Partials by Dan Wells

Series: Partials, Book One

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: ARC

Published: 29^th March 2012

Number of Pages: 482

Book: For Review*

Genre: Dystopia, Science-Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Action-Adventure, Mystery, Post-Apocalyptic, YA

Recommended Age: 13+

Contains: Violence, Death, Drinking, Swearing

No Drug References

Author's Blog: Dan Wells

The human race is all but extinct, wiped out by a killer virus released by genetically engineered soldiers – Partials.

Sixteen-year-old Kira is trapped on Long Island.  Her community clings to survival, but what hope can they have when no baby survives for more than three days?

Kira is determined to make a difference, to find a cure.  Her best friend is pregnant and Kira cannot let that baby die.  Time is running out, and finding a cure means capturing a Partial…

                                                                   Review:

Since the Break, no baby has lived past three days.  The human race is at the edge of extinction, almost all of the population having been killed by the virus released by the Partials – part human cyborgs.

Kira Walker’s community is barely hanging on, but with no idea how to save the babies, they merely ask the citizens to keep having children and hope for the best.  But this splits the survivors, some furious with this new act and threatening war.

And now Kira’s best friend is pregnant – Kira loves Madison and refuses to stand by and watch the baby die. 

Kira has a theory, one that could find the cure and save Maddy’s baby.  The problem?

It requires a Partial.  Or more specifically, capturing a super strong, super powerful, genetically-engineered soldier.

Can Kira pull it off in time?  Or will their whole world be ripped apart first?

I remember seeing this one Sammee’s blog and thinking: “Oh my God!  MUST get my hands on this book!”  And Partials really didn’t disappoint!  It sucked me in from the word go.  It was addictive and action packed and just pure awesomeness.  With strong characters, a scarily brilliant plot, amazing writing and a disconcertingly plausible world, Partials was a book I was addicted to from start to finish!

Kira Walker was strong, brave, caring, funny, good natured and witty.  I loved her!  She was brilliantly snarky and funny, and totally kick butt!  She was so calm under pressure and wonderfully strong, stubborn and determined; a natural leader who could totally hold her own. 

Marcus, Kira’s boyfriend, was funny and goofy – totally insane and so cute!  He was so loving, so trusting, so loyal. Whenever he came in, he made me laugh.  His snark just lightened my day!  I officially love Marcus Valencio. 

Samm was really clever and a real puzzle; he seemed almost vulnerable and was really sweet.  He was more human than most of the actual humans.  I loved him!  And I don’t know if he meant to be, but he was really quite funny at times!

I just loved all the characters so much!  Loads of them were hilarious, all of them were brave and I just loved the relationships between them all.  Also, I had no idea who would make it through – I felt as if any of them could just die at any time, something I’ve never felt before.  The characters were all so charismatic and awesome and I loved them all!  Xochi was one of my favourites!  She was brilliant, rebellious, fiery, snarky and really funny!  And I loved Isolde! She was brave and funny and kinda bonkers.  I loved that her solution to everything seemed to be: get drunk.  (By the way: kids reading this, alcohol is not the solution!!  Um, righteous moment over…  Carry on…)

This book brought up lots of tricky moral and ethical questions.  Humans created the Partials to win wars and they turned against them because they didn’t want to be slaves anymore.  And the Hope Act: everyone had to have a baby at eighteen and have them as often as possible afterwards.  And they all die.  Admittedly, the Senate passed the law to try and save the human race, but still.  And what was even more shocking and oh-so-terrifying was that it was all plausible to me, like it really could happen. 

The writing was amazing: addictive, action-packed, simple, descriptive and brilliantly funny.  Told in third person from Kira’s POV, it really let me get into her head.  I’m not sure if some of the bits I lost control at were actually meant to be funny, but I found them hilarious.  And I loved the plot just as much!  The only think I didn’t get was: why didn’t the other scientists figure out what Kira did?  That, seriously, is the only negative thing I have to say.  I couldn’t see the twists coming and I was hooked to every word.  Ok, admittedly I had suspicions about one of the final twists, but it was only a vague theory.  As for the ending… I thought it was perfect, with just the right amount of unanswered questions… ‘til I reached the last few pages.  And now?  Oh.  My.  God!  I need the next book.  As in now, now, now!

