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mymiddlename123's review against another edition
DNF 69%
It's very rare for me to not finish a book, even if I'm not enjoying it all that much. I like to give books a fair chance to make up for the beginning. It can be hard to grab someone, pull them into the story and not let go. But with Pure I feel like I gave it a pretty decent chance, having gotten to about 69% on my Kindle, but I just could not keep going any longer.
It's not so much that it's a terrible book. It's not really. But this post-apocalyptic novel is quite a shocking and disturbing one. I'm not sure if it's my mood or what, but I just could not get past the visuals and overall icky-ness of this novel.
Let me just paint you a little picture here. Imagine our world is "detonated", at least that's what they call it in this book. Then take that one step further. This detonation does not just kill people or injure people. But it changes people on a molecular level, it merges people with other people and things, even buildings and the ground we walk on. So imagine this new world does not have anyone who is "normal" looking, but everyone has some kind of deformation. People are attached for life to whatever it is they were touching at the time of the detonation. Toys, people (including children and babies), walls, cellphones, pets, whatever it may be. If they were touching it, it's forever apart of them. So yeah. Imagine that for a second. What are you touching now? Your phone, keyboard and/or your mouse probably. You want that attached to you forever?
It's gross. It's obvious that Julianna Baggott was going for major shock value here, and for that I applaud her because it's quite imaginative the things she comes up with in this book, which is the only reason I've given this an extra star (usually I give books I can't finish one star). But the thing is that it got to be a little bit heavy handed on the shock factor. Perhaps I should have just gotten bored with that, but it just proved to disgust me more and more until I couldn't take it anymore.
Perhaps I could have gotten past the gross parts if it had been for a more interesting plot line. But I wasn't really even all that interested in where the story was headed, and I wasn't even attached to any of the characters all that much. Everything and everyone is just too strange and disconnected that I couldn't relate to any of it.
If you're interested in a book that will shock, disturb you, and make you squirm a bit, then you might like this. If not, then you should probably stay far, far away.
It's very rare for me to not finish a book, even if I'm not enjoying it all that much. I like to give books a fair chance to make up for the beginning. It can be hard to grab someone, pull them into the story and not let go. But with Pure I feel like I gave it a pretty decent chance, having gotten to about 69% on my Kindle, but I just could not keep going any longer.
It's not so much that it's a terrible book. It's not really. But this post-apocalyptic novel is quite a shocking and disturbing one. I'm not sure if it's my mood or what, but I just could not get past the visuals and overall icky-ness of this novel.
Let me just paint you a little picture here. Imagine our world is "detonated", at least that's what they call it in this book. Then take that one step further. This detonation does not just kill people or injure people. But it changes people on a molecular level, it merges people with other people and things, even buildings and the ground we walk on. So imagine this new world does not have anyone who is "normal" looking, but everyone has some kind of deformation. People are attached for life to whatever it is they were touching at the time of the detonation. Toys, people (including children and babies), walls, cellphones, pets, whatever it may be. If they were touching it, it's forever apart of them. So yeah. Imagine that for a second. What are you touching now? Your phone, keyboard and/or your mouse probably. You want that attached to you forever?
It's gross. It's obvious that Julianna Baggott was going for major shock value here, and for that I applaud her because it's quite imaginative the things she comes up with in this book, which is the only reason I've given this an extra star (usually I give books I can't finish one star). But the thing is that it got to be a little bit heavy handed on the shock factor. Perhaps I should have just gotten bored with that, but it just proved to disgust me more and more until I couldn't take it anymore.
Perhaps I could have gotten past the gross parts if it had been for a more interesting plot line. But I wasn't really even all that interested in where the story was headed, and I wasn't even attached to any of the characters all that much. Everything and everyone is just too strange and disconnected that I couldn't relate to any of it.
If you're interested in a book that will shock, disturb you, and make you squirm a bit, then you might like this. If not, then you should probably stay far, far away.
secretmagic's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't know much about this book and series before I started reading it, other than a work mate loved and that the tagline said fans of The Hunger Games would enjoy the series. I'm always nervous about recommendations like that, with strong comparisons to BIG book franchises; but I LOVED this book! It wasn't perfect, but it was an addictive, on-the-edge-of-my-seat, action-packed story. One of the best dystopian/sci-fi novels I've read in a while.
