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A review by ladytiara
Pure by Julianna Baggott
4.0
I sometimes avoid post-apocalyptic novels, because I have a tendency to get freaked out by them, but Pure sounded really promising, so I took a chance on it. I'm really glad I did because it's a fantastic book.
Sometime in the future, a nuclear attack decimates the United States. Some people were already living in an experimental dome designed to protect them from such attacks, and they survive the events knows as the Detonations safe and sound. Those outside the Dome weren't so lucky and most of them died in the attacks. Nine years after the Detonations, the survivors outside the Dome live a brutal life. They're all disfigured or deformed in some way, missing limbs are common, and most survivors are fused with objects or other people who were nearby at the time of the Detonations. They live in any remaining buildings or rubble, and they survive as best they can under a repressive military regime (known as the OSR) that takes all kids when they turn 16 to become soldiers or target practice. Inside the Dome, life is much safer, but the people live under a different repressive regime that controls every aspect of their lives and performs genetics enhancements on them.
The story centers around several characters. Pressia is about to turn 16. Her face is scarred, and one of her hands is the head of the doll she was holding when the bombs went off. Bradwell is an older teen who's been on his own since the attacks and has thus far escaped the notice of the OSR. He spouts a lot of elaborate conspiracy theories about the how and why of the Detonations. Partridge is the son of the Dome's leader, but he doesn't fit in and he wonders about what's outside. Lyda is another Dome dweller. She helps Partridge, to her detriment. El Capitan is an OSR soldier who finds himself questioning his orders. As these characters' paths cross, their lives intersect and they learn that nothing is as it seems.
I really enjoyed this book. It's not an easy read, in the sense that the descriptions of the horrible disfigurements the survivors suffer felt incredibly real and tragic. But the prose and the story make this book intensely readable and I couldn't put it down. Baggott's descriptions of the post-Detonation ruins are horrific and beautiful at the same time. There are some amazing scenes of the characters traveling across the battered landscape. I particularly liked a scene where some of the characters meet a group of warrior mothers whose children are fused to them. This world really came alive for me. I loved Pressia, Bradwell, and Partridge as characters, and even the minor characters felt very real to me.
I do have some minor complaints. The story is told in alternating viewpoints. Different chapters are from the viewpoints of Pressia, Patridge, Lyda, and El Capitan. I enjoyed the Pressia and Partridge chapters the most. There are fewer Lyda and El Capitan chapters, and while I understand why the author used them (they convey information the reader wouldn't know otherwise), they weren't as effective for me. My other concern is that there are a lot of rather startling revelations and twists in the last third of the book. While they're very exciting, I can't help wondering if the author has revealed too much in the first book (there will be two more books). On the other hand, the ending made me desperate to read the sequel, so perhaps the revelations worked just right.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.
Sometime in the future, a nuclear attack decimates the United States. Some people were already living in an experimental dome designed to protect them from such attacks, and they survive the events knows as the Detonations safe and sound. Those outside the Dome weren't so lucky and most of them died in the attacks. Nine years after the Detonations, the survivors outside the Dome live a brutal life. They're all disfigured or deformed in some way, missing limbs are common, and most survivors are fused with objects or other people who were nearby at the time of the Detonations. They live in any remaining buildings or rubble, and they survive as best they can under a repressive military regime (known as the OSR) that takes all kids when they turn 16 to become soldiers or target practice. Inside the Dome, life is much safer, but the people live under a different repressive regime that controls every aspect of their lives and performs genetics enhancements on them.
The story centers around several characters. Pressia is about to turn 16. Her face is scarred, and one of her hands is the head of the doll she was holding when the bombs went off. Bradwell is an older teen who's been on his own since the attacks and has thus far escaped the notice of the OSR. He spouts a lot of elaborate conspiracy theories about the how and why of the Detonations. Partridge is the son of the Dome's leader, but he doesn't fit in and he wonders about what's outside. Lyda is another Dome dweller. She helps Partridge, to her detriment. El Capitan is an OSR soldier who finds himself questioning his orders. As these characters' paths cross, their lives intersect and they learn that nothing is as it seems.
I really enjoyed this book. It's not an easy read, in the sense that the descriptions of the horrible disfigurements the survivors suffer felt incredibly real and tragic. But the prose and the story make this book intensely readable and I couldn't put it down. Baggott's descriptions of the post-Detonation ruins are horrific and beautiful at the same time. There are some amazing scenes of the characters traveling across the battered landscape. I particularly liked a scene where some of the characters meet a group of warrior mothers whose children are fused to them. This world really came alive for me. I loved Pressia, Bradwell, and Partridge as characters, and even the minor characters felt very real to me.
I do have some minor complaints. The story is told in alternating viewpoints. Different chapters are from the viewpoints of Pressia, Patridge, Lyda, and El Capitan. I enjoyed the Pressia and Partridge chapters the most. There are fewer Lyda and El Capitan chapters, and while I understand why the author used them (they convey information the reader wouldn't know otherwise), they weren't as effective for me. My other concern is that there are a lot of rather startling revelations and twists in the last third of the book. While they're very exciting, I can't help wondering if the author has revealed too much in the first book (there will be two more books). On the other hand, the ending made me desperate to read the sequel, so perhaps the revelations worked just right.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.