I’m not sure what to think of Pure. It wasn’t a bad book, but I found it difficult to read. I felt that the book was long and at times I was tempted to put it aside, but I continued reading. I didn’t like this post-apocalyptic world. It was disturbing and horrifying and it seemed like a hopeless world. The world building of Pure is done effectively. The author did a lot of research and it shows. Set some time after catastrophic detonations, the fortunate live in domes, breathing purified air and preparing for a time when it will be safe to venture outside. These people are called the Pure because they are not scarred by the devastation.The others, those forced to “live” outside the dome, are not so lucky. Most of this population suffers from some sort of grotesque deformity, mutations, or hideous fusings with other objects. The main character Pressia, has a doll’s head fused to her hand. Another character Bradwell, has birds fused to his back. There are groupies, groups of people fused together with many hands, feet, and heads – grotesque. Their world is dangerous: they must avoid the mutant man-eating Dusts, the Death Sprees, and the general lack of resources.The story is mostly told from two points of view: Pressia a 16 year old girl living outside the dome and Partridge, one of the privileged teens living in the dome. I liked Partridge and I found him to be a strong character. Pressia seemed a little flat to me, but I did like her sense of honor. I found that the main characters were a little overshadowed by some of the secondary characters. I loved Bradwell – he had just the right amount of street smarts and paranoia to make the story interesting. El Capitan was my personal favorite. A fused character El Capitan “wore” his brother on his shoulder. He kind of reminded me of Zaphod Beeblebrox in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.Pure is the first book in the series. Two other books are planned. Series reading order:1. Pure February 8, 2012 2. Fuse TBA 20123. The New After TBAThank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for a review copy of this bookReview posted on Badass Book Reviews
