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Book Review: Burn by Julianna Baggott

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
burn-j-baggott-book-cover Burn is the third and final book in The Pure Trilogy. You might also like to read Book Review: Fuse by Julianna Baggott (Book 2) and Book Review: Pure by Julianna Baggott (Book 1) to get a complete overview of the whole series.

Burn by Julianna Baggott is the spectacular, sensational and fast-paced final book in the trilogy. Inside The Dome, Partridge is in charge, or is he? He’s forced into marrying Iralene, as he begins to uncover more of his fathers secrets. Pregnant Lyda realises that she feels trapped and would rather be in the ash-covered outside world.

Meanwhile outside The Dome, Pressia, Bradwell & El Captain travel back from Ireland with a bacterium that could take down The Dome. With The Dome being potentially able to be brought down, what will this mean for the Pures inside and the Wretches outside?

The intricate plot thickens and continues to reveal secrets of the past, even towards the end of the book. The bacterium evens the playing field between Pures and Wretches, which is indicated by this note from the Wretches to the Pures:

“We are here, my brothers and sisters,
to end the division, to be recognised as human,
to live in peace. Each of us has the power
to be benevolent.”

(From: Burn by Julianna Baggott, 11th January 2014.)

Throughout the book the characters continue to develop; giving them a sense of realism. Only the character Foresteed felt under-developed and one of convenience. He seemed to serve only one purpose: to push Partridge into making difficult decisions. His actions, thoughts and reactions in the final scene are not mentioned which was peculiar. Baggott told the reader characters thoughts often and could have shown more.

Generally the editing was good, but could have been better. The were a few noticeable typos and other mistakes in the advanced copy received; but these did not interfere with the flow of the story.

The epic finale is right at the end of the book, on the last few pages. Pressia is inside The Dome, while outside Wretches surround it in a circle and The Dome’s guns are firmly pointed at them. Will Partridge become his father? Will the Wretches be successful in taking down The Dome? And what will happen to the Pures, if they do succeed? To find you, you’ll have to buy Burn.

I was worried that Baggott might not be able to get to the end of the story. But the ending did come, and with some unexpected twists. Baggot used her poetic talent which was welcome and added depth to the ending. Don’t be mistaken in to thinking that this is a happy-ending-for-all type of book; there are gains and losses on both sides. The reader finished the book feeling satisfied and with a hope of new beginnings in a new world for both Pures and Wretches alike.

Burn is an addictive read because of the captivating plot and its fast-paced telling, which the reader will be unable to put down. Burn is written so that if you’ve not read Pure and/or Fuse you’ll still know the backstory and be able to enjoy the book.

Pure, Fuse and Burn make up a superb post-apocalyptic series that is a must read for anyone who loves these type of stories. Without doubt this series deserves an award for its originality, engagement of the reader, brilliant structure & style and expert storytelling.

Burn, along with Fuse & Pure are available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony



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Saturday 11 January 2014

Book Review: Fuse by Julianna Baggott

By Books & Authors, Reviews2 Comments
fuse-book-cover Fuse by Julianna Baggott is the second book in the Pure Trilogy. Pure was the first book and my review describes Pure as a brilliant read and full to bursting with original ideas.

Fuse was already on My Book Schedule when Headline Publishing approached me asking if I wanted a preview edition to read and review on my blog. When I knew it was on it’s way my #Fusebook Excitement made me buzz.

When Fuse arrived I put down whatever else I had been reading and immediately started it. After reading Pure, I had high expectations for Fuse and I am pleased to say that it completely exceeded them.

Before I tell you about the book, I need make clear that I’m going to avoid giving away any spoilers. This is mainly to avoid any death threats from massive fans (like myself) of the Pure Trilogy.

Fuse begins by re-introducing the main characters and what’s happened since the end of Pure. Pressia & Bradwell are now being hidden by the new OSR headed by El Captain. The OSR has changed since El Captain took over. Gone are the death sprees and ruling by fear; now the OSR are offering recruits to their army food & shelter small acts of kindness in exchange for their help to take down the Dome.

Pressia spends her time making prosthetic limbs for some of the children of the families who’ve joined the OSR army. Pressia keeps Bradwell at arm’s length fearing losing another person she loves. Bradwell uses the time to explore the six black boxes they found in Pure continuing his search for the truth. Bradwell discovers that the first five boxes are like libraries containing thousands of books; but the sixth box that he names Finnigan is different. Finnigan has liking for taking samples of DNA and seemingly has a personality.

Meanwhile Partridge & Lydia are being hidden by the Mothers, being kept separate so that Partridge can’t take advantage of her. Lydia has become independent since Pure, being taught to hunt and fight by the Mothers. Partridge spends his time drawing maps of the Dome while keeping safe his mothers vials and away from Ellery Willux (his father).

Pressia, Bradwell, El Captain, Partridge & Lydia’s plan is to wait for Ellery’s DNA to degenerate and then for Partridge to go back to the Dome and take over. Ellery forces them to rethink their plan when he ups the ante taking a young wretch girl and making her Pure. The Dome programmes her mind so that she can only speak one message: we want our son returned. At the same time Ellery releases spiders that attach themselves to wretches, count down and explode. Then other wretches disappear and return from the Dome Pure. However the first young wretch girl starts to show signs that her DNA is rapidly degenerating.

