Pure

Too much detail. Not enough story. Just couldn't care about the characters. The idea of the story has potential but would be much better with tighter editing.

One of the darkest post apocalyptic tales ever written, Julianna Baggott takes the reality of a catastrophic destruction of the Earth and turns it into the most devastating catalog of events and characters. It is hard not to become emotionally involved in the lives of these characters, and Julianna's writing is so powerful it will make the reader weep for the sadness that surrounds them.

A friend of mine mentioned 'Pure' to me a while back. Supposedly, it was the talk of the town at a book expo she attended. Because of that, I decided to take a stab at reading this novel by Julianna Baggott. Let me tell you first that I, personally, think this novel is best suited to older YA readers. It's a dark read and might not please the younger YA set, even if they liked 'The Hunger Games'.

The Negatives:

As far as page count goes, this book was *way* too long. It took me 300 pages (almost exactly) to get to a point where I cared about the story and even then, I wasn't too overly invested in the plot or characters. Part of my trouble with 'Pure' was the voice. I can count on one hand the number of books I've enjoyed that are in present tense. My mind was auto-correcting to past tense throughout the entire novel. As you can imagine, that made it really hard to get 'sucked in'. I finished this book not because I was on the edge of my seat, but because I had pushed through hundreds of pages and felt I needed to at least see the story through to the end.

Pressia lives in a world where people are fused with objects. You'll walk down the street and see a girl with a dolls head fused to her hand, a man with a fan in his throat, or even a boy with birds stuck to his back. There were some cring-worthy and shocking combinations described in 'Pure', not all of them easy to grasp. That was the most difficult part to understand in 'Pure's world.

Also, purely subjective, I was a little turned off by how dark the novel was. I'm okay with dark, but usually like a little happy mixed in. I'm not talking a musical number, but something-- some little ray of hope. I didn't get any of that in this novel. I finished it feeling a lot like I did when I read 'Mockingjay'. 'Pure' started on one note and kind of continued on that same note. The one tone storytelling made for a pretty lackluster finale.

The Positives:

As far as characters, I enjoyed them well enough. Pressia was the most likable character of the bunch, followed by Bradwell, Lyda, and then Partridge. Lyda's character wasn't explored in much detail, though she played a major role in 'Pure'. Still, however, she had more personality than Partridge. If I were to choose my favorite character, the award would go to Bradwell. He came off a little flat to me, but you know what, he seemed like a cool guy. He and Pressia's banter in his butcher shop early on in the book was probably my favorite part of the novel.

Each chapter was told in a certain persons point of view. Unlike some authors, Baggott didn't try to stick to a pattern. Personally, I prefer that. Some novels I've read have had alternating characters point of view and because of that, events felt a little forced. While some of the events in this novel did seem a bit, er, contrived, I like how she didn't follow a pattern.

Overall:

I like dystopian novels. I've read 'Matched', 'The Hunger Games', 'Legacy', and quite enjoyed them. However, 'Pure' just wasn't my kind of book. I didn't finish wanting to read more or even looking forward to a sequel. If you like gritty, dark worlds, you may like this novel. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

Do you ever forget how to tell the difference between a dystopian and apocalyptic novel? Well, PURE combines the two in an illustrative way. Most of the world is post-apocalyptic, an endless wasteland populated by mutants where survival is only for the fittest. Rising from this ashy gloom is the Dome, inside of which a technologically advanced, tyrannical government has established a joyless dystopia.

There are two main POV characters. Pressia is a young woman who barely remembers life before the Detonations destroyed everything. She's scarred, with a doll's head fused to her hand, but she's a survivor. Partridge is a spoiled, naive "Pure" from the Dome. I'd say the book starts when Partridge decides he's going to escape, but that doesn't happen until about 30% of the way through. Baggot spends a lot of time (too long, in my opinion) setting up the story and conflict.

PURE is good but not entertaining. Everything about it is done well. The characters, the worldbuilding, the conflict. It's also dark, grim, and joyless. After jumping from Pressia's strained relationship with her grandfather to Partridge's strained relationship with his father, from descriptions of desperate people running from death squads to miserable schoolroom scenes of propaganda presented as education I just...stopped wanting to turn the pages.

I hoped that once Pressia and Partridge joined up, the pace would pick up and their rapport might carry me along - but I should have known better. Pressia and Partridge aren't fast friends. They're uneasy allies. They use one another, and their conversations are as painful to read as every other human interaction in the book.

PURE is a lot more like 1984 or Brave New World than, say, The Hunger Games or Uglies. Which is close to being a compliment, except that I'm not sure it has anything new to say.

PURE wasn't to my taste but I have a long history of disliking books that are depressing from beginning to end. If it sounds good to you, by all means give it a try.

