Reviews

Pure by Julianna Baggott

janaw71's review against another edition

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4.0

4 soft and sweet whoopie pies.

Cover Love: Actually, yes. I really like it. However, I don't feel it matches the book nor is it very eye catching.

Why I Wanted to Read This:
I was sitting around really feeling over dystopian books, so this one wasn't very high on my radar. However, I started seeing good reviews and knew I liked Julianna Baggott's writing so I decided to give it a try.

Read the rest of this review here on my blog.

balewi3's review against another edition

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2.0

Bland and unimaginative.

sherrish_'s review against another edition

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5.0

it's a stunning coming of age story. With a good degree of character development and amazing characters!

welsh011's review against another edition

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4.0

Fantastic book! made it onto the NYT top 100 books of the year with good reason.
post-apocalyptic world story, with teens as the main characters. They do not kill each other for sport (like the hunger games), but do have to kill to survive on occasion.
Basic premise: nuclear war hits, the lucky head to "the Dome" to live in a controlled environment. everyone else is left outside to fend for themselves, often fusing to the objects they are near.
It's the first of a series, 2nd book coming out soon.

mishab's review against another edition

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4.0

It wss very interesting, and now I have to wait for book two!

hccoleman's review against another edition

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3.0

Although I found the author's use of pronouns sightly jarring at first I enjoyed the book. Unfortunately it's a trilogy...and they're spaced to be released within a year of each other.

betterthanhamlet's review against another edition

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1.0

Too much. Too much gross-out game with the mutations and injury. As a parent, I honestly had a really hard time reading about all these kids who no one took care of. Just too painful for me and the book did not seem to have something larger to say to make it worth it. Did not finish.

nancyadelman's review against another edition

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5.0

Pressia is about to turn 16. And that's a real problem for her living in the Detonation Zone. Because when you turn 16 out here you either join the militia or become target practice for the militia. Pressia lives with her Grandfather in an old Barber Shop. She has no memory of life Before the Detonation but Grandfather tells her that she went to Disney and saw an oversized mouse with white gloves. The people who live in the Dome are the Pures and they supposedly live a life of luxury. The Pures don't have to be in the militia or be target practice and they aren't scarred by permanent mutations that the Detonation Zone people live with everyday. Pressia's mutation is a doll's head fused to where her left hand should be. Everyone has a mutation. Even the very dust itself.

This book reminded me a lof of the Hunger Games series. It involves a dystopian world, rebuilt on the ashes of an apocalyptic event. There are mutants everywhere and new rules of living. And secrets. So many secrets. The characters are really well developed such that the reader's opinion of them changes as the story progresses and more facets of them become known. The story is told in alternating points of view of Pressia and a couple of other characters; the chapters are named according to whose mind the reader will be in. The setting is meant to be in somewhere in the United States, though I suspect it is California for a couple of reasons I will not mention here. There is violence scattered throughout the book. There is no use of alcohol or substance abuse. There are no sex scenes: there is a single kiss in this book. I was not expecting to have to read a series but this book does end on a cliffhanger and there are 3 other books in this series according to Goodreads. I quite enjoyed this book and am already looking forward to starting on the sequel. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a young-adult type of action-adventure. 5 stars!

whatismayareading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I loved this book as a kid and it holds up. It’s super dark and weird and I don’t know how I read it as a teen, because it’s intense. The pacing is a little quick, however. The first half of the book is thoughtful and builds and explains the world, but then so much happens rapidly in the second half which made it harder to follow and didn’t allow me to sink into the action or the drama. Regardless, I still think this book would make a great HBO max mini series.

kallsie's review against another edition

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5.0

May be this was inspired by the HG, may be not, but this is something else! The concepts are fantastically bizarre but work well, the characters are all very human and those we are supposed to empathize with we do. I did like seeing the plot unfold from the two different perspectives. I liked the speed at which the author chose to reveal important facts. The flow of the novel was fantastic and has completely whetted my appetite for more and I await the sequel with great anticipation and much expectation of greatness!