Partials - Dan Wells - Review



Photo from Goodreads.com

 Official Summary

Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the world’s population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. The threat of the partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to the disease in over a decade. Humanity’s time is running out.
When sixteen-year-old Kira learns of her best friend’s pregnancy, she’s determined to find a solution. Then one rash decision forces Kira to flee her community with the unlikeliest of allies. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that the survival of both humans and partials rests in her attempts to answer questions of the war’s origin that she never knew to ask.  Combining the fast-paced action of The Hunger Games with the provocative themes of Battlestar Galactica, Partials is a pulse-pounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question—one where our sense of humanity is both our greatest liability, and our only hope for survival.

Source: Bought for my birthday in Waterstones.
 Publisher: HarperCollins

Length: Paperback, 482 pages.

Reason for Reviewing: 1. It was such a good book and 2. The sequel, Fragments (available to preorder now on Waterstones.com) is coming out soon so I wanted to remind myself and you of Partials.                                                       

My reading time: 1-2 days, depending on other commitments.

THE SHORT VERSION

I loved this book. Loved the issues, the world-building, the science - one small glitch but 5 Stars.

THE BREAKDOWN

INITIAL REACTION

I knew I'd love this book from the moment I saw it in on the shelf. Normally I hate characters on my covers but this was an exception. The tagline is amazing also. I actually don't think I read the summary until I'd already bought it, which was a bit careless, but it all turned out for the best.

WORLD-BUILDING

Some have said that this book took a while to get going, but that's because of the fantastic world-building. I loved learning about how the apocalypse had happened and I loved RM. In the fictional way. Obviously. I personally loved how the book went into such detail with the virology because it complemented the fantastical side nicely. The premise of the book is entirely plausible, with the possible exception of RM, which doesn't exist, of course. But perhaps in the later books of the sequence more will be revealed about it. Well, of course it will, otherwise I will come knocking on your virtual door, Dan Wells http://www.fearfulsymmetry.net/. You shall do as I say. Because great writers always listen to me...
Overall the world-building was very intriguing, except for the few parts where it got bogged down with descriptions of gardens and pregnancy...Although I liked the Hope Act, it was very interesting. I'm just cold and heartless sometimes when it comes to the personal bits.

CHARACTERS
Kira: While I didn't feel any great attachment to her until the middle of the book, she was a great main character and really drove the plot along. I started to adore her once I saw her working with the virus. As a medic she was interesting and nice to read about; as a lab scientist she shone. I love science. And, as a lot of people have said, female scientists. With attitude. Also, I loved how her *relationship/communication* with Samm developed.

Samm: Samm, I love you. It was so interesting when he was being discussed and, again, I loved it so much when he started to talk to Kira. And he was a hero! It was so sad how distrustful everyone was of him...but they weren't entirely at fault, of course.

Marcus, Maddie, etc.: Seemed nice and fun. Didn't really make much of an impression on me - my one criticism of the characters is that a lot of them seemed to blend into one. Because of that, I didn't think Marcus made much of an addition to the plot but I don't remember him very well so don't take that to heart.

PLOT
I seem to be alone on this one, but I thought the plot timing of Partials was close to perfect. The beginning set it up really well, and wow, the last part...was really intense. I can't reveal them here, but I LOVED each event going towards the end and the suspense just built and built, with interventions and I wish I could say more here but that would be mean so I can't. Sorry. I especially loved, and was shocked by, since I strangely hadn't seen it coming at all, the revelation about a main character at the very end and the consequent course of action leading onto the SEQUEL!

One thing: The summary compares Partials to The Hunger Games, or at least links them. I don't really think it should, apart from that it draws attention to this wonderful book. They're not similar at all, apart from being futuristic. But that doesn't diminish the merit of Partials one bit. Seriously. Read it.

JUMPED OUT AT ME - SCIENCE
I really enjoyed the detailed descriptions of Kira's findings and the way her *lab* equipment was portrayed pretty accurately too. The virology was discussed really knowledgeably, which was very interesting in itself, so well done Dan Wells. I thought that each additional discovery, as well as her initial failure, were really intriguing, so this part jumped out at me in Partials. I also really liked the idea of the Partials themselves and the politics behind them.

OVERALL
Partials was a thriller with a great world-setting and interesting issues raised but not too heavily.