First of all, I want to point out that, although the main characters are all teenagers, this is not a novel aimed at young adults. While some teens may enjoy it perhaps, the tone and the writing style definitely market towards adults. This change is visible, too, in the romance, which is much darker and less perfect than in most YA dystopias.

Let me discuss that a bit more. Whereas, even in the harshest of dystopias, like The Hunger Games or Battle Royale, people look and act like people, maybe not good ones, but people nonetheless. The violence may be gratuitous and the acts depraved, but, ultimately, the people are, wounds aside, attractive and normal. This is not the case in Pure.

In fact, this is what I liked best about the novel, and this is the part that will stick with me long after I've forgotten most of the plot. The people, the wretches, who were outside when the bombs went off fused to whatever happened to be near them at the time. Obviously, most people did not survive this, but a lot did, but they came out of it looking like something out of a horror movie.

Pressia got off pretty lightly all things considered: scarring on one side of her face and a doll's head fused to one of her hands. El Capitan, one of the heads of the guards that rule the world outside the dome, fused with his brother, Helmud. Mothers who grabbed their children have their kids fused to their legs or breasts. Other people, Dusts, seem to have fused with the ground, the dust, the rocks. (Is it bad that this also makes me think of Sid's toys in Toy Story?)

Now, this does seem somewhat far-fetched to me, but one of the remarkable things about nature is its ability to bounce back. So why not? These fused people (and animals--humans are not the only ones affected by the radiation) are completely terrifying and will haunt me.

What bothered me, though, was the plan that the folks in the Dome had. It doesn't seem like they planned to stay in there for all that long. I thought radiation took a really long time to dissipate...how will they be okay until that time? This wouldn't be Blast from the Past.

All in all, I'm really not entirely sure how I feel about this one. It was a bit of a struggle for me to read. Something about it just didn't mesh with me. Having looked through some reviews on GoodReads, I know I'm not the only one who felt this way. Still, there were some cool things here, and I may read the next book in the series despite my reservations.

This one's a little bit of a mixed bag, but overall a good thing. Read an e-arc of it courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley. Creative, appealing characters, weird, slow at some points. It's either a dark and grotesque dystopian older-YA novel, or a kind of simple dystopian science fiction coming of age novel. I'm going with the latter. If you have a reader that loves both the Hunger Games or Blood Red Road and China Mievill's Perdido Street Station, perhaps this might do the trick for their next read. Mind you, it's the first in a series, so there's no real resolution (argh).

15 year old Pressia is living in a post-apocalyptic, dangerous and grim futuristic DC, after the bombs that caused much death as well as physical burns and mutations to the populace, save for those who were protected in the Dome. Mutations such as Pressia's doll hand, fused when she was very young, or the birds fluttering in teen Bradwell's back; what was close to a person at the time of the explosions got fused to them. It gets pretty grotesque; some people were fused to the earth and became Dust creatures that suck the unwary underground and devour them, others are group fusings of humans, packs roaming around hunting, which just confuses me. How do they move? Hive mind can only take you so far with that many messed up legs.

Pressia is instructed by her grandfather to stay hidden so the informal, bloodthirsty military junta (I forget its real name) won't find her and either impress her into their force when she turns 16 or use her for target practice. But she ends up meeting rebellious young teen Bradwell instead, who has privileged information left from his scientist parents about the role of the uninjured "Pure" Dome people and the sinister nanotechnology involved in the explosions. A dual plot line is from the third-person perspective of Partridge, son of the Dome's leader and a teen Pure living in the safe but controlled life of the Dome who escapes in search of his mother outside, purported by his father to be dead but perhaps a rebel instead. When Patridge and Pressia meet, they embark with Bradwell on a dangerous quest to find Partridge's mother and find themselves hunted on all sides. An interesting third perspective which raised the age appeal of the book for me is that of more complex character older teen El Capitan. He's a grim and ruthless junta member with blood on his hands and a younger mentally challenged brother fused to his back, and yet a certain quality of rough frontier honor about him.

I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to fans of post apocalyptic fiction. The surreal appearance of some of the characters was very inventive, and sometimes quite disturbing, as it was probably meant to be.

I'm having a difficult time deciding between 3 & 4 stars. It's a good book. The world or PURE is a scary one filled with people (and creatures) that have been (basically) maimed due to some folks that thought they knew best.But as much as I loved that aspect, there was just something missing. I enjoyed the characters, I liked the setting, I liked the story. Perhaps it was the point of view? The writing? I don't know, but there was something missing that makes it tricky to pick a star rating. I'm going with 3 stars now, but I think it's more of a 3.45 situation.Despite that, I'm still looking forward to the next in the series.

