenstein... then Terminator, etc. However, in this novel, it seems fresh and very very real.

The story is told from the point of view of 16-year-old Kira Walker. She lives in a world where she had to grow up too fast: she survived the war started by the Partials (the aforementioned super-humans, mostly soldiers) who didn't like how they were treated by the humans after winning a war for them; then she survived a plague called RM that killed 99% of the population. Now she's a medic on a mission - she's trying to come up with a cure for RM - in the 11 years since it was released, no baby has survived. Her adopted sister Madison is pregnant, and Kira wants desperately to save her baby. She comes up with a plan to capture a Partial and study it, and hopefully find a cure.

To add to the mayhem, the government has instituted "The Hope Act", which requires every female over the age of 16 to get pregnant, in the hope that sheer numbers will tip the odds in favor of a baby - and thus, society - surviving. Not everyone agrees with that strategy, specifically The Voice (such an odd name for a rebel group!), who want the Act repealed immediately, and attack various government holdings... putting the rest of the population in fear.

The author built an amazing world out of the ruination of the old one. His descriptions of the crumbling buildings, roads, strip malls, etc. were believable and felt very real. His characters, especially Kira, were very well drawn, believable, and (for the most part) likable. The science and technology is believable and, more importantly - understandable, even for someone like me whose brain doesn't work that way. He deals with many heavy topics - science versus nature, government control versus freedom, killing for the greater good, etc. Also, I give 'props' to a male author who can realistically write from a female point of view.

However, a few things didn't add up for me: one, teenagers were given the derisive moniker "plague babies" by their elders - yet supposedly the adults were fighting to find a cure so that a younger generation could live. Also, the term itself makes no sense, as the teenagers were born *before* the plague and survived it. Also, the teenagers are given "adult" jobs - medic, soldier - but are treated in a very inferior manner. Yet, those same teens act and talk like adults. No teen angst here. Also, RM (what does that stand for? I have no idea!?!?) was released 11 years ago, but the youngest human is 14... what happened to the kids born in those 3 intervening years?

Although Kira was a medic, not a soldier (and yes, I understand that everyone was given some training in that area), many times she would lead the strategy for her group while capturing the Partial, then letting him go, then coming back to the city - instead of the actual soldiers. It didn't seem quite in character, because of her medic/scientist training.

There are several mentions of there being no economy in this new world - one only has to go to a shopping mall or store and take what you want - yet one of Kira's adopted sisters is "rich" (author's word) enough to own solar panels to power her extensive collection of MP3 players; and Kira's adopted mother gathers plants and sells them in the market. But there's no mention of currency, or getting paid for your work, much less of the government taking care of your needs.

Like other reviewers, I felt like the adults were rather 2-dimensional - and that the message was "adults bad/government bad/teenagers good." I also found it rather hard to believe that ALL survivors had found their way to New York... surely there would be other survivors and settlements in other areas of the U.S., not to mention the world. And, as they stated, there are an awful lot of characters to keep track of... And there are plot holes as well as minor inconsistencies in details (i.e. a character suddenly having an object that has never described as being given to her).

I also continue to be terribly annoyed that just because the main characters in a novel are teens, that the book is considered "young adult". This book is just as good as many other "adult" sci-fi novels (i.e. Tad Williams' City of Golden Shadow (Otherland, Volume 1) series - which, btw, 'stars' teenagers).

Despite my negative comments, I give the 4.5 stars - and can't wait for the next one.... with the hope that these issues are explained.

PARTIALS is book one of a YA post-apocalyptic/somewhat dystopian trilogy by well known adult author Dan Wells. I haven't read any of his books before, but what can I say - I read the premise and immediately realized that this was going to be Children of Men meets Battlestar Galactica meets hard science fiction. If the synopsis were a man, I'd marry him sight unseen. This is a great mix of themes, but at the same time, I was wary - concepts like this often turn into bad husbands who become full of their intellect and forget to do the dishes.

Following 16 year old Kira, a budding scientist who is beginning her internship in the maternity ward of the only hospital left in existence (as we know), PARTIALS takes place 11 years after the Break, where the partials - artificial humans created as supersoldiers to win a war against the Chinese and then turned against all of humanity - finally ended the war and left what was left of humankind alone on Long Island. With no child born alive in more than a decade, the senate has made pregnancy mandatory for girls 18 and up - and is considering lowering that age. With attacks by terrorists and a friend's pregnancy looming, Kira has one thing on her mind - finding a cure for the disease that destroyed humanity and every baby born to East Meadow women.

I should warn you. PARTIALS is rather long. At 472 pages, it is a large YA offering, but it is chock full of some wonderful stuff. First things first - I actually enjoyed PARTIALS, even though it did disappoint me on some angles. Kira is a very strong, smart heroine who is able to piece together clues and willing to risk her life for the good of friends and human life. Although it's never really mentioned how Kira got herself a degree in pathology and immunology being barely sixteen, it's still refreshing to see a no-nonsense teen who has adapted to her world and doesn't whine about it like some YA heroines. Her science-filled world is rather in depth and filled with terms you might find in biology class, so watch out! In PARTIALS, there is a strong emphasis on the plot an action over the inevitable romance, which is actually a very small part of the book - Kira's boyfriend Marcus. Let me just say that I found this to be completely refreshing , to have a teenage character more focused on saving the world than making out with her boyfriend.

As someone who heavily touts their love of Children of Men, finding a YA book that involves a similar theme - humans unable to give birth (to live children) - was very fascinating. Mixing it with Battlestar Galactica and you have me going EEEEEE! Make it a YA novel that does not steer clear of dark material and you have an automatic fan in me. The writing was also very appealing to me - clean, tight, well-paced, and no-frills. The action sequences are very well written and kept me on the edge of my seat. The ending was 100 pages of biting my nails and getting anxious...and anxious...and more anxious!

But there were some iffy things...

The adults... Well, what can I say about the adults? I think Wells has not really hit his stride in using adults in his writing. If you like your adults to be pretty one-dimensional and evil, then PARTIALS is the book for you. The senate was filled with people who seemed so blind and bigoted against any other possible answers than lowering the age of forced pregnancy in teenagers. You would think that people desperate to survive at any cost would actually find Kira's plan to be a good one - kidnap a Partial and study it since they're obviously immune to RN. Instead, they negate her plans, chastise her creativity, and make her do things in secret. In place of strong, well-fleshed human adults, you pretty much have the teens themselves. Wells is new to YA but a veteran writer. I think he does have a bright future ahead of him in the market, but I'd like to see him craft more believable teens. Pairing it with third person and Wells also created the inevitable wall between reader and character. Kira was distant at times (especially with her strange thought process in my opinion - her thoughts read 19th century school teacher, not 2083 16 year old), but I believe book two will really show us what we need to know about her.

And I might be alone in this, but I actually predicted the big twist by about page 200. Then again, I am a veteran of movies/shows/books like this. The ending I saw from a mile away, and I found it to be a bit cliché and implausible, taking the easy road out instead of giving concrete evidence to support the book. The world building was mostly on point, but a lot of specific bits and pieces were never addressed, from occupations to the existence of current generation iPods in 2083 (seriously, it was described as such). A lot of 2083 seemed like 2012 except with cyborg human clone things.

Wells still managed to make PARTIALS an awesome thrill ride and a foray into hard science fiction that many teens wouldn't otherwise take. Yes, it's a little long, and it is a little dark, but it's definitely a science fiction epic that speaks to the reader and appeals to diverse fans. This is a book that will appeal to adults and teens alike, and I hope you get the chance to discover the action-packed world of Long Island circa 2083 soon.

VERDICT: Although filled with minor issues that affect the reading experience, PARTIALS makes up for it with breakneck action and a strong heroine you can't help but root for. If you are even slightly a fan of science fiction, pick this one up.

I picked this book after I caught the advertisement here on GR, and I wasn't really sure what to expect since I kind of went in blind. The cover is beautiful (though I bought it on kindle), and the blurb intrigued me. I didn't realize when I started it that it was such a long book, and I must admit that I had to convince myself to stay with it for a good portion of the beginning. But when I stuck with it, by about 1/3 of the way through I was so thankful that I did!

Kira is a great heroine! I love that she's strong, brave, intelligent, and rarely finds occasion to doubt herself, unlike a lot of these YA books where the girls put themselves down constantly. Kira, on the other hand, is plain bad-ass and doesn't need to be led around despite being thrown into terrifying fast-action scenarios. I usually prefer books to be written in first person, just because I love to see from the POV of the lead, but I think it actually worked out better that this book wasn't (especially after a certain detail is revealed about Kira much later in the book, I think the more unattached POV works better). Kira is living in this broken world, and it wasn't until she became a nurse and had to see for herself how many infants were dying from the RM virus that she realized how bad the situation was for their future. Finding out her friend Madison was pregnant just solidified her goal to do something about it, and she never backs down in her journey to help her friend and ultimately the whole human race.

Marcus, Kira's boyfriend of several years that intends to marry her in the near future, didn't really impress me much. There was little-no chemistry between him and Kira, and I kept waiting for some spark that just wasn't happening. He was sweet with her, protective, and they did share a few fleeting tender moments, but I wasn't buying it. Maybe that was the point, and after reading this book I think Wells did this for a good reason, but it was part of my issue with the beginning of the book. I did like Marcus' great sense of humor, and he had me laughing on more than one occasion. I just found myself trying to cling to one of the other characters to see if there was something more there.

So, the plot...Kira convinces her friends and some of the others on the island to go with her on a mission to find a partial and use it to find the cure they so desperately need, and like I said she's pretty bad-ass in the process. The mission is dangerous and scary, and I was on the edge of my seat at every turn. I was sufficiently freaked about the partials after it was revealed what they had done to the human race, so these scenes were nerve-wracking! Bionic men and women taking over and then effectively wiping us out with a deadly virus?! Yeah, I was cringing when Kira and the team finally came across the partials, and that was when Wells just flipped it all up in the air! I mean, talk about a twist! It was like a switch was flipped and I suddenly couldn't put this down, and all of the characters were 100% more interesting to me. I can't say what caused my feelings to change because it's too much of a spoiler, but from that moment on the action, twists, and emotions that Wells throws at the reader are awesome!

Hands down, my favorite part of the book was Samm...he's strong, bright, sexy, and has this air of mystery and danger about him that instantly had me saying "give me more of him!!". This book steers clear of any real romance, but there were some serious sparks flying between him and Kira that I loved!! I'm not sure where things are going to go with his character in the sequel, but I'm crossing my fingers they cross paths frequently and share some alone time to see what kind of connection they have!

Two areas where I think Partials could have been improved involved the details. I don't feel like I could picture any of the characters based on Well's descriptions, and it bothered me. If I'm going to read a book, I want to be able to see the characters in my head based on what I've read about them. Maybe I'm just used to these other YA books where the self conscious heroine is listing off her bad features and swooning over the many attributes of her crush, but there's not much to go on in this book. And on the flip side, the settings and action scenes in Partial are SO descriptive that it made the book a lot longer than it really needed to be. This by no means ruined the book for me, but I had to knock off a star for it. It's all in the details, as they say!!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm so very glad that I stuck with it! Truly, the twists are what make this book so captivating, but I can't talk about them because it'll give everything away...so read it!! It was an original, exciting, thrilling story with unexpected turns, and there's a pretty big cliffhanger leading into the sequel that will make it one long wait!

The year is 2076. Humanity's population is reduced to mere thousands. A war fought with the Partials, a human creation of man and machinery, was catastrophic. Then a virulent plague known as RM, nearly decimates the remaining population. What is left of the human population can be found on Long Island. The humans are hemmed in by the destruction and their wariness of the remaining Partials, even though they have not been seen in eleven years. Those who inexplicably survived the crippling plague because of their rare genetic immunities, find themselves on the verge of extinction. A healthy, human baby has not survived in eleven years. In a desperate attempt to save the population, the ruling Senate passes The Hope Act. A decree that requires every woman, eighteen and over, to continually be pregnant, in the hopes that eventually a baby will be born who can live more than a few days. Kira, a sixteen year old medic, finds herself fighting against the system. Whispers of lowering the pregnancy age to sixteen reach her ears, just as she learns her adoptive sister is pregnant. Kira is sick and tired of watching babies succumb to the deadly plague. Imagine being forced to constantly endure pregnancy and childbirth, only to watch your helpless infant die. Unwillingly to witness anymore babies' deaths, Kira hatches a daring plan to find a cure. To achieve her goal she must sneak out through the farming territories, avoiding the rebel insurgents, known as The Voice, and head into the unknown civilization of The Partials. She intends to capture and bring back a Partial to study. Can Kira achieve her dangerous mission and find a cure before it is too late?

What I Liked:

*This book is a compelling and thrilling page turner. Once you delve into Kira's world, you will be caught in her story. This book is an amazing read. It has the dangerous concepts you enjoy in a good dystopian: apocalyptic environment, deadly insurgents, domineering rulers, plague and danger. Add in the sci-fi elements, the deadly cyborg Partials and the unique viral disease and you have the basis for an excellent novel. If you are a fan of either genre, you will enjoy Partials.
*A good dystopian book for me, has to have excellent world building. Mr. Wells does a great job in depicting a post apocalyptic Long Island, New York and the surrounding areas. Imagine visiting these once highly populated areas, to find them decaying and abandoned. It was a surreal scene to say the least.
*I admired the main character Kira. Despite her young age, she is determined and resourceful. She is willing to think outside the current parameters on the plague and society and seek new answers. Her persistence to find a cure is admirable. Kira is a courageous, young heroine that will inspire you, despite the fact that everywhere she turns it is fraught with danger. Will the Voice attack and destroy the city, or are the rebels under the Senate's control, in order for them to scare the population into servility? Are the Partials the menacing creatures they thought they were? These are just a few of the tough issues that face Kira, along with her frantic research to uncover a cure.
*The overall plot is intense. There are so many exciting developments and thought provoking ideas to ponder during this read. I found myself continually contemplating the forced pregnancy. How far would I be willing to go to save humanity? Could I endure pregnancy after pregnancy on the slim hope of producing a child who can survive? Can you imagine the difficulties? As if the destruction of humanity by disease isn't enough, throw in some danger. For all the dystopian junkies there are plenty of heart pounding scenes, especially when you cross through the deserted city. As the book reaches the climax, there is a big revelation that absolutely stunned me. It was definitely an, I didn't see that one coming moment. If you are looking for an exciting read, this is it!
*Finally, this book does a great job in tying off many of the story lines, but Mr. Wells carefully lays down some interesting and promising new leads for book two. I was thrilled not to find a dramatic cliff hanger. This is a series that I am eagerly anticipating the next release.

And The Not So Much:
*One part of the book that I was disappointed in, was the lack of explanation on The Partials. There is so little information supplied on their overall makeup, creation and species in general. I was frustrated with the weak descriptions. I had so many questions on the Partials, I hope that book two will better clarify the Partial population.
*The other group that was poorly covered was The Voice. Why did this group splinter away? How did the survive away from the main populace? How were they organized? How long ago did they split away from the group in Long Island?
*While the overall world building was exceptional, I craved a bit more knowledge on what led to the destruction of the world as we know it. A war with China is briefly mentioned, along with the Partial uprising and the plague outbreak. I felt that just a bit more detail on the catastrophic events that brought about this new dystopian society would enrich the experience.

Partials is a book that is sure to please a wide audience. Anyone who loves sci-fi, dystopian and danger will love all this book has to offer. This is a story that is full of astounding surprises. If you are in a reading funk, and looking for something exciting, then I suggest you grab a copy of this awesome book. Prepare for an extraordinary and thrilling adventure. I am excited to see where this series goes, if book two is anything like Partials, I won't be disappointed.

Favorite Quotations:

"I am stronger than my trials."

"One short sleep and then we wake eternally, and death shall be no more."

"Out in the wilderness there were thieves and the Voice and the dying carcass of an entire world."

"You want to be happy......."That's what everybody wants. You just don't know what will make you happy."

"Happiness is the most natural thing in the world when you have it, and the slowest, strangest, most impossible thing when you don't."

"I was born to be a mother--it's in my genes, it's right here in the center of who I am."

"The Earth was flat and wide and brown, a field of dirt as barren as the moon, a single road stretching into the endless distance. The last to fall were the buildings, distant and solemn, the gravestones for an entire world. Then they disappeared, and there was nothing left but nothing."

"The old world had been consumed with the search for More Stuff."

"We're talking about the government taking full control over your body--what it's for, what you do with it, and what other people can do to it."

"If you can't know the truth,....live the most awesome lie you can think of."

"It's the most basic instinct of life---to outlive yourself. To build another generation that's going to see tomorrow."

"It was like trying to drink from a waterfall."

"Even a paranoid clock is being followed twice a day."

"If we want a brighter tomorrow, we must tear down the shadows of yesterday."

A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Balzer + Bray, courtesy of Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

***ARC provided by the publisher for review***
When she fell asleep, she dreamed of death-not just for her, not just for her species, but for every living thing she had ever known. The Earth was flat and wide and brown, a field of dirt as barren as the moon, a single road stretching into the endless distance. The last to fall were the buildings, distant and solemn, the gravestones for an entire world. Then they disappeared, and there was nothing left but nothing.

I LOVE this quote! It goes perfect with the story and with the book cover! Partials is one of those books that is really hard to write a review for without going into spoilerville. Partials take place in a post apocalyptic Long Island, NY where only a couple thousand surviving humans have banded together. 11 years ago, the Partials-an army of superhumans-were created by ParaGen to help win a war. After the war, the Partials got out of control and they killed almost 99% of the human population. The survivors were infected with a virus called RM which makes it impossible for humans to have babies. The youngest child is 14 years old and in order to try to find a cure, the Senate passes the Hope Act which forces all women 18 and over to get pregnant as often as possible in the hopes of finding a cure. But all of the babies end up dying within days of being born and no amount of research brings them closer to finding a cure.

Kira, who is training to be a doctor, works in the maternity ward. She is sick of watching countless babies die every day. Once her best friend Madison gets pregnant, she vows that she will find a cure in time to save her friends baby. She believes the cure is in the Partials so her and her friends set up a daring mission to go out and find a Partial and bring him back to study him. Somehow they end up pulling it off, but the senate is convinced that the Partial will bring chaos to the city so they keep him locked up and they give Kira 5 days to find a cure before they kill him. Meanwhile, the Voice, a group of human rebels have been making more and more attacks on the city trying to get the city to back off on their Hope Act, which the legal age to get pregnant has been dropped to 16. Tensions from the humans, the Voice and fear of the Partials bring the city into disorder.

The more Kira works with the Partial, Samm, the more she realizes that he is like them. My favorite moment is when she realizes that she stopped thinking of him as a thing and started thinking of him as a person. Okay, so this is around the time when things start to get spoilerific so I'll stop my recap right here. J

Kira is my favorite kind of female character: she is smart, she can handle guns, she fights for what she believes in and she refuses to give up. Even when everything seems to be going against them, she refuses to give up. The rest of the characters, her boyfriend Marcus was sweet and funny and you couldn't help but feel bad for him because Kira doesn't seem to be invested in their relationship. I also loved the rest of her friends Madison, Xochi, Isolde, and Jayden because even though they though Kira was crazy for trying to capture a Partial, they believed in her and helped her every step of the way. Although there is a relationship between Kira and Marcus and some chemistry between Kira and Samm, the romance totally takes a back seat to the action, and somehow it works.

Partials is a rather long book, but every single page is so important to the story that it never feels like it drags on. Dan Wells does an amazing job of keeping you hooked on his every word anticipating what will come next. The story is creative and action packed and I can't wait to read more about this world! Of course there are loose ends at the end of the story which will leave you anxiously waiting for the next book. Oh and how awesome would this book be as a movie? Hollywood needs to stop making prequels, sequels and threequels (yeah, totally made that up) and start turning these amazing YA books into movies. Make sure to get this book!!!

5 out of 5 sparkly stars!
***
Some of my favorite non-spoiler quotes from Partials:
-"If someday, despite our strongest efforts and our deepest determination, we finally fall, let it be because our enemies finally beat us, not because we beat ourselves."

-"Look on the bright side," said Marcus.
Kira waited. "This is the point," she said, "at which you would traditionally suggest a bright side."
"I've never been a real traditional guy," said Marcus. "Besides, I'm not saying I know a bright side, I just think this would be a great time to look at one."

-"Because it's the only way," said Kira. "Doesn't that even matter to you? Can't you see what's going on? We are tearing ourselves apart. If I go tomorrow I might dies, yes, but if I stay, we will dies, inevitably, and the whole human race with us, and I refuse to live like that."

-"We're gnats to them: a few thousand humans against a million-plus Partials. They likely don't defend as well as we do, because they don't expect us to be stupid enough to attack."
Kira snorted. "I don't know if `we're stupider that they think we are' is a really great attack strategy."

