Title: Partials (Goodreads)
Author: Dan Wells
Series: Partials Sequence #1
Published: Balzer + Bray, 2012
Pages: 468
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

The future looks really bleak, and it’s up to one girl; Kira to save it. Mankind is going extinct as a result of the Judgement Day Partials war; an airborne virus is killing all new born babies. The government’s solution; every woman over 18 16 must keep getting pregnant (naturally or artificially) in order for further testing to find the solution. 16 year old researcher Kira is determined to find the answer to the virus and save mankind; her quest leads her to turn to the Partials (genetically modified humans and mankinds greatest enemy) in the hopes to find the solution. This leaves Kira in a tricky situation; will she side with the government, the rebellion or the Partials?

This novel is pretty interesting; I like the story and I’m interested to see where it will lead in the future. While this is typically a YA novel as opposed to a post-apocalyptic thriller, it means the writing, violence and complexity of this book feels like it has been dumbed down; to an extent that sometimes is not very enjoyable. I really enjoy Dan Wells as a writer but I would like to see him move away from young adult fiction and do something darker, disturbing and more complex. I feel like he has it in him but due to the limitations of YA he holds back a lot. I would love to give this a 4 out of 5 but I can’t, it’s a 3 and a half star novel.