Julianna Baggott

Pure

Alina

** spoiler alert **
           After a big explosion, the main girl fused with a doll. While her grandfather had a fan merged into his body after being exposed to a massive, destructive explosion that destroyed the world as we knew it? It’s impossible. How could it be? With plastic, glass, and steel melted into their bodies, how are these people still alive without infection?

The genesis of Baggott’s new world order also intrigued me. I still find this part of the narrative irritating, despite understanding its importance.

The author had an idea that could make a great story. This book takes place in a dystopian future where people live inside the dome under strict rules and regulations. Partridge longs for escape and wants to discover the truth about the world they left behind. In the world outside the Dome, Pressia lives in fear for the mutants that were created by the detonations decades ago. Pure is a story of lies, radiation, friendships, and conspiracies... But what is more important: safety or freedom?

There was the potential for it to be fantastic. It could have been amazing.

The characters are fine, the action scenes are decent, and the author did not water down the cruelty and violence. How poorly the author handles plot twists is something I dislike.The author builds the world poorly, and I don't like it. The villains kill people for no reason at the end, which I dislike.

Even though I didn’t hate this book, I felt let down by Baggott’s plotting.

There is no guarantee that I will continue the series.

Joana Sá 

This book... I gave it a 2/5 stars, I had to force myself reading it. It took me almost half a month to finish this book, and it isn't that big. 
The beggining is... a big confusion. And too long. The real story only starts making sense in the last chapters. The plot twist was well planned, but.... the book tries too hard. 
There are a lot of visual things, and that was well done, but, again, "quality over quantity".
This was the first book in the series but I am pretty sure I won't read the second book, for me it's just not worth it.... even if the ending of this book is actually good.

Nicole Dykeman

1/17/2019 - Apparently I enjoyed this enough to give it five stars when I first read it, but I can say with confidence that I remember nothing about it seven years later except for the graphic descriptions of the "fused" characters that I remarked upon in my earlier review. I couldn't tell you anything about character names or plot. But I remember enjoying it nonetheless, so lowering to three stars. 

9/21/2012 - The single weirdest book I've ever read, and ask anyone, I read WEIRD books. I can honestly say I found this book even more out there than I usually go. Even so, it was great. It took a really imaginative mind to come up with something this extreme. 

I'm gonna put it out there and say if you have a weak stomach, don't read this. There are characters who are "fused" to objects they were holding during the Detonations, the bombing that destroyed the world outside the Dome. The author isn't afraid to give details on that. One of the main characters, Pressia, has an electric portable fan that got lodged in his throat. He's fused to it, so you can hear it whirring when he talks and whatnot. That just scratches the surface of it, which is why I say right now: If you can't handle that, you can't handle anything on these pages.

HOWEVER! The gross things aren't what make up the entire book. There really is a great plot, and the characters are easy to fall in love with (specifically Bradwell for me). I recommend it, honestly. Check it out if you're looking for something different!

Cassidy

I loved this book! It was a unique take on apocalypes ideas and very interesting. I did not want to put it down. It is also dark, which a quality that most books don't have, and when they do, the darkness can be easily messed up. But this was amazing and I am going to read the next book as soon as I can.

Alexandra Mellas

Publication Date: February 8th, 2012
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Country: United States
ISBN: 1455503061 
Original Language: English
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic/Romance 
 Source: NetGalley ARC
Buy the Book: Amazon
Lootability: Grab it and Go!

Pure is the new dystopian novel, and the first book in a new series by Julianna Baggott. Set in northern America after an event known as the 'Detonations', the world has been decimated and the survivors have had to adapt to their world in strange and terrifying ways. Many people were fused to strange objects thanks to the radioactive effects of the Detonations, while others have been changed into strange creatures of stone and dirt known as Dusts.
There are, however, a number of those who survived the detonations untouched. Protected by the dome, is an entire civilisation is safe from the poisoned earth, and undamaged by the detonations, they are known as Pures.

