ChooseYA

Originally posted at chooseya.com: http://chooseya.com/2012/04/03/review-partials-by-dan-wells/As soon as I read the summary of this and that my Goodreads friend, Wendy Darling, enjoyed this novel I knew I would love it and that I had to read it. Partials is YA sci-fi at its best and I must confess I wouldn’t normally read a lot of sci-fi. In a post-apocalyptic society where live babies die shortly after birth due to a virus from the previous war between humans and Partials (genetically engineered part-humans), sixteen year old Kira knows that when her best friend Meredith falls pregnant, she has to try and save the baby somehow. Kira decides to capture a Partial and study one, after all, they’re supposed to the cause of the virus; what better to cure it? From there, she learns some terrifying truths about Partials, the Virus origins and the society she lives in.The world Wells creates is incredibly well-written and felt chillingly real too. I also loved the scientific aspect of the novel in the sense of trying to find a cure for the virus. The science details felt realistic but also wasn’t too excessive or overbearing that I felt alienated either.Kira was a strong heroine and I really admired her for wanting to protect her friend so much; it definitely made her the sort of person I wanted to be friends with in real life. Kira did feel a little older than her age, however considering the society in which she lived, I think that this is to be expected.Samm, the captured Partial, was a brilliant character and I loved the chemistry between him and Kira. It’s definitely something I hope is developed in Book 2. Wells did a brilliant job of showing both Samm’s differences as a Partial and making him utterly human at the same time. Considering current advances in technology, maybe one day something like Samm will exist – certainly that’s what I love about this genre- and Wells puts forward the mistreatment of Samm by others so well it scared me.Dystopia fans will also find a lot to love with this novel, as despite it’s sci-fi grounding, the society in which Kira lives felt very dystopian and the final quarter of the book really stepped everything up in this sense.The book ends on a cliffhanger and left me desperate for the next novel. In the last third of the book, there was an important revelation that I didn’t see coming at all. In hindsight, I feel like I should have, but it says something about Wells’ writing that this took me by complete surprise when normally I find twists quite predictable and can work out the ending ahead of time.This novel is highly recommended by me to all YA fans, particularly those who enjoy dystopia but are getting a little tired of it as the sci-fi element is utterly rejuvenating. I received an advance copy for free through Harper Collin’s Children’s Books UK and would like to really thank them for sending me this. I adored this book and as ever, my review is not affected by the means of receiving Partials! Partials is available to buy now!