You guys, I have been looking forward to reading Partials by Dan Wells for a long time. I was expecting to add it to my mental list of “favorite dystopians” along with The Hunger Games and Divergent. Unfortunately – Partials missed the mark for me. Maybe it was because my hopes were too high. Maybe it was just never the book for me. Either way…
So, most of humanity has been wiped out by a horrible virus. (Love this concept! In fact, the awesome synopsis is what gave me my ballooned expectations.) The virus is blamed on the Partials, engineered organic humanish beings. They were in the middle of a war, but things pretty much ended once the virus showed up. Mainly because the Partials were immune.
So now, humankind is stuck. They can’t figure out how to successfully have more children that aren’t almost immediately killed by the virus. How will they survive?
Sixteen year old Kira is hoping she might have some new ideas about how to solve these problems. Unfortunately – she can’t get anyone that matters to listen to her. How far will she go?
The science in Partials is definitely fascinating. I wouldn’t have been able to finish the book if I hadn’t been caught up in the virus and how the Partials immunity might work and so on. I’m pretty science ignorant in real life, but science fiction draws me in every time.
Unfortunately, my interest in the world Dan Wells created pretty much begins and ends there. The characters? I could take or leave all of them. Samm, the only Partial we really get to know, is the only person I was interested in. As noble as Kira’s goals were, I didn’t feel like I got to know her (or anyone else).
I definitely think this is where Partials lost me. Since I didn’t care about the characters, I likewise didn’t really care about their world or what might ultimately happen to them.
So, unfortunately, Partials failed to really capture my interest. Agree or disagree? I’d love to discuss!