STAR RATING
Definitely fits into 5 stars for being thought-provoking, interesting and thrilling.

GET IT:
Waterstones - http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/dan+wells/partials/8824045/
Easons - http://www.easons.com/search.aspx?query=Partials
Amazon.com - (Kindle version) http://www.amazon.co.uk/9780062071040-Partials-ebook/dp/B00739WG8U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1357419442&sr=1-1





Speaking His Mind

I know I'm late off the mark on this one, but I just found out by coincidence that Daniel Radcliffe (one of my favourite people in the world because of his excellent job in Harry Potter) publicly said he is an atheist. And just for the reason that he spoke his mind I feel I really have to say, well done to him.

One, for not being afraid to speak his mind. He says he is a 'militant atheist when religion starts impacting on legislation'. I got the original information from http://www.towleroad.com/2012/02/daniel-radcliffe-disgusted-by-anti-gay-gop-presidential-candidates-has-talent-crush-on-ryan-gosling.html after a Google Search, by the way. It's a very good article. It made a bit of a fuss when the news was fresh but I thought it deserved to be resurrected, no pun intended, in the face of what's going on around us today. I was very impressed by the way Daniel was standing up so strongly for gays. I think it's really, really important in today's society.

Two, people can get away with being a member of just about every religion I can think of, but where is acceptance for homosexual people? In the article Daniel strikes out at homophobic politicians and I wholeheartedly agree. He did a cover shoot for Attitude magazine and says that he's delighted people thought he was gay. He's been around gay people his life and supports equality for them. This is a new generation and I'm part of it. We're supporting equality for everyone. We want to move past this archaic view of things. You have your religion, that's fine, He'll have his. They'll have none, thank you. That doesn't necessarily mean *they* (or whoever is in their place) think that you're wrong about EVERYTHING, but I'd like to agree to disagree. Well first, I'd like to open your mind and make you think, but if that can't happen, let's just agree to disagree.

What some people fail to understand is that agreeing to disagree involves choice. If gay marriage is legalized, obviously not everyone is going to become gay and get married. Because it's THEIR choice. The LGBT community can then take advantage of their perfectly natural right - to be happy. How are they going to be happy? By loving who they like and having equal status with them. Just because they're different doesn't mean they're second-class citizens.

The last thing I like about this news is that it shows Daniel Radcliffe's rational, fair side. We are human beings and regardless of what kind of supernatural being(s) is out there, all we KNOW we have right now is each other. So live and let live. No gay person is going to come up to you and force you to marry them if gay marriage is legalized. It's not going to hurt you but it'll benefit them. Every worldview I know of says that we were all created equal. So thank you, Daniel Radcliffe, for publicising that.

5 New Year's Resolutions for a Bookworm

I have decided that this year I am making New Year's Resolutions that I will actually enjoy keeping. The things I enjoy most? Learning and reading. This is going to be fun.

1. Don't let myself be too distracted from reading.
Within reason, I want to read a little more this year. Last year I read 30 big books in the month of June but only one every couple of days for a lot of the school year. It's my favourite thing to do so I don't want school to get too much in the way of it. I'm sitting the Junior Cert this year so I have to focus on that, but I don't want to forsake my passion either.

 Also, I can pretend reading is studying for English, although I doubt that excuse would be accepted. My parents once told me off for reading particle physics instead of studying Junior Cert science. Oops.

2. Learn some astrophysics and particle physics.
I'm sorry, but after reading a few books about it I can't not. I mean, it probably makes me an ubernerd but it's honestly really interesting and good for your head as well. And in the Junior Cert I'll just ramble about the basic things and hope the examiner gives me some points for the particle physics.

3. Learn to read my schoolbooks and enjoy them...
Because otherwise there is no hope. How can you resist the temptation to read? Anything, rather than the books you (if you're me) read in the summer before second year and understood then? I mean, I do know most of the subject matter so can it really hurt if I read a bit for pleasure? My parents mysteriously don't seem to see it that way...

4. STOP BEING DISORGANIZED.
I think there's actually a name for people like me, 'spacey'. I have no problem memorizing what I need for school but don't even try to ask me to bring in a worksheet, it probably ain't gonna happen. I have improved lately (I got an accordion folder! You should be so proud!) but there's still a bit to go to avoid my notes succumbing to the pressure to become crumpled and unrecognizable at the bottom of my bag.