We start the story with an introduction to the changed world Pure is set in. An atomic explosion has rocked the world, causing surviving humans to fuse with living and inanimate objects - dolls, birds, other humans, cars - anything they were connected to at the time of the explosion. These changes alone would have made for an interesting storyline, but not all humans faced the Detonations. Some were saving in a Dome structure set to regulate air and sustain human life. These people were protected from fusing to objects and are known as The Pure - not a single defect on them. There was so much potential drama between these two settings that my heart was soaring. Rebellion? War? Forbidden love? I couldn't decide which one I was hoping to see. In the end, rebellion and war were the one's that won out for me, especially because my chosen relationship occurred outside the Dome and Pure sphere.
This book was a perfect example of when third person stories work so well. Out two main characters - Pressia (a girl from outside the Dome) and Partridge (a boy 'lucky' enough to be saved by the Dome) - both have equal POV page time, showing life on the outside, the twisted system inside the Dome and the clash of worlds when these two meet. There are a couple of other POV changes throughout the story, which at times weren't really necessary, but it all worked out ok for me. I loved having these two voices and views - they were strong, detailed and made it easy to fall into their world. And what I loved more was that there was not even a speck of romance hinted between them. I'll admit, I worried at the start that there might be, especially when I decided - long before there was any obvious chemistry and before Pressia and Partridge me - that I wanted Pressia to end up with the courageous, intelligent and loyal Bradwell, another boy from outside the Dome with birds fused into his back.
But relationships aside - because they were actually a minor part of the story - I loved the action in Pure. We're introduced to the idea of a militia group on the outside, intent on recruiting any 16 year old kid and turning them into soldiers to fight against the Pure. But a twist midway through the book turns everything on it's head and we find out not everything about the Dome is quite what Pressia or Partridge have been led to believe. And now it's time to fight against the Dome - there was just so much action!
My only complaints were that some of the plot-points popped up out of nowhere. We're not told exactly what time the story is set in. You assume it's a bit in the future, because Children were being chipped with tracking devices and biotechnology developments were a lot bigger than I expect they're at now (not that I would really know). It was all a bit uncertain where the story was placed in terms of our own timeline. Pressia, Bradwell and Partridge were also very quick to figure out important changes for the story. They would have no clue what their next move should be, but someone would say one word and suddenly all doors were open again - and everything was explained like it was obvious, even though it was completely unknown 2 sentences ago. But this didn't stop me from loving the book.
I'm so happy the third book was just been released, because it means I can get my hands on books 2 and 3 as soon as I can. Looking forward to it!
4.5/5 stars
We start the story with an introduction to the changed world Pure is set in. An atomic explosion has rocked the world, causing surviving humans to fuse with living and inanimate objects - dolls, birds, other humans, cars - anything they were connected to at the time of the explosion. These changes alone would have made for an interesting storyline, but not all humans faced the Detonations. Some were saving in a Dome structure set to regulate air and sustain human life. These people were protected from fusing to objects and are known as The Pure - not a single defect on them. There was so much potential drama between these two settings that my heart was soaring. Rebellion? War? Forbidden love? I couldn't decide which one I was hoping to see. In the end, rebellion and war were the one's that won out for me, especially because my chosen relationship occurred outside the Dome and Pure sphere.
This book was a perfect example of when third person stories work so well. Out two main characters - Pressia (a girl from outside the Dome) and Partridge (a boy 'lucky' enough to be saved by the Dome) - both have equal POV page time, showing life on the outside, the twisted system inside the Dome and the clash of worlds when these two meet. There are a couple of other POV changes throughout the story, which at times weren't really necessary, but it all worked out ok for me. I loved having these two voices and views - they were strong, detailed and made it easy to fall into their world. And what I loved more was that there was not even a speck of romance hinted between them. I'll admit, I worried at the start that there might be, especially when I decided - long before there was any obvious chemistry and before Pressia and Partridge me - that I wanted Pressia to end up with the courageous, intelligent and loyal Bradwell, another boy from outside the Dome with birds fused into his back.
