pure

Title: Pure
Author: Julianna Baggott

Release date: February 8, 2012
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 448

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads: {via}

Summary:

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.

Pure is unlike any other book I've read. And I've read a lot of dystopians. You're thrown right into the story, which makes it somewhat disorienting. I felt the same way in The Hunger Games. However, once you get past your initial discomfort, you tip toe your way through it, making it seemingly easier to read. 

That being said, it's not an easy read. It's dark and gritty, grotesque and gruesome. The descriptions are so lively and vivid that they almost make you sick. It truly shows you the power of Baggott's words. Baggott's level of research that she had to do regarding different types of bombs and human disfigurements must be astounding. I applaud her level of commitment. 

I'm not sure that this is one of those stories that you say that you "liked" or "disliked." I feel like you have to take individual parts of the story and weigh it as a whole. It's a very detailed and complicated story, one that's extremely well written.

The characters take some getting used to. The main characters, Pressia and Partridge, are strong and brave, but their motivations throughout the book are confusing and questionable. Lyda and Bradwell are interesting characters, and I honestly wasn't sure what to think of them until the very end. Same goes with El Captain and his brother. "Good" and "bad" aren't black and white, they're very grey, which makes it hard to figure out who is on what side. At times, you think you have a character pegged, and then they do something that falls in the grey category, and you aren't sure anymore.

A truly different read. Julianna Baggott has created a new world unlike any other. 

I received an e-galley courtesy of Grand Central and NetGalley. This in no way impacted my review of the book.