A civilisation torn apart, a world on its knees, on the brink of extinction and war, one girl willing to risk everything to save them all… Partials was addictive, action packed and just brilliant!  I sped through it, desperate to see how it would end, yet not really wanting it to end at the same time.  It had action, it had humour, it had romance, it had brilliant characters.  I can’t recommend this one enough!

Star Rating:
4¾ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Legend by Marie Lu

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

Happy Reading

Megan

* This book was received from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2012 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Series: The Chemical Gardens, Book One

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Format: Paperback

Published: 4^th August 2011

Number of Pages: 320

Book: For Review from Harper Voyager*

Genre: Dystopia, Science-Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, YA

Recommended Age: 12+

Contains: Death, Mild Alcohol, Drug References

Author's Blog: Lauren DeStefano

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

In our brave new future, DNA engineering has resulted in a terrible genetic flaw.  Women die at the age of 20, men at 25.  Young girls are being abducted and forced to breed in a desperate attempt to keep humanity ahead of the disease that threatens to eradicate it.

16-year-old Rhine Ellery is kidnapped and sold as a bride to Linden, a rich young man with a dying wife.  Even though he is kind to her, Rhine is desperate to escape her gilded cage – and Linden’s cruel father.  With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracter to, Rhine attempts to break free, in what little time she has left.

Review:

Sixteen-year-old Rhine is stolen from her home and sold to the highest bidder.  She is married to Linden, an ignorant twenty-one-year-old, whose father is trying to find a cure for the virus that has infected mankind, causing them to die young.  Rhine only has four years left.  And she does not intend to spend them here, in this luxurious prison.  But how can she escape?  And what will she be forced to leave behind if she does manage to get out?

I was trying to explain this to my friend, who thought it looked absolutely horrible.  The only way I could was to say that, yes, it is not a nice world, but the book itself is beautiful, life-affirming.  Horribly beautiful.  And it was.  I was addicted, unable to stop reading.  I loved Lauren DeStefano’s writing, characters, world and plot.  Everything was just so new and amazing – how many dystopias have the humans dying young rather than living for decades past our lifetime?

Rhine was a wonderful character.  She was so strong, never even thinking about giving up, not even once.  Though it may have been easier to stay in her pretty prison, she knew she had to get out.  And I could feel the bond between her and her twin brother, Rowan, even though I never actually ‘met’ him.  She was just so amazing: serious and brave.  I loved her, her spirit, her kindness.  Such a wonderful, wonderful character, who I can’t wait to see evolve in book two.

Her first sister-wife, Jenna, was just as amazing.  Calm, sweet, quiet Jenna, who hated being trapped just as much as Rhine did, escaping into her romance novels.  I fell in love with her: she would do anything for her sister-wife, and vice-versa.  The third sister-wife is Cecily.  I found her annoying at first: an immature, silly little girl.  But then I got to know her.  She was just such a sweetie, innocent and fragile.  I loved her too, and hated that she had to mature so very fast.

The husband, Linden, was just as innocent.  He had no clue what his father was up to, no idea what it had cost his wives when they were taken.  In his own way, he was just as much of a prisoner as Rhine was.  He cared for his wives, Rhine in particular.  He wasn’t a bad person: in fact, he was a sweetheart.

His father, on the other hand, was evil.  He made my skin crawl: I hated the man, and everything he stood for.  He lied constantly, and experimented on his own grandson.  Once again: pure.evil.

Finally, Gabriel, the other love-interest and the wives’ attendant.  He was sweet, though he wasn’t in it all that much.  Somehow the relationship between him and Rhine wasn’t as real as I would have hoped…  Oddly enough, in this love-triangle, I’m leaning towards the ‘baddie’, towards Linden…

What made this book truly special was the sister-wives’ bond.  They were so close, and the sisterhood between them felt real.  It was simply beautiful.  As for the relationship between Rhine and Linden, to begin with, it was fake, fake, fake.  But, Linden honestly loved Rhine, and she loved him, though she wouldn’t admit that to herself.  He took care of her, and she took care of him.  There were times when I honestly couldn’t predict the ending, couldn’t figure out how it would end…

And, at this one point, I was choking up with tears.  It was the story, yes, but more it was the world.  It was horrible.  I hated even an imagined world like it.  All of this suffering caused by us humans: the real life monsters.  The message: how far should we be willing to go to make ourselves immune to diseases?  How far, when we don’t know what the consequences may be?  What if, by our science, we make a world like this, where children grow up without parents, people have babies at thirteen, girls are forced into marriage – what then?

