BOOK REVIEW: PARTIALS by DAN WELLS

“I am stronger than my trials.”

OVERALL RATING: 9 /10

            STORY: 8/10

            CHARACTERS: 7/10

            THE FEELS: 8/ 10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 8/ 10
PLOT: 8/ 10

Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the 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. But sixteen-year-old Kira is determined to find a solution. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that that the survival of both humans and Partials rests in her attempts to answer questions about the war's origin that she never knew to ask.Playing on our curiosity of and fascination with the complete collapse of civilization,  Partials is, at its heart, a story of survival, one that explores the individual narratives and complex relationships of those left behind, both humans and Partials alike—and of the way in which the concept of what is right and wrong in this world is greatly dependent on one's own point of view.

REVIEW: I bought this book, on the same day, when my friend got Delirium by Lauren Oliver.  I was first uncertain if I had to sacrifice my allowance for that week to procure an infamous novel from a disreputable author in the Young Adult world.  First, I never heard the name of an author like Dan Wells and I am not a fan of novels with female images or protagonists on their covers because for me it looks, pardon me, cheap and uninteresting to read.  I am aware of the saying, “Never judge the book by its cover,” but you cannot deny the fact that you do if not always then most of the time.  In contrary, I bought the book at the end of the day because I was hooked upon reading the synopsis.  The thought of reading a novel with viruses, super humans, guns, and war in a post-apocalyptic plot, without babies that survived even a single day, making 14-year old individual the youngest human on earth.

The story started with some creepy, interesting, and captivating scenarios where people did everything to save the newborns being attacked by the RM virus at the first 3 hours of life.  The way the world was built in the story was fast and solid, from the political and health issues in the society to the individual development of the characters was astonishing that me, as a reader, I felt like I was captured by the story and it made me dig deeper throughout the pages.

As the story continues, it constantly amazed me by the original and genius idea of the author about the war of humans versus super humans or shall I say, partials.  Humans isolated in the society, afraid to explore the remaining fragments of the world during their brink of extinction.  Talking about the characters, the main protagonist, Kira Walker, was created with a solid personality and character that you can distinguish her as Kira Walker, NOT the girl on fire, NOT the girl who fell in love with her boss, NOT the girl who did nothing, and definitely NOT the girl who fell in even though love is a disease.  Kira Walker is someone who is desperate to save the newborns, desperate to find cure against the RM virus, and desperate to save the world.  Her desperation gave her enough courage, will, and determination to fight for and prevent the extinction of humanity even though she knows that she has a very minute chance against the partials standing on her way.

I salute the author, Mr. Wells, for immersing me in the world of partials, where I felt the heat of the sun, the sand in my eyes, the pressure of the bullet passing, sliding through, inches away beside your head, and the fear of getting caught by a partial off guard.  This first installment of the dystopian post-apocalyptic trilogy have gone beyond my expectations.  I wasn’t expecting to be blown-away like this, because in the first place, I had second thoughts of buying and reading this book because of the my impression about its cover.

The first installment is packed with adventure, action, and less cheesy love story that for me is a very solid foundation for a mind-blowing, epic trilogy.  This book is AWESOME!  I recommend this to other readers out there who haven’t read it yet.  For sure, you’ll be entertained, moved, and have a taste of by far one of the best young adult novels the world can offer.