5. Update more regularly.
I am truly sorry and promise to update more frequently. In my defence, I only review/ discuss books that are worth it. This means that all my reviews sound strangely positive but believe me, they're not all I read. I hereby apologize and give you, reader, full permission to hound me in the comments if I don't post soon enough. Did I really just say that?

Any big resolutions I missed out on? I should have written 'Study' but, really, why would I write that down when enough people (parents, teachers, friends) are shouting it at me already? Now, I must go do some accursed study. Wish me luck.

Wonders of the Universe - Prof. Brian Cox

I rarely read non-fiction, but this book captivated me. The 'book of the acclaimed BBC TV series' written by Professor Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen deals with what it says on the tin - and it captures a lot of very heavy material in the most enthralling way. I got it for Christmas and it is honestly my second-favourite Christmas present ever and one of my most precious possessions (My new iPod just edged it out in terms of functionality and portability, but it's still amazing).

There are four sections to the book - 'Messengers' (Light), Stardust (Stars and Creation of the Universe), Falling (Gravity) and Destiny (Fate of the Universe). It really doesn't pull any punches and suits anyone from an accomplished astronomer to an intelligent/willing preteen without sounding too  heavy or, on the other hand, patronising.The book is filled with breathtaking pictures of space as well as beautiful pictures from here on Earth.

The first chapter shows the importance of light, being the only connection we have with everything outside our Universe and discusses its properties, as well as some interesting scientific discoveries about it...and some gratuitous photos of gorgeous landscapes, of course. My favourite part of this chapter had to be this quote

'Two and a half million years ago, when our distant relative Homo habilis was foraging for food across the Tanzanian Savannah, a beam of light left the Andromeda Galaxy and began its journey across the universe. As that light beam raced across space at the speed of light (duh), generations of humans and pre-humans lived and died, whole species evolved and became extinct, until one member of that unbroken lineage, me, happened to gaze up at the sky [...] triggering a cascade of wonder in a complex organ called the human brain that didn't exist anywhere in the Universe when the journey began.'

So we're seeing the Andromeda galaxy as it was 2, 500, 000 years ago. How could something like that not amaze you?

Also discussed is the Hubble Telescope. We can *only* see 2.5 million years ago, to the beginnings of our species with the naked eye. But there is much more than that. The book charts the Hubble's history, with the delays in launch time and a mission to space purely to fix one of its mirrors. Astronauts from the Shuttle Endeavour spent ten days in space - basically giving it glasses. Which I liked a lot, because I have to wear them too! What's been called Hubble's most important image was shown and explained - the Hubble Ultra Deep Field.

Some of these 'blobs' are over twelve billion light years away. Nearly as old as the Universe itself.


Stardust talks about the birth, development and death of stars (my favourite part? SUPERNOVAE!). It also discusses the basic building blocks of the Universe and how they came into being...Which basically can give a nerdgasm. Also, the Big Bang and subatomic particles - explained so that you can actually understand them! Well, I did and I'm only fourteen. And wow, those pictures are amazing.

Seriously though, this was my favourite section of the book and it has so much material to get you genuinely excited.


Falling has lots of interesting stuff too, especially NEUTRON STARS and why they're so dense - and tells us that that surface gravity is 100,000,000,000G. Nom. Basically neutron stars are just intense. In every aspect. Temperature, gravity, density, exotic structure, magnetism... They're very cool. Oh, and Newton's Law as well as Einstein's Theory of Relativity feature.


Destiny predicts the Universe's ultimate demise, which it explains has to happen because of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, Entropy. How it will happen isn't known, because it's so, so far away, but it's interesting to speculate.


I love this book. An awful lot, seriously. I think I almost started to hero-worship the guy who taught me some particle physics in such a way that I understood it. This would be a fantastic birthday present for anyone who has the slightest inclination towards Science or just general nerdiness. Which I'm very proud of, by the way. Warning: If this falls into the hands of some teenagers, they may bend the ear off you talking about protons, neutrons, quarks, supernovae...and basically everything else in this awe-inspiring treasure.

