Review: Pure by Julianna Baggot

Pure

Author: Julianna Baggott 
Series: The Pure Trilogy, Book One
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Format: Hardcover, 448 pages
Release Date: February 8, 2012
Source: Mid-Columbia Libraries


Synopsis: 

Pressia can barely remember life before the Detonations. She holds small, snippets of memories near and dear to her heart. Out here there is no point in remembering. The only thing to focus on is surviving. She still thinks about things that are lost though, while she lives quietly in an abandoned barbershop with her grandfather. But now she is turning sixteen and will be required to sign up for the militia to either become a soldier or a live target. Pressia wants nothing to do with the militia so now she is on the run.

Partridge is a Pure. He escaped the Detonations by moving into the Dome. He is unmarked, unharmed. His body is strong and healthy as long as he stays within the protection of the Dome. His father is one of the most influential people in the Dome, but Partridge feels lonely. He doesn’t have many friends and he feels different from all the other boys his age. He desperately misses his mother and his brother. So when he discovers that his mother may be alive and living outside the Dome, he escapes the safety it provides to find her.

When Partridge and Pressia meet, their stories begin to unravel and everything they have ever known will change.

My Review: 

I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. There were some things that I liked, but more that I disliked. I really struggled to make it through this book. One thing that I didn’t like was how many characters the author introduced. And when I say introduced, I mean highly developed. I felt like the minor characters were too developed and that it didn’t serve a purpose or add to the value of the story. The plot line was also very confusing and difficult to follow. I didn’t really understand what was going on until over halfway through the book. I will say that the second half got better. There were twists thrown in that caught me off guard, but I guess this story just didn’t excite me. I think this was mostly because I was annoyed by all the characters and by the confusing nature of the book. There was just way too much going on for me.

Pressia was an interesting character. She has great street smarts and knows how to take care of herself. She has a warm heart which is immediately apparent. Her past is shrouded in mystery. She doesn’t remember much of anything before the Detonations. I thought that her grandfather would tell her more about her life before, but he never really does. He cares about her a lot though and wants to take care of her and keep her safe. Pressia is very self-conscious which kind of bugged me. The people who weren’t in the Dome during the Detonation were fused to whatever they were touching at the time of the explosion. These people wear their fuses with pride, but Pressia always is trying to cover her’s up. I wanted her to be more confident than she was. I like books with a strong lead character and she just didn’t do it for me.

Partridge, on the other hand, I liked well enough. He had no idea how bad life was outside the Dome and is extremely sympathetic. He doesn’t think of himself as better than anyone and he doesn’t recoil from the fuses like most people would. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and knows that his father is wrong. He hopes, which is huge in a world where hope has all but died with everything else the Detonations took. Partridge is not afraid of his father and is willing to stand up to him. He is courageous and caring. He makes sacrifices in order to reach his end goal and is determined to stop his father.

Overall, I was not a fan of this book. There was too much going on and minor characters were overdeveloped. I will probably read the second book just because I have committed to the series now. I hope that the second one, Fuse, is easier to follow than this one was. 

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