Fragments

Partials, Book 2

By: Dan Wells

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence - it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that involves Kira, a plan that could save both races. Her companions are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them?

Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what's left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira's journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic America, and Kira and Marcus both will discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn't even know existed.

The second installment in the pulse-pounding Partials saga is the story of the 11th hour of humanity's time on Earth, a journey deep into places unknown to discover the means - and even more important, a reason - for our survival.

©2013 HarperCollins Publishers (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

Fast paced and engaging!

This is the second book in the Partials trilogy. It was an excellent continuation of the series and I enjoyed it a lot.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. The narrator does an excellent job of distinguishing between voices and characters and also conveys character emotion well.

Kira is determined to figure out the secrets behind her origins, so she journeys to the deserted Manhattan to find a business office for ParaGen and hopefully find the answers to her questions there. Meanwhile Marcus is still desperately trying to find a cure for RM; issues are complicated when the Partials threaten to invade Long Island. There are many twists and turns and many secrets are revealed.

This was a fast-paced and well done YA dystopian/post-apocalyptic type of novel. Some parts have more of an adventuring feel to them as Kira heads out west to find answers about her origin and I enjoyed these parts a lot. I also enjoyed how we got to see other parts of the United State, for example the wastelands that Kira and crew have to cross.

The book switches between Marcus and Kira; I found the parts from Kira’s POV to be a lot more engaging. Kira is out exploring and finding new things while Marcus is mainly trying just to survive from day to day. This book has more of a science fiction and less of a dystopia feel to it than the last book. There is also a lot of survivalist stuff going on.

Kira comes off as a bit bull-headed and determined throughout the book. While I understood her drive to solve the problem and save the world, she comes off as incredibly selfish at times. Heron calls Kira out on this multiple times, finally Kira starts to question the morality of some of her decisions. Kira does have a point though, she has determined that it is okay to sacrifice a few people to save many...although she struggles with this decision towards the end of the book.

Along with Kira for much of the story are Samm and Heron. Both Samm and Heron were more interesting and fascinating characters for me than Kira. Samm always seems so emotionless but this book explores a lot more about Samm, his life up to this point, and what he wants out of the future.

I thought this book was more consistently paced than the first book. The story is engaging and there were some interesting plot developments. There are lots of twists and turns. Also this book is much darker than the first, all of our characters end up in very bad situations. So while it wasn’t exactly an uplifting story, it was intriguing.

The one thing that really bothered me was that there were a few inconsistencies throughout the novel. For example Kira didn’t even know what a computer looked like early on, but then a short while later she is running searches on a computer without any help. When did she suddenly get so computer savvy? There were also some things that seemed implausible and contrived. For example the wastelands caused by oil rigs burning and off gassing; this seemed a bit contrived for me...especially in the way it was isolated to only a certain region. It made for an interesting story, but I couldn’t help occasionally thinking “this totally does not make any sense”.

Overall I thought this book was an enjoyable read. It’s fast-paced and engaging. There’s a lot of interesting secrets revealed and I enjoyed spending more time with Samm and Heron and getting to understand them better. The world-building is a bit weak and contrived and there were a couple inconsistencies in the story. Despite these I still found this to be an entertaining read. Recommended to fans of YA science fiction/dystopia.

Better than the first!

Things picked up in the second book. Felt like there was a better pacing with the storyline. Definitely building up to a big finale. Some things I expected and others I didn't. Can't wait to get into the third book.

Excellent Series

I have read hundreds of books in the Survivalist/Science Fiction genre. This series is among the best. It is a Young Adult/Dystopian work filled with a compelling mix of genetic sci-fi, combat scrimmages and identity struggles set against an apocalyptic background. The narration is quite good as well. If you have an interest in this area, read this series.

Love this series!

I'm a fan for sure now. I started out with a free book from Amazon by the author and now through my 3rd. Great production and performance, the mixture of action/sci-fi and the human condition is so good. Will be sad to read/listen through the last book in series. 100 percent a fan of Dan Wells now. Even tried to get my Dad on audible listening to this series.

Wonders of wonders!

One word. EXCELLENT!! get this book it is well written and will have ypu the the edge of your seat!!!

Cool story, nice change of pace for YA

Any additional comments?

The only thing I noticed strange with this second book is that the book introduces a new character, Afa but the narrator all of a sudden started speaking Haru's lines like she does Afa's lines. I think Haru is Japanese and in this book he has a strange accent that's definitely NOT Japanese. Other than that little thing the books are great!

Love Love Love this series

Loved this series so much that I find myself re reading multiple time. I wish there would be another in the series. as for the narrator she is my favourite I have listened to every book see narrates because he voice is so easy to listen to. she also swaps between male and female voices so well.

I recommend this series and also any other book narrated by Julia Whelan.

A Time for Hard Choices and Growing Up

I liked Partials enough to download Fragments as soon as I'd finished it. I liked Fragments enough to almost wish I hadn't
, dooming myself to a long wait for the third book.

Any reservations I may have had over Partials's plot were simply swept away by my enjoyment of Fragments. The story pays off the promise of Partials, showing us with greater depth and breadth the world we'd gotten only tiny glimpses of before. We have open warfare, an epic cross-country journey and some really tough choices to be made. All the while, our characters are having to grow up and fill roles they'd never expected to fall to them. And the lengths to which our heroes must go get a little more drawn out the farther they go, particularly when they are confronted with the choices others have made to save their side in the war.

Julia Whelan's performance continues to impress, improving if anything since Partials came out last year. The advent of multiple points of view means we're in other characters' heads, and the narration helps give life to the thoughts of various characters, doing particularly well I thought with Marcus's snarky fatalism.

Whereas Partials introduced the players in broad strokes and showed them making their tentative first moves, Fragments is all about setting up the sides' endgame plays. If we're lucky, the third book will give us something really spectacular.

Oh so good

I really love this story. So glad this book was as good as the first. Great story with true moral quandaries.

Great Book

I really enjoyed this whole series. I couldn’t wait to get back to listening. Worth taking a chance on it!