Title: Partials (Partials #1)
Author: Dan Wells
Release date: February 28, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 472
Source: Publisher

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.

The YA market is overrun with dystopian books right now and it sometimes seems like there will never be another unique story.  Then a book like Partials comes along and completely blows my mind with it’s awesomely original story.  This just goes to show you that there is always a story that hasn’t been written yet.  Dystopian fans will eat this one up!

Kira’s world is insane and only keeps getting worse. The city is being attacked frequently, not a single baby has been born and lived in 11 years, and the pregnancy age keeps dropping.  Kira is one of the few people that doesn’t agree with the way the senate is running things and she’s not afraid to do something about it.  She’s brave, sometimes stupid but completely brilliant, loyal to a fault, and a total free thinker. It’s one of the reasons she gets into quite a bit of trouble.  Her boyfriend, Marcus, is also quite brilliant but a total goof at the same time.  He’s stubborn and set in his ways but he loves Kira and supports her.  Kira’s other friends, Jayden, Xochi, Isolde, and Madison were amazing.  They were loyal to Kira and willing to risk their lives for her.  They were also rather comical at times.

My biggest complaint is that the first 100-150 pages are rather dull.  I get that there is a lot of world building involved with dystopians but that only accounts for the first 50 or so pages.  There really just was not enough action in the beginning to get me hooked.  However, the second half of the book certainly makes up for that.  It’s action-packed and totally has you on the edge of your seat.

I also want to mention the medical/science talk.  There is quite a bit of it but I never felt confused by it.  Everything is explained in a way that readers can understand and I actually really enjoyed that aspect of the book.  It’s something you don’t read every day in a YA book.

Overall, Partials is a must-read for dystopian and sci-fi fans.  It’s completely fabulous and while the end leaves you wanting more, it’s not a total cliffhanger.  I can’t wait for the sequel!