Pressia Belze lives in a harsh and hard world, a world wracked by wars and detonations, separations and hatred. Outside of the Dome that protected the city and people inside from the world-ending Detonations of nine years before, everything is warped, twisted, fused, changed. Pure is definitely a striking and original dystopic debut: twists, turns and betrayals come and go and always turn out different than expected, harder parts of life are not glossed over, and the omnipresent feeling of danger and being watched all lend themselves to an engrossing, enveloping and often disturbing read. Pressia and the story of her struggles are one of the better examples of these two genres (dystopia and post-apocalyptic) I've read and is a promising beginning to a series. Through its occasional and minimal stumbles, Pure's plot is addictive and striking: this is not a novel that you will want to put down and continue later.One of the things I liked best about this novel and author was that Pure is a very developed and thought-out novel. This is a world that is utterly destroyed and ripped apart in a frighteningly possible way, very alien to our current situation and yet it doesn't take too much of a stretch of imagination to believe in Baggott's harsh and unyielding future. The dystopic elements of the darker novel aren't just for show or used as an accent like curtains on a window. No, the controlling forces and people within Dome/the militaristic OSR outside are the main driving forces for the plot and the events throughout Pure, and are happily used well within the frame of the story. This is one of those young-adult novels that features a romance by-plot: it doesn't stop the show to focus on the touchy-feely emotions of the teen leads. I just wish it had been a first person novel: the events of the past, the action, the characters all feel slightly removed thanks to the third person perspective used. With so many shifting, main perspectives floating directing around the story (at least five that I can remember), and with several of those feeling rather unnecessary in the first place, it's hard to feel a concrete connection to all the goings-on at times.Pressia herself is likeable, if distant for the reasons mentioned above. She's strident and tough: a survivor in a harsh reality where millions simply vanished, or were horribly affected by the Detonations. I also really like that Pressia isn't perfect: not in looks, not in attitude, not in her actions. She fumbles, she falls, she makes basic mistakes, but Pressia does not give up or give in: this is a protagonist to respect. What made me happiest is that she is never a stagnant character: she grows, matures, learns and adapts to new information and situations. At sixteen, Pressia is on the run from the violent and bloody leaders of the people outside, Operation Sacred Revolution, her own government. Being in her narrative is a constant whirl of emotion and thought: Pressia is not one to sit idly by - ever. Take her conflicted relationship with the "Pure" Partridge: it's a constant flux of guilt, curiosity, anger, shame, jealousy, and opportunism. It's real and believable. Forced by her own "government" to kill or be killed, Pressia is a girl with limited to no options given to her, so she does what few do and creates her own path. What resonated with me most about Pressia and her life was the unique but clever treatment of memories from Before as currency: I thought that spoke rather elegantly and ingeniously of each characters individual wish and desire for better times, a reminder of hope and love in this dark painful life to get them through the Dusts/Beasts and other terrors. Like Pressia, Partridge is a likeable character constrained by his surroundings. Like the Dome itself, duty and expectation weigh upon and have his whole life; this is a kid that is easy to commiserate with. His typical teenage family problems and concerns are much more relatable than Pressia's fused dollhead, mysterious past or bounty on her head. Partridge is one those rare male protagonist that isn't utterly foreign or alien; Baggott does an admirable job of distinguishing his personality without veering into female-like tendencies/thoughts. Unlike Pressia, Partridge has far more leeway in the direction his life will take; though not without its own macabre risks (tickers!) his life is a stark conparison to the beaten-down, ignored and hated masses outside the Dome. I can't say which character I enjoyed more: there was a nice dichotomy present with the both of them that showed the most rounded view of the novel. These are two characters whose combined story arc absolutely ASTONISHED me. I thought I had called where this novel was going, dreaded love-triangle and all, but I was dead wrong. I did find the pairing off of the teenage couples to be a bit much; strains my credulity meter that it's that easy for two couples to fall in love, but to be quite fair, romance is far from the main focus of this novel. Ms. Baggott can most definitely write a twist and stand all expectations of her work on their head.Pure can surprise you with its characters, its surprising revelations, or even its bleak and dark tone. No character is safe in Pure, and several losses hit me hard. Occasionally gory, Pure is a lot of novel. And with so much going on, oftentimes parts of the book are less developed and well-done. I felt that the information on the sciences and "coding" left a lot to be desired. How do they upgrade people? Using what technology? I thought that at least two of the POVs used were unneeded and superfluous to the basic story of Pressia and Partridge: Lyda and El Capitan specifically. Both seemed rather sadly and hastily sketched out compared to the real, three-dimensional personalities of Pressia and her Pure. I found myself wondering why they were essential as Pressia, Partridge and Ingersoll clearly dominated the narrative: they two would've done much better as tertiary characters without POV chapters. I wanted more detail and time spent on the religion aspect of the novel: the idea of some "wretches" worshiping the Dome as a type of Heaven is a very interesting and compelling idea - I'd love to read more about that and its impact of the lives of the people in/outside the Dome. I also think that more time in the narrative used to see the differences and the turmoil between the two social strata would've provided a more complete and real background: outside the obvious, superficial differences between the pures and the wretches not much is explained. There's a lot of basic groundwork laid here in Pure for the two future sequels to build from and fill in, and I can't complain that it's full of obvious or calculated plotting: Pure is a smooth read from start to finish with details from Before enmeshed skilfully within the kid's POVs.This is a dark, engrossing, dystopic and post-apocalyptic young-adult read. It's hard to put down with great characters, unforeseen twists and good-to-solid writing. Pressia is one of the better female protagonists I've come across with a unique and compelling storyline, along with a functioning brain and an adaptive attitude, and I was very impressed by my reading experience. I will be buying my own copy when this goes on sale and will also be keeping an eagle eye out for the sequel, Fuse.