-"It's weird, isn't it?" said Yoon. "All this talk about how they look like us, and then they just...look like us."
Kira nodded. "I don't know if that makes it less scary, or more."

-The first human to communicate with another species in eleven years, she thought, and he tells me to shut up.
***
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I totally loved Fragments by Dan Wells. I read Partials, book 1 in this series, a few months ago. In short, I loved it! I was very excited to read the second one. I put a request in to my library, and actually got my hands on the copy pretty quickly. Warning: there may be mild spoilers for book 1. Read this review at your own peril.

We start not long after book 1 left off. Kira is roaming the big, empty city of New York, looking for clues as to who she is, who her father was, how Nandita figured in her past, and who the Trust was. Meanwhile, back in East Meadow, the Partials are attacking. A war is imminent and Marcus is right in the middle of it, stressing his life away. Despite the fact that Kira*spoiler for book 1* found the cure for RM, the remaining humans can't seem to synthesize it, which means newborns are still in peril. *End of spoiler.* And Sam is off creating his own kind of resistance.

I thought we got a lot more world-building in this book. Wells helps us totally see the abandoned ruins of the once-great city, and feel its loneliness. I thought the somewhat deranged companion Kira stumbles upon was handled well, and the action moves right along. I love Wells's writing and am totally impressed with this story. When I settle down with it, I just can't stop reading it!

I won't give more spoilers but I think where the story went was excellent. Fragments was definitely not the last book in the series, and I think it left off at an awesome place--one that both gives us some closure but leaves us hungry for book 3. (Anyone know when it'll be out? I don't even think it's on goodreads yet.)

We also finally see how what the twist in the relationship situation will be. Not really a love triangle--at least not yet--but there will definitely be some drama. (Can't wait! :D)

Anyway, loving this series and would totally recommend it to anyone who likes dystopians, scifi, stories about adults with earth-shattering problems, or just plain, old-fashioned, awesome reads. :D

The year is 2076, and the world has been decimated after the Partials, genetically engineered super soldiers, rebelled against their human creators. Having replaced the world's armies, humans were unable to defend themselves when the Partials launched their attacks. It was a biological weapon, a deadly virus known as RM, that managed to wipe out 99.9% of the world's human population. The Partials retreated after the RM plague and haven't been seen for eleven years, but now the human race is on the verge of extinction as every newborn in the survivor settlement of East Meadow on Long Island succumbs to the virus. The survivors themselves are inexplicably immune to RM, but the inability to produce new generations threatens to put the final nail in the coffin that was humanity. In response to this overwhelming problem, the government of East Meadow created the Hope Act: a law that requires all women age 18 and over to be pregnant at all times. Sixteen-year-old Kira Walker was only five when RM was released, but she still remembers a time before every infant died within hours of birth. Kira works as a medic in East Meadow hospital's maternity unit. Everyday she helps her fellow scientists try to discover a cure for RM by studying the newborns before they quickly die. When her best friend Madison becomes pregnant, however, Kira is determined that her baby will live. Convinced that the answer to curing RM lies in the physiology of the Partials, all of whom are immune to the virus, Kira sets out for the deserted island of Manhattan with one mission: to bring a live Partial back to East Meadow and find a cure.

Continuing the dystopian craze that seems to have taken over young adult literature is Dan Wells' Partials, the exciting and well-written first installment in a new post-apocalyptic series for teens. A cross between Lauren DeStefano's Chemical Garden trilogy, Battlestar Galactica and Terminator, some common ideas (i.e. the revolting robot/machine, world-ending plague, totalitarian government, etc.) get a fresh and interesting take in this novel. From the beginning, it is clear that the Partials, the human race's enemy number one, are going to have a role in curing the deadly RM virus. Unraveling exactly what that role will be is one of the most intriguing parts of the story. The author does an excellent job of creating an action packed plot, making Partials an ideal recommendation for male readers who want something exciting. Teen girls will also find a lot to identify with in Kira, the smart and dedicated scientist who is determined to save the life of her best friend's unborn baby. Unlike other dystopian novels, and young adult novels in general, the romantic part of the novel takes a bit of a backseat to the rest of the story. Readers might pick up on a potential future love triangle, but the book isn't particularly lovey-dovey, adding to its male appeal. Overall, Partials is an enjoyable and interesting beginning to a series with lots of potential. The sequel, Fragments, is set to be released in 2013.

I was a bit worried that this novel would be irritatingly similar to other dystopian books I've read recently when I heard what it was about, but was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case. Although I definitely recognized some concepts from other popular books, TV shows or movies, the overlap didn't bother me. In fact, I found the author's take to be fresh and interesting. One of my favorite parts of the novel was the presence of strong, intelligent female protagonist, Kira. Not only is she described as beautiful, she is also very smart, explaining the science of her research to the reader and giving teen girl's a positive role model who is proud of her knowledge and uses it for a purpose she believes in. I'm looking forward to seeing how Kira develops in the following installments, and can't wait to read Fragments when it's released in 2013.

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**Originally reviewed at my blog, That Artsy Reader Girl. The copy I received was complimentary, in exchange for an honest review.**

I was pretty excited to read this book! As a result of my massive dystopia overdose recently, my expectations were extremely high for Partials. Unfortunately, it paled in comparison to the other dystopias I've read, and I would not compare it to The Hunger Games like the book's summary does. Partials was given some pretty big shoes to fill, and going in with thoughts of The Hunger Games proved to cause a letdown. I'm not saying this book wasn't good. I'm very intrigued, and plan to read the next book. My advice to you would be to take the book at face value and not expect it to be as good or as great as a book that pretty much knocked the genre out of the ball park.

1. It took quite a while (like half the book) to build up to something really on-the-edge-of-your-seat exciting. There's some minor action and a lot of science talk in the beginning of the book, and pages and pages of thoughts and explanations with not a lot of character interaction. Like I said, though, about halfway through it things really pick up and I had a hard time putting it down from that point on. I'm not going to say much about the plot because I think the story is more exciting if you discover it on your own. There was a few surprises nestled in there, that were very eye-opening and interesting to learn about.

2. We are kept guessing a lot. Who do I trust? The partials, or the humans? I kept jumping back and forth from one to the other. I felt sorry for the partials. They were engineered for a selfish purpose (to help the humans win a war), and thrown out to pasture when they were no longer needed. They were essentially abandoned with no way to make a life for themselves. I'd hate the humans too, if that happened to me. And then I felt sorry for the humans because their venture backfired, and most of their species died as a result. They both had reasons to hate and deceive each other, but they really needed to get along in order to survive. It was hard to know who was right. And on top of that, there's a third group of people: The Voice. They are a group of humans who rebelled against the Senate for establishing the Hope Act, which forced all girls 18 and older to be pregnant pretty much all the time and produce as many babies as possible, in the hopes that one of them would be immune to the virus. In 11 years, not one baby had survived. That's a lot of death. So really, I felt bad for everyone, found myself siding with each group at different times, and was never really convinced who was right! It was pretty entertaining.

3. My favorite character was Samm (a partial). He actually seemed the most humane and the most realistic. He risked the most in the hope of finding answers. I liked that even though he was engineered to be an emotionless fighting machine, he seemed to have a conscience and a thought process that was extremely human. I found myself rooting for the partials more than the humans, because I felt it was not their fault. The humans made them this way. But again, I was having a hard time sticking to one side. Haha. I liked Kira, but she was a little too self-destructive for me. I liked her boyfriend, Marcus as well. I would have enjoyed getting to know him better. The supporting characters were well done, but forgettable after a while.

4. The end was action-packed. I really, really liked the last 10-or-so chapters. It was definitely my favorite part of the book. Dan has some great suspense scenes, and his writing style was gripping. I went from casually reading when I had time, to staying up until 4:00 AM and reading until I could not keep my eyes open.

5. There were a lot of questions raised throughout the book, but Dan did a great job of wrapping some of the major ones up. There was still a cliff-hanger ending, but it could have been so much worse! Right up to the end, I was biting my nails. New crazy things kept happening, and I kept worrying the book was going to end right then and there. Then I'd click the "next page" button on my Kindle, and I'd see I had at least one more page to lessen the impact of the ending. You will be satisfied with the ending, but curious about where the next book will take you.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. You need to take it for what it is, and not go into it with grand expectations. You also need to be patient and read a ways to get to the good parts. It was very a multidimensional story, and I appreciate that. It gives young adult fiction a good name. The plot was complex even though the original premise of the story is simple: humanity is becoming extinct. The characters were likable, although I never grew close to any of them. Dan Wells's writing was enjoyable to read. He gave lots of details, and created some exciting, action-packed scenes. Fans of post-apocalyptic dystopians will enjoy this, and crave book #2. I definitely think it's worth the read, and will appeal to many audiences.

The idea of mankind building super-humans and those creations turning on them is as old as well, Frankenstein... then Terminator, etc. However, in this novel, it seems fresh and very very real.

The story is told from the point of view of 16-year-old Kira Walker. She lives in a world where she had to grow up too fast: she survived the war started by the Partials (the aforementioned super-humans, mostly soldiers) who didn't like how they were treated by the humans after winning a war for them; then she survived a plague called RM that killed 99% of the population. Now she's a medic on a mission - she's trying to come up with a cure for RM - in the 11 years since it was released, no baby has survived. Her adopted sister Madison is pregnant, and Kira wants desperately to save her baby. She comes up with a plan to capture a Partial and study it, and hopefully find a cure.

To add to the mayhem, the government has instituted "The Hope Act", which requires every female over the age of 16 to get pregnant, in the hope that sheer numbers will tip the odds in favor of a baby - and thus, society - surviving. Not everyone agrees with that strategy, specifically The Voice (such an odd name for a rebel group!), who want the Act repealed immediately, and attack various government holdings... putting the rest of the population in fear.

The author built an amazing world out of the ruination of the old one. His descriptions of the crumbling buildings, roads, strip malls, etc. were believable and felt very real. His characters, especially Kira, were very well drawn, believable, and (for the most part) likable. The science and technology is believable and, more importantly - understandable, even for someone like me whose brain doesn't work that way. He deals with many heavy topics - science versus nature, government control versus freedom, killing for the greater good, etc. Also, I give 'props' to a male author who can realistically write from a female point of view.

However, a few things didn't add up for me: one, teenagers were given the derisive moniker "plague babies" by their elders - yet supposedly the adults were fighting to find a cure so that a younger generation could live. Also, the term itself makes no sense, as the teenagers were born *before* the plague and survived it. Also, the teenagers are given "adult" jobs - medic, soldier - but are treated in a very inferior manner. Yet, those same teens act and talk like adults. No teen angst here. Also, RM (what does that stand for? I have no idea!?!?) was released 11 years ago, but the youngest human is 14... what happened to the kids born in those 3 intervening years?

Although Kira was a medic, not a soldier (and yes, I understand that everyone was given some training in that area), many times she would lead the strategy for her group while capturing the Partial, then letting him go, then coming back to the city - instead of the actual soldiers. It didn't seem quite in character, because of her medic/scientist training.

There are several mentions of there being no economy in this new world - one only has to go to a shopping mall or store and take what you want - yet one of Kira's adopted sisters is "rich" (author's word) enough to own solar panels to power her extensive collection of MP3 players; and Kira's adopted mother gathers plants and sells them in the market. But there's no mention of currency, or getting paid for your work, much less of the government taking care of your needs.

Like other reviewers, I felt like the adults were rather 2-dimensional - and that the message was "adults bad/government bad/teenagers good." I also found it rather hard to believe that ALL survivors had found their way to New York... surely there would be other survivors and settlements in other areas of the U.S., not to mention the world. And, as they stated, there are an awful lot of characters to keep track of... And there are plot holes as well as minor inconsistencies in details (i.e. a character suddenly having an object that has never described as being given to her).

I also continue to be terribly annoyed that just because the main characters in a novel are teens, that the book is considered "young adult". This book is just as good as many other "adult" sci-fi novels (i.e. Tad Williams' City of Golden Shadow (Otherland, Volume 1) series - which, btw, 'stars' teenagers).

Despite my negative comments, I give the 4.5 stars - and can't wait for the next one.... with the hope that these issues are explained.

PARTIALS is book one of a YA post-apocalyptic/somewhat dystopian trilogy by well known adult author Dan Wells. I haven't read any of his books before, but what can I say - I read the premise and immediately realized that this was going to be Children of Men meets Battlestar Galactica meets hard science fiction. If the synopsis were a man, I'd marry him sight unseen. This is a great mix of themes, but at the same time, I was wary - concepts like this often turn into bad husbands who become full of their intellect and forget to do the dishes.

Following 16 year old Kira, a budding scientist who is beginning her internship in the maternity ward of the only hospital left in existence (as we know), PARTIALS takes place 11 years after the Break, where the partials - artificial humans created as supersoldiers to win a war against the Chinese and then turned against all of humanity - finally ended the war and left what was left of humankind alone on Long Island. With no child born alive in more than a decade, the senate has made pregnancy mandatory for girls 18 and up - and is considering lowering that age. With attacks by terrorists and a friend's pregnancy looming, Kira has one thing on her mind - finding a cure for the disease that destroyed humanity and every baby born to East Meadow women.

I should warn you. PARTIALS is rather long. At 472 pages, it is a large YA offering, but it is chock full of some wonderful stuff. First things first - I actually enjoyed PARTIALS, even though it did disappoint me on some angles. Kira is a very strong, smart heroine who is able to piece together clues and willing to risk her life for the good of friends and human life. Although it's never really mentioned how Kira got herself a degree in pathology and immunology being barely sixteen, it's still refreshing to see a no-nonsense teen who has adapted to her world and doesn't whine about it like some YA heroines. Her science-filled world is rather in depth and filled with terms you might find in biology class, so watch out! In PARTIALS, there is a strong emphasis on the plot an action over the inevitable romance, which is actually a very small part of the book - Kira's boyfriend Marcus. Let me just say that I found this to be completely refreshing , to have a teenage character more focused on saving the world than making out with her boyfriend.

As someone who heavily touts their love of Children of Men, finding a YA book that involves a similar theme - humans unable to give birth (to live children) - was very fascinating. Mixing it with Battlestar Galactica and you have me going EEEEEE! Make it a YA novel that does not steer clear of dark material and you have an automatic fan in me. The writing was also very appealing to me - clean, tight, well-paced, and no-frills. The action sequences are very well written and kept me on the edge of my seat. The ending was 100 pages of biting my nails and getting anxious...and anxious...and more anxious!

But there were some iffy things...

The adults... Well, what can I say about the adults? I think Wells has not really hit his stride in using adults in his writing. If you like your adults to be pretty one-dimensional and evil, then PARTIALS is the book for you. The senate was filled with people who seemed so blind and bigoted against any other possible answers than lowering the age of forced pregnancy in teenagers. You would think that people desperate to survive at any cost would actually find Kira's plan to be a good one - kidnap a Partial and study it since they're obviously immune to RN. Instead, they negate her plans, chastise her creativity, and make her do things in secret. In place of strong, well-fleshed human adults, you pretty much have the teens themselves. Wells is new to YA but a veteran writer. I think he does have a bright future ahead of him in the market, but I'd like to see him craft more believable teens. Pairing it with third person and Wells also created the inevitable wall between reader and character. Kira was distant at times (especially with her strange thought process in my opinion - her thoughts read 19th century school teacher, not 2083 16 year old), but I believe book two will really show us what we need to know about her.

And I might be alone in this, but I actually predicted the big twist by about page 200. Then again, I am a veteran of movies/shows/books like this. The ending I saw from a mile away, and I found it to be a bit cliché and implausible, taking the easy road out instead of giving concrete evidence to support the book. The world building was mostly on point, but a lot of specific bits and pieces were never addressed, from occupations to the existence of current generation iPods in 2083 (seriously, it was described as such). A lot of 2083 seemed like 2012 except with cyborg human clone things.

Wells still managed to make PARTIALS an awesome thrill ride and a foray into hard science fiction that many teens wouldn't otherwise take. Yes, it's a little long, and it is a little dark, but it's definitely a science fiction epic that speaks to the reader and appeals to diverse fans. This is a book that will appeal to adults and teens alike, and I hope you get the chance to discover the action-packed world of Long Island circa 2083 soon.

VERDICT: Although filled with minor issues that affect the reading experience, PARTIALS makes up for it with breakneck action and a strong heroine you can't help but root for. If you are even slightly a fan of science fiction, pick this one up.

I picked this book after I caught the advertisement here on GR, and I wasn't really sure what to expect since I kind of went in blind. The cover is beautiful (though I bought it on kindle), and the blurb intrigued me. I didn't realize when I started it that it was such a long book, and I must admit that I had to convince myself to stay with it for a good portion of the beginning. But when I stuck with it, by about 1/3 of the way through I was so thankful that I did!

Kira is a great heroine! I love that she's strong, brave, intelligent, and rarely finds occasion to doubt herself, unlike a lot of these YA books where the girls put themselves down constantly. Kira, on the other hand, is plain bad-ass and doesn't need to be led around despite being thrown into terrifying fast-action scenarios. I usually prefer books to be written in first person, just because I love to see from the POV of the lead, but I think it actually worked out better that this book wasn't (especially after a certain detail is revealed about Kira much later in the book, I think the more unattached POV works better). Kira is living in this broken world, and it wasn't until she became a nurse and had to see for herself how many infants were dying from the RM virus that she realized how bad the situation was for their future. Finding out her friend Madison was pregnant just solidified her goal to do something about it, and she never backs down in her journey to help her friend and ultimately the whole human race.

Marcus, Kira's boyfriend of several years that intends to marry her in the near future, didn't really impress me much. There was little-no chemistry between him and Kira, and I kept waiting for some spark that just wasn't happening. He was sweet with her, protective, and they did share a few fleeting tender moments, but I wasn't buying it. Maybe that was the point, and after reading this book I think Wells did this for a good reason, but it was part of my issue with the beginning of the book. I did like Marcus' great sense of humor, and he had me laughing on more than one occasion. I just found myself trying to cling to one of the other characters to see if there was something more there.

So, the plot...Kira convinces her friends and some of the others on the island to go with her on a mission to find a partial and use it to find the cure they so desperately need, and like I said she's pretty bad-ass in the process. The mission is dangerous and scary, and I was on the edge of my seat at every turn. I was sufficiently freaked about the partials after it was revealed what they had done to the human race, so these scenes were nerve-wracking! Bionic men and women taking over and then effectively wiping us out with a deadly virus?! Yeah, I was cringing when Kira and the team finally came across the partials, and that was when Wells just flipped it all up in the air! I mean, talk about a twist! It was like a switch was flipped and I suddenly couldn't put this down, and all of the characters were 100% more interesting to me. I can't say what caused my feelings to change because it's too much of a spoiler, but from that moment on the action, twists, and emotions that Wells throws at the reader are awesome!

Hands down, my favorite part of the book was Samm...he's strong, bright, sexy, and has this air of mystery and danger about him that instantly had me saying "give me more of him!!". This book steers clear of any real romance, but there were some serious sparks flying between him and Kira that I loved!! I'm not sure where things are going to go with his character in the sequel, but I'm crossing my fingers they cross paths frequently and share some alone time to see what kind of connection they have!

Two areas where I think Partials could have been improved involved the details. I don't feel like I could picture any of the characters based on Well's descriptions, and it bothered me. If I'm going to read a book, I want to be able to see the characters in my head based on what I've read about them. Maybe I'm just used to these other YA books where the self conscious heroine is listing off her bad features and swooning over the many attributes of her crush, but there's not much to go on in this book. And on the flip side, the settings and action scenes in Partial are SO descriptive that it made the book a lot longer than it really needed to be. This by no means ruined the book for me, but I had to knock off a star for it. It's all in the details, as they say!!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm so very glad that I stuck with it! Truly, the twists are what make this book so captivating, but I can't talk about them because it'll give everything away...so read it!! It was an original, exciting, thrilling story with unexpected turns, and there's a pretty big cliffhanger leading into the sequel that will make it one long wait!

The year is 2076. Humanity's population is reduced to mere thousands. A war fought with the Partials, a human creation of man and machinery, was catastrophic. Then a virulent plague known as RM, nearly decimates the remaining population. What is left of the human population can be found on Long Island. The humans are hemmed in by the destruction and their wariness of the remaining Partials, even though they have not been seen in eleven years. Those who inexplicably survived the crippling plague because of their rare genetic immunities, find themselves on the verge of extinction. A healthy, human baby has not survived in eleven years. In a desperate attempt to save the population, the ruling Senate passes The Hope Act. A decree that requires every woman, eighteen and over, to continually be pregnant, in the hopes that eventually a baby will be born who can live more than a few days. Kira, a sixteen year old medic, finds herself fighting against the system. Whispers of lowering the pregnancy age to sixteen reach her ears, just as she learns her adoptive sister is pregnant. Kira is sick and tired of watching babies succumb to the deadly plague. Imagine being forced to constantly endure pregnancy and childbirth, only to watch your helpless infant die. Unwillingly to witness anymore babies' deaths, Kira hatches a daring plan to find a cure. To achieve her goal she must sneak out through the farming territories, avoiding the rebel insurgents, known as The Voice, and head into the unknown civilization of The Partials. She intends to capture and bring back a Partial to study. Can Kira achieve her dangerous mission and find a cure before it is too late?

