Pure by Julianna Baggott

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters.
We will, one day, emerge from the Dome to join you in peace.
For now, we watch from afar, benevolently.

The Detonations changed everything. The searing bright lights destroyed homes, lives, the world as we knew it. The small fraction of people that survived live with the consequences, their bodies are fused with whatever it was they were close to during the Detonation... concrete, furniture, animals... and even other humans.

Pessia Belze spends her days dreaming about the Before, about a carefree life with a myriad of bright colours and hopes. She'll turn sixteen in a few days, but instead of the gifts and parties that those from the Before were given, Pressia will be taken away to be trained as a soldier, and if she's too weak... to be used as a live target. Her only hope to survive is to run from her life, from all she has known.

Patridge Willux is one of those privileged enough to reside in the Dome, and escaped the Detonations unscathed. Those inside the Dome live an easy life, almost unaffected by the Detonations, their bodies are still healthy and perfect... they are Pure. When Patridge discovers an intricate web of lies and schemes, he begins to challenge all that he's been taught, including the death of his mother, who may still be alive... outside of the Dome.

The mystery surrounding the Detonations are slowly unravelling, but one thing is for sure, it will end in a Bang.

------o_O-------

yep. that was my blurb :)

Let me just say that this was Pure brilliance! There was action, there was action... and there was action. Did I mention there was action? :) hmmm... the thought must have slipped my mind. :D

Ok. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, Pure was magical, the way it just manages to incorporate in all the things that make a book. The story was one that I could not put down with twists and turns running wildly throughout the book. Pure was unique, the ideas that Julianna Baggott came up with were, simply put, a tad scary.The details that she managed to put in honestly makes one shiver at times, and downright scream (in your head though) at others. One could argue that the idea of mutants or domes have been used before, but it's the way that Julianna Baggott writes about them, in her own style, that makes the ideas her own. Having said that, Pure was also beautiful, the way the writing just seemed to flow poetically, the words complemented each other, it was a pleasure to read. The story was fast paced and as aforementioned, action packed.

The story is told from a range of characters, each introduced into the story at the appropriate times, I've probably said this in my others reviews, but I love it when a story has multiple perspectives, it just gives the book more freedom to develop and to change dramatically without warning. There are some books that are completely destroyed because of the unnecessary use of perspective changes, but Pure isn't one of them. Yes, once again the name of the character you're viewing the story from is shown at the beginning of the chapter along with the chapter name except for riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight at the end, but by then it's pretty clear who it is.

The characters were brilliant... Pressia. She's not that fake too preppy, too perfect heroine that so many stories have. No, she's a survivor and she has her own strengths and skills. She's also very selfless and caring which is of course is a very nice thing to be :D
Overall, I think she was the ideal character for Pure.

Then you've got Patridge, Bradwell, El Capitan, Lyda and the other characters in between. They all have their own stories and they're all completely essential to the plot. Remove one, and the story just isn't complete. They're all so unique, Julianna Baggott has done an amazing job creating these characters.

I'd also like to mention the extensive research, it sounded professional and really helped to develop the story. It's always good if an author knows what they're writing about :D

Pure was absolutely riveting, and I can honestly say, it's one of my favourit-est (I don't think that's a word :3 ) books of this year.

Loved it!