Review: Pure (Pure #1) by Julianna Baggott

Pure (Pure #1)

by Julianna Baggott

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.

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: February 8th 2012

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Format: eARC, 448 pages 

Series:yes

Source: Netgalley

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My Review

It's been nine years since The Detonations. The skies are filled with blackened clouds and the air is thick with ash and dust, maing it dangerous to breathe. After the bombs, nothing was the same. Everything was either partially or completely destroyed. The water was black with deadly chemicals. Those that did survive had lost limbs and other body parts, or had gained new, bizarre ones. But not those inside the Dome. They were safe. And, at first, were the only hope for those outside.

Pressia Belze lives with her grandfather, her only remaining family, in the backroom of a burned out barbershop. But he's getting old and forgetful, unfit to take care of himself... and Pressia is about to turn 16, which means the ORS is coming for her soon. They'll take her away and train her to kill by using live targets. Who are the targets? Anyone who was too deformed by the bombs.

Pressia wonders about life inside the Dome. Do 16-year-olds have birthday parties, with cake, gifts and music? Well, she certainly does not. Life would be so much different if she were inside the Dome... if she were a Pure. But would it really be better than her life outside? She used to think so, until meets an actual Pure.

Partridge has lost his mother when she failed to enter the Dome by trying to help others. Later on, he lost his brother, who killed himself because of the pressure. He only has his father, a very important man inside the Dome, but he doesn't seem to care much about him at all. Life inside the Dome starts to bother him more and more, and when he finds his mother's old tokens, he starts to wonder if she is really dead, like his father says. What if she's still out there? 

He starts to plan an escape... and when he does get out there, he's surprised to find out that maybe not all he was taught inside the classroom was true. When Pressia, also a runaway, saves his life, he asks for help with the search. She introduces him to Bradwell, a 'friend' who can help, and then they go to the old street where his house used to be. They look for clues for his mother's whereabouts, and discover she might actually be alive... but the ORS manages to capture Pressia, and now it's his turn to save her.

Pure has a very interesting story, and gives us a very frightening look into what could actually happen if there was a Nuclear war. 

There's a girl with a doll head molded to her hand, a guy with birds stuck to his back and a Pure, together in search for the truth. Sounds pretty good, right? But while you're reading, you start to have SO many questions! You just want to know, so, so bad, about what really happened before, why was it necessary and who was behind it all!? But it takes a while to find out. A looong while. The story starts to drag a bit. And... oh, dear. I just couldn't bring myself to really care about the characters...We're introduced to so many! Sometimes it feelt like a lot of superflous stuff was happening... and that the book had more pages than were necessary, I guess. Maybe those things (and people) will make more sense in the next books? Who knows? 

If you like your young adult dystopia with a post apocalyptic setting and a quite realistic possibility of the future, you should give Pure a try.

*I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*