This book was recommended when I was looking for a book with a strong heroine lead for a 13-year-old. Store staff said it might be a bit much for an early teen, so I decided to read it before I gave it my god daughter. Wow! This book was amazing. However, I'm not giving it to my god daughter because I don't want to give her nightmares. This novel could be appropriate for older teens, though.In Julianna Baggott's dystopian society, the Detonation occurred about 11 years ago, fusing people to whatever was near them. During the Detonation, 7-year-old Pressia was holding a doll and standing at an airport window. The teenage Pressia has a doll head for a hand, a crescent scar around her left eye and burns on her face. She doesn't really remember the Before, but her grandfather tells her stories about Disney World, winning goldfish at a fair and her parents. Pressia is brave, empathetic and artistic, taking after her mortician grandfather. With money being of no value, Pressia has learned to be a great barterer and scavenger, stocking the burnt out shell of a barbershop that they live in with food and other items that might come in handy. But she'll be 16 in a few days, and the OSR, a ragtag government agency, demands that all 16-year-olds turn themselves in for military training, and the teens kids know they will be either a soldier or a target.Baggott's description of American society after the Detonation is unique, weird, a little scary and I loved it!Of course, there's always an elite segment of society that escapes the horror. The rich, powerful and super smart have been planning ways to protect the elite in the event of a nuclear disaster. They have created the Dome to live in until the earth is habitable again. Those in the Dome don't have scars and aren't fused with anything. They are Pure. Youth are raised and taught ala 1984 and Brave New World. History is written so that those in the Dome are worthy and the "wretches" outside are not just unlucky, but stupid. Adults are told by the government what topics are permissible and what's off limits. You don't want to suffer the consequences for not following the rules. No one leaves or enters the Dome.Partridge is the younger teenage son of one of the most powerful men in the Dome. He's not as strong, charismatic or ambitious as his older brother Sedge or his father. He really misses his mother who died during the Detonation, trying to convince the wretches to enter the Dome. Or did she? He finds some signs that his mother might be alive on the outside and he escapes the Dome to find her. But can a Pure survive outside? Will his father look for him? Is everything he was taught in history true? was fun. I liked that the teens were smart and capable. The romance part was sappy and didn't quite mesh with the rest of the book, but I guess it's a required element. The book was told through the POV of several characters. Pressia and Partridge tell most of the story, but some of the minor characters have parts to fill in pieces that we wouldn't know otherwise. Each narrator on the audio book did a good job.

I really enjoyed this book, I can't tell you how long it's been since I read a good apocalypse story. My only complaint is that I wanted to learn lots more about El Capitan. Other than petty little detail the book was wonderful and I wait with bated breath for the second installment.

With all the post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels out, it's hard to find one that's unique in any way. Pure, by Julianna Baggott definitely fills the bill. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read it!One of the strongest features of this book - description - turns out to also be one of its weakest. The author writes in vivid detail, so it's easy to picture everything in your mind. This was great when she was describing the combinations of people and inanimate objects and/or animals. It takes a great imagination to come up with a heroine with a doll head for a hand. But sometimes the detail was just too much; the long paragraphs depicting the new world tended to drag on the storyline to me.Pure is a solid, entertaining post-apocalyptic tale that easily holds the reader's attention. It's suitable for teenagers and adults alike.

