Published: February 8th, 201
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 431
Copy: Library
Summary: Goodreads
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
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
When this first came out I have to admit that I was a little burnt out on dystopian/apocalyptic titles, so I gave it a pass. However, a short while ago I was asked to review 'Burn' which is the final book in the series. I declined unfortunately, because I didn't think I could do the book justice with not having read the first two. Of course, that got me thinking and I searched out a copy of Pure so that I could give it a go. I am so glad that I did.
Pure is somewhat unique in its premise in that the 'event' that causes the apocalyptic state has been engineered, and the resulting devastation has produced some incredibly unique individuals, or not so individuals. Yes I do mean that! Baggott's world is populated by 'pure's' and by others and the others are like nothing I have ever read about before. Human beings who have become fused - to other humans or to 'things.
Pressia, the protagonist, has a dolls head fused to one hand. Bradwell has birds fused to his back. Pressia's grandfather has a fan fused to his trachea. The visuals I imagined from the descriptions in the book were eerie and weird. Add in some people who are fused to the earth itself and others that are fused together and this is a well thought out world that will give you nightmares. Then of course there is the Dome, where the Pures live. Life as normal right? No, not at all. These Pures are being bio-engineered to be bigger, better, stronger, smarter ..... Such world building! The characters, for all their differences, were very easy to connect with
Pure fascinated me from start to finish. There is some mystery about Pressia's birth. There is mystery about Partridge's mother. Why did Partridge get out of the Dome so easily? What is in store for Lyda, whom he left behind. So many questions, and most of them answered, but not all. Just enough left unanswered to guarantee that I'll be hunting out the second book, 'Fuse', very soon - in fact it's already on hold at the library.
An absolute must for fans of apocalyptic fiction if you haven't read it yet. It's also a great time to read it as 'Burn' came out at the beginning of this month, so you won't have to wait to finish the trilogy.
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