10 Books I Need to Get. Desperately.

In no particular order... the books that I desperately need but have too little money to get. I so want to review these...
1. Delirium. And Pandemonium. And, eventually, Requiem - Lauren Oliver.
This was in my local Waterstones around the time of my birthday. I need it! I need it! For the moment I have contented myself with reading reviews but that's not enough. I need it! Apparently it's really good. Great title too. I normally don't enjoy romances but hopefully the dystopia will balance it out.

2. Divergent. And Insurgent - Veronica Roth. Why don't I have this yet? The one time I had plenty of money, while visiting Germany last summer, it was, of course, auf Deutsch. It is a disgrace for me not to have it yet! Lots of reviews have doubted the premise of it but I don't care. This is a book I want to read and I'd better get it or...or...something very bad and delectably evil will happen.

3. Blood Red Road - Moira Young.
Mixed reviews on this one but all saying that it's outstanding. One said it's too 'bleak'. Many raved. What I've gathered from an amalgamation of them all is this: It is a powerful book. Driven, evocative, unstoppable. Yes please.

4. Matched. And Crossed. And Reached - Ally Condie. I LOVE trilogies, OK?
I sound so clichéd. But I don't care. I LOVE the covers on this series! They are so cool. Apparently the book lives up to those awesome covers. If it does, I will be very happy indeed and promise to review. But please don't go overboard on the romance! After I devour the other books on this list. OH I just read a review that talked about some of the dystopian elements. GIVE IT TO ME.

5. Fragments - Sequel to Partials (#2 in Partials trilogy) - Dan Wells
I loved Partials, I did I did I did. And the end of that was a great setup for this book with the revelation. I have links to where you can buy/ preorder Fragments and Partials here from my review of Partials
6. Slated Sequel - Teri Terry.
This doesn't even come out until ...May, I think? Or am I mixing that up with February? ANYWAY, give it to me. I have Slated reviewed here also, if you look further down the blog.

7. Across the Universe - Beth Revis
I LOVE THIS PREMISE!


8. UNWIND - Neal Shusterman.
That. Premise. I don't know if the actual book will match it but... Yay.

9. Skulduggery Pleasant: Book 8
This book is meant to have all the action and cool plot developments in it so I'm excited. Also, it continues on from that evil cliffhanger in Book 7 (I've reviewed Kingdom of the Wicked on the blog here.

10. Uglies.
This is one that I can get, woo! My friend has promised me it and there will be severe retribution of she didn't deliver. Because I'm cool like that. *No best friends were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Skulduggery Pleasant - Kingdom of the Wicked

At last, it arrived! Well, not really at last, because I got it and read it about two weeks ago but.. school's very busy. Anyway. I went to the book signing on the first of September in Waterstones and met Derek Landy. He was really cool when I told him I was from his blog and gave him my letter. We got a picture together but I'm not really sure where it is...oops! I'd only bought the book that morning when I reached the shop but the queue was so long that I was on page 150 by the time I met him. So, that was great, I was buzzing as I left. Has anyone reading this met him in the signings, whether in NZ & Australia or Britain & Ireland?

I finished KOTW that night although it's a hefty read. My first impression, apart from 'Oh my God I cannot believe that just happened' (You'll know what I mean when you read it, because I won't spoil it so soon after the release date) was that Death Bringer had been a little better in plot-furthering (is that a word?) - except for the very, very last chapter of KOTW, of course. However, KOTW was very funny, with alternate-universe-people-who-shall-not-be-named, and it was so sweet to see Valkyrie and Carol getting closer. Until the end happened. Am I dialing up the suspense now? Am I forcing you to get off the internet and read it? Good. Serves you right, hehe. One bit I hated, because it really went against my first post (http://darquessedreams.blogspot.ie/2012/06/falkyrie-and-why-they-should-be.html), was the bit where Fletcher makes his big return.. which doesn't turn out to be very big at all. And Derek, why??? I'm all for Fletcher rights, but you can't just write him out of any screen time, it's not fair on the fangirls...Even though he seems happy with ****.