What I Liked:

*This book is a compelling and thrilling page turner. Once you delve into Kira's world, you will be caught in her story. This book is an amazing read. It has the dangerous concepts you enjoy in a good dystopian: apocalyptic environment, deadly insurgents, domineering rulers, plague and danger. Add in the sci-fi elements, the deadly cyborg Partials and the unique viral disease and you have the basis for an excellent novel. If you are a fan of either genre, you will enjoy Partials.
*A good dystopian book for me, has to have excellent world building. Mr. Wells does a great job in depicting a post apocalyptic Long Island, New York and the surrounding areas. Imagine visiting these once highly populated areas, to find them decaying and abandoned. It was a surreal scene to say the least.
*I admired the main character Kira. Despite her young age, she is determined and resourceful. She is willing to think outside the current parameters on the plague and society and seek new answers. Her persistence to find a cure is admirable. Kira is a courageous, young heroine that will inspire you, despite the fact that everywhere she turns it is fraught with danger. Will the Voice attack and destroy the city, or are the rebels under the Senate's control, in order for them to scare the population into servility? Are the Partials the menacing creatures they thought they were? These are just a few of the tough issues that face Kira, along with her frantic research to uncover a cure.
*The overall plot is intense. There are so many exciting developments and thought provoking ideas to ponder during this read. I found myself continually contemplating the forced pregnancy. How far would I be willing to go to save humanity? Could I endure pregnancy after pregnancy on the slim hope of producing a child who can survive? Can you imagine the difficulties? As if the destruction of humanity by disease isn't enough, throw in some danger. For all the dystopian junkies there are plenty of heart pounding scenes, especially when you cross through the deserted city. As the book reaches the climax, there is a big revelation that absolutely stunned me. It was definitely an, I didn't see that one coming moment. If you are looking for an exciting read, this is it!
*Finally, this book does a great job in tying off many of the story lines, but Mr. Wells carefully lays down some interesting and promising new leads for book two. I was thrilled not to find a dramatic cliff hanger. This is a series that I am eagerly anticipating the next release.

And The Not So Much:
*One part of the book that I was disappointed in, was the lack of explanation on The Partials. There is so little information supplied on their overall makeup, creation and species in general. I was frustrated with the weak descriptions. I had so many questions on the Partials, I hope that book two will better clarify the Partial population.
*The other group that was poorly covered was The Voice. Why did this group splinter away? How did the survive away from the main populace? How were they organized? How long ago did they split away from the group in Long Island?
*While the overall world building was exceptional, I craved a bit more knowledge on what led to the destruction of the world as we know it. A war with China is briefly mentioned, along with the Partial uprising and the plague outbreak. I felt that just a bit more detail on the catastrophic events that brought about this new dystopian society would enrich the experience.

Partials is a book that is sure to please a wide audience. Anyone who loves sci-fi, dystopian and danger will love all this book has to offer. This is a story that is full of astounding surprises. If you are in a reading funk, and looking for something exciting, then I suggest you grab a copy of this awesome book. Prepare for an extraordinary and thrilling adventure. I am excited to see where this series goes, if book two is anything like Partials, I won't be disappointed.

Favorite Quotations:

"I am stronger than my trials."

"One short sleep and then we wake eternally, and death shall be no more."

"Out in the wilderness there were thieves and the Voice and the dying carcass of an entire world."

"You want to be happy......."That's what everybody wants. You just don't know what will make you happy."

"Happiness is the most natural thing in the world when you have it, and the slowest, strangest, most impossible thing when you don't."

"I was born to be a mother--it's in my genes, it's right here in the center of who I am."

"The Earth was flat and wide and brown, a field of dirt as barren as the moon, a single road stretching into the endless distance. The last to fall were the buildings, distant and solemn, the gravestones for an entire world. Then they disappeared, and there was nothing left but nothing."

"The old world had been consumed with the search for More Stuff."

"We're talking about the government taking full control over your body--what it's for, what you do with it, and what other people can do to it."

"If you can't know the truth,....live the most awesome lie you can think of."

"It's the most basic instinct of life---to outlive yourself. To build another generation that's going to see tomorrow."

"It was like trying to drink from a waterfall."

"Even a paranoid clock is being followed twice a day."

"If we want a brighter tomorrow, we must tear down the shadows of yesterday."

A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Balzer + Bray, courtesy of Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

***ARC provided by the publisher for review***
When she fell asleep, she dreamed of death-not just for her, not just for her species, but for every living thing she had ever known. The Earth was flat and wide and brown, a field of dirt as barren as the moon, a single road stretching into the endless distance. The last to fall were the buildings, distant and solemn, the gravestones for an entire world. Then they disappeared, and there was nothing left but nothing.

I LOVE this quote! It goes perfect with the story and with the book cover! Partials is one of those books that is really hard to write a review for without going into spoilerville. Partials take place in a post apocalyptic Long Island, NY where only a couple thousand surviving humans have banded together. 11 years ago, the Partials-an army of superhumans-were created by ParaGen to help win a war. After the war, the Partials got out of control and they killed almost 99% of the human population. The survivors were infected with a virus called RM which makes it impossible for humans to have babies. The youngest child is 14 years old and in order to try to find a cure, the Senate passes the Hope Act which forces all women 18 and over to get pregnant as often as possible in the hopes of finding a cure. But all of the babies end up dying within days of being born and no amount of research brings them closer to finding a cure.

Kira, who is training to be a doctor, works in the maternity ward. She is sick of watching countless babies die every day. Once her best friend Madison gets pregnant, she vows that she will find a cure in time to save her friends baby. She believes the cure is in the Partials so her and her friends set up a daring mission to go out and find a Partial and bring him back to study him. Somehow they end up pulling it off, but the senate is convinced that the Partial will bring chaos to the city so they keep him locked up and they give Kira 5 days to find a cure before they kill him. Meanwhile, the Voice, a group of human rebels have been making more and more attacks on the city trying to get the city to back off on their Hope Act, which the legal age to get pregnant has been dropped to 16. Tensions from the humans, the Voice and fear of the Partials bring the city into disorder.

The more Kira works with the Partial, Samm, the more she realizes that he is like them. My favorite moment is when she realizes that she stopped thinking of him as a thing and started thinking of him as a person. Okay, so this is around the time when things start to get spoilerific so I'll stop my recap right here. J

Kira is my favorite kind of female character: she is smart, she can handle guns, she fights for what she believes in and she refuses to give up. Even when everything seems to be going against them, she refuses to give up. The rest of the characters, her boyfriend Marcus was sweet and funny and you couldn't help but feel bad for him because Kira doesn't seem to be invested in their relationship. I also loved the rest of her friends Madison, Xochi, Isolde, and Jayden because even though they though Kira was crazy for trying to capture a Partial, they believed in her and helped her every step of the way. Although there is a relationship between Kira and Marcus and some chemistry between Kira and Samm, the romance totally takes a back seat to the action, and somehow it works.

Partials is a rather long book, but every single page is so important to the story that it never feels like it drags on. Dan Wells does an amazing job of keeping you hooked on his every word anticipating what will come next. The story is creative and action packed and I can't wait to read more about this world! Of course there are loose ends at the end of the story which will leave you anxiously waiting for the next book. Oh and how awesome would this book be as a movie? Hollywood needs to stop making prequels, sequels and threequels (yeah, totally made that up) and start turning these amazing YA books into movies. Make sure to get this book!!!

5 out of 5 sparkly stars!
***
Some of my favorite non-spoiler quotes from Partials:
-"If someday, despite our strongest efforts and our deepest determination, we finally fall, let it be because our enemies finally beat us, not because we beat ourselves."

-"Look on the bright side," said Marcus.
Kira waited. "This is the point," she said, "at which you would traditionally suggest a bright side."
"I've never been a real traditional guy," said Marcus. "Besides, I'm not saying I know a bright side, I just think this would be a great time to look at one."

-"Because it's the only way," said Kira. "Doesn't that even matter to you? Can't you see what's going on? We are tearing ourselves apart. If I go tomorrow I might dies, yes, but if I stay, we will dies, inevitably, and the whole human race with us, and I refuse to live like that."

-"We're gnats to them: a few thousand humans against a million-plus Partials. They likely don't defend as well as we do, because they don't expect us to be stupid enough to attack."
Kira snorted. "I don't know if `we're stupider that they think we are' is a really great attack strategy."

-"It's weird, isn't it?" said Yoon. "All this talk about how they look like us, and then they just...look like us."
Kira nodded. "I don't know if that makes it less scary, or more."

-The first human to communicate with another species in eleven years, she thought, and he tells me to shut up.
***
Check out more of my reviews at Mostly YA Book Obsessed:
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Wow. Wow,wow,wow! After falling in love with the post-apocalyptic world in Under the Never Sky, I didn't think I would find another novel to compete with it for quite some time, let alone this soon. But in Partials, that is exactly what I found, and I couldn't be more excited.

If you take a good look at the cover, the story is laid before you. The world as we know it is a wasteland, bleak and empty, with the buildings and homes humans once occupied nothing but an empty shell. The story is set in 2076, not so far ahead that it cannot be envisioned. And the circumstances that led to this downfall are entirely too plausible. The United States was involved in a war with Iran and another war with China, scarily possible. The government needed an unbeatable army, so they created Partials, who look like us, talk like us, but are much harder to kill. After the wars were over, the Partials were relegated to an oppressive existence. They revolted. They won. But not only did they win, they decimated the human population with the RM virus, leaving the human race unable to bring a child into the world longer than a few days. Which means the human race is going extinct. But things are not always what the seem. Who is the real enemy?

How scary is that? I found the plausibility of the plot to be a most terrifying, yet intriguing concept. My whole life, I've heard older people say that our technology would one day bring about our downfall. Robots would take over the world, and take us down. I always laughed that idea off, but what if it's true?

On top of the brilliant plot line, the author has created a terrific cast of characters. The interaction between the characters, the nonverbal and spoken communication was excellent. I had a great sense of who they were, how they felt about one another without the author having to overexplain. Main character Kira is a medical researcher, intelligent and resourceful. And the girl, only sixteen years old, never says quit. Willing to risk her own life to save humanity (and her best friend's baby), Kira is fierce and loyal. Tough as granite, she holds firm in the face of all adversity, including a huge bomb of a secret she is sitting on.

Kira's boyfriend Marcus was without a doubt the most entertaining character. He is always quick with a one-liner that diffuses a tense situation. He is faithful and believing in what Kira hopes to achieve. I loved him, so much. Xochi, another of Kira's friends and a partner, was also absolutely hilarious and endearing. Even with all of the drama going on, she was great for comic relief. Truthfully, there are at least five more characters that I would love to talk about in depth. But I'm going to hold back a bit because this is a review about a book and not an actual book.

I don't always enjoy post-apocalyptic books because many have become formulaic, in my opinion. That is absolutely not the case in Partials. The fact that not only is there one enemy out there, but two, in addition to the virus that will eventually kill off the human species, left me reeling. The terror is lifted to a whole new level, leaving you feeling surrounded on all sides. The author does not take the easy way out with the characters and the situations they face. Any character, shockingly, can be collaterol damage. The end of Partials left me frantic, flipping the pages as quickly as possible and crying. The story is tragic and bittersweet, yet promising. It was a terrific finish that left me wanting more, but not angry. But, honestly, I'm dying for more!

Favorite Quote:

" 'That is the second worst idea I've ever heard,' said Tovar, 'but since the first worst is you shooting me in the face, I'm all for it.' " (pg. 61, ARC)

"All we have left is each other, so let's enjoy it. Let's be together, like we've always said we'd be, and let's forget all this death and fear and everything else and just live. You want to leave this island, let's leave- let's go somewhere no one will find us, away from the Senate and the Voice and the Partials and everything else. But let's do it together." (pg. 133, ARC)

Source: Received for review from the publisher.

After a terrible virus called RM, created in the war with the genetically engineered soldiers called Partials, decimated almost the entire world's human population, the survivors have retreated to Long Island. There have been no attacks for many years, but the danger still remains. Each day is an utter struggle to try to find a way to survive as no child has been born immune in over a decade. Laws have been passed making women little more than baby making factories in hopes of even one live birth, and not everyone is happy with this decision. As what left of society is on the brink of civil war, one young medic, Kira, steps up with the determination to change their fate. She'll have to make hard choices and sacrifices, even if it means losing everything she has ever known, for there are secrets to be found and harsh truths to be learned on the journey.

In any dystopian novel there always is going to be some sort of control and oppression. As Partials starts, you can see some of that control, but it has a pretty facade that makes it look like everything is being done in the people's best interests. However, the further you get into the story, the more that pretty facade starts to wear thin as Kira starts to see the ugly truth about the council. As I read an ARC copy, I won't directly quote the book, but one specific realization that Kira had really stuck with me. She questioned to herself whether the council could have been making the decisions they were if it had of affected their own daughters. A crucial element is missing in their leadership as no one has any familial ties left anymore. There are no sons or daughters, mothers or fathers, or any other sort of blood tie. Without those connections, it becomes much to easy to enact laws to control others. It was simply amazing to me that even with the threat of the complete extinction of humanity, everything would revolve around oppression rather than hope and determination to find a cure.

I found the Partials element to be completely fascinating. It almost reminded me of the Terminator franchise, but only in a biological creation rather than a mechanical one. There is such an element of fear on the human side, as these are the "people" they believe destroyed them all. However, after a ten year silence on both sides, you would think the survivors would have started to question why they would have been allowed to live if annihilation was the Partial's real goal. What could they possibly stand to gain? I would have thought it have been more likely for them to want a slave force. Of course a lot of the story revolves around Kira and her refusal to just accept what she is told. Her determination is nothing short of admirable as she is completely willing to sacrifice everything, even her own life, on the low chance at finding a cure. If more people like her had of been placed in power, then things would have been much different. Of course then there wouldn't have been a story to tell, and I would have missed out on an incredible book.

I'm a huge science fiction geek when it comes to movies, but for some reason, the same type of stuff doesn't typically appeal to me very much in books as I like to lean more towards the paranormal. However, Partials may very well have changed that tide for me as I absolutely loved it. I have a feeling a lot of that was due to the technology level being quite similar to our own, so it was quite realistic. Well, realistic in the sense of what could happen after 99.9% of the world's population died. Partials is the perfect blend of sci-fi goodness set in a dystopian setting that kept me utterly captivated from the very start. It will definitely be an agonizingly long wait until the next installment's release date.

After a war with the partials - organic beings engineered to be almost, but not quite the same as humans - the human population has been reduced to less that of a present day city. The partials were created, unable to age or reproduce, as the perfect soldier to help humans, us win a war.

Their creators never dreamed they might one day be fighting against those same, engineered perfect soldier - and that they would lose. They were helped, in part, by a virus that took the human populations down to only tens of thousands. Those people, immune to the virus have been living the past decade on Long Island, the partial threat still there but attacks no longer imminent.

The imminent threat now is extinction. No human baby has been born and survived in the past decade. They're almost out of time.

When sixteen-year-old Kira learns of her friend's pregnancy she knows it's time for her to find the cure to RM, the virus that will take the baby's life, otherwise. Forced to taking perhaps rash and definitely against the rules action, Kira will learn more about why both humans and partials are in the state they're in than she ever expected. But will she be able to save the baby or will she, along with the group she assembles to carry out her plan, lose more than she dreams?

So, the synopsis on Goodreads says that Partials has the action of the Hunger Games series with the themes of Battlestar Galactica? First, while I do strongly heart the Hunger Games series, I'm not really sure you can compare these two. Hunger Games probably has more literally action but Partials has more suspense and things build up to bigger events a big more. It's not like the action while they're in the arena of Hunger Games but I'd say it beats the action of the other parts of the series, really.

I haven't seen Battlestar Galactica (for shame) but if this book has similar themes, then I really, really oh so very much want to now. I'm really intrigued by the themes in Partials and the way the Senate that made the laws and (sort of) kept order in Kira's world was in this new dystopian sort of world but was also a throw back to ancient Rome.

Partials looking exactly like humans but being a bit like the Terminator was hard completely accept at first - I kept picturing them as the Judoon from Doctor Who - I think it was the black helmet thing. But that was just for a little bit (and I logically knew I was wrong in doing so)! [like Doctor Who 12" Judoon Commander Action Figure but with their helmets on]

The plot of Partials is full of a ton of twists and turns - some of them way more unpredictable than others and will definitely keep you flipping the pages as fast as you can until it's over. Then you'll be devastated that there's not more.

The characters have great interactions with each other. They're young and lighthearted when they're away from the serious stuff but can be tough and business like when the time calls for it. We don't forget that they're young but we also get to see them dealing with some incredibly hard things that people that age should definitely not have to deal with - and the different way in which they deal with it.

There was not a love triangle in this book (readers, especially guys that don't like the romance taking over books will enjoy this one, it's a side element but not the mail thing) but I almost wish there was. There was a character that I wish had more love than they did!

This book sucked me in from the first pages. I thought the post-apocalyptic descriptions were fascinating and poignant, I enjoyed the group of characters we mostly follow throughout, and the suspense made it a fast read even though there were moments of too much description or brainstorming of plans, etc. I do wish there had been a bit more romance (perhaps even passion, in all its forms?) and I agree that the idea that 16 year old Kira is the first to think of her groundbreaking scientific research is a bit of a stretch, but the latter is often a convention of the genre you just have to suspend disbelief and accept. This earns a solid 5 stars for me based on great entertainment I read in under 24 hours. Now, let's have book 2 and more Samm already!

Originally posted on my blog: The Bibliophile's Corner

This book had me hooked from the very beginning. From the very first page you are thrust into this world of desperation, determination, and limited hope. Humans can't reproduce and the youngest child is fourteen years old. These last survivors of humanity are losing hope. This hopelessness permeates much of the book and when there is just the tiniest glimmer of hope, I found myself grasping at it as Kira, Marcus, Jayden, and a few other characters did.

Kira is sure to go down as kick-ass heroine. But not in the way we have come to expect of dysptoian and post-apocalyptic novels. Kira is a medic is geared by science and her heart. She may not be the best shot with a gun, but her fierceness and beliefs puts her high up on my list of badass women. Kira is unique and towards the end of the novel you figure out what makes her so special. I have to admit, I did predict it, but I wasn't 100% sure until the end. And with my realization, I felt every emotion Kira did. Confusion, anger, and curiosity.

Marcus is a pretty wonderful guy for Kira. They've been together since they were children and knew they would end up together one day. My only complaint with Marcus is his over-protectiveness as times. I sense that the author may have put this personality trait here to possible set up a love triangle for the second book. But I could be wrong.

Samm, (my prediction for the final piece of the love triangle) is a Partial. He is my favorite character other than Kira and by the end of this novel, I still have no idea how I feel about him. I mean, I know I love the guy, or machine, or Partial. Whatever. But I really can't explain why. Aside from his gradual appreciation of Kira, there is just something about him that puts him in my favorite character zone. (If it does come to love triangle in the second novel, I may have to be Team Samm.)

This book is so damn exciting with its military and medical talk. I mean, our main character is a medic, so the medical bit is a given. Not to mention, post-apocalypse novel, so, obvious need of military talk too. I did find my eyes glazing over at some of the medical or military talk, but overall, I was able to keep up. Thank goodness, for my biology teacher. I found myself keeping up moreso with the med talk than military talk. In other reviews that I have read, this "jargon" was infuriating to some. I will tell you know, if you are not knowledgable of biology or military talk, you will probably be skipping a lot of pages to get to the "good stuff."

Overall, this book has got me wanting more. I am so ready to figure out more about the Partials, more about Kira, and am hoping that the human government will stop being so damn governmental.

In Kira's world, humanity is an endangered species. Engineered organic soldiers called Partials have wiped out most of the population. And those who remain are having children that live no longer than a day or so. While Kira and others try desperately to find the source and cure to this mysterious virus that is killing their children, Kira discovers that the only solution lies with their enemies, the Partials.

So, Partials has two things going on. We have this post-apocolyptic world where the general population is fearful of either a Partial attack, or even an attack by The Voice, the dissenting population that lives on the outskirts of town and is fiercely opposed to what they see as an oppressive government. Then, there is the conflict of the government and its controversial HOPE act, a law that lowers the legal pregnancy age to 16. It in effect forces female citizens to become pregnant and then lose their babies in an attempt to research and nail down the source of RM, the virus that is killing them all.