My Opinion: Wow! That's my impression in a nutshell! This novel was so much more than I expected it to be! The world was a very dark and scary place to even imagine - easily the scariest dystopian world I've read of to date. I think it was mostly because of the people who were left after the detonations that scarred the world in Pure. People weren't just scarred from the heat or the radiation following the detonation of the bombs. They were actually fused to whatever had been near them at that moment in time - a dolls head fused to a girl's fist, a boy who had live birds fused to his back, which still lived for years after that and fluttered under his shirt, or a man who was near a fan and fused to it, causing him to breathe in and out through the fan that fused into his neck. The author went to some very ugly places to write this, but there were also moments of beauty and compassion to bring you back from the brink when you felt that you couldn't read any more about this desolate place. Now compare that world to the world in the Dome - the people who live in the Dome were safe when the bombs went off, but that doesn't mean their lives are perfect now. The kids are being genetically modified to be faster and stronger than normal teens, and only the strongest and fittest are allowed to survive. Into these two worlds Pressia and Partridge are born - Pressia to the darkness of the real world, and Partridge to the Dome. You may wonder how they could possibly meet since no one is ever allowed to enter or leave the Dome, but when Partridge finds out that his mother may not have died like he's always thought, and may in fact be alive in the world outside of the Dome, he finds a way to do just that, and during his travels he crosses paths with Pressia. I thought this book was very well written - the plot was strong and the characters were amazing, but the best thing about the book was the world building. I can't even begin to imagine how Julianna Baggott thought this up, but my hat is off to her! I highly recommend this book to all lovers of dark dystopians, and I can't wait to read the next installment!!!

In Pure, the world has become an intensely disturbing place. During an explosion of unknown origins, people became fused to whatever they were holding onto or were near at the time. Some people are fused to other people ("Groupies"), some to animals, some to miscellaneous objects, and some to the actual ground ("Dusts").The action in Pure was pretty intense, and the romance was ok. For me, it was more about Pressia just finding out who she was. I think a lot of the details were well thought out, but I also thought that some things that the characters "discover" were just a little too much of a stretch. I found myself slightly depressed while reading this extra-grim dystopian, but I'm willing to see where it goes from here.

I have a good blogger friend who highly recommended this book to me, and thus, it's been on my to read list for quite some time. Pure by Julianna Baggott follows several characters, but the main trio is composed of Pressia, Bradwell, and Partridge in their journey in a post-apocalyptic YA tale. The setup is pretty horrific-- we have humans that have been fused to other humans, animals, plants, and inanimate objects. In fact, Pressia has a fused doll's head instead of a hand. Each of these protagonists come from different backgrounds, but band together to figure out the truth behind their world and themselves.I can see why my friend liked it. The author has great creativity. I cringed at a lot of the descriptions. The characters overall were likeable and compelling, my favorite being the very complex and twisted character of El Capitan. There are moments of beauty in the prose and each chapter feels very complete.That said, there are a few reasons I decided to give it three stars. First, is my issue with the science. If this was a grotesque fantasy world with no real world reason to back it up, fine. But I can't wrap around an atomic bomb causing everyone to fuse to something else, to the point of losing most of their humanity, but still the individuals were still alive (for example, a mother fused to the baby, both were alive, separate entities like Siamese twins). I tried to suspend my belief, but I struggled through most of the book because of this. Second, the book dragged a lot. Even though this is a horrific world, and our characters get attacked pretty frequently, the actual plot can be honed down to a few paragraphs. And the plot-- it's unfortunate, but this story is Star Wars in a dystopian YA. I could match up all the characters and plot lines and could sometimes hear the Darth Vader tune in the background. Overall, because of some great characters and creative world building, I can see how this book appealed to some readers, but unfortunately for me, because of the aforementioned issues, it never completely won me over.

Pure is a unique post-apocalyptic novel packed full of action and drama. The Wretches, the unluckly people who were outside of the Dome during the "Detonations" are fused with objects, dirt, and even each other. But the lucky ones, the ones untouched by the bombs, live in comfort inside the dome, pure.I found Pure very intriguing and so much darker and graphic than the typical dystopian/post-apocalyptic (not sure if it's catergorized as young adult) novel. I'm looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

Wonderful addition to the young adult dystopian romance genre! Loved the creative world-building and the interplay of the main characters from the two different societies. Recommended for fans of Marie Lu's Legend and Veronica Roth's Divergent.

This is not a book for the faint of heart.That said, I would not recommend this one to teenagers lightly - the story is bleak, yes - but it's the strangeness of the world that gave me a bit of a heeby-jeeby feeling. The premise is an interesting one - dealing more with a post-apocalyptic type of world rather than a dystopian society. People have fused with whatever they were doing at the time of the world "ending" - others have escaped within the dome, but are dealing with issues of their own.The story arc is an ambitious one, and I was skeptical at first of the story being able to handle everything that needed to happen, but Julianna Baggott did a good job of juggling everything well enough to not only keep the story moving at a good pace, but also making sure her readers won't get lost in the meantime.I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I found it to be a mature one, with writing that pander to the reader and treat him/her as if they are stupid. That's a big plus for me. Also, it did not read like it was formulaic, another huge plus.Recommended for fans of Atwood's Oryx and Crake.

