Review: Partials

This novel came to me as an ARC by someone who believed I would enjoy it. Her words were, "This is the best novel I've read since The Hunger Games." That's a tall order, and I wasn't too sure if I would agree. BUT - last Saturday I found myself sitting in a chair for twelve hours while I finished this novel. It was worth every single page.

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

My Thoughts:

Dystopia is hot thanks to The Hunger Games. I find myself eating them up, 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. It is the daring actions of Kira that kept me engrossed, unable to put the novel down until I finished. There are cringe moments, moments of relief, more cringe moments, moments of heroism, and moments of light romance. Like The Hunger Games, the action drives this novel, but that is where the true similarities end. There are no fights until the death - well, at least not in an arena on live television.

With a nice twist at the end, readers will feel satisfied at the novel's conclusion, but those who love this novel will find themselves anxiously awaiting to see where the author takes Kira, and readers, next.

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