Partials

Partials, Book 1

By: Dan Wells

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials - engineered organic beings identical to humans - has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them - connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

Dan Wells, acclaimed author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, takes readers on a pulsepounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question - one where our humanity is both our greatest liability and our only hope for survival.

©2012 HarperCollinsPublishers (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

Laugh out loud ridiculous.

I struggled to finish this. The 16 yr old main character makes stupid decisions repeatedly, all while gaining respect from peers and adults. There are some unseen twists towards the end, which is good. You have to get through the ridiculous bits to get the exciting end though. My husband and I really did laugh out loud at a couple of points in the story because they were so ridiculously stupid. Overall, the story idea is great, but the execution isn't great. I would not recommend this book.

The end of the world intelligently written

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I highly recommend this book because it was fast paced and had twists and turns that kept me captivated

What other book might you compare Partials to and why?

The Hunger Games

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene was the end when Kiera makes a choice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wanted to listen to it in one sitting but couldn't, but oh yes this was one that I would have if I could have.

Any additional comments?

In our quest to be conquerors we have created a supermachine to counter attack countries that are a threat to the world. These supermachines look like us, breath like us, even think for themselves. They are not human but have human DNA, they are partials. After helping us win the war, they come back and are given jobs among us, in coal mines...jobs that do not amount to anything. When they try to advance, they are rejected. They cannot apply for other jobs, they cannot seek an education, they are in so many words: slaves. They rebel, turning against their creators. And 99.96 percent of humanity perishes when they release a destructive virus called RM. The human survivors survive...but are on the verge of extinction because the babies that are born does not survive. Kiera enters the story as an intern in the matternaty ward of the hospital where for the past eleven years since the partial attack they have tried to produce at least one surviving human baby. Though Kiera is young she is smart and determined, she cannot bear the loss and is determined to find the cure for RM. And she is fully capable, her intelligence is rare and she is capable to think outside the box. As she studies the virus she realizes there is only one solution, she must obtain a Partial. However this proves to be a problem because after the final war, no one has seen a Partial in eleven years. Beyond this the Senate also opposes Kiera at every turn, determined to keep a firm hold on the remaining population. The world is turning into a dictatorship, with lust for control is rampant. Without disclosing anything further about this book, I will say that I loved each word of it. It kept my heart pumping with adrenaline (I listened to it as an audio book) and I did not want to stop. It was intelligently written, where it needed to sound scientific it succeded, where it needed to sound knowledgeable about battle tacktics it succeeded. Dan Wells did an extraordinary job and all I can say is that I hope this gets turned into a movie one day. It will be every bit as good as The Hunger Games...also I hope for a sequel.

Everything I Love in a Dystopian

I, like so many others, am stuck in this dystopian kick. I just can’t get enough. There are quite a few not-so-good stories out there, and, thankfully, Partials is not one of those.

Firstly, since it is an audiobook, I must comment on Julia Whelan’s performance. At first her pacing felt slow, but within five minutes I go used to it – plus you can always use the speed-up function if her pace annoys you. However, I absolutely loved her ability to give each character a unique tone that made their dialogue distinguishable. She’s great.

The first thing I love about the story is all of the characters’ maturity. Yes, they all are in the 15-19 age range, but they have the maturity level of college students – or at least Kira, the protagonist, does. A theme throughout the book is whether age is a signifying of adulthood, and I appreciate that they are not on the maturity levels of teeny-boppers.

Carrying on from the maturity thing, yes there is romance, but it is NOT the primary focus of Kira. I like that. I can’t stand it when a war is literally outside a character’s window, and her relationships are all she can think about. I also can’t help but love a YA female character who is dependent on her own strength and doesn’t NEED a man to survive.

Lastly, something I adored is the fact that there is literally non-stop action. It is a longer audiobook, so it is awesome that so much action is spread throughout the entire book.

It is definitely worth a listen. I definitely recommend reading this If you enjoyed (or I recommend reading these if you liked Partials):
Divergent by Veronica Roth, Hunger Games, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Uglies by Scott Westerfiled, or Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

Written to Teenage Girls

Partials, is written for teenage girls, and teen boys, who want to understand how young girls think. If you not into SF that explores the young female physic you should skip this one. That said it has an interesting plot line but lack solid early development of the backstory which tends to make it drag and sputter. So much so that it may turn off many writers.
I wish Dan Well luck in his future endeavors but I’ll not be joining him on this adventure

Not really a novel

Narration is fine but the book does not stack up as a novel. Zero character development. Then it ends with a cliffhanger. In other words, it’s just one installment in a bigger story, I.e., a ploy to get you to buy more of the books. No thanks.

Great story, sucky main character

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

Yes, I would, with an asterisk. The story compelling, but the main character is always contradicting what everyone says- she isn't usually proposing solutions or why she disagrees, she is just arguing and being negative. It is like she was Eeyore's neglected step-daughter. She was so negative and condescending all the time that I found myself needing frequent breaks from the story. So, apart from that major character flaw, the book is compelling :)

Interesting but a little too slow for my taste.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I thought the story progressed a little too slowly, and parts were dragged out too long.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The concept was interesting.

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

It does need a follow-up book, but I didn't enjoy the first one enough to read the second one.

Surprisingly Spectacular!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this audio book to a friend. Mostly because of its great story line and like able characters. The book was also packed full of adventure and hidden twists.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Partials?

Spoiler Alert: /////////////////// When she found out she was one of them!

Have you listened to any of Julia Whelan’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but she did an absolutely wonderful job!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Against All Odds!

Any additional comments?

The book starts out a little confusing at first and I had to restart it a few times. But this book turns out to be amazing. A lot of medical terms are used and can also throw you off at times. Luckily I came from the book series Matched and in its 3rd book had similar medical terms. It was an easy transition. This book was really good!

world gone wrong

fun and engaging look into a possible future where technology out paces ethics. Julia does an excellent job portraying all the characters.

Just ok

Hubby finished the entire series, however I struggled to finish this first book. Maybe it was just my mood but sadly I could not really get into the book.