In Pressia's world, there is the Dome. It's inhabited by the Pure, those who were able to enter the Dome before the Detonations, who did not suffer the consequences of the nuclear blasts. The Pure watch the rest of humanity from a distance -- nobody enters the Dome, and nobody leaves. Pressia, and everyone else she knows, struggle to survive in the ruins of their world. The Detonations caused humans to fuse with nearby objects -- Pressia's right hand fused with the rubber head of the doll she was holding -- and, in some cases, other people, animals, and even the earth itself. There's never enough food, and because the radiation causes mutations in the plants and animals, there's no guarantee that your next meal won't kill you. Order is maintained by OSR, a quasi-military group that arose after the Detonations. Every child is forcibly drafted into OSR at their sixteenth birthday . . . and Pressia is just about to turn sixteen.Into this world comes Partridge -- a Pure. Though his father is one of the most powerful men in the Dome, Partridge has started to question everything he's been told about life in the Dome, and about the fate of his mother. Did she really die in the Detonations . . . or is she outside the Dome still? He has to find out, so he escapes. When he finds himself in danger, Pressia saves him. This chance encounter . . . is it a chance encounter? . . . will have a profound effect on both of them.I have mixed feelings about this book. I thought that the plot was strong, one of the strongest dystopias I've read. Part of that is because the teens are not always able to defeat the plots of the all-powerful evil government. There are some great unexpected twists . . . and of course, that's all I can say about that without giving too much away! On the other hand, I found it hard to care about the characters. They rang a bit hollow for me. I also felt that the pacing of the story dragged and lagged in places. It's obvious that there will be a sequel, but I doubt that I will seek it out.

I picked up Pure thinking that it would be like Hunger Games which I liked. But good news, beyond being set in a dystopian world with an upper class, called Pures, that lives in a comfort-filled Dome and an underclass, called Wretches, that lives in a post-detonation landscape full of humans fused with inanimate objects by the detonation and worse. The writing is good and the plot is exciting. My reaction when I read that Fox 2000 has already acquired the film rights to this book and the inevitable two sequels with plans for 4 movies (You know which volume is a two-parter) was cynical. it smacks of written for a movie (although the visuals are going to be very expensive to capture)...there are even two attractive young couples. But, to be fair, the author has an M.F.A. and a long, varied, successful writing career...so write my initial cynicism to sour grapes. Besides, the vivid descriptions are part of the reason that I liked this book. So like the majority of other reviewers...I'm waiting for the next two books!

I got this recommendation from another YA author's blog, Laini Taylor. The scope of this world, and the images described are very different than other dystopian novels that are available right now. Althogh I enjoyed the world and the main characters very much, a supporting character stole the show for me. The creepy "El Capitan" was far beyond the most disturbing character in a book that is just full of them. I listened to the audible version, and the reader of his part diid an amazing job. This book paints pictures that just beg to be made into a movie.The characters themselves are all damaged people, especially the "pure". I can't say enough about this book. It stays with you, long after you finish the last page. More please!

The Detonations have reduced the world to ruins. Many people died and those that have survived are horrible scarred, fused to objects the happened to be around during the explosions, and/or mutated in some way. It's nine years after the blast. Pressia is almost sixteen and one of her hands is still fused to the doll's head she was holding when she was seven years old. She and her grandfather have been living in a defunct barbershop. She won't be able to barter with others and take care of her grandfather after she's 16 because the OSR, a brutal and violent military regime, recruits all residents at that age. There are also other survivors, ones that are Pure: without scars, deformations, or fusings. They live beneath a dome, protected from the Detonations. Their behavior is greatly restricted and boys groomed for their military are routinely programmed with obedience, strength, and speed. Not all of it works on Partridge, the son the foremost scientist. He suspects his mother survived the Detonations and is set on leaving the Dome and finding her. As Pressia tries to escape the OSR and Partridge tries to find his mother, they cross paths and both of their worlds are forever changed as they work together.I loved Pure to little tiny bits. Despite its considerable length, I read it in a few days because the story grabbed me and wouldn't let go. The writing especially just sucked me into the unique world filled with scarred people fused to things or each other and inside the dome people who are physically perfect, even enhancing their bodies. The different types of fusing interested me because some were beautiful or unique despite the pain they had to endure and some were horrific and sapped the humanity out of the people. Bradwell had living birds fused to his back, which is such an interesting and oddly beautiful image despite its improbability. El Capitan and Helmud, on the other hand, were fused together with Helmud permanently affixed to El Capitan's back, only able to repeat his brother. It honestly wasn't that difficult to suspend my disbelief because these fusings made the characters come alive, be incredibly memorable, and outwardly express their inner flaws. This aspect gave the dystopia a dark undertone of horror that I really loved. The characters were each memorable not only because of their mutations and outward flaws, but also because of their dynamic personalities. Pressia, despite living in a world of desolation and horror, still created beauty and relished in what beauty she could find even if it sometimes put her in danger. She was fiercely loyal to her friends and family and didn't compromise herself even in the face of powerful opposition. Partridge sacrificed his own comfort and privilege to find out what happened to his mother. Bradwell was a little annoying, but eventually proved himself to be a great character. With Pressia, Bradwell, and Partridge, I thought the book was setting up to be a romance driven, love triangle mess that is often popular, but it didn't venture into that annoying territory.I loved Pure and I can't wait for the next in the series. The world was dynamic and interesting with wonderful and memorable characters. The plot twists really slapped me in the face at times and made the book exciting to read. If you don't like long books or lots of description, I would avoid this one. For everyone else, namely fans of dystopias and horror, I highly recommend this read.