But relationships aside - because they were actually a minor part of the story - I loved the action in Pure. We're introduced to the idea of a militia group on the outside, intent on recruiting any 16 year old kid and turning them into soldiers to fight against the Pure. But a twist midway through the book turns everything on it's head and we find out not everything about the Dome is quite what Pressia or Partridge have been led to believe. And now it's time to fight against the Dome - there was just so much action!
My only complaints were that some of the plot-points popped up out of nowhere. We're not told exactly what time the story is set in. You assume it's a bit in the future, because Children were being chipped with tracking devices and biotechnology developments were a lot bigger than I expect they're at now (not that I would really know). It was all a bit uncertain where the story was placed in terms of our own timeline. Pressia, Bradwell and Partridge were also very quick to figure out important changes for the story. They would have no clue what their next move should be, but someone would say one word and suddenly all doors were open again - and everything was explained like it was obvious, even though it was completely unknown 2 sentences ago. But this didn't stop me from loving the book.
I'm so happy the third book was just been released, because it means I can get my hands on books 2 and 3 as soon as I can. Looking forward to it!
4.5/5 stars
ms_morri1's review against another edition
1.0
This book is just not for me. I wasn’t into the story or the characters, so I decided to DNF it.
danoreading's review against another edition
4.0
A strong addition to the post-apocalyptic/dystopian field. I've seen this marketed as both YA and adult, and really it could go either way. It's a bit grittier than some of the stuff in the YA field - it's definitely intensely violent - but teens should love it.
mxharriet's review against another edition
4.0
*Received from Publisher in exchange for an honest review*
This was a darkly imaginative, unique, thrilling, action-packed yet emotional novel where at one point you are happy then 'BAM!' your angry and sad. I am not a massive fan of the cover, though it is simple and I love the font, I feel like there needs to be something else there.
When a nucleur detonation hits America, civilisation is separated. Pures live inside the Dome whilst the Savages live outside in the contaminated surrounding. And they hate one another. However, the Dome is definitely not as perfect as it first appears to be, people are controlled and unable to break lose. But on the outside things aren't much better as they are herded like wild animals by OSR. But when the creator of the Dome's last son Partridge, and Pressia who is to be collected by the OSR, their pathways soon intertwine allowing secrets and history to become uncovered.
Pressia is a strong and independent character, she is driven to protect the ones she loves but also those around her. She is intelligent, though her judgement can seem to be clouded by others meaning she sometimes came across as a 'follower'. Her past, alongside both Partridge's and Branwell's was incredibly intriguing and helped to understand the causes of their personalities and characteristics; they were all very interesting and perceptive characters. Being able to explore the novel through the eyes of all four key characters was a brilliant bonus to the novel as you were able to explore different perspectives on the events, but also how someones actions can affect others.
The plot and concept of this novel was incredibly intriguing, the idea of how people are fused to the object or person they were with at the time of the detonations is very dark yet something that you want to learn more about. The world Baggott created is strange to encounter, where children do not know about 3D glasses and cinemas, it is strange to read about their elders explain to them what they are as they are something that is very normal in many of our lives.
This is a brilliant start to what I can imaging is going to be an emotional yet darkly captivating trilogy, but also with a huge amount of action and self discovery. I cannot wait to dive straight into the sequel, Fuse.
This was a darkly imaginative, unique, thrilling, action-packed yet emotional novel where at one point you are happy then 'BAM!' your angry and sad. I am not a massive fan of the cover, though it is simple and I love the font, I feel like there needs to be something else there.
When a nucleur detonation hits America, civilisation is separated. Pures live inside the Dome whilst the Savages live outside in the contaminated surrounding. And they hate one another. However, the Dome is definitely not as perfect as it first appears to be, people are controlled and unable to break lose. But on the outside things aren't much better as they are herded like wild animals by OSR. But when the creator of the Dome's last son Partridge, and Pressia who is to be collected by the OSR, their pathways soon intertwine allowing secrets and history to become uncovered.
Pressia is a strong and independent character, she is driven to protect the ones she loves but also those around her. She is intelligent, though her judgement can seem to be clouded by others meaning she sometimes came across as a 'follower'. Her past, alongside both Partridge's and Branwell's was incredibly intriguing and helped to understand the causes of their personalities and characteristics; they were all very interesting and perceptive characters. Being able to explore the novel through the eyes of all four key characters was a brilliant bonus to the novel as you were able to explore different perspectives on the events, but also how someones actions can affect others.
