Book Review: Partials

Partials (Partials Sequence #1) by Dan Wells 

For fans of The Hunger Games, Battlestar Galactica, and Blade Runner comes the first book in the Partials Sequence, a fast-paced, action-packed, and riveting sci-fi teen series, by acclaimed author Dan Wells.

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.

Supports the Common Core State Standards

Hardcover, 1st Edition, 468 pages

Published February 28th 2012 by Balzer + Bray 

Review

How does a species survive?
When everything is in the world is meant to eliminates for what you are . . . Kira Walker doesn't have much to call her world perfect, she watches and studies babies that dies hours after its birth from the RM virus . . . a virus that is responsible to wiping the human species to near extinct.

The war between the humans and the Partials is halted but why when the Partials have the advantage, but what if there's a reason?

Kira wants to starts saving her species and stop unnamed newborns becoming a statistics over and over again ,. . . her plan? Find a Partial and Study it hoping to find the answer.

Partials present an futuristic science-fiction scenario where human species is near extinct and Partials are the enemy or so history says.

I'm giving this a Four Cat's Tail Ups, because while I like the futuristic component as well the two species that are struggling to survive there were parts that made the story drone out of my interest rather than keep me interested. 

MEOW . . . MEOW . . . MEOW

So this is my second time reading Partials, I read Partials back in 2012 and while I had enjoy it back then I wasn't as an active reviewer back then so after getting Fragments and Ruins. I had set my goal of reading series books for the year of 2014.

The time is set in 2076, human population is nearly extinct . . . the RM virus was engineered by the Partials to kill . Young Kira Walker is just your ordinary strong-willed medic, she as well everyone else wishes there was a way to fight the RM virus and save the future of the human species.

My first impression of this world is that it would be quiet scary to have that happen, a virus that kills humans and we became a dying species. I like that Kira was someone who decided that she couldn't let this virus continue to kill newborns since they are the one that dies from the virus. What drove Kira to do something is when one of her friends becomes pregnant, she wasn't going to let her friend's baby become another statistic. 

The plan her plan . . . Find a Partial and Study it. Simple right? nope you got the Voices to worry about, as well the rest of the city that is in ruins. Kira's mission place herself in danger but also reaching her primary goal in finding a Partial. 

Meet Samm the Partials, quiet as well the enemy . . . Kira has 5 days to study him learning about his Anatomy and Physiology and what she found out was an amazing new discovery and a possibility that RM can be cure.  
But Samm also reveals something to Kira, that much to my amazement was not surprising, but there has to be pros and cons about the two very different species. 

What I know is that the partials has a plan, some sort of plan but where and what will be the big question.

There would be no peace among the humans while there's a partial in their area, but that won't stop Kira from getting what she wants. During the time she studied Samm I saw that she was growing towards him, like there was some sort of connection between them but neither her or Samm could figure it out until Kira is in Samm's situation. 

Does the Partials carry the key to saving newborn babies, is Kira Walker a part of that revolution that the people need?

Book Review: Divergent

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Paperback, 487 pages

Published February 28th 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books (first published 2011)  

Book Review

Beatrice "Tris" had always felt out of place among her faction, she wonder if she could be truly fit in one out of five factions . . . Candor (Honest), Abnegation (Selfishness), Amity (Peaceful), Erudite (Intelligence) or Dauntless (Bravery). The aptitude that will define where you belong but Beatrice doesn't belong in any, she is DIVERGENT. 

Unsure of what to do she choose Dauntless because she want that taste of fearless but also she is drawn to their bravery. She will leave her old faction and go through a whole new faction, where she will be put to the test.

To be Dauntless you must acquire physical strength, mentality and face your fears . . . Beatrice now "Tris" is put through a series of challenges, she must prove to the Dauntless that she belongs there that she can full-filled their training. 

But can she? Or will her being DIVERGENT draw even more attention to her? 

Divergent is a thrilling, compelling book to read, taken in place of a futuristic Chicago and society is divided. Now granted I want to give this a 5 Cat's Tails Up but there are aspect of the movie I like over the book ~ 4.5 Cat's Tails Up.

MEOW . . . MEOW . . . MEOW

Now granted I saw the movie first but in my defense I had read Divergent once before but didn't enjoy it as much due to a reading funk I had so I had place Divergent under my re-read pile. Since seeing the movie I decided that I wanted to read the book, to see how close was it to the book, was the book better than the movie or lived up to its expectation?

The answer to that . . . the Movie did better than the book, seeing the world of Divergent was real and while the movie kept some tie-in with the book. The movie did better for the book, and the cast also had a big part of making this movie so spectacular as well everyone else that was involved. 

I got Tris's voice very clearly in the book just like the movie but for Four it was a different story, the book had a different tone of Four that actually made me think that he was such a brooding character and didn't have that charismatic that Theo James brought out in Four. 

I know I'm comparing the book to the movie, and really that's what I want to do as a reader, a fan, and as a blogger. The book was thrilling to me consider I finished it in 5 days and could not put it down or having to need to read that next chapter that ends up reading three more chapters after that. 

So Now I give you some GIF of Four(Theo James) and Tris (Shailene Woodley)