Both of these plot lines are very well developed. In fact, I was absolutely impressed with the amount of research and believability of their crisis. I think this is a new trend in YA dystopian fiction, and I like it. Scientific research is a major bonus.

I think that some readers will be disappointed with the lack of romance. There are sparks here and there, but after putting this book down at the end, it was not the romance that grabbed and stuck with me. So, be prepared for that.

Truth be told, I'm a character girl. And a lot of the characters really blended together for me. I did feel like Samm and Kira were very well-developed. Kira was a great female lead. I've been thinking a lot about female roles in entertainment lately, and how women are often portrayed as either for the boys or one of the boys. That was not the case in this book. Kira was strong, but not masculine.

Partials is a very nice introduction to science fiction. It's well-thought out, exciting, and the world-building is phenomenal. And it's exactly the kind of story that I'm looking for to really kick of a trend of science fiction that rocks. (We can start this trend, right)? Partials is part of a series, but don't be afraid to start it now, the ending is perfectly satisfying and will leave you wanting the next book without feeling cheated by a cliffhanger.

Partials does contain references to sexual conduct (with the pregnancy situation and all), and if I remember correctly, there was a little bit of language. But, I would still recommend it for readers from about 13 up. This is also a great pick for teenage boy readers.

I was surprised to enjoy this book as much as I did. When ordering from the store's Vine program, you're often unsure what you'll get, and this turned out to be the first book in what promises to be an engaging young adult series. It's definitely tuned to the young adult audience, as there is more concentration on relationships and social interactions than might be expected for an adult in a similar position, but it's not very distracting from the story. I will admit that I saw the stinger coming a couple hundred pages in advance, but it'll still be interesting to see how it plays out in the planned subsequent books.

The scene is Long Island, NY, about 50 years in the future and nearing the end of the world as we know it. Most everyone was wiped out a bit more than 10 years ago by either a war with disgruntled genetically-manufactured people (the Partials) or a virus, but the few immune people gathered together and have created a microsociety, complete with all the usual politics, on Long Island. Adults created families of orphans and they all muddle their way through with farming and scavenging. They don't know if they're alone in the world aside from the manufactured people, but figure it's a pretty good bet. Worse, they can't reproduce because every new baby dies of the virus within 3 days of birth, so the clock is ticking on the survival of the human race and pregnancy is compulsory for all women over a certain age.

The main character is training as a medic, with lofty save-the-world goals typical of a 16-year old. She's also scared that she's soon going to be of breeding age. When her older adopted sister gets pregnant (by choice), the stakes are raised, and our protagonist concocts a series of risky plots to obtain Partial medical samples and experiment on them in a hope to find a cure for the virus so that her sister's baby will survive. Her initial plan results in more data to anlyze than she'd hoped, but with extra complications, and she wrestles with the moral dilemmas induced by meeting her enemy face-to-face and finding him to not be the monster from her mind. While analyzing the data, political machinations in the community put her and her work at risk, and point the community toward certain disintegration. If she can only find the cure to the virus, she might be able to save the human race both from the virus and from itself, but in the end she gets both considerably more and considerably less than she hoped.

Partials by Dan Wells would make an AMAZING movie for dystopian and non-dystopian fans alike!
The world that Wells created is strong and thought provoking! It gives the feeling of surreality in the probability of this form of post apocalyptic scenarios. I'm not saying that the human race will have engineered partial humanoids, but the behavior and characteristics of the society and 'government' workings.

Scene: When humans can no longer have future generations; The youngest child known in the world is 14 years old; The senate is chosen by age seniority; and it is LAW you MUST get pregnant once you turn 18 years old.

One can only imagine how it feels to be forced to get pregnant at a young age and still not be seen let alone considered to be an adult. How the senate cares more in controlling the people in present day than caring for their future. Partials by Dan Wells has wholesome drama, nerve wrecking tension, and pack full of action rolled within its pages. You can't help but to be intrigued!

The description of the surroundings and the aftermath of the Partial War was very intricately detailed. I had no trouble visualizing it through the eyes of Kira.
Even having the title of being a 'Plague Baby", Kira, is very intelligent for being 16, and was only 5 when the Partial War began. She's very head-strong and will do practically anything and everything to save the human race and help her friends. I really like her a lot and she wasn't a difficult character at all. Surprising though that I did not have any heart flutters or warm fuzzy attractions with any of the male characters. They were some what bland, but Marcus had his moments where he kept me entertained with his quips. I believe that the book could have been shorter because at times I felt like it went on for days. It's hard to describe without you the reader experiencing it yourself. This is not to say that I disliked Partials. That's not it at all. It's just that feeling you get when you've finished a book and you end up saying to yourself "I liked that, but it didn't have to be this long."
In hope that IF, and this is a BIG "IF", this actually happens in the future; I hope those who are seated in command would think and act wiser, and as for the others to just be wary and stand up to what they believe in.
I definitely recommend reading Partials by Dan Wells! GREAT STORY!!

Similar To: Bumped by Megan McCafferty

What a big book! I was hoping that with the length it would be a little bit faster paced then it was. In the end this ended up being a good book, the 1st half of it just dragged to me.
Curiosity had me at the very 1st page. Even though I wanted to put it down and move on a couple of times. Something kept telling me to read on. And that I did. The story started to pick up the pace a bit after Part 2. The characters were interesting. Kira, no matter what the cost she was going to do what she felt she should do! Here you have all of these infants dying. one after the other, after a virus that has spread 11 years ago. No child since has been born and lived. They all hope that one day there will be one that lives. For Kira just thinking and hoping that this will happen is not enough. She has to do something about it. So she sets out to do so. Determination! I love it. She has a big heart.
Marcus, he was a great character. I would have loved to see more of him through out the book. He is Kira's boyfriend. You can tell that he really cares for her. Sometimes he may not get Kira's motives... but he stuck by her. Even though there was a relationship in the book. The book was not based off of a relationship. That was not the focus point of Well's writing. Which I loved. It is something that you do not see in many YA books. It's nice to read that sometimes!
Dan Wells has put in so much detail in this book. Which is NOT a bad thing, at all. But at the same time it was at times maybe too much at one time. I think that for me is what drew the book out longer. But, in the end I think that it made scene for the author doing this in book #1 of this series!
You are left guessing through out the whole book, as to WHO you can trust.. is your allies your enemy or vise versa! It will keep you reading. Wanting to know what that last page holds.
This book also holds a sci-fi feel to it. But, it is classified as Dystopian. So if you are into Sci-fi books as well this one will be for you.
Strong characters. A solid plot. Great book. Again the only problem I had with this book was the length. And I mean with the length came a lot of drawled out detail. Other then that, Partials was a great read! I am excited to see what happens in the next installment in the Partials series!

You know those books in which you want to just say "Omg omg omg" about? I've been on a roll reading and reviewing THOSE type of books. Partials is another one of that sort. Up until a few years ago I wasn't crazy about sci-fi books. At all. I'm still not all "OOOHHH I love sci-fi", but I'm more open to reading about aliens, robots, and other sci-fi type things. As long as the books have some other sort of element. Partials fits perfectly, just enough that I'm entertained, but not so much that I'm overwhelmed by it. When I first heard about Partials, the buzz was saying dystopia. I love dystopian, so it immediately went on my TBR list. (Side note: Anyone looking for dystopian, Partials is not your book. It's post-apocalyptic! There is a difference, I
promise.)

In Partials, a disease has made it so that all babies die within a few days of birth. As scientists try to figure out the cause, everyone 18 and up is basically forced to have sex. Women are supposed to reproduce as much as possible, because the government feels one child will eventually survive. Kira's job is training to become a medic, because of that she's right there as babies die.

What did I love the most? The idea behind the partials is so realistic. Think of all of the genetically-engineered things appearing now days? Fish are fed chemicals to make them larger. Cloning is possible. The way I see it, it's just a matter of time before something is "created" like the partials.

I also enjoyed that the teens in Partials, were hardened. They didn't come across as super fluffy or childlike. They've lived hard lives. Many have seen their entire families be killed in the war and show it. On the same vein though, some of the adults come across as weak and a bit fake - the complete opposite.

Romance lovers - there is a touch of a romance, but it's not a big focus. For me that was a bit of a relief, who really has time to maintain a relationship while they are trying to save the world?

If you enjoy post-apocalyptic books, Partials is not to be missed! (And 2013's release of Fragments cannot come soon enough!)

I received my copy of Partials from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Partial is the first novel, in a new series by Dan Wells, acclaimed author of I Am Not a Serial Killer. In this YA, post-apocalyptic dystopia the year is 2076. It has been eleven years since the uprising of the Partials; a group of engineered organic beings who released a virus known as RM. This virus wiped out most of humanity and left the few remaining unable to produce living offspring.

Wells took me on a fast paced, breathtaking ride and left me wanting more. The world-building in this novel is fantastic, unique, and believable. Wells painted a world that I could see, and his attention to detail had me riveted. The plot is engaging, and not a page was wasted in the development, and movement of this story. I became completely engrossed, and the rest of my world faded away. The remaining humans are living in or around, Long Island, NY. They are frantically trying to find a cure for RM to stop their dwindling numbers. The community is governed by a small senate that passes laws to ensure the continued existence of mankind. One such law is the Hope Act. It states that every female must become pregnant at the age of eighteen. These women give birth over and over again. For eleven years they have studied and tested but no child has survived. This Act caused friction within the community, and some left; becoming a group known as the Voice. Violent outbreaks, and theft have become a source of tension between the two. The Partials haven't been seen in eleven years, but both sides fear an attack.

Protagonist Kira is a sixteen year old medic in training. Wells has created a strong, fearless, and bright heroine. I immediately connected and saw her as a believable leader. Despite her age, Kira is wise beyond her years, and wants to find a cure for RM. Wells gives us a female character who can think for herself regardless of her friends opinions. Kira believes that the cure is connected with the source of the infection, and wants to study a Partial. Despite being forbidden to do so, she, and a team of her friends head out in search of one. The tale that unfolds is stunning, mind-boggling and one of the best I have read. I truly cannot wait to get my hands on book two.

While Partials started out a bit on the slow side (for me), I became addicted to the world and the characters and flew through the second two-thirds of the book. Dan Wells has crafted a wonderfully descriptive novel that throws the reader into a futuristic society that will both scare and awe.

I have to start with our main character, Kira, because I developed a pretty deep bond with her throughout the novel. She's the type of heroine that I love to see. She's willing to stick her neck out for the things that she believes in and she's not willing to cave to outside pressures. She's very much her own person. And yet she has a deep connection with the people around her that I totally appreciated. She's willing to stick her neck out for them when she needs to, but she's not willing to let the stop her from reaching for her ultimate goals/dreams. Her hope and perseverance made her somewhat of an enigma in her society and really made her stand out.

The storyline itself, as I said, starts a bit slow, but when it really starts to get going, you won't be able to put the book down. Wells has written a book that explodes with tension and action. There are some moments where potentially I felt there was a tad too much "discussing what we're going to do and then here is how we did it" (does that makes sense?), but overall, I found that once the world was established at the beginning, the process of discovery smoothed out and the story started flowing. I appreciated as well that Wells seems to give his audience's intelligence some credit in his use of military and medical jargon. He doesn't shy away from complicated terminology and descriptions.

Overall, Partials is a true dystopia for the science fiction fan who loves detailed description and strong scientific investigations. Wells' world will really suck you in and if you're anything like me, you'll be begging for the sequel as soon as you turn the last page. There's a little romance in the story, but it always takes a back seat to the stories bigger struggles and issues.

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See the original @ Reading in the Corner

It didn't matter that I find Kira flirty at the start. Or I wanted to get rid of Marcus in more ways than one. Or I wanted Jayden's character to be realized in its full potential. Because Partials took all my attention and focused it on its fantastic plot and its solid execution. It felt good to read a post-apocalyptic book that doesn't delve on romance alone. This is one smart, action-packed story, you guys.

Sixteen-year-old Kira doesn't believe in the Hope Act anymore (eighteen-year-old girls are mandated by the government to get pregnant in two months to grow the numbers of humans). When the Senate lowered the age to sixteen, Kira decided to pursue her idea, no matter how far-fetched, that perhaps Partials holds the key in the RM cure (infants die days after being born because of the RM virus). Why? Because she doesn't want to pregnant at such a young age. Because she cannot stand watching all those babies die. Because she doesn't want to live that kind of life. Everything changed when they encountered a Partial.

There are elements that are predictable but still I was surprised when those predictions happened. To say that a plot-driven book gave me enjoyment despite little connections with the main characters is a first for me. Kira's okay but I love Xochi more. Marcus is a clown and a whiner at the same time. Jayden, I so love. Until the end, he was my favorite character together with Samm. And Samm is unbelievable. His actions and thoughts are true to his character. Although his exposure is short-lived, I want to see more of him in the sequel.

There are times I get lost to all the genetic talk but that's fine. I just flip back a few pages to understand it more. And i thought this book is too long. But Well's writing is very engaging. Every chapter end made me want to start the next chapter immediately.

So what else can I say? Partials is really good. Never mind those characters that I didn't like. Because Kira's story will absorb you `til you get to the very end. And because of this, I am wildly anticipating its sequel, Fragments.

I think I read this before. This time I listened to audio. I think this is shelved in young adult but as a grandmother tl young adults I enjoyed it immensly! If you really think about it this could be prophetic, not just fantasy.
Like Orson Scott Cards "Enders game" series at that time was fantasy but so much is true now....
On waiting list for next book!

When I first heard about Partials, I knew I had to read it. Firstly, it's PA/dystopia/sci-fi (three of my favourite genres in one!) and secondly it's a big book at 468 pages - I love big books that I can completely immerse myself in for hours and hours on end. And it didn't disappoint!

I'm going to break this down a bit, as there is so much to talk about in this book.

World-building - this is probably one of the best examples of world-building I have read in YA for a long time. I could easily imagine the scenes in my mind, particularly the disintegrating buildings and infrastructure, the laboratories and hospitals, and a whole lot of other things I can't discuss without spoiling the book. Science backs up the story in a completely believable and intriguing way.

Characters - I loved Kira - she's tough, brave, smart, compassionate and a great role-model character. Her boyfriend Marcus was equally likeable and I found their relationship to be realistic and it was refreshing to read about a complicated relationship that actually had a good reason to be complicated. Xochi, Kira's adopted sister was one of the secondary characters that stood out most for me - her obsession with music and her outspoken attitude had me looking out for her in every scene she didn't appear.

Storyline - Keeping the pacing and reader interest in a long book is tough, but there was never a 'down' moment in this book for me. Sure, it's not all actioned-packed partial fighting all the way through, but even the political parts (which would normally make me yawn so hard my eyes watered) were intriguing and added an important dimension.

In summary - with the current glut of YA PA/Dystopia/Sci-Fi it's hard to find a book that really stands out from the rest, but for me Partials was a shining light - the writing is excellent and all the features that I love, great characters, awesome world-building and an intriguing storyline are all there in buckets. I can't wait for the next book!

I'm sitting here, trying to figure out how to write a review for this amazing novel. The awesome author, Dan Wells, has totally blown me away. Partials is an incredibly amazing world and storyline with fantastic characters. I can't even pick which is my favorite. Dan Wells gave all of them terrific personalities: Kira is head-strong, Marcus is the fun guy, Jayden is a take charge guy, Xochi is the bad-ass chick, Madison is the caring mom figure, Haru is the jerk, Isolde is a analyst and Samm is a Partial with heart. I love, LOVE this book and wish I had an inside connection with Dan Wells so I wouldn't have to wait for Failsafe, the second book in the Partials series.

Kira is sixteen and a medic trainee in the hospital maternity ward. Kira, along with the rest of her race, who have survived the Break, are trying to find the cure for the RM virus that still continues to kill their babies. Kira is determined to find the cure, and once she starts the search, she has no idea how far she will delve into the government, the Partials, the humans, and herself to find the answers.

Partials is also action-packed, but Wells did bring romance into this fantastic storyline, which I'm so glad he did. And what a heartfelt romance it is with Kira and Marcus. I did, at times, think Wells was going to change Kira's romantic interest, and I'm still not sure he won't in Failsafe. I'll just have to wait and see. Wells also brings heart-break with plenty of tears with one of the character (no spoilers) I will just say, I really loved this guy.

Dan Wells' dedication in Partials is the best way to describe my own feelings for this amazing novel: "This book is dedicated to the rule breakers, the troublemakers, and the revolutionaries. Sometimes the hand that feeds you needs a good bite." I highly, highly recommend Partials as a must read. You don't won't to miss out on this book!

6/24 Review: Partials by Dan Wells
"The only hope for humanity isn't human." This is the line (and the huge spoiler) that dons the cover of the teen science fiction novel "Partials."
Partials is set in the year 2076, in a time when the human population has dwindled to levels near extinction because of a virus known as RM that was caused and spread by Partials, a military sub-species of human look-alikes that were initially engineered to help fight a war against an Asian superpower. RM has left a few survivors in its wake, but the main cause of concern is that the survivor's offspring are not immune to RM and thus leave the remaining human race with no way to further the species.
But that doesn't stop the "government" from trying to legislate to fix the problem. At the beginning of this novel, the Senate has passed the so called "Hope Act" (a not so subtle stab to our present day political lingo) that mandates that every women 18 and above must try and get pregnant as soon as possible and as often as possible so that the hopes of one of these many offspring will survive. Our protagonist of the story, Kira Walker, a medic in the maternity ward, isn't exactly thrilled with this idea and the rumors that the age mandate will soon be dropped to 16, thus wrapping her 17 year old self into the mandate and forcing her to get pregnant with her longtime boyfriend Marcus, a creepy older volunteer, or a donor. Apparently, these are the only options for the young girls of the future.
But this is also what sets Partials apart from other teen novels. Most teen novels these days have romance thrumming through them, especially when the main character is a female. For Kira, romance just isn't that big of a thing on the radar. She's a strong female protagonist, with definite opinions, and one goal: to cure RM and save her friend/sister Madison's baby.
To this end, Kira decides that the way to make a cure for RM has to begin with the ones that caused the plague: the Partials. She sets out into the wasteland of the world, braving the other rouge entity of this world called "the Voice" and its rebel supporters, to capture a Partial for study. And from there the story takes off into the world of "Partials" and what Kira discovers.
But...it takes almost 250 pages for any of that action to actually occur. The book is very slow moving and almost painful to stick with until the action of the story does finally descend. After page 300, things are golden and I actually found myself not wanting to put down the book.
Part of what may be slowing the work down in the beginning is the dialogue. The characters of Wells book thrust and parry at one another with one liners that are absurd and groan-worthy, and Wells seems to load more and more one-liners into the sections that are the slowest or are focused on backstory and filler. Kira's boyfriend, Marcus, is usually the guilty culprit for these lines, such as an instance when he refers to someone who has just been injured by saying: "Anyone can see that he's bad," said Marcus, speaking calmly, "but we've splinted it, we've wrapped it, and I can drug him so hard he'll think he's flying home on a magical gumdrop rainbow. You could get high on his farts."
Really? It's only about as bizarre as the detail that Wells works to convey in describing every single thing that everyone wears.
One of the good things about Partials though is the issues it brings up with government, choice, and the interesting conspiracy theories it throws out there that raises a bit of doubt in our own system, encouraging that right to question your leaders. There's also a very well detailed and thought out bit of explanation when it comes to the structure of the RM virus and the work Kira does towards the cure.
If you make it to the end, don't look for resolution. A second book is in the works to answer all the questions that the last few chapters of Partials generates, and especially the awkward cliffhanger that we are given on the last page. Here's hoping for a lot more character backstory on Kira, more time with Samm, and less Marcus quips.

I've enjoyed many YA novels with dystopian themes since The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxed Set. So, I didn't hesitate to select this when I had the chance to receive an ARC. At first I thought I might be a little burned out from so many "dystopias." The first half of the book was interesting, but not really engaging. I put the book down for almost a week because it just wasn't a must read now. But since I needed to write a review, I stuck with it, and my patience paid off. The second half was exciting and engrossing.

The book's biggest strength is also its greatest weakness - description. The author vividly paints this future world where a virus unleashed by humanity's own creation, the Partials, has wiped out 99.9% of the population. I felt like I was wandering around in New York seeing the decay for myself. On the other hand, so much attention was paid to the world-building that the characters and plot were put on the back burner for too long. The Partials were nothing more than boogeymen until well into the second half. But that second half really sucked me in and I read straight through to the end.

