Not Any old Thriller

By Jaiden L.

The year is 2076 and there are less than 50,000 humans left on the planet Earth. The human race is a dying species; RM, the disease that the Partials engineered to wipe out humanity, has ensured that. Yes, we created the Partials to fight for us, to be killing machines, but we didn't think they'd turn against us, wiping out most and leaving the rest unable to have children. If we can't reproduce, we will die; that much is certain.

For Kira, a sixteen-year-old nurse, enough is enough. She can't bear to deliver another baby, to have to tell another hopeful mother that her child is dead. What's more, the Hope Act, which declares that all women eighteen and over have to be pregnant at all times, uses women as breeding machines with minimal results. Every baby still dies hours after it's born.

Kira decides that the only answer is to somehow find a cure for RM. Although the world's best (remaining) scientists have been working on finding a cure and healing humanity, Kira thinks she can do better. She's clever and resourceful, and she's willing to take risks that no one else is. Kira puts together a daring, treasonous plan, knowing that she may be the last hope for humanity.

It's easy to think of Partials as just another post-apocalyptic dystopian young adult thriller, but there's a lot about it that's very different than much of what's out there. First of all, though Kira and what's left of humanity live under an oppressive government, their lives aren't horrible. They have sustenance, and because it was a disease that killed humanity, all the infrastructure and resources are intact. It's unique, which is hard to find these days. Also, it doesn't really come across as young adult. Yes, Kira is sixteen, but she and others her age are expected to act like adults, and they do just that. There's no real romantic drama, and not much teenage angst we see so much of these days.

The story itself is really what's so good about it. Sure there are lots of books about robot wars, but this one is very distinct from the rest. There are a lot of questions surrounding the book – where are the Partials now? And why haven't they wiped out what's left of humanity? Wells does a great job revealing information whilst keeping the reader in anticipation of the next chapter, the next issue, the next big thing. While some of the plot twists are predictable, others are jaw dropping. It makes for an incredibly entertaining read.

That's not to say the book is perfect—the writing can be clunky at times and the dialogue isn't really realistic. But as the book moves on, these issues move to the background as the story becomes explosive and the stakes are heightened. In the end, all of the little problems with the book swiftly dissipate, as Partials is a crazy fun novel to read, and the ending will no doubt have the readers dying for the next book in the series.