Partials by Dan Wells

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.

Guuuuyyyyysssssss, yesterday I reviewed another title that made me want to just type “omg” over and over. Partials is another one of that sort. Up until a few years ago I wasn’t crazy about sci-fi books. At all. I’m still not all “OOOHHH I love sci-fi”, but I’m more open to reading about aliens, robots, and other sci-fi type things. As long as the books have some other sort of element. Partials fits perfectly, just enough that I’m entertained, but not so much that I’m overwhelmed by it. When I first heard about Partials, the buzz was saying dystopia. I love dystopian, so it immediately went on my TBR list. (Side note: Anyone looking for dystopian, Partials is not your book. It’s post-apocalyptic! There is a difference, I promise.)

In Partials, a disease has made it so that all babies die within a few days of birth. As scientists try to figure out the cause, everyone 18 and up is basically forced to have sex. Women are supposed to reproduce as much as possible, because the government feels one child will eventually survive. Kira’s job is training to become a medic, because of that she’s right there as babies die.

What did I love the most? The idea behind the partials is so realistic. Think of all of the genetically-engineered things appearing now days? Fish are fed chemicals to make them larger. Cloning is possible. The way I see it, it’s just a matter of time before something is “created” like the partials.

I also enjoyed that the teens in Partials, were hardened. They didn’t come across as super fluffy or childlike. They’ve lived hard lives. Many have seen their entire families be killed in the war and show it. On the same vein though, some of the adults come across as weak and a bit fake – the complete opposite.

Romance lovers – there is a touch of a romance, but it’s not a big focus. For me that was a bit of a relief, who really has time to maintain a relationship while they are trying to save the world?

If you enjoy post-apocalyptic books, Partials is not to be missed! (And 2013′s release of Fragments cannot come soon enough!)

I received my copy of Partials from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.