Beginning of best dysopian epic since Hunger Games! Amazing, disturbing, rich, surreal look at the world after a series of nuclear detonations takes place to wipe the slate clean for a new "perfect" race of humans. A huge dome protects a city of the chosen, but outside the dome there are survivors--also known as wretches--who managed to survive the blasts but in a wide array of disfigurements. The story follows people both inside of and outside of the dome, and how their lives differ, intersect, and might eventually start to make the world and the human race whole again. Great storytelling!

Pure takes place in a post-atomic bomb landscape. Those unlucky enough to not make it into the Dome were either killed or suffered horrible fusings with other people/items. Pressia is on the verge of turning 16 when she must turn herself in to the OSR. Her grandfather hides her but she must flee. Partridge is a young man growing up with a tyrannical father in the Dome where he is being "coded". He escapes the Dome in search of his mother. Partridge, Pressia, and Bradwell struggle against multiple foes to reach Partridge's mother. The book was fast-paced and interesting. Some of the language was awkward. The charactes are well-developed and descriptions are vivid. All in all, a decent entry into dystopian fiction.

After the detonations the world has clearly been divided into the haves, who live in a fully prepared dome and our physically perfect, and the have nots who managed to survive but in various gruesome states. There is quite a bit going on in this novel, almost too much, with many descriptions of the horrors encountered after the blast. The strength in this book lies in the characters. I really liked Partridge and his mission, liked Lydia the girl left behind and Pressia's grandfather, who now has a fan for a throat but only wants to protect his granddaughter. Pressia is interesting herself, but I feel that I do not know her very well yet but I think that is because she is just beginning to know herself. I believe this is the first book of a trilogy so it will be interesting to see how the storylines develop in the next book. Did enjoy it, it was very different from the other post apocalyptic novels.

I wanted to like this. At first, I thought I could: the world-building is such that I haven't seen many other dystopian books comparable in its thoroughness and believability. There is a given reason for why some people live inside a dome and some people live outside. There is a given reason for how it came to be that so many people living outside the dome have odd toys and contraptions and other things fused to their bodies. How hard is it to give a reason for why things are the way they are in your story??!Unfortunately, I was unable to get very far into PURE before I realized that I felt little to no investment in the characters. The story is well written, definitely, but the plot moves at a snail's pace, and it's not a very attractive or interesting snail, at that. I liked the world of PURE, but this, I guess, wasn't the story I wanted out of this world full of very interesting possibilities.

WOW! This book completely surprised me with it great detailing of an apocalyptic world. I love dystopian books. I was so excited to dive into this book. It gave me exactly what I wanted and more.What really hooked me in this book is the world created in it. I love being taken out of my world and put into the world that author made. The way the world was describe, the emotions that flowed from page to page, left me the feeling of being in the characters shoes. Pure, gave me the moment of aweness where the whole world around me fell down and I fell into the pages of adventure.The secrets exposed in the book left me feeling exciting. I loved following the characters and being in the same position they are. As I read the book, the plot pacing is good. There are a few points in the story that for me slow down, but again Ms. Baggot built up the plot leading the reader further in to the world.For me, the best part of the book is the feeling of contentment in the end. I really enjoyed being in the world. That is the best part of reading. Leaving the real world and enjoying a great fantasy.Pure aims at the readers heart with adventure, action, and two people searching for answers. Pure delivers a well crafted apocalyptic world that's engaging in every twist and turn. I can't wait to read what the next book holds!

The dystopian war that Baggott creates is terrifying, brutal and strangely addictive. The imagery was so raw and gruesome as times that I instinctively closed my eyes from the picture, cringing while I forced them back open to read the rest of the words. If dystopian is what you are looking for, Pure is consuming world to explore.The Earth is struggling to recreate itself after the Detonations, the explosions of radiation that left the planet virtually barren. Those who survived carry their scars on their bodies, fused to items that were touching them at the time. A doll head fist, birds embedding into a back, a brother latched onto a neck, children clutching their mothers' legs... the items, the people, become one. The only people who do not carry such burdens are the Pures, those who were safely in the Dome before the radiation hit. But now a Pure has escaped. Pressia finds herself connected to him and sent on a journey that uncovers the secrets of the past she's forgotten.A+ to Baggot for the world she's created. My only real criticism lies in one of the characters. Namely, Pressia. She is sixteen but the whole time I imagined her much younger. If anything, the struggles she's been put through should make her seem older, not the other way around. This discrepancy kind of through off my interpretation of some of the events. If you are shying away from this title because of my initial description, please note that not every page is gruesome or bloody. The world is brutal in itself; it is decimated. However, there were only three or four times that I would consider hard to read. Overall, if dystopian is your thing, I'd recommend Pure. This novel is a YA - Adult crossover, so the wording and world is created for an older audience. Teens would have no trouble reading it, I just thought it of use to mention that this book was written for adults.