So, actual factual things now. The book starts with Jerry Houlihan, who thinks he's a butterfly. As the blurb says, 'Magic is a disease. Across the land, people are suddenly developing wild and unstable powers. One of these is Kitana. A normal teenage girl who, along with her friends, becomes infected. becomes powerful. becomes corrupted. Wielding the magic of gods, they're set to tear the city apart unless someone stands up against them, Looks like it's going to be another one of those days...'. Mortals all over Ireland are gaining powers and Skulduggery and Valkyrie in their corny-but-cool duo have to find out where this power is coming from, how to stop it and how to stop the infected mortals. Oh yes, and they have about a week to do it. And the 'Supreme Council' of international mages are breathing down the Sanctuary's figurative neck. Things basically just keep going wrong. Like, everything. Valkyrie gets Shunted into a different dimension, which just so happens to contain... certain people who have been mentioned the odd time through the books. At least she comes out alive though. Oh come on, that's not a spoiler. We all know she's going to survive at least until the ninth book. It's almost a scientific inevitability.
My favourite quote, which I can't find in the book at the moment, is something like when Ghastly explains to Valkyrie that 'Yes, we could achieve what ********* dreams of, but we'd have to step over a generation of dead bodies to get there'.

*****
Four point eight stars. I'm being picky here because I have the rest of the series to compare to. It was very, very good. But Kitana had better stay far away. And Doran. Oh, and there is a cliffhanger about as bad as the one after Dark Days. Wow.

I'll leave it at that so as not to spoil your enjoyment. And Derek, if by some chance you see this, I accidentally gave you the unfinished letter. You see, I had two, and then... yeah, that was sort of the draft version...

I know some people who complained that they didn't like the first book. They think this means that they won't like the rest of the series. Perhaps not the first three for those in my year, but they are amazing from the second trilogy onwards. Go on, read it. I dare you.

Slated - Teri Terry Review

 I first saw this book in my local Waterstones about two weeks ago and was quickly drawn into it by the title and cover -especially those vivid green eyes. After reading a couple of pages I was hooked and bought it soon after for my birthday (Yep! I am officially fourteen now!).

Kyla is a really interesting character. She's a Slated, which means she's undergone (unwillingly) a procedure to erase all her memories and take away her personality. The Government say she is being punished because she was a terrorist in her past life. Slating can only be done on people younger than sixteen years of age. After they leave the hospital where they are rehabilitated, they are adopted into a family and given a Levo. This is a device that basically controls the wearer's life. They cannot (supposedly)become very angry or upset, otherwise the Levo will detect a drop in their 'levels' and induce a blackout, or if they drop below 2 on the scale of 1 - 10, send a signal to permanently block blood flow to the brain, causing seizures and death. It cannot be moved, and definitely not taken off.  A Levo is designed to look like a watch or bracelet, but in Kyla's words, they're 'fooling nobody'. Slateds are looked down on by most, or discounted as non-entities. A Slated cannot hurt anyone or even defend themselves because of their Levos - this is to stop any recurrence of their 'terrorist' nature. Although it seems to me, you wouldn't necessarily be angry, sad or scared to build a bomb or something if you were really a terrorist. You might enjoy it. You know, if you were psychotic. Anyway, the theme running through the book is Kyla getting used to the world and realising it's not as great as it's made out to be, which leads to her trying to find out what's happening and who is lying to her alongside Ben, the love interest.

        

We first meet her in the hospital she's about to leave, to go out into the real world for the first time she can remember, even though she's sixteen years old. Everything is new to her but she is very analytical - unlike the other Slateds who are in too much of a happy daze to notice much -and categorises everything she sees because she has a need to put some sort of a shape on the world. Many times through the book it is said : Kyla is different. She is definitely more distrustful than most. And quite intuitive, but this doesn't always seem realistic - like when she knows things she couldn't or shouldn't and then goes and acts on that knowledge - like her decision to trust Mac. Then again, she's been Slated, so her 'intuition' could be some kind of hidden memory. Slated is told in Kyla's first-person perspective, dreamed passages interspersed with the narrative.

Kyla's world is an oppressive one, with the Central Coalition presiding over everything. It is set in the near future, 2052, and England has regressed back to its agricultural roots. No one under the age of twenty one is allowed a phone because apparently they had been used in the past to organise riots. The ideas in the book are great - the Central Coalition, Slating, Lorders... I thought it was slightly disturbing but thrilling and very thought-provoking. It doesn't really round off properly but there's a sequel coming in May 2013 called Fractured. To be honest, I really hope there's a film made - with casting in Ireland too, because there are hardly any castings here. I really advise you to read this and if you have, leave a comment to tell me what you think of it. Five stars!