Review: Pure (Pure, #1) By: Julianna Baggott

Title: Pure (Pure, #1)
Author: Julianna Baggott
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 448 Pages (February 8th, 2012)
From: the Publisher
Format: Hardback
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis: 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.

Review: 4.5 Stars - Pure by Julianna Baggott was thoroughly interesting and utterly unique making this a beginning to a series you shouldn’t let pass you by.

The world and characters that Baggott has created are harsh, dark and often horrific, yet there’s a beauty found in the little things. The hard parts to read in this book were the people affected by the Detonations. They are scarred and fused with things you’d never imagine. The strength found in the people outside the dome and how they managed to survive… such as Pressia, our female lead does was one of those bright spots found in a place so filled with ash that nothing will really ever be clean again.

She’s stronger than she knows. She wants to stay with the only family she has left and has ever known – her Grandfather – but when the unexpected happens she’s forced to change even the way she thinks about the world. 

The people inside the Dome are called Pures. They live a life without the ash, they live of a live of privilege and means, unlike those stuck outside to fend for themselves. And then Partridge escapes for reasons you’ll have to read the book to understand why, he’s in for a harsh reality.

When the two meet, it’s interesting to see just how different their lives are and to see just how different things are from what they’ve been told about outside the dome vs. inside the dome. 

If I was to say that some of the story took a strange turn, which would be an understatement. I’m sure you’d probably be thinking after reading this review that how can a book with people who are fused to things such as a doll head for a fist, a fan in a throat or birds to a boys back… but it’s true. There was some even stranger things that happened, but it all fit in with the story that Baggott was telling.

All in all, I am so happy that I had a chance to read this title. It’s such a different story from anything out there. And, as mentioned above, it’s dark and interesting and so unique that in the darkness it’s the little things that made me thoroughly enjoy the story and characters.

FTC Disclaimer: I did NOT pay for this book, nor have I been compensated at all in any way or means for reading and writing this HONEST review.