Burn by Julianna Baggott

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Title: Burn

Author: Julianna Baggott
Series: Pure Trilogy (Book #3)

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Length: 418 pages

Published: 2014

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Inside the Dome, Patridge has taken his father's place as leader of the Pures. His struggle has led him here, intent upon bringing down the Dome from the inside, with the help of a secret resistance force. But things are not as simple from his new position of power and he finds himself tempted by his father's words: perhaps if the world is to survive it needs the Dome - and Partridge - to rule it...

As Partridge's resolve weakens, Pressia and Bradwell continue piecing together the clues left to them from the time before the Detonations. It is their hope that they will be able to heal the Wretches, and free them from their monstrous fusings and the Dome's oppression once and for all. But everything depends, too, on Partridge. Separated by distance and history, can they still trust their friend and ally? Or is the world doomed to an eternity of war and hardship?

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

Nothing is as it seems as Partridge takes over the Dome. He's supposed to be in charge but he quickly learns he has no control over anything. Only his guard, Beckley, might help him. 

Pressia wakes up inside the dome in Ireland and eventually is allowed to return home with Bradwell, El Capitan, and Helmud with the vial and the formula, as long as they take the means to destroy the Dome once and for all along with them.

As I was reading this book I couldn't comprehend how everything could come to a close - much less any kind of happy ending. I don't expect a full on happy ending where everyone in the world is suddenly best friends forever and there are rainbows and puppies everywhere. Just an ending where someone at least manages to be happy. Something where the bad guys don't completely win. But who are the bad guys in this trilogy? That's a question the author really did a good job of leaving the reader with. Is it really the people in the Dome? Is it the wretches? Is it Partridge's father? The author did an amazing job showing that nobody is wholly good and nobody is wholly evil. Reality is never cut and dried. It's never simple. 

This entire trilogy was excellent and I did get the mostly happy ending that I was hoping for. Definitely worth the read!

You can purchase Burn through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Burn? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Fuse by Julianna Baggott

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Title: Fuse

Author: Julianna Baggott
Series: Pure Trilogy (Book #2)

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Length: 463 pages

Published: 2013

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) We want our son returned. This girl is proof that we can save you all. If you ignore our plea, we will kill our hostages one at a time. 

To be a Pure is to be perfect, untouched by Detonations that scarred the earth and sheltered inside the paradise that is the Dome. But Partridge escaped to the outside world, where Wretches struggle to survive amid smoke and ash. Now, at the command of Partridge’s father, the Dome is unleashing nightmare after nightmare upon the Wretches in an effort to get him back.

At Partridge’s side is a small band of those united against the Dome: Lyda, the warrior; Bradwell, the revolutionary; El Capitan, the guard; and Pressia, the young woman whose mysterious past ties her to Partridge in way she never could have imagined. Long ago a plan was hatched that could mean the earth’s ultimate doom. Now only Partridge and Pressia can set things right.

To save millions of innocent lives, Partridge must risk his own by returning to the Dome and facing his most terrifying challenge. And Pressia, armed only with a mysterious Black Box, containing a set of cryptic clues, must travel to the very ends of the earth, to a place where no map can guide her. If they succeed, the world will be saved. But should they fail, humankind will pay a terrible price...

My Review:

I give this book a 4 out of 5. 

This one was just as fast-paced as the first book in the trilogy, but in some ways it just didn't feel as exciting. It was still a good follow up, but I spent the whole book thinking how much our six heroes (Bradwell, El Capitan, Helmud, Lyda, Partridge, and Pressia) do not know and how much they are fumbling through everything. I can't hold that against the trilogy or the author, as most YA dystopian storylines are really a series of events where the protagonists stumble on the facts, or what is presented to them as fact by the antagonists. I read these books for fun, so I try not to nitpick over things like this.

I did enjoy seeing that other people have survived in other places (Ireland, for example). Either the Irish had a much better plan in place before the Detonations or they were just plain less crippled by the Detonations. As Pressia and the others hadn't managed to leave Ireland before the end of the book, I'm hoping to see more of the Irish in the final book and learn some more things about what happened there. Maybe they'll gain some additional allies in their quest to take down the Dome and destroy Partridge's father. 

I'm anxiously awaiting a copy of Burn from the library so as soon as I have it, I'll be starting in on it. I can't wait!

You can purchase Fuse through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Fuse? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

Pure by Julianna Baggott

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Title: Pure

Author: Julianna Baggott
Series: Pure Trilogy (Book #1)

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Length: 431 pages

Published: 2012

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) 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.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

The Young Adult genre is one of those genres where you know you can pick up a book and have it done within a day or two, because they're generally fast reads - even at 400+ pages. I especially enjoy the dystopian future sub-genre because it touches on things that could seriously go wrong with our own society. This is one of those type of trilogies. 

Ten years ago, a series of bombs went off - what survivors call the Detonations. Most of the world's population died and those that did not became twisted creatures, fusing with objects that were near them at the time of the Detonations. In Pressia's case, her hand fused with her beloved doll. Her grandfather's throat became fused with a handheld fan. Others were fused with glass, pavement, metal, animals. Yes, animals. Some fused with the earth itself or rock. These are called Dusts and they have lost most semblance of humanity. Some are called Beasts as they have lost all humanity and have been taken over by the animals side of them. 

However, some people survived in what is known as the Dome. They are called Pures. Everything about their lives is controlled: what they eat (pills formulated for optimum nutrition), what they learn in school, etc. Some day they will leave the Dome (when the world outside is safe again) and they will have the entire world at their disposal. They will rebuild. The boys who live in the Dome are sent for coding to improve their skills - speed, strength, etc. Some are picked out for Special Forces and not seen again. The girls are not coded, as they must be able to reproduce eventually and coding is not safe for them.

But what will happen to the "wretches" - those who were managing to survive in the outside? 

This first book in the trilogy doesn't completely answer that question, but, then again, that's why it's the first book in a trilogy. There are hints at what is believed to be the motive of those in the Dome. Pressia and Partridge (a Pure, who is the son of the most influential leader of the Dome) are placed in the middle between the Dome and those who oppose the Dome. Along with Bradwell, El Capitan and his brother Helmud (who are fused together), and a female Pure named Lyda, they must figure out how to stop Partridge's father and to keep themselves alive in the process. 

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to start in on Fuse, which is book two of the trilogy.

You can purchase Pure through Amazon in hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Pure? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.