Julianna Baggott
Pure
Hachette (UK & AU: 2nd February 2012; US: 8th February 2012)
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Just before the Detonations hit, certain people made it safely into the Dome. The others out in the open were fused to what they were holding at the time – and that’s just the best-case scenario. Pressia Belze doesn’t want to become a soldier, or become a live target for them, so she’s running and hiding for her life. Partridge Willux hears a whisper that his mother, who didn’t make it into the Dome, may still be alive, and so he sets outside to find her.
A familiar set-up is enlivened with such exquisite detail that Pure should not be missed. The author acknowledges her father’s copious research, and his work has paid off extremely well. Clockwork creations, high-technology, mummy moulds, behavioural coding, brain augmentation, fusions, deformities, mutations, amputation, DIY surgery…all sorts of fascinating subjects are included, with plenty of riddles to challenge readers. Julianna Baggott’s world-building is superb. I loved Pure! One of the finest dystopian novels to get excited about, I can’t wait to read books 2 and 3.
Sweet! I picked this up at a trade show and have been dying to read it. I may have to do it earlier than I’d planned after reading your review.
This science fiction actually has science – I loved it!
I picked this up because I knew that I loved the author’s voice under another pseudonym! Looking forward to reading it.
I think Bridget Asher’s THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKEN-HEARTED got a good write-up in the Herald Sun. But I LOVED Pure
I’ve also reviewed and read this book and I have to say it is one of the best post-apocalyptic books I have ever read, if not the best. Julianna Baggott is a talent that is rare. She has a way with characters and words that is seemless and simple. And her imagination blows me away. This series is going to be bigger than the Hunger Games. I am sure of that.