The plot and concept of this novel was incredibly intriguing, the idea of how people are fused to the object or person they were with at the time of the detonations is very dark yet something that you want to learn more about. The world Baggott created is strange to encounter, where children do not know about 3D glasses and cinemas, it is strange to read about their elders explain to them what they are as they are something that is very normal in many of our lives.
This is a brilliant start to what I can imaging is going to be an emotional yet darkly captivating trilogy, but also with a huge amount of action and self discovery. I cannot wait to dive straight into the sequel, Fuse.
ihateprozac's review against another edition
5.0
Pure is genuinely the most unique, interesting young adult dystopian novels I’ve read since Neal Shusterman’s Unwind series. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic America where some of the lucky elite live in a dome, sheltered from the effects of a cataclysmic nuclear blast. For the rest of the world it’s survival of the fittest, with the “wretches” (survivors) having melted and fused with their environments at the point of impact. This results in a protagonist with a melted doll’s head for a hand, and a boy with a flock of living birds fused to his back. It’s strangely beautiful, and yet your jaw will drop open in disgust every time the author describes a new character.
I don’t want to give away much of the story, but it basically entails a boy trying to escape the Dome, and a girl trying to understand the Dome. We’re initially told that the Dome was built with good intentions, but being a dystopian young adult sci-fi story, we know that’s not really the case. The leadership have nefarious motives, and death is just a cover story for a larger operation….
The mythology in this series is nothing short of amazing. I’ve never seen anybody build a world like this, where people fuse with objects, animals, and with each other. The Dusts were terrifying, the Beasts horrifying, and the Groupies just too sad and disgusting for words. The image of El Capitan having to carry around a malformed brother who “isn’t all there” for his whole life is so upsetting. And while “the boy with the birds in his back” is a beautiful image and turn of phrase, it’s tragic to think that these creatures are stuck and that Bradwell has never actually been able to see what type of birds they are. Then there are Pressia’s mother and Ingership’s wife, who are like something straight out of American Horror Story.... *shudders*
I’m so damn glad to find a young adult dystopian series that doesn’t have a love triangle at its core. I’m tired of authors trying to inject drama using that old chestnut, leave it to brainless mush like The Vampire Diaries. Spend enough time crafting your world and mythology so that your story doesn’t need to resort to cheap tricks to add conflict.
I don’t want to go into detail on my hopes for the next novel, because I don’t want to spoil it for everyone. But there are a lot of people I’m hoping aren’t as dead as we’ve been led to believe, and I’m excited to see more of what goes on behind the scenes in the Dome. I want to learn more about Willux’ state and Pressia’s family. I want to know if Helmud is secretly incredibly intelligent and just flying under the radar, or if his one moment of heroism was a complete fluke. I also want to learn more about Freedle and other creatures who were caught in the blast, because I spent the whole novel wondering if he was alive, or simply a wind up toy….
Overall: This is the most disturbing, creative and beautiful mythology I’ve seen in a dystopian novel since I read Neal Shusterman’s Unwind series. If you’re sick of love triangles and generic “let’s overthrow the totalitarian government” storylines, give this a shot. I can’t get enough of it.
I don’t want to give away much of the story, but it basically entails a boy trying to escape the Dome, and a girl trying to understand the Dome. We’re initially told that the Dome was built with good intentions, but being a dystopian young adult sci-fi story, we know that’s not really the case. The leadership have nefarious motives, and death is just a cover story for a larger operation….
The mythology in this series is nothing short of amazing. I’ve never seen anybody build a world like this, where people fuse with objects, animals, and with each other. The Dusts were terrifying, the Beasts horrifying, and the Groupies just too sad and disgusting for words. The image of El Capitan having to carry around a malformed brother who “isn’t all there” for his whole life is so upsetting. And while “the boy with the birds in his back” is a beautiful image and turn of phrase, it’s tragic to think that these creatures are stuck and that Bradwell has never actually been able to see what type of birds they are. Then there are Pressia’s mother and Ingership’s wife, who are like something straight out of American Horror Story.... *shudders*
I’m so damn glad to find a young adult dystopian series that doesn’t have a love triangle at its core. I’m tired of authors trying to inject drama using that old chestnut, leave it to brainless mush like The Vampire Diaries. Spend enough time crafting your world and mythology so that your story doesn’t need to resort to cheap tricks to add conflict.