Pressia & Bradwell discover that Finnigan is the key to finding a formula which is needed along with her mothers vials to cure the young wretch girl’s degenerating DNA. Pressia, Bradwell, El Captain, Partridge & Lydia meet together to decide how to respond to the potential to find the formula and how to respond to Ellery’s threat. Pressia, Bradwell and El Captain decide they will try to unravel the mystery that will lead to them learning the location of the formula. Partridge decides he must go back to the Dome.

Pressia, Bradwell & El Captain will need to travel great distances across land and sea going through a National Park to get the formula, but will they all survive the perilous journey?

Partridge is going back to the Dome, but what does his father really want with him? Partridge knows his father has dark secrets but why has Ellery kept Iralene suspended for him? And what about Lydia – why has she chosen to say goodbye rather than go back with him?

Fuse builds up to a truly epic ending. Pressia is faced with a choice, do nothing and lose someone that she loves or take action against that person’s wishes. Partridge is also faced with a choice of taking an action that will lead to him becoming what he hates the most.

Fuse has captivating characters; builds on and adds to the many fantastic orignal ideas presented in Pure. It did have a few editing errors, for example at one point Pressia stabs a beast with a knife and then in the next sentence pulls a spear out of the beasts carcass (p. 140), but these minor editorial errors didn’t affect the flow or my enjoyment of the story.

When I read Pure I didn’t think Baggott would be able to better it, but with Fuse she has took the characters and the storyline to a whole new level. It’s an incredible piece of literature that demonstrates Baggott’s wonderful imagination and creativity. Fuse is easily the best book I’ve read all year.

Like most trilogies you could read Fuse as an individual book, but I think it would leave you feeling you had missed the beginning of the overarching storyline. For this reason Fuse is better enjoyed if you’ve read Pure. So read Pure first and let it wet your appetite for Fuse.

Fuse has left me desiring Burn the final book in the trilogy due out in 2014. Fuse is available to pre-order/order on Amazon.

Write soon,

Antony

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Friday 28 December 2012

Book Review: Pure by Julianna Baggott

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
Pure by Julianna Baggott Book Cover While shopping at my local supermarket I saw Pure by Julianna Baggott and decided to pick it up. I have to say, I’m glad I did. It’s a brilliant read with some really original ideas.

The storyline is epic with every event adding to the story’s development. It is an exceptional storyline, it just makes it complex to summarise the plot in this blog post. So instead of discussing the plot in detail, I’ll give you an introduction to the world and the three main characters:

Pure is set in a post-apocalyptic world; after the Detonations have caused destruction, ash filled air and fusing of people to animals, other people and inanimate objects. We are introduced to two distinct groups of people; the Pures who were safely inside the Dome when the detonations hit and the wretches who were outside of the Dome.

In the Prologue set a week or so after the detonations, a plane from the Dome drops little slips of paper saying:

“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.”
(From: Pure by Julianna Baggott, 17th September 2012.)

Then the story starts set years after the Prologue. We meet Pressia, a nearly 16 year old who lives in the remains of a barber’s shop with her granddad and has a fist fused with a doll head. Pressia and her granddad know that soon the OSR will come for her, as they do when everyone reaches the age of sixteen. OSR are Operation Sacred Revolution – a roughly banded military type group whose mission is to take down the Dome. But we later find out that OSR was originally stood for Operation Search and Rescue set up to save people following the Detonations.

Next inside the Dome we meet Partridge, he’s the son of the powerful Ellery Willux. Partridge doesn’t really like spending time with his father and his father is usually in the lab doing important work. But then one day Ellery asks to see him. Partridges mother was outside of the Dome when the Detonations struck and has been assumed dead. But when Partridge speaks to his father he gets the distinct impression she’s alive. Partridge is taken on a school trip to were the Dome keeps metal boxes of memorabilia from the dead. Partridge see’s a box with his mothers name and dates on, he opens it and finds things she left for him. Partridge makes plans to escape from the Dome and then escapes. Partridge is later called ‘Pure’ because he has no scares, burns or fusings like everyone else.

Bradwell is introduced to the reader through Pressia. He’s a man with two live birds fused to his back, the birds flutter their wings whenever Bradwell has adrenaline going through his body or is emotional, which throughout the course of the book is often. Bradwell is obsessed with conspiracy theories about the detonations, claiming that those in the Dome deliberately caused the Detonations.

Pure is excellently structured with each chapter having a character’s name and a title to indicate who and what the chapters about. Baggott’s use of description enables the reader to imagine the characters, world and events as clearly as watching a film. The book did have a few sentences that to me didn’t read right, but these didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the book.

Pure is a fantastic read and is a trilogy with Fuse (2013) the second book and Burn (2014) being the final in the series. Pure is available to buy on Amazon.

Blog soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Wednesday 19 September 2012
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