Even though both of the major revelations in the second half were completely predictable, and some of the events stretched credibility even for this world (a 16 year old virologist?), I found myself wrapped up in the story. Kira is a lively protagonist out to save the human race, and I really started to care for her, and her cast of friends. The concept of the Partials was believable and cleverly executed, and helps set this dystopia apart from others. This is the first in a likely trilogy, so though the ending has closure, the major plotline is left open. The first half was weak, but the second half left me eager for book 2. Recommended to fans of the genre.

Coming back from a hiatus on reading for over a year, I started flipping through the popular teen books (I am a teen) in search for something I wanted to read. I pulled open a bunch of tabs and started reading the first page just to see what kind of feel I got from the book. The first paragraph in this book is way better and way more interesting than any of the other books that I read and I quickly put a hold on it at the library.

There is definitely some 'teens are more intelligent than the adults' going on in this book but despite that, I REALLY liked it! I thought the plot was intriguing, complex, and well written and I thought the characters were convincing and interesting. There is some mild swearing scattered throughout the book which I felt was a little awkward but not enough to turn me off the book. I finished the whole thing in one sitting and immediately put a hold on the second one.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel with a guy writing a story that followed a girl but I found it pretty realistic and didn't find myself ever jolted out of the story with a 'that is so not what a girl would do/say' moment. I would definitely recommend this book!

GUYS. Partials by Dan Wells is a seriously intense ride. I read mixed reviews of Partial before I started reading it, but luckily I ended up really, really enjoying Partials.

I mean, it's sort of hard to be really original with dystopians and post-apocalyptic stories these days. But I thought Dan Wells really kicked it up a knock with Partials. The whole biological robots aspect (aka the partials) were really interesting to me and I loved experiencing and learning about the partials.

The world building in Partials was excellent, I thought. There always has to be secrets in conspiracies in a dystopian society, and I really enjoyed learning all the secrets along with Kira. There were a lot of things I totally didn't see coming and I really, really liked the twists.

It didn't hurt that I loved Kira. A protagonist with medical aspirations - someone who wants to save lives with medicine and science and research! It was a very refreshing change and I loved her dedication and intelligence.

And as intense as Partials was, I will say that at some points I thought there was too much action - I was ready to find out more, to get to the conclusion, but stuff kept happening to slow things down.

Partials by Dan Wells was a very long book, but well worth the ride. It was exciting and intense, and a very interesting twist on the typical dystopians out there. The characters were admirable and brave, yet messed up and confused in a very relatable way. If you're looking for a dystopian/post-apocalyptic type book that feels new, definitely check out Partials.

After war with the Partials (genetically engineered beings that look like humans) humanity is the endangered species. An engineered virus called RM wiped out most of humanity, and has killed every baby born since the war. Sixteen-year-old Kira is in medical training and is tired of the countless births without one baby that lives. The government is forcing younger and younger young women to get pregnant without hope of saving the babies. Now a violent revolution is looming because of opposition to the pregnancy laws. Kira decides to find a cure to RM using any means necessary, even if it means risking her life to save humanity.

Wells' dystopian world is dark and seemingly hopeless, with the youngest known person a young teen. Humanity is dying out, no one seems safe from violent revolutionary attacks, the Partials and their goals are still a mystery, and soon Kira will be forced to get pregnant before she even knows what she wants to do with her life. Kira is a very sympathetic character, mature yet knows she isn't ready for marriage and her own family yet. The setting and subject matter reminds me quite a bit of the Hunger Games. Though, Partials is slower-paced and more dramatic than action-packed.

I was hooked from the start with this surprising new YA debut. First in a trilogy, Partials has a creative hook on the post-apocalyptic setting with the mysterious Partials and the added horror of humanity dying out. Dark and full of suspense, I loved every minute of this addicting YA novel. Science fiction fans of all ages should enjoy this intense futuristic adventure.

Woooow. Before I begin, let me mention that I got this as an ARC from netgalley. The official publishing date is February 28th and this book will be well worth the buy. I am going to try and keep this as spoiler-free as possible.

5++++++ life altering, jaw dropping, heart breaking stars.

PARTIALS focuses around 16 year old Kira. Nothing about Kira's world is normal. 11 years ago perfectly engineered beings named "The Partials" turned on their human creators and wreaked havoc in what became known as "The Partial War" and the collapse of the world called "The Break". During this war, a virus was released called "RM" that killed 99.996 of the population, leaving only close to 40,000 survivors who have grouped onto Long Island. The Partials have retreated into the mainland, but the humans now face a new challenge: their babies are not surviving past three or four days due to the virus. When Kira's best friend, Madison, becomes pregnant, Kira realizes she can no longer sit around and watch. She takes finding a cure into her own hands.

Wow. Just wow. I was blown away by this book. I'm still trying to keep my brain from turning into one happy pile of mush, so bear with me here.

I absolutely loved Kira, the main character. She was smart, sassy and level headed. How often do we see that in YA novels? I was especially excited because Partials is written in third person. Lately this is becoming more and more rare, but I absolutely love it when authors do this. It gives us a chance to see into the other characters' motives. This was not third person omniscient, but I felt I was able to tap into the other characters as well. For young people, called "Plague Babies", who have grown up with such suspicion, hate and terror, all of the characters acted just as I'd expect them to.

Be warned: there is very little romance in this novel. There's romance, but not much of it. But honestly? If you were doing half the things this girl was doing, would you be lusting after some boy or trying to save the world? I was so happy Dan Wells kept the romantic link out of it. That would have just killed the book.

This is a novel that is absolutely jammed with action. At moments I found my hands flying around my e-reader in anxiety as I went from one action scene to another. Just when you think the book is starting to calm down... think again! Mr. Wells kept me on the edge of my seat through out the entire thing. Normally I find myself thinking, "Wow, these characters are getting it easy! Add some tension!" This time I found myself thinking, "Holy smokes! Give these poor kids a break!" Seriously.

And on that action note, let me just mention how riddled with plot twists this is. My guard was up the entire time. Who should I trust? Who did I think was telling the truth? I always found myself trusting the wrong people and making the wrong decisions with Kira and sometimes against Kira. This will mind bend you like no other, clouding everyone in shadow. Because in a world filled with chaos and terror... who can you trust?

Lastly, I was happy that this book is full of science, science, science! I am such a science geek and I was pleased to see a novel that offered a believable scientific journey. Yes, Mr. Wells is asking that you take quite a few leaps of faith, but Kira's whole process with the virus is very interesting and easy to understand.

Set your alarm clocks on February 28th. Get to the book store ASAP and buy this book. I'll be doing the same. I recommend this to anyone, everyone. Now.

Wow. What an amazing, creepy, I-hope-we-don't-end-up-like-this world. From the forced breeding, to the creation of artificial intelligence, it was packed full of tension and sucked me in from the first page. I couldn't help feeling terrible for these characters. The thought of giving birth nearly every year in hopes that one child will survive, makes me cringe. And then, to be stuck on an island, tucked away from the rest of the world that's crawling with a super race--partials--it just felt like hope was impossible. Their struggle was futile, and they were wasting away until they became extinct.

Kira was an amazing character. I was excited to read about a smart girl who would do anything, face anything to save a friend. Or rather, save her friend's baby. I loved that she stood up for what she believed, and what she felt was the right thing to do, even against the guy she loves. That was an impressive moment. Kira and Marcus's relationship was very different from most romantic relationships in YA. I enjoyed that it was fresh and realistic, yet I could have used a bit more of an emotional connection between them. But I believe the second book will bring it together for them. Or, it could go entirely different. With the introduction of a very hot Partial, I might be switching teams here soon. With mystery and an action-packed, tense plot, and stand up, tough characters that make you root for them, Partials is a fantastic addition to the YA Dystopian market.

***Originally posted no my blog TickettoAnywhere (dot) net***

Its no secret that the market became flooded with dystopians of various goodness once books like the Hunger Games became a huge success. With the influx of books in this genre I've become a bit wary about dystopian reads. So many of which suffer from a serious lack of world building and seem to rely on sex in some fashion. Partials is no different in that either as the human race is mostly dead due to a virus released years before and since then no human baby has lived more than a few days. Those that remain have since passed laws forcing girls to get pregnant by a certain age and keep getting pregnant until hopefully an immune baby is born.

At the start of Partials, Kira is hearing rumors that the Hope Act (that of the baby making laws) might be lowered from 18 to 16....which is Kira's age. She isn't ready to become a mother and when her best friend does get pregnant she decides that it is up to her to find a cure that people have been trying to find for the last decade. So, there is a tad bit of disbelief that the reader must fall into to think that a 16 year old girl can accomplish what seasoned researchers have been trying 11 years to do.

The first half of this book went pretty slowly for me. I was engaged while I read it...but I found it easy to put down and get distracted by other books. It wasn't until I'd gotten past the half way point that things really started to pick up for me. And that is when it also became harder to set this one aside in favor of other books. The scientist in me also liked when they started to discuss the RM virus and what makes it tick, there were many years when I thought I might go into research studying viruses and I'm still fascinated with them. Those bits off left me disappointed and wanting more detail....at the very least I was curious about what RM even stood for.

I also wish that there was more about the Partials in this book. The scenes with Samm were very few and as he barely spoke we don't really learn much about these genetically engineered people. Though with the few details that we were given I kept thinking that they sounded an awful lot like Cylons from Battlestar Gallactica and so wished that there was a bit more originality there. Although, as most stories are just a variation on a theme that was just a small quibble...especially since I really liked Battlestar Gallactica and miss that show. A lot.

The other things that bothered me were the cliffhanger ending...the story arc of this book was all nicely closed and seed for book two were set...there really was no need for that little bomb there at the very end. And rather than make me shake my fist at the heavens and demand the need for the next book it just made me sigh and think....again? blergh. The second thing was that I am pretty certain that a love triangle is brewing and I am so very over the love triangle. Seriously, what is wrong with have one relationship that develops over time....or grows in the case of where the characters start off as a couple? Why must the main character always pine away for someone else and end up breaking hearts along the way. I get that this is a YA book and that the MCs are teens and teens are fickle in romance....but if an author wants me to believe that a teen can save humanity than dammit they should be mature enough for a monogamous relationship!

All that aside though I do think that I will check out Fragments when it was released. I am curious to see where Dan Wells goes with this story. I am also hopeful that based on how this one ends that there will be more information given on the history of the RM virus. Because the science nerd in me really wants to know!

***Originally posted no my blog TickettoAnywhere (dot) net***

Partials is a great start to a thrilling, new series. Partials, as all really good dystopian/Post-apocalyptic novels do, gives a peek at a future that may very well be our own. It really could be taken as a warning to all the scientists out there. Please be careful with whatever you are genetically creating.

I've read Dan Wells' I am Not a Serial Killer and was really looking forward to reading this book; but after reading the first 50 pages or so I was ready to put it down, and I did in fact put it aside to read another day.

When I picked it back up and started from the beginning again, and this time pushed myself to keep reading...

Basically, I ate crow.

I loved the world building and the political and scientific sides to the story, it was all really interesting, readers are walked through it all so it's not confusing but it doesn't feel like you're being patronized either.

As I said, the first part of the book starts off...not slow, definitely not slow, but more so it throws you right into the world of Partials and you have to try and keep up at first, but even then it isn't from the action or romance, but rather simply trying to get your head around the daily life and how society had gotten to that certain point. Wells actually takes time to explain the world that readers have submerged themselves into and spends a great deal of time setting up the relationships between the characters and the reader before he begins to throw them into life-threatening situations.

But after that, once you hit part two of the book, the action within it is so fast-paced, yet at the same time slow enough to let readers get a grasp on what's going on. There is a great blend of virological talk, exciting action sequences, and entertaining twists and turns.

This is one of those rare Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic books that use science as a base for the story to grow. And let me tell you, I have read a lot of Dystopians where the world-building leaves you to wonder "How did this happen?" or "Where did it come from?" but Partials leaves no question unanswered

I love the whole concept of how Wells incorporated music into Partials. While some might not agree with me, I believe the music that pops up throughout the novel plays a huge part in the emotions of the story. It gives the novel a personality of its own, and enhances each character's personality and emotions.

Partials is an incredibly amazing world and storyline with fantastic characters. I can't even pick which is my favorite. Dan Wells gave all of them terrific personalities: Kira is head-strong, Marcus is the fun guy, Jayden is a take charge guy, Xochi is the bad-ass chick, Madison is the caring mom figure, Haru is the jerk, Isolde is a analyst and Samm is a Partial with heart.
Kira: She's brave, strong-willed and persistent in all the right ways. When she's set her mind on something, she sees it through right to the end and her determination shines through even her toughest moments. Despite being told in third-person, it was unusually easy to relate to her.
I really liked Kira, who is a smart, responsible heroine, even if she is a little too narrowly focused on her ideals and a little too quick to fly off the handle.
Partials also offers readers an incredible array of secondary characters, who are easy to connect with and just as likeable as the main characters.
I actually found myself immeasurably sad whenever any of them were put into hard situations and I think it's amazing that Wells was able to characterize them like that. Not often do I feel such a strong connection to characters that don't play a big part in a novel, but this was definitely an exception!

A huge plus for me: If you're looking for a romance-heavy dystopian or even a fair amount of romance, this isn't your book. Romance and love, excluding that of family, do not drive the characters to act rashly, only in very few certain moments. There are relationships and love interests, but all of that takes a back seat to the real focus of the book.

All-in-all, Partials was a lot of fun for me. My immediate reaction when I finished the book was "when's the movie/TV series coming out?", because that's what this felt like to me, an amazing silver-screen blockbuster, an Oscar winning production.
I'm excited that there's such a great science fiction option out there for YA readers and cannot wait for the next installment.

If you are a reader who likes a challenging book, Partials is the one to grab! Partials was a surprising read for me. I expected it to be great but it really brought a lot of science and detail into a dystopian world. Most of the humans have been killed by an airborne virus. The ones who have survived are scrambling to find a way to save the children being born, and soon dying, from the disease as well. So far, no child has been born immune and it seems the human race will soon die off completely.

Kira is a medic. She is a 16-year-old who is intelligent far beyond her years, and her and her friends are well aware of the issues that plague the human race. To make things worse, it's not just the virus causing issues. Politics are causing people to rebel and now the leaders are trying to show more power as a way to make people listen.

Soon, Kira comes up with a plan that she feels will help save the humans. She will study a Partial, an engineered being that everyone feels is responsible for the spread of the virus years ago. Her and her friends go into dangerous territory to find a Partial and this journey shows her a lot more than she expected.

Dan Wells is a brilliant writer. The world we are introduced to in Partials is scary, desolate, and all too possible. A virus spreading quickly across the planet is a real threat so I think that's why Partials is such a frighting story. Dan brought a lot of science into this story. He didn't leave us with questions as to what exactly had happened to the rest of the humans. We know about the virus, what it did to the victims, and how it spreads. I loved that the readers can really feel like they take part in deconstructing the virus itself and seeing what can be done to stop it. This was really a book that allows readers to step back and think about what's going on, and attempt to figure it out with the characters.

Although few humans survived, I got a good idea of how the remaining population lived in their new surroundings. The young adults (and very young teens) were critical to the survival of the race. The political figures always made that clear and in a way it showed how the younger population had more power than one would think

The characters we meet in Partials were so well developed and interesting. Kira was intelligent, focused, and extraordinarily brave. She thought of herself last. Her friends were always at the top of her list. Kira's friends were each so different and brought so much to the story.

Probably the most surprising part of this book to me was just the visuals. Dan Wells used honest, descriptive language to describe a world that is harsh and ruined. Everything from the broken roads, abandoned homes and skyscrapers, decaying remains, and wild animals were things I could picture with such clarity. I saw it like a movie or one of those Discovery shows that that go through what would happen if humans didn't exist. It's so frightening.

If you are thinking of taking a chance and reading a post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel, pick up Partials!

Dan Wells did a remarkable job bringing this world to light and showing a harsh reality. Partials had everything I could hope for in a fabulous YA novel!

Recommended: Lovers of post-apocalyptic/dystopian, science fiction, with strong characters and outstanding world-building.

Dystopia is hot thanks to The Hunger Games. I find myself eating them up myself, but this one was a surprise.

Readers are presented with a world where children are not a possibility. By this I mean, women can get pregnant and give birth, but the babies cannot survive the "virus." Humanity is at stake, literally, and it is up to those who are left to find a solution. But nothing has worked.

Enter Kira, a feisty sixteen-year-old determined to find a cure. She is promising within her medical career field, but she cannot stand to watch another baby die. Kira decides it is up to her to find a cure that will save her best friend's baby, and all of humanity.

Readers are thrust into this world where the youngest surviving person in the world is fourteen. The idea of no future causes panic not only within the pages of the novel but also within readers. Could this be a possibility? Could a super virus be produced that would end all of humanity is such a cruel way, by stealing the lives of the newborns?

This is a hard novel to review because there is not too much to say without ruining the plot. There is strong character development, action, romance, and even more action.

This novel would appeal to both male and female readers, especially those who enjoy dystopia and fantasy novels.

**A side note: this novel took me about three chapters to really get into, but once it grabbed me, I did not let it go.

I waffled in between liking this book and not liking it. Finally I arrived at giving it 3.5 stars. There were a lot of neat aspects to this dystopian novel, but ultimately, it was very predictable.

Kira lives in a world that has been ultimately destroyed by the partials. At last count, there are maybe forty-thousand humans left in the world that they know of, and they're living on Long Island. As a medic, Kira has been trying to find a cure for the RM disease that wiped out most of the population, and is now killing their children. The youngest person is fourteen as they have not found a way to reproduce, despite making it mandatory in women of young age. So she decides she needs to capture a Partial to study the biologically engineered creature. She just may learn some truths about her world that she isn't ready for in the process.

I like Kira. She's strong, makes mistakes, and isn't really afraid to say what she thinks. That being said, she is a little too perfect at times. And I completely guessed where her character was going to go by the end of the novel. My only thought was that I couldn't figure out how it made sense. But you'll see once you get to that point, I won't spoil it for you. Her boyfriend is pretty cool as well. He's got a sense of humor and adds some levity to the book. There are numerous other characters, but they aren't as focused on as Kira, and while it drives me nuts that we don't get their back stories sometimes, I'm hoping the continuing series will rectify that.

The writing, as said before, is predictable. I had an idea of what was going to happen long before it ever actually happened in the book. It also drags quite a bit for the first half. I got tired of the detail and just wanted something to happen, and then I got my wish and everything started happening at once and the second half went too quickly. I think some balance would have been nice. The idea was fairly innovative. With all the dystopian novels coming out it's hard to be wholly original. But I think Wells has written something here that's worth reading if you like that genre of books. It is considered young adult and while there's nothing extreme in here, it does reference to sex and other more mature themes.

I will probably continue reading this series. I like the concept and if the author balances the other books a little better they'll be worth reading. This one too was enjoyable when it came down to it as well.

Partials
Copyright 2012
472 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2012

I am absolutely and utterly blown away by this book! There are not enough words in my vocabulary to describe how totally awesome this book is! I was told before I started reading Partials that it is a highly anticipated book of 2012, and it TOTALLY deserves that title! Once I was done with Partials, I felt like that one kid at the very end of The Incredibles, when he says, "That was totally wicked!" It's only January right now but I'm thinking I've already found my favorite book of 2012! I know, I shouldn't be saying that yet, but I wouldn't be surprised one bit if not a single book this year could outshine my feelings for this one. I have read a lot of incredible books lately, but this one blew them all out of the water for multiple different reasons.

From the very first page until the very last, this entire book was extremely compelling with nail-biting intensity! And several times I even had tears rolling down my face! How could you not love a book that has overwhelming action, heart-fluttering romance, a kick butt heroine, 3 totally swoon-worthy guys, an awesomely shocking twist and a storyline that is truly remarkable?

While reading this book I had trouble sitting still! Every moment throughout the book I wanted to talk with someone about it. It would have been awesome to have a read-a-long with someone so I could share my shock and awe with them while reading!

So, if you read the summary you would see that this is obviously a post-apocalyptic story...but it is also headed toward dystopia because the people are all about survival and they are completely lost about what they should do to survive.

Kira, the main protagonist in Partials, is the very definition of a heroine! I really admired and grew extremely attached to her character. All she truly wants is a future for the human race but they all seem doomed for extinction. She will even give up her life if it means saving mankind! This 16 year old is extremely smart and she puts her skills to work by training to be a medic. But even Kira's medical skills can't solve the biggest medical problem of all in this post-apocalyptic world; not one single baby born over the last 11 years has survived longer than 4 days due to the RM virus that killed almost all of mankind. So when Kira finds out that her best friend is pregnant, she decides that she will do ANYTHING to save that baby and restore the future of man!