I am developing a love-hate relationship with books that are part of a series. I love that the story continues and that I get to visit some of my favorite characters again, but I hate waiting for the other books to come out. I want instant gratification! I do not want to wait to see what happens!OK, now that I got that out of my system, I can proceed to the book review....There seems to be a lot of debates out there about the genre that this book falls into. Is it YA or adult dystopian or is it a "crossover"?? When I was growing up we only had two genres, fiction and non-fiction. I don't really think it matters what genre you place this book in. I read what I like. And I liked Pure.Now, not everyone is going to agree with me about this book (no matter what their age is). Which is part of why I liked it. This a dark, dark world. It's not a happy place to be. There is very little romance and the heroine is not beautiful, kind and brilliant. This is a world that the conspiracy theorists will love! This book is refreshingly different from anything I have read recently.The story is told from multiple characters view points. The writing was so well done, that I hardly noticed this until after I was finished with the book. Usually I have to stop and re-read pages of books that are written in this manner and I find it confusing and distracting. The author, Julianna Baggott makes the transition between characters seamless. Overall, it is a beautifully written novel. ( I didn't have the urge to grab my red pen and correct grammar and sentence structure once!)This is a world where the people of influence, power and wealth have isolated them selves from the rest of the population. Instead of a gated community and exclusive country club, they built a self contained Dome and plotted to destroy the rest of the population. They are the "Pures". Hitler and his Aryan race come to mind about now. This political undertone continues to be just barely submerged beneath the surface of the plot.The bombs are detonated. The people outside the dome suffer but continue to survive in their damaged world. Instead of the genetic experiments and concentration camps of the Holocaust, the detonations were engineered to destroy and create genetic mutations. People fused with whatever objects they happened to be near at the time. The results are so bizarre and deeply disturbing that it adds a surreal feeling to the book, an almost "nightmarish" feeling of horror that persists throughout the book. This is where the book begins.These mutated characters are fascinating, yet repulsive. Pressia is the "heroine" of this tale, but as I mentioned above, is not your typical heroine. She has mutations like all of the others, but I found hers to be particularly freakish. Despite this, Pressia is resilient and resourceful. She evolves as the book progresses and becomes stronger even though she is discovering some horrific facts about her life pre-detonation. Not a lot of action takes place in beginning chapters. But the author uses this part of the book to vividly describes the world and it's inhabitants. The pace of the book picks up in the second half of the story. The first half didn't drag, but there was a tremendous amount of world building and detailed description needed to set the tone of this world. It is worth the wait.When I read the first book of a series, I try to treat it as a prologue to the rest of the series. There will be unanswered questions and parts of the plot that are not resolved. I have to remind myself of this as I get near the end of the book and everything is not neatly resolved. (back to the love-hate thing...) But, I am ready for more! I need to know what happens!As dark as this story is, I didn't find it depressing. At the end you are left with a little glimmer of hope for the main characters and their world.P.S. The book cover art is beautiful and intriguing!Thanks to Netgalley and the author for allowing me the opportunity to read and provide an honest review this book.

This is an above-average distopia, aimed at older teens. That it held my attention is obvious from the fact that I read it at a sitting. 'The Detonations' - a series of nuclear explosions - have rendered ordinary life on the planet (or at least in the USA, we don't know about the rest) impossible. Those in the know, or somehow favoured, were able to take shelter beforehand in an enormous dome that provides a safe, self-contained world. But there are people outside, survivors known as 'wretches' - a word that implies disgust as well as pity. For the bombs were not simply nuclear, they contained some sort of technology that has meant that whatever the surviviors were touching or holding when caught in the blast has somehow fused with their bodies... In a tale that owes something to 'Logan's Run', 'The Road', 'Brave New World', and 'The Handmaid's Tale', Baggott does not depart from the expected arc of the story - a boy and a girl from wildly different worlds meet, find a cause in common, and fight for freedom together - but she brings her protagonists together convincingly, and the other characters we meet are interesting in their own right. The strength of the story is in the depiction of this strange and horrible world, and the plot, although exciting, does not quite rise to the same level as the frightening underlying idea. The ending is surprising in its violence, and a little too obviously setting us up for the sequel.However, the incidental detail is very good indeed, and I especially liked the sideswipe at the 'improved' suburban America (that's where 'The Handmaid's Tale' fits in). I will be buying the next volume.