Review: Fragments by Dan Wells

Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence—it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that involves Kira, a plan that could save both races. Her companions are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them?

Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what's left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira's journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic America, and Kira and Marcus both will discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn't even know existed.

The second installment in the pulse-pounding Partials saga is the story of the eleventh hour of humanity's time on Earth, a journey deep into places unknown to discover the means—and even more important, a reason—for our survival.


POSSIBLE SERIES SPOILERS.






I loved Partials, and I had to read the sequel, Fragments!  Post apocalyptic isn't usually my favourite kind of sci fi, but the world building of this series makes it amazing.  Sometimes in books I just want the character to stop and explore their surroundings, especially in books like this - and this is exactly what Kira does in Fragments.

I thought Partials could have been a stand alone book but Fragments added so much more to the plot (which I also love).  While Partials was more about curing RM, Fragments is more about the history of the Partials.  I love the amount of thought put into the plot and backstory.  The world building is also one of my favourite parts of this book, and all of this made me very immersed in the book.  I like how while Kira was searching for information about ParaGen, she'd find small things belonging to whoever owned that desk, or lived in a house, which just made it all seem that much more real.

The plot really surprised me - I was expecting it to be more about Kira working on the cure, but I ended up reading for hours, wanting to find out the mystery about ParaGen, the Partials, and Kira's past.  All these mysteries were solved and turned out to be more in depth than I originally expected when Kira started searching.  I really did love the plot and preferred it to the plot of Partials.  I have to admit I saw small parts of it coming, but not the whole story.

I think Samm's character improved a lot in this book.  I like how he turned out not to be completely unemotional as they were thought of in the first book, but not the complete opposite either, and the concept of the link.  In fact, I like all the characters - this book really gets the reader to know them more and I loved that.

I don't really have much else to say.  This book is quite long, but the world building, plot and character development is excellent.  It's like an awesome mix of Fallout, Deus Ex, and The Last of Us.