OK! So, I have to tell you one more thing on a personal note. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a GIANT rat in my garage, and I have not been able to enter my garage again without getting the heebie-jeebies!!! Well there is this HORRIFIC rat scene in Partials that had me squirming and shrieking and thinking about that stupid rat in my garage!!! Ugh! I am squirming right now just thinking about it because it was soooo disgustingly horrible. It's like when you see a bug and you start scratching because you think they are crawling all over you! Yeah, that's what it was like for me!

Partials is action-packed full of surprises and deceit. Kira lives in a world where each passing day the idea of freedom becomes gradually nonexistent. Teetering on the brink of extinction after being almost wiped out by the Partials and of pending war with the Voice, who are rebelling against the Senate and the Hope Act revisions that will drop the child-bearing age to sixteen. The belief is that at some point a child will survive but this a world I wouldn't want to live in, where you are required to be knocked up as much and as frequently as possible. That is crazy, and so unhealthy and emotionally disturbing. Kira is a great character with a lot of heart and she is determined to save the future of the human race. She is realistic, memorable and well developed as are all the characters. You love the ones you should love, and dislike the ones you should dislike. I really liked Samm, and look forward to more about him in the next book. Though this work is a bit lengthy, the pace flowed smoothly and the concept is an interesting twist on the posing end to the human race. Partials takes some unexpected turns that you won't expect, and things are much more complicated than they seem. What would you do if faced with the possibility of your life, your body no longer being your own, but governed by the rules of society in an effort to save the human race? Fall in line or fight back?This is a story about choice, sacrifice and courage. Overall, great read!

I started reading this book mid-day yesterday, and didn't stop until 12:30 am, when I finished it! It was SUCH a great book!

From the very first page until the end you are swept up in this unbelievable world and a girls journey in it.

You meet Kira, a 16, almost 17 year old, who is a medic intern, and studies blood, DNA, tissues and microbiology stuff. Now in this world, a world 11 years after "the Break" when the RM virus infected and killed 99% of the human population, only 40,000 humans remain alive. You see, people created Partials, who are partially human and partially robotic or something (that's never really explained) - but basically they are super humans.

Anyways, they somehow released this RM virus that they were immune to- but VERY few humans were.

Now the "Senate" is the government and they run all the surviving humans on Long Island, NY. The only problem is... human babies Die within days of their births from being infected with this virus. After 11 years, humans still have no idea how to cure it, or how to save the human race.

Well, Kiras best friend gets pregnant, and Kira decided enough is enough and sets off on her journey to capture a Partial on the theory that they must have the antidote or cure in their blood somewhere.

This book was VERY fast paced; the action was there, along with adventure on every page.

There was even a little romance (I mean a VERY little) I would have liked there to be MORE of it, though I guess it makes sense that in an apocalyptic word when you are trying to save the human race, you don't have a lot of time for romance. BUT I LIKE romance in my books.

Characters: Kira is strong and determined which I loved! She didn't need depend on a man to save her every day. Also she is very smart, actually intelligent. She doesn't do dumb things every day (like SO many protagonists now)

I loved Kira. BUT- the other characters were not as fleshed out as I would have liked.

The science in the book is pretty in depth(considering she studies and tries to cure a virus), so at points you really have to read carefully to fully grasp it. And the solution-= well, that didn't make much sense to me.

OVERALL- I loved this book and would definitely recommend to anyone who likes dystopian or sci-fi novels

Review by Mrs Jones at: theresamjones.blogspot.com

In our quest to be conquerors we have created a supermachine to counter attack countries that are a threat to the world. These supermachines look like us, breath like us, even think for themselves. They are not human but have human DNA, they are partials. After helping us win the war, they come back and are given jobs among us, in coal mines...jobs that do not amount to anything. When they try to advance, they are rejected. They cannot apply for other jobs, they cannot seek an education, they are in so many words: slaves. They rebel, turning against their creators. And 99.96 percent of humanity perishes when they release a destructive virus called RM. The human survivors survive...but are on the verge of extinction because the babies that are born does not survive. Kiera enters the story as an intern in the matternaty ward of the hospital where for the past eleven years since the partial attack they have tried to produce at least one surviving human baby. Though Kiera is young she is smart and determined, she cannot bear the loss and is determined to find the cure for RM. And she is fully capable, her intelligence is rare and she is capable to think outside the box. As she studies the virus she realizes there is only one solution, she must obtain a Partial. However this proves to be a problem because after the final war, no one has seen a Partial in eleven years. Beyond this the Senate also opposes Kiera at every turn, determined to keep a firm hold on the remaining population. The world is turning into a dictatorship, with lust for control is rampant. Without disclosing anything further about this book, I will say that I loved each word of it. It kept my heart pumping with adrenaline (I listened to it as an audio book) and I did not want to stop. It was intelligently written, where it needed to sound scientific it succeded, where it needed to sound knowledgeable about battle tacktics it succeeded. Dan Wells did an extraordinary job and all I can say is that I hope this gets turned into a movie one day. It will be every bit as good as The Hunger Games...also I hope for a sequel.

Partials by Wells left me cold. There was plenty of conflict but I knew the 'goodies' would win because the main protagonist, Kira, had to survive. She was a woman (girl) on a mission, looking for a cure for RM which was killing the babies. Will she succeed against all odds as her compatriots are killed around her? Why is she partial to a Partial? The reader is left with her setting out in the next book looking to find herself.

Partials was a great mix of YA post-apocalyptic fiction and science fiction genres. The science is probably a big stretch and unrealistic but the characters are engaging and the plot is very interesting, one layer after another being revealed throughout the book which makes it hard to put down. Kira is a medic in the remnants of Human society which was all but destroyed by an army of genetically modified super soldiers created originally to fight the Chinese. On top of that, there has been a virus released that all but a very few humans are immune to and no baby has survived past a few days in over 11 years.

The story follows Kira as she tries to untangle the mystery of how to cure the virus and figure out how the "Partials" fit into that picture. It is exciting and engaging throughout, and there are many plot twists that I really did not see coming. This story is well written and leaves you starving for the sequel.

I've been whining in reviews lately that the Dystopian/Apocolyptic genre is getting stale. Cliche filled. On the brink of... boring.

I was not bored while reading PARTIALS by Dan Wells. My interest remained high through each part of the story. While I wasn't surprised by the plot twist, I found it perfectly plausible that Kira was shocked. I love that romance is on the back burner. But somehow my feelings toward this book are lackluster. Maybe it's the very formulaic approach to the governing bodies in both societies? Maybe it's that the world building is just slightly off, even if aspects of it are fascinating? Maybe it's just me and the bad mood I was in while reading?

I feel like I should love this book. And I'm certainly looking forward to the sequels. At least, whenever I remember the book exists. And I think that's the problem. It's good but not as good as it should be. Or as I think it's capable of being. Then again, it's one part of a whole, because no book in a trilogy truly stands alone. So there's still time for me to fall wholly in love with the series.

Be ready for lots of science dumped on you. They dumb it down as best they can while still making sense, but I can see it confusing people. Also there's a scene that is basically torture in a hospital that sent me into squirming fits of panic, so be wary of that too.

It was a fabulous read, really, with plenty of action and always something to wonder about. You don't know who to trust and everyone has a bad side to them, it really feels real like this could happen. It's those books that are creepiest of all and I love it.

Truly a diamond is a sea of pearls. An absolutely wonderful series you shouldn't Miss reading, honest. I absolutely loved every second and was on the edge of my seat more then once, biting my nails, as tensions and circumstances made me nervous. I was totally wrapped up this in adventure and can't wait to see how it all ends in the last book! It's a must read!

Very good stuff--since Partials left me hanging on the edge of my seat for more, I enjoyed this tremendously. So why only 4 stars? Fragments continues with lots of action and great character development, but it has that feel of a place-holder book in a series. Do you know what I mean? So it didn't quite satisfy, kinda like getting what you thought you were craving and realizing that as good as it was it wasn't quite what you wanted after all. Looking forward to more to come, though.

Partials

Dan Wells with his debut series won himself quite many fans in the YA as well as the adult market. This series is however geared more for the YA market and contains a poignant story about humanity post the apocalypse. In this case a different breed of "people" are targeting humanity and the virus released is causing massive issues with pregnancy as well. Amidst all these events Kira is a sixteen year old girl who wants to make a difference however she will soon learn what hardships are yet remaining to be faced by mankind.

Dan Wells shows a tremendous improvement in his prose not that it was lacking in the first series, but within this world, he very admirably showcases the grimness of the situation and of the characters. The series is dark in its premise and often competes with his earlier one. The ending is something that wraps up most of the plot threads but also leaves enough of a strand open for the sequel. This is another series that I'm going to follow for the near future.

I honestly had a hard time getting through the first half of this book. It was slow, and seemed drawn out. I felt the despair of the characters and it honestly depressed me! Once I got about two thirds through I was hooked back in. Dan Wells militaristic style of writing is not lacking in any department. The character development continues in this second book, while also incorporating more details into previous characters from the first book. The plot gets deeper and more intricate. You can almost see the web of the plot weaving people and events together.

This is a frightening realistic look into a possible future of the human race. This book turns into a gripping, heart wrencher if you can get through the first part of the book, well worth it!

Fragments is better than Partials! I got to know the characters better in this second book of the series. I especially liked the way Afa was written: brilliant IT guy and damaged human. He wants to save the world, but he thinks he's the only human left. I did wonder if it was possible to travel as far as Kira, Samm Afa, and Heron, in that amount of time. Through this series, I came to see both humans and partials as people. Prejudice is difficult to overcome, but it is possible.

In which words are dragged out of me, because the store cannot be content with my simple Stars of Enjoyment.

So--Partials is a good book. I jumped immediately to the second and third books instead of taking a break, so that says something. A lot of the major dumb stuff that people in other reviews complain about seems to be on the government level, so it just sounds legit to me. Humanity is actually not all that bright at times.

Partials is a dystopian themed book for young adults. This book is about a 16 year old girl, named Kira Walker, who tries to save the remaining citizens of America from a disease called "RM." The genetically made soldiers, called Partials, are supposedly the ones who transmit RM to the humans and they are also the ones who put an end to most of humanity. RM kills new born babies so there have been no new borns for a while.
Partials was a well-written book that kept me intrigued from start to finish. It was hard to understand what was going on at first, but once understood, it is hard to put down. This book also created new situations that I have not read in any other book. Some parts, however, were very predictable. Also, some of the characters and the plot should have been developed more. Overall, this book could have been better, but it was a great concept that was well developed in the most part.

I have problems with this book.

There are parts of it that I like. When it starts to fall into "medical thriller" mode, it's interesting and fun. The bits and pieces of Partial "society" that we see are intriguing.

But overall? Ugh.

It begins and ends with kudzu. I can't get past the kudzu.

I live where this story takes place. We don't have kudzu here. We don't. Have. Kudzu. We have bittersweet, which is itself invasive but which is nonetheless an entirely different beast. You could have learned this through a simple Google search, Mr. Wells, but you apparently couldn't be bothered. And as a result, I couldn't buy into your world.

I probably wouldn't have bought into it, anyway, since I don't believe that everyone loses the ability to think critically once they've hit the tender age of 18, and I don't believe that everyone in power is out to get me. But I might have played along for a bit longer if you'd just gotten that one tiny thing right. Alas, it was not to be.

Wow. Ok, I have to admit that I had a hard time getting into this book at first. I don't know what it was....a combination of things, perhaps, the largest factor being a complete lack of time combined with my battle with a mysterious illness that leaves me rather lethargic. But there was also the fact that the beginning of this book just seemed to drag a little...there was a lot of fighting and a lot of traveling and not enough of Samm and Kira kissing and it just kind of left me wanting. Thankfully, it didn't stay that way.

Fragments varies between Kira's viewpoint and Marcus's viewpoint for the most part, with a dash of Samm's thrown in. I think this was another thing that made the book slow for me - while I understand that we needed Marcus's viewpoint to fill in the political backstory, I found his side of the story to be rather boring for the most part. His voice was not nearly as enjoyable as Kira's, despite Wells' attempts to make him funny and likeable. Kira's story was much more interesting, although still very slow to develop. Her meeting Afa was a definite highlight, but I was more than little annoyed when that storyline was ripped out from under me after a long ride through no-mans-land on horseback. I found it a little hard to relate to her grief over Afa's fate as well. I know we find out that Kira is a Partial...but I wasn't expecting her to feel less human than she did in Partials. She just didn't seem as relatable in this book, and that made me sad.

And then there's her and Samm. Talk about a snooze inducer. I really expected (wanted) there to be more romantic development between them in this book, but it simply wasn't there. Sure, we get a sort of half-assed explanation for why it wasn't there near the end of the story, but that does nothing to appease my need for TEH FEELS. *le sigh*

I know, so far it sounds like I didn't like the book at all. NOT TRUE. We learn a lot more about the Partials and after the Kira/Samm smoochfest, that was what I wanted most. I think the author did a great job of showing just how humanistic the Partials really are; they were rather easy to think of as machines in book one, despite Samm's part in the story. Book two doesn't allow the reader to do that. You get personality, you get emotion, you get civil unrest...and suddenly you realize maybe they're not as different from us as you thought. You see Kira struggle with her humanity, you see Samm give in to his, and you see Heron deny hers. But you see the same things happen with humans in the story - with Morgan and Trimble and Vale and Nandita.

On the other hand, who was Samm in this book? He was sadly spineless and lackluster...I loved his unwavering faith in Kira, but I hated his determination to just follow her to the ends of the earth without ever having an opinion separate from hers. Heron was annoying enough to kick in the face, but at least she did spice things up a bit. I think the most enjoyable part of the story was when Kira had to come face-to-face with the reality of, I'm going to say it, how to save a life. At some point, children become adults. And it's at that point that we, as living beings, come to realize that things aren't always as simple as they seem - not everything is black and white, and not every decision is morally clear. I found myself wondering right along with her which choice I would make if faced with it - and how it might affect not just the people immediately involved, but everyone in my life on a larger scale. It was thought-provoking...and in a way it kind of saved the whole novel.

A lot of questions get answered, but of course some of the answers generate more questions. There are plenty of plot twists - some obvious and some not so obvious. I finished the book feeling like I'd been drugged, taken for a spin, and then dropped off in a back alley with no clue how to get home. It was a good and bad thing...and I didn't really realize how on the fence I would be about the rating for this one until I started writing the review. But when it's all said and done, I'm going to give Fragments 3 and 1/2 stars. It suffered a bit from sophomore slump but the overarching story is still so fascinating that I can't say I didn't like it.

But the next book better involve some Kira/Samm romance or I'm going to lose it.

A big thank you to Epic Reads and Harper Teen for the ARC!

"Partials" is a great read not only because of its fast pace but also for its memorable characters and easy to slip into writing style. While the stakes are high for the characters, I enjoyed Partials because it wasn't quite as pessimistic as other post-apocalyptic novels. While the government depicted is controlling, there isn't the sense of constant oppression in every part of life that looms over most of these novels. The romance was understated, with more emphasis put on friendships and family. I liked how dedicated the heroine is to her cause - stopping the RM virus - so much that she's willing to put her own needs aside for it. Though she matured and grew throughout the book, she has a very strong personality that stayed constant. Between sudden action and heart-pounding times in the hospital studying Partials and RM, there was enough character and plot development to be really awesome.

I read Partials so long ago that I was a bit worried about reading Fragments. I really enjoyed Partials but I worried that I would be too confused because I didn't remember anything from Partials. Dan Wells does a nice job of reminding the reader what happened previously without "infodumping". Slowly, I started to recollect the plot of Partials even though I read it around a year ago or so.

Partials is an excellent, original sci-fi book that I really enjoyed. If you thought Partials was slow-paced, Fragments is an even longer, slower paced book. I really think this book could have been edited better because there were just some parts that could have been shortened. The reason why it took me so long to read Fragments because of the sluggish pace. Fragments fluctuates from extremely intense, fast-paced action scenes that compelled me to read more, to slowly paced scenes that were tedious to read.

I love the characters Wells created especially Marcus and Kira. Honestly I vaguely remembered Marcus from Partials but after reading Fragments I don't think I'll be able to forget him. I loved Marcus's memorable wit and humor in this dark, dystopian novel. The reader gets to learn more about Kira's intriguing past. Kira is as kick-ass as ever and I'm glad she retained her fiery attitude from book one.

The romance in Fragments is very subtle and is barely in the book. Instead of focusing on romance, Wells discusses medical and scientific concepts. I love how Wells doesn't overly simplify the science, he makes the scientific concepts concise without "dumbing it down. The science nerd in me loved all of the ParaGen scientific and medical tidbits.

As always Dan Wells delivers an extremely original and interesting sci-fi book. I loved how much action Dan Wells managed to pack inside this novel. I need Ruins and I really am wondering how many books this "sequence" will consist of. Thank you to Epic Reads for providing me with an ARC of Fragments.

Fragments is the second book to the trilogy Partials. In Fragments, Kira Walker discovers that she is her own worst enemy, a partial. She then sets out through post apocalyptic America to find ParaGen, the creators of partials. While she is on the journey, she tries to find the cure for RM as well.
Fragments was an unnecessarily long book. The story line could have been better if some parts were deleted. However, when there were action scenes, there would be a really good description of it so there would be a clear image as to what was happening. The action scenes could have been longer to make the book better. A good thing that Dan Wells did was that in the beginning of the book. He reminded the readers what happened previously, which helps refresh the memory of the reader and it also helps show what is important.

Humans created the Partials, human-like machines, in order to fight their wars for them. Eleven years ago, the Partials rebelled killing off the bulk of humanity and a deadly virus was released that has kept the surviving humans from successfully reproducing. Now, humans have retreated to Long Island where they attempt to maintain civilization and look to the future by enacting The Hope Act. The Hope Act requires all women 18 and over to be pregnant as often as possible in the hopes that more babies will provide a chance to cure the RM virus. When Kira's adopted sister becomes pregnant, she feels a strong need to do something more to save the baby. Kira determines that humanity's best hope lies in their greatest demise, the Partials, and the best chance to cure RM is by studying the enemy.

Now, this book was good, but it could have been great if it had done a few things differently:

1) Not followed so many of the same plot lines as Battlestar Galactica. Unfortunately, for me, this made Partials fairly wrote and predictable. I do think that Dan Wells did an excellent job of creating a very probable future with real issues (like The Hope Act) that were unique and believable, but I'm hoping the plot will deviate more from BSG in the upcoming book.

2) Have been told from a male point of view. I get it, maybe Dan Wells was trying something new, or maybe someone suggested the female perspective because there are more female YA readers. However, I felt like Partials would have been better suited if it'd been aimed more towards males. With all of the military and scientific medical speak, action, and lack of gushy romance, I feel like this book could really grab some teen boys--a group that more great books need to be aimed at and written for. I'm not saying males won't enjoy Partials, but they will be less likely to pick it up. I'm also not saying he didn't do a good job of writing Kira (even if I didn't much like her), he did. I'm hoping for a change of perspective in the second book (give me Samm prz).

3) Axed out about half of the dialog. Did we need to expound on everything? It went something like this: 5 pages-make a plan. 1 paragraph-realize plan won't work. 3 pages-adjust for new plan. 1 paragraph-this plan goes up in flames as well. 10 pages-the action. The action bits were good. This is what kept me going, but the having to explain things over and over every time we run into someone new or there's a kink in the plans got really old. Also I didn't need Kira's every thought spelled out for me. This takes away my own ability to think, and I find that somewhat degrading as a reader. The book could have probably been cut down 100 pages and been better for it.

My final complaint about Partials was that I didn't really like the main characters, but I know others have, so that's hardly the author's fault so much as my personal preference. I couldn't stand Marcus, and I didn't like Kira much either. Anytime anyone pulls out the phrase "If you really loved me you would/wouldn't do this." it sends off immediate warning bells in my head that this is a doomed relationship. And at some point they both say this. There was a pretty strong supporting cast (color me a Xochi/Samm fan) and since the book highlighted the story and action more than the characters themselves I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Okay! Done with the negative, because I'd like to emphasize now that despite my complaints, there was a lot to like about Partials. The story was action packed (you know, between all of the talking), and emotionally charged on a basic instinctual level of survival vrs. personal rights. This book had me feeling real emotions (mostly anger and frustration), and I appreciate that both sides of arguments were presented in such a way that it was hard to really hate any given side so much as the situation itself.

This book is a great example of why YA dystopian stories are so popular right now. It's exciting, thrilling, and super easy to become immersed in the story. This story has a science slant that is not as prevalent in most books. The science is easy to understand and believe, and is woven so seamlessly into the story that it's not something that stands out at all.

As a main character, Kira is easy to love. She is determined, idealistic and puts her money where her mouth is. She is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals.

This book is a great stand alone story, but has great appeal as a series. There are lots of strands to be woven into future stories, and I can't wait to see how they develop.

I loved this book, but don't know how to translate that to a good review.

