Author: Julianna Baggott
Genre: Young Adult/Sci-fi
Publication: Headline
Release Date: June 2012
Pages: 480
Spoilers: Yes, but marked
So, I read this book a while ago, but since I finished reading “Fuse” (Pure #2) yesterday, I wanted to write a review on Pure first. Pure is the first book in the Pure series by Julianna Baggott. It’s a book about a post apocalyptic world in which Dome’s are build for some privileged people that survived the Detonations (kinda like the end of the world) because they were in that Dome. The other people, the so called wretches, live outside the Dome and can’t come in. People from inside the Dome can’t go out.
So, what does Goodreads says about Pure?
“We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.
Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it’s his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.
When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.”
When I bought this book, I was impressed by its cover (well, the UK cover, not the US cover). It was black with orange/yellow/red words (flames) words that spelled the title “Pure”. The back of the book said the story was about Pressia, a wretch, and Patridge, a Pure. When they meet, their worlds collide. The thing that really got me curious was WHY Pressia and Patridge met. Because YEAH… I couldn’t really believe that it was an accident. I already knew, during the read, they were going to meet because the book was from different points of views. Both Patrigde and Pressia could share their story; in this book, it fit. It was perfect.
The book is written well and has some action and lacks romance, which wasn’t bad at all. It took a while before things got more ‘romantic’ between the characters. I think El Capitan (and also his fused brother Helmud) was very interesting, tho I didn’t really get him in the beginning. Actually, now I’ve read Fuse too, I only found myself really understanding him at the end of the second book.
[SPOILER ALERT]
There were some plot twists that I didn’t see coming. First of all, I thought that Patridge and Pressia would fall in love, only to find them being siblings. Well HELLO plottwist. Second, Willux (Patridge’s father and manipulative leader of the Dome) had it all planned out for Patridge and Pressia to meet. Yep, bummer. I really didn’t see that one coming, tho, like I said before, it was no accident they met. Third plottwist: Patridge’s mom AND brother are alive. Well, that was true, until finally Willux killed them both from inside the Dome. So far so… bad. Forth: they didn’t find the formula to stop the rapid cell degeneration. They only found out there wasn’t ONE formula. There were more.
This book got me hooked from the moment Pressia and Patrigde met. The end is one big blur of people dying, secrets unraveling and things getting even more complicated than they already were.
The truth is; I never expected this book to be so GOOD. Also, more exciting than I would’ve thought. And it has more than one main character which makes the story deeper and more complicated. But that was the strong part of the book. I could see everything happening before my eyes in vivid colors. This book was truly amazing and thought trough so well. I can only praise this book! Julianna Baggott wrote one hell of a book!
Check out her website by clicking HERE and buy Pure at Amazon by clicking HERE.
(Note: I have the UK paperback versions of the books, because I like the UK cover more than the US cover. I live in Europe, so basically I can order whatever version I want. Even though Amazon sells both UK and US versions, I linked you to the US version because the UK version is hard to buy at Amazon [only used books].)
