Fragments (Partials Sequence, #2) in Ruins Q&A with Dan Wells

Jun 13, 2013 Kristine rated it it was amazing

I loved the first one. I'm not surprised I loved the second. What surprised me is how unexpected this book is. I've read enough genre fiction that I can pretty well predict where a lot of stories are headed. Not so much this one. Wells can pull out a surprise, and his writing is gripping. Like, I let my kids watch TV all day so I could read kind of gripping.

The story this time follows Kira as she goes out to look for a cure for RM that doesn't rely on access to Partials and follows her human fri ...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Ange (Our Epic TBR List) Schmelzer rated it really liked it

Kira Walker has discovered the cure for RM, but has no idea how she did it! She knows it has something to do with the Partials and that they are the carriers of the cure, but she intends to find a way to manufacture it without draining Partials for it. Plus, there's another problem out there which is fueling the Partials into actions which could be detrimental to every human left because they have a ticking bomb of an end date and a group will do anything to find a cure to live. Kira just wants ...more

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Jun 06, 2013 J.A. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: usa, recommended-core, ut-authors

This an example of a second book in a series that is more exciting than the first. I deliberately waited until I read Siege and Storm so I could review the two books together. I anticipate doing the same with the third books - Ruin and Rising (Grisha #3) and Ruins (Partials Sequence #3) - when they come out next year.

After learning that she is neither human (as she was brought up) nor a standard Partial (the enemies she was brought up to fear), Kira sets out on a voyage of discovery. She hopes t This an example of a second book in a series that is more exciting than the first. I deliberately waited until I read Siege and Storm so I could review the two books together. I anticipate doing the same with the third books - Ruin and Rising (Grisha #3) and Ruins (Partials Sequence #3) - when they come out next year.

After learning that she is neither human (as she was brought up) nor a standard Partial (the enemies she was brought up to fear), Kira sets out on a voyage of discovery. She hopes to discover the truth about her own nature and hopefully unlock the secret to the survival of both races. Leaving behind Marcus, her human companion who wouldn't understand, she goes off with Samm, her Partial counterpart with whom she cannot link. She is trying to embrace both sides, to bring them together and save both sides, but she is rejected by both sides. Kira is not mistaken for a saint or fanatically followed like Alina. She does get to travel cross-country, but in the place of the Shadow Fold there is the Desolation of the Midwest caused by the destruction of the oil fields of Texas. Flying monsters are replaced by acid rains. No edible forage remains for their horses, no bridges remain for crossing overflowing rivers. Kira and her traveling companions don't have a fantastic flying contraption like Alina uses to traverse the wasteland, so they have to find their own innovative ways to cross. Where Ravka is thinly veiled, this post-apocalyptic America is nuanced and believable. First they travel to flooded Chicago, then on to ravaged Denver. It is a long journey on horseback, but the pace doesn't slow down. Surviving the trip is challenging enough - one of the foursome doesn't see the end destination - and finding the information they seek hits snag after snag. In pursuit of Kira and her peculiar genetic profile is the nefarious Dr. Morgan, from whom Samm helped her escape in book one. Wells broadens the scope and deepens the plot in book two, making it more compelling as the story progresses. I read Partials in May and Fragments in June, but even with waiting until September to write this review it still seems like a long wait for the conclusion of the series in March! ...more

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Oct 15, 2013 Alice rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, ya-mg-kids, audio, science-fiction, dystopian, 2014

I thought I had a good idea of what to expect from the dystopian YA genre, and from this series. This is the second book, so one expects a certain amount of wheel-spinning and delaying tactics. Instead, this is a ramping-up of an already intriguing series.

In Partials , Kira Walker found a one-time cure for RM, the disease that killed most of humanity and kills all newborns after just a couple of days. But it's not a permanent solution. In Fragments, she goes to the Manhattan headquarters of P I thought I had a good idea of what to expect from the dystopian YA genre, and from this series. This is the second book, so one expects a certain amount of wheel-spinning and delaying tactics. Instead, this is a ramping-up of an already intriguing series.

In Partials , Kira Walker found a one-time cure for RM, the disease that killed most of humanity and kills all newborns after just a couple of days. But it's not a permanent solution. In Fragments, she goes to the Manhattan headquarters of ParaGen, the biotech company that manufactured Partials, seeking a permanent answer. Back on Long Island, her longtime boyfriend and all the friends she left behind struggle with a Partial invasion, as Dr. Morgan comes looking for her.

There are several perspective shifts within Fragments, but they're all a necessary part of the narrative, and they serve to wind the dramatic tension tighter with every passing scene. Every new thing the characters learn just makes things look more bleak and hopeless.

Not that the book is a series of tragedies. Bad things happen, and Kira's faith that there must be a solution is severely tested. Choices have consequences, and even decisions that look like the right ones turn out to have negative consequences. But the narrative has bright spots. One gets the idea that, if there is a solution, Kira will wrench it out of its hiding place. How she'll do it, and how many will die along the way, is where the tension comes in.

Unfortunately, like all middle books of a trilogy, Fragments has to leave a lot of conflicts unanswered by the time it wraps up. So, while there is a resolution, it's not a very satisfying one. It's a good reason to pick up book 3, but my expectation that would happen is why I was so reluctant to pick up book 2 for so long. The resolution also depends on a character monologuing at length, which, for all it revealed, got tiresome. But these are minor complaints in a very enjoyable page-turner.

This is an excellent addition to an intriguing series that I feel stands out from most dystopian YA. If nothing else, it's a master class in building narrative tension.

I listened to this book on audio, narrated by Julia Whelan. Her narration is crisp and easy to understand, though a lot of her male characters sound similar. And I don't know if it was the library copy I borrowed, or if it's the original audio, but it had a metallic quality that muffled the audio. It's not the audio quality I've come to expect from HarperAudio. ...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Mary Robinette Kowal rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommend, sf

Once again, Dan Wells delivers a compelling story with difficult moral questions. What I particularly like about his dystopian future is that it's not just about characters trying to survive, but about people actively trying to heal society. At the same time, there are complex choices and no simple solution. Highly recommended. ...more

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Nov 08, 2013 Richard Holden rated it it was amazing

I don't know who I hate more, Dan for writing such a good book, me for finishing it so quickly, or him for not having the next one out yet. ...more

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Apr 12, 2022 Vicki rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult

Okay, I have to read the next !!!

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Jul 11, 2012 Tina Lewis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I am really loving this series. I wasn't sure how I would enjoy reading a post apocalypse/dystopian type book but this series has inspired me to explore the genre even more. I'm almost wishing I wouldn't have read Fragments so soon after being released because now it's going to be a long wait for book 3. But I have no doubt that it'll be worth it. ...more

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