Fragments is better than Partials! I got to know the characters better in this second book of the series. I especially liked the way Afa was written: brilliant IT guy and damaged human. He wants to save the world, but he thinks he's the only human left. I did wonder if it was possible to travel as far as Kira, Samm Afa, and Heron, in that amount of time. Through this series, I came to see both humans and partials as people. Prejudice is difficult to overcome, but it is possible.

In which words are dragged out of me, because the store cannot be content with my simple Stars of Enjoyment.

So--Partials is a good book. I jumped immediately to the second and third books instead of taking a break, so that says something. A lot of the major dumb stuff that people in other reviews complain about seems to be on the government level, so it just sounds legit to me. Humanity is actually not all that bright at times.

Partials is a dystopian themed book for young adults. This book is about a 16 year old girl, named Kira Walker, who tries to save the remaining citizens of America from a disease called "RM." The genetically made soldiers, called Partials, are supposedly the ones who transmit RM to the humans and they are also the ones who put an end to most of humanity. RM kills new born babies so there have been no new borns for a while.
Partials was a well-written book that kept me intrigued from start to finish. It was hard to understand what was going on at first, but once understood, it is hard to put down. This book also created new situations that I have not read in any other book. Some parts, however, were very predictable. Also, some of the characters and the plot should have been developed more. Overall, this book could have been better, but it was a great concept that was well developed in the most part.

I have problems with this book.

There are parts of it that I like. When it starts to fall into "medical thriller" mode, it's interesting and fun. The bits and pieces of Partial "society" that we see are intriguing.

But overall? Ugh.

It begins and ends with kudzu. I can't get past the kudzu.

I live where this story takes place. We don't have kudzu here. We don't. Have. Kudzu. We have bittersweet, which is itself invasive but which is nonetheless an entirely different beast. You could have learned this through a simple Google search, Mr. Wells, but you apparently couldn't be bothered. And as a result, I couldn't buy into your world.

I probably wouldn't have bought into it, anyway, since I don't believe that everyone loses the ability to think critically once they've hit the tender age of 18, and I don't believe that everyone in power is out to get me. But I might have played along for a bit longer if you'd just gotten that one tiny thing right. Alas, it was not to be.

Wow. Ok, I have to admit that I had a hard time getting into this book at first. I don't know what it was....a combination of things, perhaps, the largest factor being a complete lack of time combined with my battle with a mysterious illness that leaves me rather lethargic. But there was also the fact that the beginning of this book just seemed to drag a little...there was a lot of fighting and a lot of traveling and not enough of Samm and Kira kissing and it just kind of left me wanting. Thankfully, it didn't stay that way.

Fragments varies between Kira's viewpoint and Marcus's viewpoint for the most part, with a dash of Samm's thrown in. I think this was another thing that made the book slow for me - while I understand that we needed Marcus's viewpoint to fill in the political backstory, I found his side of the story to be rather boring for the most part. His voice was not nearly as enjoyable as Kira's, despite Wells' attempts to make him funny and likeable. Kira's story was much more interesting, although still very slow to develop. Her meeting Afa was a definite highlight, but I was more than little annoyed when that storyline was ripped out from under me after a long ride through no-mans-land on horseback. I found it a little hard to relate to her grief over Afa's fate as well. I know we find out that Kira is a Partial...but I wasn't expecting her to feel less human than she did in Partials. She just didn't seem as relatable in this book, and that made me sad.

And then there's her and Samm. Talk about a snooze inducer. I really expected (wanted) there to be more romantic development between them in this book, but it simply wasn't there. Sure, we get a sort of half-assed explanation for why it wasn't there near the end of the story, but that does nothing to appease my need for TEH FEELS. *le sigh*

I know, so far it sounds like I didn't like the book at all. NOT TRUE. We learn a lot more about the Partials and after the Kira/Samm smoochfest, that was what I wanted most. I think the author did a great job of showing just how humanistic the Partials really are; they were rather easy to think of as machines in book one, despite Samm's part in the story. Book two doesn't allow the reader to do that. You get personality, you get emotion, you get civil unrest...and suddenly you realize maybe they're not as different from us as you thought. You see Kira struggle with her humanity, you see Samm give in to his, and you see Heron deny hers. But you see the same things happen with humans in the story - with Morgan and Trimble and Vale and Nandita.

On the other hand, who was Samm in this book? He was sadly spineless and lackluster...I loved his unwavering faith in Kira, but I hated his determination to just follow her to the ends of the earth without ever having an opinion separate from hers. Heron was annoying enough to kick in the face, but at least she did spice things up a bit. I think the most enjoyable part of the story was when Kira had to come face-to-face with the reality of, I'm going to say it, how to save a life. At some point, children become adults. And it's at that point that we, as living beings, come to realize that things aren't always as simple as they seem - not everything is black and white, and not every decision is morally clear. I found myself wondering right along with her which choice I would make if faced with it - and how it might affect not just the people immediately involved, but everyone in my life on a larger scale. It was thought-provoking...and in a way it kind of saved the whole novel.

A lot of questions get answered, but of course some of the answers generate more questions. There are plenty of plot twists - some obvious and some not so obvious. I finished the book feeling like I'd been drugged, taken for a spin, and then dropped off in a back alley with no clue how to get home. It was a good and bad thing...and I didn't really realize how on the fence I would be about the rating for this one until I started writing the review. But when it's all said and done, I'm going to give Fragments 3 and 1/2 stars. It suffered a bit from sophomore slump but the overarching story is still so fascinating that I can't say I didn't like it.

But the next book better involve some Kira/Samm romance or I'm going to lose it.

A big thank you to Epic Reads and Harper Teen for the ARC!

"Partials" is a great read not only because of its fast pace but also for its memorable characters and easy to slip into writing style. While the stakes are high for the characters, I enjoyed Partials because it wasn't quite as pessimistic as other post-apocalyptic novels. While the government depicted is controlling, there isn't the sense of constant oppression in every part of life that looms over most of these novels. The romance was understated, with more emphasis put on friendships and family. I liked how dedicated the heroine is to her cause - stopping the RM virus - so much that she's willing to put her own needs aside for it. Though she matured and grew throughout the book, she has a very strong personality that stayed constant. Between sudden action and heart-pounding times in the hospital studying Partials and RM, there was enough character and plot development to be really awesome.

I read Partials so long ago that I was a bit worried about reading Fragments. I really enjoyed Partials but I worried that I would be too confused because I didn't remember anything from Partials. Dan Wells does a nice job of reminding the reader what happened previously without "infodumping". Slowly, I started to recollect the plot of Partials even though I read it around a year ago or so.

Partials is an excellent, original sci-fi book that I really enjoyed. If you thought Partials was slow-paced, Fragments is an even longer, slower paced book. I really think this book could have been edited better because there were just some parts that could have been shortened. The reason why it took me so long to read Fragments because of the sluggish pace. Fragments fluctuates from extremely intense, fast-paced action scenes that compelled me to read more, to slowly paced scenes that were tedious to read.

I love the characters Wells created especially Marcus and Kira. Honestly I vaguely remembered Marcus from Partials but after reading Fragments I don't think I'll be able to forget him. I loved Marcus's memorable wit and humor in this dark, dystopian novel. The reader gets to learn more about Kira's intriguing past. Kira is as kick-ass as ever and I'm glad she retained her fiery attitude from book one.

The romance in Fragments is very subtle and is barely in the book. Instead of focusing on romance, Wells discusses medical and scientific concepts. I love how Wells doesn't overly simplify the science, he makes the scientific concepts concise without "dumbing it down. The science nerd in me loved all of the ParaGen scientific and medical tidbits.

As always Dan Wells delivers an extremely original and interesting sci-fi book. I loved how much action Dan Wells managed to pack inside this novel. I need Ruins and I really am wondering how many books this "sequence" will consist of. Thank you to Epic Reads for providing me with an ARC of Fragments.

Fragments is the second book to the trilogy Partials. In Fragments, Kira Walker discovers that she is her own worst enemy, a partial. She then sets out through post apocalyptic America to find ParaGen, the creators of partials. While she is on the journey, she tries to find the cure for RM as well.
Fragments was an unnecessarily long book. The story line could have been better if some parts were deleted. However, when there were action scenes, there would be a really good description of it so there would be a clear image as to what was happening. The action scenes could have been longer to make the book better. A good thing that Dan Wells did was that in the beginning of the book. He reminded the readers what happened previously, which helps refresh the memory of the reader and it also helps show what is important.

Humans created the Partials, human-like machines, in order to fight their wars for them. Eleven years ago, the Partials rebelled killing off the bulk of humanity and a deadly virus was released that has kept the surviving humans from successfully reproducing. Now, humans have retreated to Long Island where they attempt to maintain civilization and look to the future by enacting The Hope Act. The Hope Act requires all women 18 and over to be pregnant as often as possible in the hopes that more babies will provide a chance to cure the RM virus. When Kira's adopted sister becomes pregnant, she feels a strong need to do something more to save the baby. Kira determines that humanity's best hope lies in their greatest demise, the Partials, and the best chance to cure RM is by studying the enemy.

Now, this book was good, but it could have been great if it had done a few things differently:

1) Not followed so many of the same plot lines as Battlestar Galactica. Unfortunately, for me, this made Partials fairly wrote and predictable. I do think that Dan Wells did an excellent job of creating a very probable future with real issues (like The Hope Act) that were unique and believable, but I'm hoping the plot will deviate more from BSG in the upcoming book.

2) Have been told from a male point of view. I get it, maybe Dan Wells was trying something new, or maybe someone suggested the female perspective because there are more female YA readers. However, I felt like Partials would have been better suited if it'd been aimed more towards males. With all of the military and scientific medical speak, action, and lack of gushy romance, I feel like this book could really grab some teen boys--a group that more great books need to be aimed at and written for. I'm not saying males won't enjoy Partials, but they will be less likely to pick it up. I'm also not saying he didn't do a good job of writing Kira (even if I didn't much like her), he did. I'm hoping for a change of perspective in the second book (give me Samm prz).

3) Axed out about half of the dialog. Did we need to expound on everything? It went something like this: 5 pages-make a plan. 1 paragraph-realize plan won't work. 3 pages-adjust for new plan. 1 paragraph-this plan goes up in flames as well. 10 pages-the action. The action bits were good. This is what kept me going, but the having to explain things over and over every time we run into someone new or there's a kink in the plans got really old. Also I didn't need Kira's every thought spelled out for me. This takes away my own ability to think, and I find that somewhat degrading as a reader. The book could have probably been cut down 100 pages and been better for it.

My final complaint about Partials was that I didn't really like the main characters, but I know others have, so that's hardly the author's fault so much as my personal preference. I couldn't stand Marcus, and I didn't like Kira much either. Anytime anyone pulls out the phrase "If you really loved me you would/wouldn't do this." it sends off immediate warning bells in my head that this is a doomed relationship. And at some point they both say this. There was a pretty strong supporting cast (color me a Xochi/Samm fan) and since the book highlighted the story and action more than the characters themselves I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Okay! Done with the negative, because I'd like to emphasize now that despite my complaints, there was a lot to like about Partials. The story was action packed (you know, between all of the talking), and emotionally charged on a basic instinctual level of survival vrs. personal rights. This book had me feeling real emotions (mostly anger and frustration), and I appreciate that both sides of arguments were presented in such a way that it was hard to really hate any given side so much as the situation itself.

This book is a great example of why YA dystopian stories are so popular right now. It's exciting, thrilling, and super easy to become immersed in the story. This story has a science slant that is not as prevalent in most books. The science is easy to understand and believe, and is woven so seamlessly into the story that it's not something that stands out at all.

As a main character, Kira is easy to love. She is determined, idealistic and puts her money where her mouth is. She is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals.

This book is a great stand alone story, but has great appeal as a series. There are lots of strands to be woven into future stories, and I can't wait to see how they develop.

I loved this book, but don't know how to translate that to a good review.

I really enjoyed Partials, the first book but I absolutely loved Fragments. Again, it started off awfully slow for the first two hundred pages or so. Not a bad slow but just not anything where I could zip through it. The last two hundred pages, I couldn't put the book down so I didn't. . .until I was finished.

One thing I loved about this book, that was so different from Partials, was it wasn't just told from Kira's point of view. Actually, I thought it was only told from three points of views but it ended up being five different people's (I think, if I remembered them all). Let's see, obviously it's from Kira's but also from Samm, Marcus and a few chapters from Ariel and Haru. Marcus was a favorite of mine from the first book but seeing things in East Meadow (and other places) from his point of view was just fantastic. You could see more of his personality, his strength and also his faith in his girlfriend, Kira. From Samm's point of view, oh man, you kind of fall in love with this Partial even more. (I know, who thought that was possible?)

Kira's journey of not only finding out who and what she is, exactly, but also trying to save both the Partials species and Human's is a dangerous, tension filled adventure from New York to Chicago to Colorado. She is joined by Samm, Heron and newcomer human, Afa. Without even knowing a thing about Afa but seeing the other two names, you're probably thinking how? How can Kira, Samm and Heron make this journey together without tearing each other apart? It's a good question and I'll tell you one thing, there were definitely lots of bumps in the road especially for Kira and Heron but more surprisingly (maybe?) is how many times Kira and Samm ended up bumping heads.

What fascinated me about this book is how it took, not only so many characters we've come to recognize and know from Partials, but how they were all on their own little journeys and how it's all going to come together in the end. Plus, how these journeys ended up crossing paths with one another on more than one occasion. It's not hard to keep track of but it definitely adds a lot more layers to this book.

The war between humans and Partials is getting worse as Dr. Morgan has taken over East Meadow in hopes of finding Kira because she still believes Kira is the one who carries all the answers. We find out some extremely fascinating material about the Trust, who they are and how everything about the Partials & RM disease came to be.

There's tons of action as we're seeing first hand many different battles with each and every character; lots of tension especially with the group traveling together searching for answers but also with long lost sister of Kira, Ariel; not a lot of romance but absolutely not needed (though, I must admit...I hope to see more in the next book) but it came in the spot where it was needed most; and while we got a lot of answers, it also left us with that many more questions.

While I enjoyed Partials a good bit, the impending release of this book had me antsy; wanting to have it to read as soon as I could. I just couldn't wait to know more about this world, Kira, Samm (their feelings for one another?), Marcus, both races and the evil that lingers. I can safely say this book did not disappoint one bit and even with all the expectations I had of this book, it exceeded them all. It's one I highly recommend (obviously after reading Partials). You'll find yourself in the middle of this war, like Kira, not being able to choose a side with Partials or Humans; rather wanting peace and longevity for both races.

Reviewed by Jessica @ Step Into Fiction

Kira has found the cure to RM and several things about her she didn't know. She now goes on a journey to find out more about who she is and more about te partials. She wants to find out more about what caused RM in hopes that it may just save the humans and partials both. She has people from both sides looking for her as she just may hold the key to the cure. Meanwhile Marcus is still on Long Island. Things are heating up on the island as the Partials are set to move in to find Kira and they won't allow any humans to stand in their way. He has to leave to find help and that help just may come from Partials. They both soon leran there is many secrets they have yet to find and several may just change their lives forever.

Kira has always been a strong girl but to me she really comes into her own in this book. She struggles to figure out just how she feels about her self and she tries to find a way to save both Partials and Humans. She has to make several hard choices in this book and she really grows from them. She never really knows who to trust and has to always watch her back. Above all she does the best she can to help everyone even when she is told she will have to pick a side. Even knowing the truth could hurt her she still works to find out things. Marcus is quite a bit better in this book as he steps up and tries to hold things together. He goes into danger knowing he could be killed just to help the humans even if that means he may have to go against some of those humans. Samm I really enjoyed in this book. He is out to help Kira and has a hard time talking to her. You get to really see inside his head and what his feelings are in this book.

I really enjoyed Partials and I enjoyed Fragments just as much. You really get to see more of the world these people live in and how it may have come to be the way it is. Lots of secrets are revealed many that shocked me and I didn't see the twist coming. In this sequel you get more of a depth for the characters. Many of whom you never really know what side they are on. By side I mean good or evil not Human and Partial. To me you really see both sides of the fractions in this sequel. The author does such a fantastic job sucking you in with the plot and everything you really don't want it to end. Even if you don't like dystopian books I would recommend you try this series. It has tons of action and you never know what will happen.The world create and characters will keep you on the edge of your seat. The only bad thing I have to say about this book is After the ending I can not wait to the next one. I have to know what happens next. I don't dare to guess cause the author has a wonderful way of surprising you.
I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy for review.

Trying to safe her best friend from loosing her baby to an omnipresent deathly virus, Kira sets out to seek answers and a cure by finding those thought responsible for all this - the Partials. Yet it soon turns out that not all is as it seems, on both sides, humans and Partials.
With a gripping plot, which personally I haven't seen in a similar variation in any other book in the latest flood of YA dystopian novels, Partials by Dan Wells was like being sucked into the middle of an action movie. Twists and turns along the way, some a bit foreseeable, though that might have just been me, there was one particular thing that honestly surprised me. For once an author didn't rely on some love triangle to keep the story's momentum, and I applaud this decision. Still I would have expected the somewhat troubled relationship between Kira and Marcus to be a bit more emotional and less mellow, just the same I think it's a shame that the partial boy Samm didn't get explored further in his uniqueness. Maybe the sequel will make me happy in that regard.
Last but not least, fiction might not always be realistic, but if a girl solves within days what plenty of doctors couldn't in a decade, one should think that the medical terms had received a more serious approach instead of the "kiddie talk".
In short: Fast paced and action packed this book has great movie potential!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the NetGalley book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

While it took a long while for me to truly connect with the story, Partials winded up being pretty good. Plenty of action, sci-fi, political intrigue, and a large cast of characters made this novel multifaceted and interesting. While it is not perfect in all these elements, there was enough there that kept me reading, and most likely I will pick up the second book in the series, Fragments (Partials).

*8/10*

I thought Dan had a very original idea. I liked his world - similar to a post WWW3 idea, but with serious predators. He had good character development and depth. They were relate-able and made the smarter decisions in moment. His writing was vivid, without telling the reader. He let the scenes unfold as was needed. Dan did a great job keeping a good tempo and not letting the pace lag (slow spots weren't slow!). All in all, I had to buy the 2nd book as soon as I finished this one!

It seems as though YA Science Fiction seems to be experiencing a bit of a resurgence lately. Like many other readers, I'm a little tired of the barely-dystopian trend, so it's great to see a very firmly science-oriented book like Partials come along. Airborne viruses + survivalist action drama + human interest story is a great combination, and one I think most fans of post-apocalyptic thrillers will enjoy.

In the year 2076, 11 years after an airborne viral outbreak, the average newborn lives just 56 hours. 16-year-old Kira Walker, a young medic interning at a hospital, thinks that the key to human survival lies in studying Partials, a group of rogue cyborgs described as "unthinking, unfeeling human killers." Since Partials released the virus to begin with, surely they have the answers to a cure--whether it's through their genetic makeup or through their knowledge. When her friend Madison gets pregnant, Kira embarks on a dangerous mission: to find and capture a Partial so she can save her friend's child.

But you've seen some positive reviews and some negative ones, right? So here is the type of person that I think will have a blast with this book.

You're a Battlestar Galactica fan. There are many similar BSG elements in this book, in a very good way. Partials are very similar to Cylons, and there's a war between humans and Partials that will decide the fate of both. There are also some elements of Star Trek: TNG, and The Matrix in this book, which aren't bad influences to have at all. But lest you be concerned about knockoffs, this is definitely an original story, told in a very engaging way.

You like medical thrillers. Kira runs a lot of tests on a captured Partial in this book, and while some readers may have an issue with all the medical business that goes on, I personally love books about viruses and analyses of scientific data, etc., so I very much enjoyed all that. Do Kira's experiments require some suspension of disbelief? Sure. Especially since a. she's a student b. we don't get all the answers we might be asking and c. this disease doesn't actually exist. (True story!) But what worked for me was that the author did a great job of walking us through the steps and logic and reasoning behind Kira's methodology.

Post-apocalyptic books rock your socks. Something about this book reminded me a lot of the feel of Mira Grant's Feed and Deadline, but for the YA crowd--and I don't make those comparisons lightly. There is a great blend of virological talk, exciting action sequences, and entertaining twists and turns that will appeal to fans of the Newsflesh series. Plus there are some survivalist elements I also really enjoyed. Worrying about energy conservation, day to day needs, salvage runs? Please, tell me more!

You appreciate butt-kicking heroines. I really liked Kira, who is a smart, responsible heroine, even if she is a little too narrowly focused on her ideals and a little too quick to fly off the handle. I would liked to have felt more of an emotional connection with her, the way I did with the very intriguing Samm (view spoiler), but I did feel as though I understood her. And it's great to have a girl scientist portrayed in YA.