More importantly, it taught me that life is short.  But it could be shorter, could be worse.  Don’t waste your life. 

I laughed, I cried, I smiled; I was terrified, shocked, horrified.  It was amazing: a roller coaster of emotions and thoughts.  I adored Wither: I was addicted, unable to put it down.  It’s now one of my favourite dystopias, which is saying something, seeing all of that genre I’ve been reading lately.  I’m desperate for more!  I need Fever, now!

P.S. Sorry for such a long review!  I just loved this book, and had too many thoughts!

Star Rating:
4¾ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

XVI by Julia Karr

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

Happy Reading

Megan

* This book was received from Harper Voyage in exchange for an honest review

Candor by Pam Bachorz

Publisher: Egmont Books

Format: Paperback

Published: 2^nd August 2010

Number of Pages: 304

Book: Borrowed From The Library

Genre: Dystopia, Psychological Thriller, Sci-Fi, Speculative Fiction, Adventure, YA

Recommended Age: 12+

Contains: Nothing Really Unsuitable

No Alcohol, Drug References

My name is Oscar and I am the perfect teenager. My girlfriend is the hottest girl in school. I get straight As. I am class president. But there is a terrible reason I am so perfect: the Messages. Oscar Banks lives in the pristine town of Candor. Son of the mayor, he is good-looking, smart and popular. And he knows something he's not supposed to - he knows about the brainwashing Messages embedded in the music that plays all over the town. But Oscar has found a way to burn counter-Messages that keep him real. Up to now, it's all worked perfectly. There's just one problem: Nia Silva, the newest Candor arrival. What will Oscar risk to keep the Nia he loves rather than watch her become a Candor automaton? Deeply chilling, "Candor" is a psychological thriller that will haunt readers with its vision of a world controlled by something worse than Big Brother.

Review:

I picked up Candor, meaning to just read a chapter or two: it was about one in the morning, and I was tired.  The problem: I simply could not put it down!  It was almost as if the messages were inside my own head, saying, ‘Don’t stop.  Keep reading.  Great readers never stop.’  Candor was just so addictive.  I was up until three, and finished the book in just a matter of sittings.

Candor, the town, was really creepy.  It’s the place where rich parents take their problem children to become ‘fixed’.  What the children aren’t told is that the music that plays all around town contains hidden messages that mould them into perfect little sons or daughters.  All day long, all around ‘respectful space in every place’, ‘always strive to make your parents proud’, ‘studying is your top priority’, ‘the great are never late’.  Without their knowledge, in a week or two, they have lost all their free will.  It’s inevitable, “Nobody escapes the messages”.  Oscar’s different.  And not just because he’s the founder’s son.  He’s different because he knows.  He knows about the messages – he can even hear them in his head, rather than them being sent straight to his subconscious.  And, he can fight them, he can make his own.  He gets kids out.  It’s risky, yes, but he’s always careful.  He never gets caught. 

Until Nia skateboards into his life with spray-paint in her hand.  Suddenly, his world’s different, and instead of wanting to get her out, he wants to keep her the same.  But just how far will Oscar go to keep the Nia he knows and loves?

Oscar was a great male lead, probably because he wasn’t perfect.  I liked that he fought back and that he found a way to make his brain belong to him.  Yes, he was reckless and occasionally a jerk, but when he spoke of everything he’d lost in his life, and everything his own father had done to him, it killed me a little inside.  Oscar was just one of those characters I genuinely came to care for.

Nia was brilliant too: one of those classic literary rich-girls-lashing-out.  She did literally everything imaginable that her parents didn’t want her to do.  But underneath, she was a sweet girl, with a great sense of humour and I came to really like her too.

Candor was one of those books that gripped me from the word go, and had me smiling, laughing, in shock and screaming at it.  I struggled to put it down.  I’m crossing all my fingers, hoping for a sequel, because I did not like how it ended.  Hence the screaming.

Overall, a story with amazing characters and a beautiful lovestory, with a chilling psychological thriller hidden underneath.  Big Brother truly has nothing on Candor.

Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Gone by Michael Grant

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

Happy Reading

Megan

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Series: The Hunger Games Trilogy, Book Three

Publisher: Scholastic

Format: Paperback

Published: 25th August 2010

Number of Pages: 448

Book: Bought

Genre: Dystopia, Science-Fiction, Action, Fantasy, YA

Recommended Age: Young Adult, 12+

Contains Violence, Death, Suspense

WARNING: Contains Spoilers From Previous Books

“If We Burn

You Burn With Us”

Katniss Everdeen’s Final Battle Has Begun

Review:

Once again I had to pick the next book up as soon as I finished the one before.  And I have never wanted to peek at the end more than I did for this book.  So badly did I want to know that I was this close from breaking one of my most important rules: NEVER Peek.    In fact, the only way to keep the part that screamed “PEEK!” under control was to read, read, read, which, of course, was such a hardship.

And after I finished I can honestly say I am so glad I didn’t look ahead.  It would have ruined everything.  Absolutely everything. 

Ok, babbling over now, I will go on with what I actually thought of the book, rather than what I thought before.  All I can say: wow.  I didn’t know what Suzanne Collins would do in the last book, because of course she couldn’t have another Hunger Games.  What she did was create such an emotionally-charged, powerful story that it left me shocked, and uncertain of what to do after I’d finished.  It was amazing: I can’t get it out of my head.

To sum Mockingjay up: Katniss has survived yet another Hunger Games and has made the Capitol look like fools once again.  Now she has to take up her role as the face of the revolution: she has to become the Mockingjay.  However, Peeta’s in the clutches of President Snow, who’s doing God-only-knows what to her fellow victor.  And in this war, you can never be sure who to trust, but you have no choice but to finish it.  Us or them.  Them or us.  After all, “If We Burn, You Burn With Us”...

The beginning was a little slow, just like it was in Catching Fire, but once the action started... well, the speed of the plot was so fast it was literally break-neck.  And it had me completely hooked, addicted, unable to put it down.  I like to pride myself in guessing twists, but I honestly couldn’t predict any of the ones in this book.  I was just dragged in, tossed around and pulled along.  I loved it: best rollercoaster ever.

Katniss was different: we got to see her flaws – and let me just say she has a fair few.  But instead of making me hate her or like her any less, it just made me love her even more.  She’s the strongest person I know (well, read about), yet even she just wants to run and hide at some points in the book, which was almost reassuring to see.  After all, it’s these little things that make characters feel real.  And Katniss was so real to me that it felt like she was my best friend, or like I was actually her.  She’s been damaged by the horrors she had to face in the Hunger Games, haunted by the people she either killed or died because of her act with the berries.  Who wouldn’t be?  She was only a sixteen-year-old girl when she was first sent into the Games.  Sure, she's mature for her age, but she’s still legally a child.  I often forget that, but she is.  Just a girl who has been used, controlled and damaged over and over...

But she isn’t the only one who’s damaged and different, because after everything that has happened to them, Haymitch, Peeta and Gale have all been affected as well.  So has the majority of the supporting cast, actually, all because of the Capitol... 

Is it wrong that I want to kill imaginary people?  Or person: namely, Snow?

Well, I won’t go into any more detail about the plot, but I have to put down a few of the emotions... 

Feelings are so hard to describe: I’ve taken a day trying to come up with something to say, how to explain everything.  I laughed, cried, gasped with fear, honestly almost screamed or shouted out loud, and more; basically another emotional rollercoaster from a phenomenal author.  With the world it’s set it, of course I didn’t expect this to be a cheerful read.  But I didn’t expect quite so much emotion, quite so much pain.  And all the while I was thinking: Poor Katniss.  She doesn’t deserve all of this.  That’s how involved it had me: feeling sorry for her, hurting for her.  How many books can you honestly say do that?  (I’d really like to know, if you have any suggestions!)

Everything was a shock, nothing was taken for granted, and Collins constantly had me guessing.  The ending left me shocked, mourning, almost lost. 

So, yet another absolutely extraordinary series to grieve the loss of. 

The Hunger Games left me Hungry for more, and even though I probably won’t get to meet Katniss again, I can’t wait to see what the genius Ms Suzanne Collins will come up with next.

I loved this series – one of my favourites ever, actually – and I really got to know and love all the characters.  I’m a little numb at the minute, now that it’s over, and I can’t find the words that do it justice... 

And I know lots of people didn't like this one...  but I loved it.  Absolutely loved it. 

Real or not real?

Most certainly real.

Just one thing left to say:

Still am, always was, and always will be...

Which are you?

 or

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

The Rest of the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (Last Sacrifice, in particuar)

Maximum Ride by James Patterson

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

A-Z Reading Challenge (Hosted by Book Junky)

Off the Shelf Challenge (Hosted by BA Reading Challenges)