I don’t want to go into detail on my hopes for the next novel, because I don’t want to spoil it for everyone. But there are a lot of people I’m hoping aren’t as dead as we’ve been led to believe, and I’m excited to see more of what goes on behind the scenes in the Dome. I want to learn more about Willux’ state and Pressia’s family. I want to know if Helmud is secretly incredibly intelligent and just flying under the radar, or if his one moment of heroism was a complete fluke. I also want to learn more about Freedle and other creatures who were caught in the blast, because I spent the whole novel wondering if he was alive, or simply a wind up toy….
Overall: This is the most disturbing, creative and beautiful mythology I’ve seen in a dystopian novel since I read Neal Shusterman’s Unwind series. If you’re sick of love triangles and generic “let’s overthrow the totalitarian government” storylines, give this a shot. I can’t get enough of it.
bwilcox's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing! I Loved the story line, and great concept. And I am in to dark book, and this was one :) I have to admit some parts where really disturbing..... I am so excited for the next one!
celiapowell's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed some of the world building of Pure - the aftermath of an atomic bomb, the Detonations, has caused people to fuse with items in their surroundings when the Detonations occurred - other people, glass, toys, household goods. Meanwhile, a section of humanity who retreated to a dome prior to the Detonations (called the Dome, of course) remain pure. That's why they're referred to as Pure. (Lord save us from dystopias and their fondness for capitalisation). It's a creepy concept, the whole fusing thing, but one element doesn't make a story, and unfortunately Pure's plotting didn't particularly grab me. There's a convoluted quest element to the story, a rather dull enemy and some boring action sequences. I don't think I'll be looking for the sequel.
lorilaws's review against another edition
4.0
Pure was nothing like what I was expecting. Nothing. It’s dark and twisty and crazy imaginative. It took me a little while to fall into the world, but once I did there was no looking back.
This is a very different dystopian. There are aspects that most books in the genre have, but Julianna Baggott takes everything just a few steps farther. Some of it, like the people fusing with objects or even animals parts, are horrifying and completely unimaginable. But that was what made me sit down and take notice of this story. Then there is the other aspect of corrupt, evil government turning on its own people. This is something that doesn’t seem too far fetched and that makes the story even more powerful.
The world in which Pure takes place was really my favorite part of the book. It’s a little on the disturbing side and if there’s anything out there like it I haven’t saw it. The book is told from alternating points of view. I found that I liked Pressia, she was strong and capable. I didn’t connect with Partridge as much, but once I found the rhythm of there voices I enjoyed the story much more. That took a little while, but it was worth it in the end. Oddly enough I really enjoyed El Capitan’s perspectives. He was very well developed and I just found him fascinating.
Overall I enjoyed Pure. It might not be a book for everyone since it’s on the darker side of dystopian, but it was a fantastic and richly detailed world.
This is a very different dystopian. There are aspects that most books in the genre have, but Julianna Baggott takes everything just a few steps farther. Some of it, like the people fusing with objects or even animals parts, are horrifying and completely unimaginable. But that was what made me sit down and take notice of this story. Then there is the other aspect of corrupt, evil government turning on its own people. This is something that doesn’t seem too far fetched and that makes the story even more powerful.
The world in which Pure takes place was really my favorite part of the book. It’s a little on the disturbing side and if there’s anything out there like it I haven’t saw it. The book is told from alternating points of view. I found that I liked Pressia, she was strong and capable. I didn’t connect with Partridge as much, but once I found the rhythm of there voices I enjoyed the story much more. That took a little while, but it was worth it in the end. Oddly enough I really enjoyed El Capitan’s perspectives. He was very well developed and I just found him fascinating.
Overall I enjoyed Pure. It might not be a book for everyone since it’s on the darker side of dystopian, but it was a fantastic and richly detailed world.