Do any of these sound like you? If so, get thee to a bookstore and grab a copy of Partials asap!

I will say that some of the secondary teen characters blended together for me, so that it wasn't until significant things happened to them that I remembered who was who and what part they were playing in the story. All the adults are there primarily to advance the plot as well, and basically serve as foils and obstacles to the teens. And even though it's understandable that teenagers have taken on more advanced roles earlier on due to the outbreak, they have such huge responsibilities that it does make you raise an eyebrow a bit; it's almost as if Partials was written with adult characters, but was adapted for the YA market. While some of the specifics of the story may strain credulity when you stop to look at the big picture, I have to admit that during reading, it's hard to care, because the story is so well-paced and entertaining. I'm hoping that in the sequel, we'll see deeper character development and further exploration of the ramifications of the Hope Act as the story continues.

All in all, Partials was a lot of fun for me. My immediate reaction when I finished the book was "fan-freaking-tastic!" and I'm excited that there's such a great science fiction option out there for YA readers. Don't get me wrong, I love fluffy novels or the types of books that feature girls in pretty ballgowns. But I like the kind of girl who wears lab coats, doesn't mind risking her life for what she believes is right, and argues passionately about the civil rights of cyborgs, too.

Great story, great characters. Can our heroine, Kira, save the world, both humans and partials? Love the mystery, the action, so exciting! Must read for sci-fi lovers!!! Already started book 3!!! HAPPY READING!!!!!
Tim

I had never heard of Partials before I was given a copy to review, so I knew next to nothing about it. I read the synopsis that you see above and was immediately intrigued. While SciFi novels are hit or miss for me, I couldn't help but compare this to a show I absolutely adored, Dark Angel. That made me even more excited to read this.

Unfortunately that was as excited as I was going to get.

I found that the story really dragged in places, and occasionally found myself skimming some pages to see when it would get better. The good parts (and yes, there were quite a few good parts) really propelled the storyline. When the action picked up, I was riveted. But then, a chapter or two later, the story would drag out again. I found these lags really soured the story for me.

I think my biggest problem was Kira. She was too bland of a main character for me. I never really connected with her, and so I had a hard time caring about her story. I don't want to divulge too much because the actual story is fairly different from the summary. The summary provided barely skims the surface of what the novel really is about.

Overall, Partials is a good read. It's not my favorite, but I would pick up the next book in this series to see what happened to the characters in this one. Dan Wells came up with a great idea for a novel ... I just felt like it was poorly executed in places. Maybe I set my expectations too high for this one, but I would recommend checking this one out of the library before buying it unless you are a big-time SciFi fan.

Partials is the sort of book you race through and can't put down. Its plot--at its core a tribute to humankind's tenacity and determination to survive--is filled with twists, turns, and cliffhangers. Yet it's thought-provoking, too. There are many shades of gray in this post-apocalyptic world.

Kira, our refreshingly smart and determined protagonist, is a medic who is fed up with the government's futile efforts to find a cure for the RM virus. To complicate matters, the Senate is considering lowering the pregnancy age to sixteen, which Kira is disgusted at but her boyfriend Marcus doesn't find so bad. So Kira decides to find a cure for the virus by capturing a Partial--the elite nonhuman forces that nearly obliterated the human race some years before.

Kira's journey is fast-paced for a longish book. There were times that I was either scared out of my mind or breathless with excitement. Dan Wells sure knows how to tell a story. And Kira and Marcus' relationship is remarkably real. They flirt and fight like any other couple their age. The supporting characters, like Jayden and Madison, brighten up the story.

Many dystopian novels fall into preachy ways. Mr. Wells figures we can think for ourselves here. The Senate are not cardboard cut-out baddies and the rebels are not angelic heroes. It's a complicated world.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone--male or female--who enjoys a fast-paced, exciting, and thought-provoking read that sticks with you long after the story is over.

The YA market is overrun with dystopian books right now and it sometimes seems like there will never be another unique story. Then a book like Partials comes along and completely blows my mind with it's awesomely original story. This just goes to show you that there is always a story that hasn't been written yet. Dystopian fans will eat this one up!

Kira's world is insane and only keeps getting worse. The city is being attacked frequently, not a single baby has been born and lived in 11 years, and the pregnancy age keeps dropping. Kira is one of the few people that doesn't agree with the way the senate is running things and she's not afraid to do something about it. She's brave, sometimes stupid but completely brilliant, loyal to a fault, and a total free thinker. It's one of the reasons she gets into quite a bit of trouble. Her boyfriend, Marcus, is also quite brilliant but a total goof at the same time. He's stubborn and set in his ways but he loves Kira and supports her. Kira's other friends, Jayden, Xochi, Isolde, and Madison were amazing. They were loyal to Kira and willing to risk their lives for her. They were also rather comical at times.

My biggest complaint is that the first 100-150 pages are rather dull. I get that there is a lot of world building involved with dystopians but that only accounts for the first 50 or so pages. There really just was not enough action in the beginning to get me hooked. However, the second half of the book certainly makes up for that. It's action-packed and totally has you on the edge of your seat.

I also want to mention the medical/science talk. There is quite a bit of it but I never felt confused by it. Everything is explained in a way that readers can understand and I actually really enjoyed that aspect of the book. It's something you don't read every day in a YA book.

Overall, Partials is a must-read for dystopian and sci-fi fans. It's completely fabulous and while the end leaves you wanting more, it's not a total cliffhanger. I can't wait for the sequel!

Sometimes when I read a book I can kind of predict what comes next or at least the ultimate outcome. Well, that certainly wasn't the case with Partials. Just when I thought I had everything figured out Wells threw something at me that took me completely by surprise. It's safe to say that I didn't find Partials the least bit predictable.

I'm not going to lie, sometimes I found myself wishing Kira would make the easy decision, but I can ultimately appreciate that it was a part of her personality. You're probably thinking that sounds bad, but someone would fall down dead in a battle and she'd be all "I need to help them!" and I'm sitting there thinking "He's dead! Run! Save yourself!" But like I said, I can appreciate that it's just a flaw of her character.

I quite liked Samm and was incredibly surprised when a love triangle didn't sprout up because of him. Marcus was a fantastic guy, but I'm not going to lie, if a love triangle were to pop up I'd be all about the Samm. I mean, this is a guy who saved Kira instead of himself (I won't say any more than that for fear of spoiling).

The storyline of Partials was fantastic. I was a little bored in the beginning. It's not that it was really going too slowly, but it just took a bit for me to get immersed into the story, but once I did I was never bored. Don't let the size scare you off because once you get into the story you won't even realize how quickly you're turning the pages.

I also really appreciated that we got a few answers, but enough questions were left to leave me wanting more.

The Nutshell: Though it might take a little bit to get fully immersed in the story, Partials is definitely worth the read. There are plot twists and turns that Wells throws at the reader out of the blue and plenty of action but still enough down time to appreciate the finer aspects of the story. If you love dystopian and having your mind blown multiple times, read Partials.

I really enjoyed Partials. I'd probably rate it 4.8 if it was an option. Now to analyze why....I am very drawn to end of the world/ post apocalyptic scenarios. This one is well written and I liked the main characters. The premise that biologically engineered humans exist and are are blamed for the possible extinction of mankind intrigued me. I like the science geeky stuff- what works when modern medicine and most conveniences aren't available. The political posturing and who leads and why interest me. I appreciate that hormones/sex aren't a dominate motivation for the main characters actions although there are sexual topics like the Hope Law and a pregnancy of one Kira's friends.

I like to examine the prejudices against the Partials and their mutations that changes how they interact, function and deal with the world around them. I also appreciate that this book had a decent ending and bridges well to a second volume/series. I will definitely read more books by Dan Wells in the future and I'll also have to check out the other post apocalyptic books recommended by the other reviewers.

THE HUNGER GAMES and DIVERGENT seem silly in comparison with THE PARTIALS SEQUENCE. I breezed through PARTIALS and I'm almost finished FRAGMENTS. These books spend a lot less time on silly teen love affairs and more on gripping action set in a compelling post-apocalyptic world. These books are very serious! The violence is visceral. The settings are vividly and memorably described. The best part of FRAGMENTS is Kira's quest to find answers that takes her and her companions from Manhattan to Chicago to Denver. These chapters are the best chapters I've read in any post-apocalyptic/dystopian YA fiction, including THE HUNGER GAMES, DIVERGENT, LEGEND, MONUMENT 14, and THE MAZE RUNNER. The writing is better, the descriptions are memorable, the action is gripping. This is great fiction.

Partials was a wonderful novel. I really enjoyed the world that Dan Wells introduces us to. The plot of Partials is extremely entertain able. The characters are great and have a way of leaving you wishing that they would come out of the pages so that you can get to know them in life. Basically, Partials is a book that you will definitely want to pick up as soon as you can. You will not be disappointed.

Another terrific dystopian readers can look forward to. In the forbidding environment Dan Wells created, the reader will learn of the deadly RM virus. The RM virus is believed to be spread by "Partials" or militant, partially human forces. The RM virus barely leaves anyone alive in its path, killing newly born infants within a day of their birth. Kira, the main character, is very young, but already a medic. She strives to find a cure for this deadly virus, even if it means going to the enemy's camp.

With the shreds of humanity forced into a small space, no one feels safe. Humanity is at risk of extinction and strict laws are employed to keep citizens from fully panicking. Kira and a group of friends, also part of the "military," set out to save humanity-or die trying. Kira was easy to connect to, she is a sympathetic character with quite a few secrets that she doesn't even know about lurking in her past. The reader will love getting to know the other secondary characters, they each stand out and some harbor secrets. The events were very fast-paced, making the book hard to put down and one an avid reader may finish in a day or two despite the book's thickness. Look for another great dystopian sequel from this author!

*Complimentary copy received, this does not affect my opinion in any way*

I found Fragments to be just an okay sequel. This is a long book and large chunks of it are what I would consider to be filler material. I think you could just skip the first 400 pages and you wouldn't be missing all that much. A lot of the comings and goings of the various characters serve little purpose, and don't advance the plot or story much at all. One example of this is Afa, a new character introduced early in the book. He's an uninteresting, frankly unappealing character, but he comes into the story, hangs around for a large portion of the book and then he disappears having really added nothing at all to this story. But if you can hang in there for the last quarter of the book -- basically when Kira makes it to Denver, the magic of Partials reappears and the story picks up nicely. On the positive side, the character Marcus comes into his own--he's more mature and has a nice sense of humor. On the other hand, Kira and Samm's relationship is frustrating since Samm basically becomes Spock, so there's about as much romantic spark here as you'd find with Nurse Chapel and Spock.

Partials - Another End of the World book, but end of the world books/movies are the hip thing right now. People are reading/watching them faster than they can eat pancakes. Can we hate this book because of that? No.

If you like post apocalyptic books, then this is worth a read. I have read better, and many worse post apocalyptic books.

This book has some new ideas by using these "Partials" almost human like beings. It makes it for a fun read.

Does have a stereotype portraying that older adults don't like change. Don't most stereotypes have some truth though?

I loved the story. There were times where I just wanted things to happen more quickly and realized there was so much detail, I think the author didnt need all those pages though. Anyway I've been waiting for something to happen between Kira and samm and finally at the end !!!!!! Ok now I don't know what's gonna happen, there are still so many things to do. Overall I enjoyed it.

**This is a 3.5 Review**

Imagine for a second that the world is ending; that there are only a few thousand humans left on the planet, and they are unable to reproduce. Oh...you can have a baby, but the chances of it living past day 2 are ZERO, which makes you the LAST in a very long line of humans that will eventually time out.

What would you do?

Would you..

A: Curl up into the fetal position and pretend it's all just a bad dream?

B: Blame your eventual demise on the government? or

C: Do something about it?

The answer for Kira, the lead character in "Partials" by Dan Wells is C. Do something about it.

"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."

Now, in order to appreciate this book you must first understand a few things. #1 it is a dystopian novel, but unlike the relatively fluffy ones that we enjoy (you know...the ones weighted down by forbidden love and teenage angst in a world gone mad) Partials is a "hard-core" dystopian.

What's the difference?

Well... for starters, the plot is NOT about finding that special someone in the middle of the night whose duty is to hold your hand and tell you everything is ok; it's about survival at it's most basic of levels. While there is technology, it is either your enemy, or you can't use it for lack of power. There is a government, but their moral compasses are...questionable, and though the world is wide enough to afford you freedom, you are not allowed freedom.

I'm not insinuating that there aren't character connections, because there are, (in the most unlikely of places in fact) but they are vastly different from the books that are currently out there, which...is actually rather refreshing if you ask me.

The 2nd, and probably the most important factor to under before you dive into this 480 page adventure is that it is VERY detailed. Now, while this doesn't bother me, (I'm used to forensic anthropology novels that spend 80 pages establishing the live cycle of a maggot) it may drive some of you crazy. Why? because it is science related. Think of it as reading the manual to your microwave over and over and over. Some of you might actually find it beneficial to skim (*gasp* yes... I said skim) these parts in order to reconnect with the plot. Me? I'm not a skimmer, but I can see where several people might be tempted to put down the book and walk away when Wells starts to go on his robot rants.

So, what did I think overall?

Well, despite the occasional meandering into clever-clever land, I actually really enjoyed it. It was original, well thought out and had several sub-plots that helped establish the conditions of their post-war/virus lives. While it may not be everyone's cup of tea, it is definitely a winner for those of you that enjoy the battle of life, and as an added bonus...the ending was spot on, all the way down to it's book #2 setup.

I read it with some hesitancy, but ended up really liking it. The concept is different than other YA books (aka no paranormal, etc). I really enjoyed the lack of extreme romance, too, and the way the 2 'romances' (barely) were presented. The twists in the plot absolutely surprised me **SPOILER** like how she found out the partial wasn't there to make peace. I love the ending, and hope the next one comes out soon. I've read almost every YA (and it's sequel) that's out right now, in the Dystopian and paranormal genres, and this is one of the very few that made me come back and actually check for a sequel (instead of randomly seeing the sequel and saying "Huh, i should read that". The plot did not seem random, but carefully constructed to surprise the reader. Will for sure buy the sequel!

Post-apocolyptic teen fiction with a strong female protagonist--Dan Wells had me hooked immediately! Kira is works in the maternity ward of a hospital in a future where infants die almost immediately after birth. THe RM virus has killed all humans except several thousand who are immune to the virus but the human race is in danger of dying out because babies don't survive long. The government has ordered that all 18-year-olds become pregnant immediately so that their babies can be studied and hopefully a cure found. Besides the people in the area where Kira lives, there is the Voice--those who rebel against the government and the Partials--who are viewed as the enemy. Lots of action, a little romance (thank you, thank you, thank you for allowing the plot to move along nicely without relying on teen hormones to carry the story), and lots of science. Most appropriate for high school and above although mature middle schoolers will have no problem with the book.

I wished I liked this book more, but it just went on and on and on.
The secrets took to long to unveiled. Most of the time mystery building is exciting but in this case it was exasperating.

I liked and Afa and was really upset by his demise.

The book was cut into parts and at the end it just got more complicated and the cure and peace seems more far away than ever.

I was really excited about Samms feeling for Kira.

"Partials," written by Dan Wells, was a very good read. The novel has a beautiful of suspense, romance, and interested that simply pulls the reader in. Wells created a futuristic world excellently. If you're interested in YA this book is definitely for you. I am very excited to read the next novel within the series.

Engaging and fascinating. It's way out of the book trajectory I usually follow and was really skeptical in the beginning. I have read other comments and agree that adults are put in the role of sinners or stupid jerks, however, it didn't really pain the story. Finishing the three books I can say that the story seemed plausible, characters viable and original and the romance aspect delicate. Great read!

I really like the way this book is written. It's teen fiction but not dumbed down writing. I like the way the story flowed. I also liked the way it ended. Not necessarily a happy ending and left on an intriguing note.

I am looking forward to the next one. Hint: Hurry!

This book does not suffer from the second book curse in a trilogy. It is well thought-out and masterfully written. The cliff hanger has me anxiously waiting for the finally. Thankfully there are so many dystopian book series out there to keep me happy until the third one comes out. If you are looking for something "similar." I recommend: "Divergent," "Under the never sky,"Pure," Across the universe," "Kate Daniels series," just a few to wet your wistle.

Kira Walker was the one and only person who clearly had the skills and mind to find the cure for The deadly decease,RM.Her idea of RM was a huge puzzle that has pieces so obvious that everyone but her overlooked them.But really those pieces have been in front of her and everyone else one the island's faces for the past 11 years.All she had to do was piece the puzzle into place.

Partials was a great read. I read it in three sittings and it definitely kept me interested. Kira is a strong female character and is not to be messed with. :) Marcus, Kira's boyfriend, was by far my favorite character. He had me laughing out loud(which i dont do often while reading). He was great and their relationship/romance was not like the normal gushy, mushy annoying teenage love. It was the perfect amount. Im really glad I bought this book so I can reread it...there was a lot of science stuff and I think I/You will get more out of it after a second time.

The only complaint I have is there were too many characters. All the senators kind of formed into one and I couldnt keep them apart.

I cant wait for the second one. :)

I read this book in two days and it only took that long because I had to stop and sleep, eat and take care of my family. To say I loved it is an understatement. I have to admit the cover drew my curiosity first when I saw it posted on Facebook. I read the description and still had reservations. Even after receiving it, I was skeptical but I'm really, really glad I opened this book and began reading. From the very beginning it had me reeled in. I've been in a reading slump lately where everything new that I try to read just wasn't keeping my attention. Thank you Dan Wells for changing that. I'm typically not one to go after futuristic books or books that have a Sci-Fi theme but I just couldn't put this one down. Sad it had to end but I can't wait for the next one!

Holy cow, y'all. I just finished this book yesterday, and it's been a while since a book left me so satiated. I'd actually been in rather a reading funk before picking up PARTIALS, having discarded three books prior. Back on the reading wagon now, for sure!

Positive: The world-building. In this world, humans build human-like robots, called Partials, to fight their enemies, and the robots turn on them. While that part's not so unusual--think Terminator or Alien--a plague then sweeps through the human race, decimating its numbers and leaving the world with fewer than 40,000 humans who barely cling to survival. Humans believe the Partials are to blame. The government gathers its people close, trying to salvage what's left of humanity and save the future. As with most governments, they start out with good intentions that quickly sour as free will and the desire for power overcome those ideals. This world comes to life through a rich details and robust backstory, parceled out in manageable nibbles rather than huge chunks.

Positive: The pacing. It's fast and relentless. Kira and her band of merry men hardly have time to catch their breath or recover from their wounds before they've got to take actions that may save their world or may wipe the human race from the planet. The Partials, the disease RM, and the Voice (human rebels who don't agree with the government's decision to require women to get pregnant by the age of 18) are all out to destroy each other.

Positive: Kira. This is one strong-willed, brave, smart girl. Although she's only 16, she's already an adult, working in the maternity ward, watching infant after infant perish from the incurable disease of RM. She and her compatriots have grown up in incredibly difficult circumstances and, because of those, had to grow up fast. When her best friend gets pregnant, she knows that, unless they find a cure quickly, her friend's child will die within days of coming into the world. So she decides to cure RM and, to do that, she has to capture a live Partial, knowing that it's a treasonous act to do so, that a Partial could kill her as easily as she breathes, and that there's still the possibility that the Partial's blood and anatomy won't help at all. But she does it anyway.

Wish: That more books were like this one. Not necessarily of the same genre but paced the same way with full-bodied, interesting characters; and a detailed world. While I did have some lingering questions (ie, Why would the Partials leave the humans alone for eleven years when they were so close to victory? How did the Senate come to be and how did it devolve into more of a dictatorship?), any more backstory might have been overwhelming. And, while there is most definitely another book in the works, this particular chapter of the series finished its story arc with a satisfying, if a little melancholy, resolution.

Overall: PARTIALS once again proves why young adult literature rocks, fulfilling all requirements for a fantastic story: sensational characters, high-octane pacing, and a lush world to get lost in for hours.

I read all three books in the series this weekend. Loved it!!! This is a great series and the story held my interest the entire time. I couldn't wait to find out what happened.
This story should be made into a movie; that's how much I enjoyed these books!

I picked this book up yesterday, and have been reading ever since, stopping only to sleep, eat, and shower. It hooked me from the first page, and destroyed my every attempt to be productive at anything else. I'm going for the next book now!

really enjoyable story. the protagonist, Kiera, is really someone you grow to care about. also interesting moral dilemmas. a fun easy read but with great action and something to think about! and it fortunately it only spends a little time on romantic subplots

This series is well written and fast paced. It keeps the reader engaged and guessing until the end! The depth of the characters makes the story believable and engrossing. An excellent read with great moral questions leaving the reader a lot to consider.