Ruins by Dan Wells (Partials #3)

Book: Ruins by Dan Wells (Third and Final book in the Partials series

Genre: Scifi, Dystopian, YA

Since this is the third and final book in the series, if you haven’t read the series yet, but plan to, you’ll probably want to skip this review, unless you really have a thing for spoilers 🙂

You can read my reviews of the first book Partials, and the second book, Fragments by clicking on the underlined names.

When we left Kira and Samm in the end of Fragments, they had both given themselves up as sacrifices of sorts, to two different causes.  A great war is looming on the horizon, with both humans and partials risking everything and on the verge of extinction.  Kira believes she can stop both the war and the extinction, but she is running out of time.

I really hope somebody makes this series into movies.  It would be great.  It’s different enough from series like The Hunger Games or Divergent that it would be bringing something new to the movie entertainment scene, but it has a really fantastic plot, and follows the undeniably popular teenagers-saving-the-world theme.  Throughout all three books, there’s a recurring question of what exactly constitutes humanity.  Can the partials really be considered humans?  If they can’t be considered humans, do humans have the right to eliminate them all on a whim?  I think it’s a really interesting question, and one that was solved in this book by (possible SPOILER) the realization that the survival of both species is dependent on their peaceful coexistence.

After raving earlier about how thrilled I was that Dan Wells skipped the cliche teenage love triangle, I’m a little disappointed to admit that there is a little of that drama in Ruins.  I don’t understand why it’s so popular.  It drives me nuts.  That said, it wasn’t overdone and overdramatic in Ruins.  They all talked about it, resolved their differences, and moved on.  Now, WHY it even had to be an issue in the first place is beyond me.  I think it would have been perfectly within the realm of reason to just let the whole relationship with Marcus and Kira remain dropped, and actually let him move on without the drama of a “Will she pick Samm or Marcus?” conundrum.   That’s just my two bits.

Overall, this was a great ending to a great trilogy.  If you like YA, dystopian, or scifi type books, I would definitely give this series a go!

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Partials by Dan Wells

Book: Partials by Dan Wells

Genre: YA, Dystopian

Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. But sixteen-year-old Kira is determined to find a solution. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that that the survival of both humans and Partials rests in her attempts to answer questions about the war’s origin that she never knew to ask.

I’m not sure if it’s just my particular reading habits, or if there really is such a lack of books written by men in the YA genre, but one way or another, this book illuminated the void–whether in the genre or in my own reading habits.

It’s no secret that books in the dystopian genre have all but taken over the YA genre.  From the Hunger Games to Divergent to The Selection and on…  Now, I’ve enjoyed all those books, but they all have elements that are the same and that wears on you after a while.  The Teenage Love Triangle for example.  I don’t know how many times I can say it, but Dear God in Heaven I am TIRED of love triangles.  Just make up your minds already!  Seriously!  Nobody has time for all that!  Ha!

I promise, that whole tirade was related to this book.  Notably, because there wasn’t a love triangle in Partials.  In fact, even though there were some obviously romantic connections, it really focused more on the action and the plot than the relationships. If you’ve read a lot of YA fiction, you know that is a pretty noticeable difference.  Kira is a really strong female character, and she’s surrounded by a great supporting cast.

The whole idea behind Partials was a unique story idea to me too.  Oddly enough, it made me think of a twist on the zombie stories.  Kind of strange, but definitely unique.

As a general rule, if a book is part of a trilogy, I try to read the entire trilogy before reviewing it, but I’ve made an exception for this series.  Currently reading the second book, but I thought Partials was so notable that it was really worth mentioning early.

If you’ve enjoyed other dystopian YA books, I recommend giving this series a try! I’ve really enjoyed it.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

BOOK REVIEW: Partials by Dan Wells

Book: Partials by Dan Wells

Genre: YA, Dystopian

Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. But sixteen-year-old Kira is determined to find a solution. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that that the survival of both humans and Partials rests in her attempts to answer questions about the war’s origin that she never knew to ask.

I’m not sure if it’s just my particular reading habits, or if there really is such a lack of books written by men in the YA genre, but one way or another, this book illuminated the void–whether in the genre or in my own reading habits.

It’s no secret that books in the dystopian genre have all but taken over the YA genre.  From the Hunger Games to Divergent to The Selection and on…  Now, I’ve enjoyed all those books, but they all have elements that are the same and that wears on you after a while.  The Teenage Love Triangle for example.  I don’t know how many times I can say it, but Dear God in Heaven I am TIRED of love triangles.  Just make up your minds already!  Seriously!  Nobody has time for all that!  Ha!

I promise, that whole tirade was related to this book.  Notably, because there wasn’t a love triangle in Partials.  In fact, even though there were some obviously romantic connections, it really focused more on the action and the plot than the relationships. If you’ve read a lot of YA fiction, you know that is a pretty noticeable difference.  Kira is a really strong female character, and she’s surrounded by a great supporting cast.

The whole idea behind Partials was a unique story idea to me too.  Oddly enough, it made me think of a twist on the zombie stories.  Kind of strange, but definitely unique.

As a general rule, if a book is part of a trilogy, I try to read the entire trilogy before reviewing it, but I’ve made an exception for this series.  Currently reading the second book, but I thought Partials was so notable that it was really worth mentioning early.

If you’ve enjoyed other dystopian YA books, I recommend giving this series a try! I’ve really enjoyed it.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars