Pure

By: Julianna Baggott

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam, Joshua Swanson, Kevin T. Collins, Casey Holloway

Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Julianna Baggott presents her beautifully written, riveting, breakout novel, Pure, the first volume in her new post-apocalypse thriller trilogy.

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters...

Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost - how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers...to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and breathe the ash...

There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

©2012 Julianna Baggott (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Baggott's highly anticipated postapocalyptic horror novel...is a fascinating mix of stark, oppressive authoritarianism and grotesque anarchy...Baggott mixes brutality, occasional wry humor, and strong dialogue into an exemplar of the subgenre." ( Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review)

"A great gorgeous whirlwind of a novel, boundless in its imagination. You will be swept away." (Justin Cronin, New York Times bestselling author of The Passage)

" Pure is a dark adventure that is both startling and addictive at once. Pressia Belze is one part manga heroine and one part post-apocalyptic Alice, stranded in a surreal Wonderland where everyone and everything resonates with what has been lost. Breathtaking and frightening. I couldn't stop reading Pure." (Danielle Trussoni, bestselling author of Angelology)

Weird but good

Kind of a weird premise to be honest - that in the detonations, people get fused with whatever was near them. But definitely creative! The narration was also great, and I loved having multiple narrators so each character was truly unique. Going to continue with the series because I’m invested in the characters!

Warning!

Pure was a very good book, that left you wanting to read the second and the third. The characters are alive and you want them to succeed. This is a series to get caught up in, BUT if you want to end a trilogy feeling good - then these books are not for you! I was left sadden and with questions.

Pure Surprise

Unbelievably, a while ago Audio was selling this book on a discount list. I bought it just to keep in my library if I ever found myself short on listening material. Now that the sequel has come out, “Fuse,” I decided to give the first book a listen, and maybe it was the discounted price but I was pleasantly surprised.
Billed as a YA book, to me, it has more of a sci-fi adventure feel, even though it did have some but not the usual overwhelming amount of teenage romance that is usually associated with such genre, as detonated super-bombs containing nanobot technology changes the face of the world. The post-apocalyptic result is a dystopian society separated into two groups: those affected by the bombs, and those who were protected by a dome.
I thought the descriptive graphic writing from Julianna Baggott was exceptional, if not a little dark, as she describes in great detail the twisted and deformed bodies of the survivors living outside of the dome. The title “Pure,” refers to the lucky ones living inside of the dome that remain physically pure.
The story follows Pressia, a young teenage girl, as she struggles to survive in this twisted new world, and a young man, Partridge, who is in search of some answers and wants to know how life is beyond the constricted confines of the dome.
I thought the ensemble of readers gave the narrative depth, but the audio performance might have been as good with one talented narrator.
I’m using a credit for the sequel.

Fantastic YA Dystopian

So this is steampunk!

PURE was exactly the right book at exactly the right time. I had just come off of a string of heavy, serious books, and I needed a little YA "pallet cleanser" and this was great!

Don't get me wrong, "clean" is not a word I would use to describe PURE. In fact, this is one of the grittiest books I have read in this genre. Extremely visual, PURE transports readers to a dystopian world unlike anything I have ever read before. It's dark. It's raw. It's tough. And so is our girl, Pressia.

Completely original, with twists and turns readers won't see coming, this is a must-read.

A note on the audio production: It was very well done. I was a bit worried that having FOUR narrators was going to be more of a dramatic reproduction, like a radio play, rather than a novel. It was not. Each narrator took on a character's perspective, reading their chapters. The only time this got a little kooky was when Pressia was talking to Bradwell and then Partridge was talking to Bradwell, they each had their own "voice" for Bradwell. (does that make sense?) It did not take me long to get used to this, as there is not a huge cast of characters, so the writing kept the character straight for me instead of the narrators.

I'm really looking forward to diving into the next book in the trilogy, FUSE.

If you're a fan of dystopian YA like The Hunger Games, Ashfall, Legend, Blood Red Road, or Divergent, you must add PURE to your bookshelf.

Incredibly original

Any additional comments?

Author's descriptions are vivid and make it easy to imagine living in her world. It will be a long wait until book 2. I loved it.

Good story, if a bit sporadic

Really enjoyed this series. Quality writing and character building that makes them feel close which makes it all the more upsetting when they start to do things completely out of character and making choices and decisions that are completely contradictory with everything that has been built up to that point. The inner dialogue seems to switch up like a schizophrenic. I feel like it might be worth a listen depending on your taste but i honestly wouldnt suggest it to someone myself, not with all the great work out there from other authors. especially because of the end of the series (or lack of one). I gave it 4 stars because i enjoyed it in spite of all the switching up (including at the start somehow disregarding all the build up and establishment of a solid relationship and choosing to do it all over again in this book which seemed like a bit of lazy writing) and the idea was fresh and put a whole new spin and perspective on the whole 'dystopian fiction' that we've seen alot of.

GOOD BOOK

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

yes, its hard to get into and I didnt like how they changed narrators and didnt interact with each other the way I expected. but once hooked into the story line, i cant wait for the next one

What did you like best about this story?

very creative

What aspect of the narrators’s performance would you have changed?

I liked all of them, wished they would have interacted with each other. and i really didnt like the guy who read for El Capitan

Do you think Pure needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

yes, it obviously didnt finish the storyline

Unique

Not a typical book that I would read, however, I found myself intrigued. I haven't finished the full read however I am looking forward to the end. It is not a typical SCIFI book. Read it just for the fun of it. I am not a fan of multi narrators and have found this a little disconcerting.

Dark suspense radiation thriller

Where does Pure rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Pure is probably one of the best, once the story gets going and you begin to understand the setting it gets really exciting. It's confusing at first trying to picture her environment and what she is trying to explain but once you get the scene in your mind it's a great book.

What did you like best about this story?

The adventure.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It was a great performance I loved the different character voices.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was one of the darkest books I have listened to. I am usually not a fan of the dark stories but this one was good enough to tough through the gory scenes though I would of preferred a little bit less gory book.

Worth the listen

Sometimes a bit cliche but overall a very well written and suspenseful opening to the trilogy.