What I liked: I was fascinated by the fusings. It was confusing to begin with; I didn't really understand that these objects had fused into their skins and become a part of them. It is eventually explained and when it is...mind blown. It's the most amazing consequence of an apocalyptic world I've ever come across.
Pressia and Partidge both grow exponentially as characters; they start off quite naive, and let their experiences mature them.
The plot is confusing in some parts, but begins making sense as things go along. It is complex and engaging story that kept me desperate to read more (and distracted me during work!)

What I didn't like: As I've said, there were a lot of confusing aspects of the story that almost had me giving up. Fortunately, the characters were so engaging that I couldn't help myself. A lot of the talk of the Detonations and the evil plans of the Pures got a little too overbearing, and much too technical for me. Especially with all the talk of engineering, genetics and coding. I know there needs to be a history to the story but sometimes they get a little confusing.

Grab it and go!
Pure will be released next month, and the sequel Fuse is expected to be released later this year.

Toni Turner

Wow wow wow.
This was so beautiful! And sad! And i love all my tourtured babies. I didn't know reading this book would make me a mother but that's what happened. I just want to protect them all!!

Hope Lenzen

This book was surprisingly good. I put off reading it because I didn't like the fact that the guy's name was Partridge. But i'm glad I finally decided to give it a read. I loved how it wasn't a normal boy meets girl and they fall in love. It was a boy meets long lost sister and go through losing their mother together. And it just was a pleasure to read.

Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

** spoiler alert **
           WHY MUST EVERYONE DIE? Also, I really like Pressia's name, Emi Brigid. And I saw the THEY'RE RELATED OMG thing coming from the part where they weren't interested in eachother romantically. Also, SO FREAKING HAPPY there weren't any love triangles in this. PET PEEVE, let me tell you.

Jessica Nottingham

Where do I even start in my love for this book? Seriously. I picked up Pure on a whim, on a hunch that the cover was holding something immensely interesting, and I was dead on. Julianna Baggott doesn't just rehash the same old dystopia that is thrown around so often in young adult fiction. Far from it. What you'll find here, hidden in the pages of Pure, is a romp into the gritty and very realistic lives of those who survived the Detonations. It isn't pretty my friends, but it's fascinating.

Pressia's dystopian home is imagined and described beautifully. Baggott lures the reader into a world that has been torn apart. Whole towns leveled to the ground. People who are fused to inanimate objects, or worse yet, their own loved ones. What really comes through more than anything else here is the haunted existence that these survivors live. They've come to terms with who they are now, but so many of them cling to their remembrances of the "the Before" to stay sane. Those who survived only did so because they gave up a part of themselves. The hurt, the anguish, the spark of survival, Baggott shares it all with us through this dark and desolate world she puts her characters into.

In terms of the characters, I really enjoyed them all. From the Pressia, all the way down to the normal townspeople, each character is built lovingly and realistically. Pressia is a character who is hard not to fall for. Despite her self acknowledged flaws, she won't give up on herself or her companions. When things get tough, we meet Bradwell and Partridge. Bradwell is the epitome of what a survivor is. Never getting too close to anyone else. Until, that is, he meets Pressia. Partridge is a gorgeous mirror to the ugliness that surrounds Pressia and Bradwell. With his perfect clothes and skin, his enhanced DNA, he becomes the odd man out. However it is only by working together that these three can ultimately save themselves, and those around them.

I'm rambling I know. That's how much I enjoyed Pure. So much that I can't quite put into words how much I loved it. The action in this book is copious, the world is beautifully built, the characters are strong and lovable. Everything about Pure is new, refreshing and amazing. I've read dystopian fiction. I love dystopian fiction. It is because of this that I can say that Pure far outshines everything else I've read in this genre so far. If you are okay with a bit of grit in your reading, pick up Julianna Baggott's new book and prepare to be sucked in.

Pure

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