Review: Partials by Dan Wells

RUN, don't walk, to the nearest copy of Partials by Dan Wells. This book is great!!

Partials is set in the near future. America's engineered robot-warrior soldiers--called Partials--have turned on the government. During the uprising, a weaponized plague released by the Partials all but extinguished human life. The remaining tiny immune population gathered on Long Island.  No baby has lived in 11 years- the RM disease kills within days. Human kind is on the edge of extinction. Some have accepted the control of the Senate, others live outside the protection of East Meadows, and the Voice is trying to over throw the government in response to the Hope laws which mandate pregnancy for women 18 years old and up. Determined to find a cure our girl Kira and her friends engineer a dangerous and treasonous trip into enemy territory. The resulting political intrigue and research is a race against time to discover the key to survival. Kira's research makes her question the government she lives under, the stories she was told about the war's origin, and her own identity.

• Originality: 8. A great dystopian world. And sci-fi. SCORE!
• Absurdity: 4. The government is complex and the mission Kira and her friends go on feels realistic in its gritty detail.  I had trouble following Kira's genetic experiments, but I accepted them since they sounded complicated. (This is the exact same way I accepted the movie Inception). A ridiculous response? probably. But at least I wasn't rolling my eyes at the 16 year old scientist extraordinaire. ALSO on the absurdity scale, the shoot-outs from Kira et. all: I thought Whhhhaaaattt how is everyone a Rambo?!? But by page 300 I was hooked and I didn't care if this was absurd.
• Level of Paranormal (??) Romance: 3. We are left unsure of Kira's status with Marcus, her boyfriend (who was good for a few laughs) BUT keep your eyes on the prize: SAMM (yes, two m's). Who cares if he is a robot? He is hunky and mysterious.
• Level of Harry-Potter-ness: 5. The writing in this book is basic--action is the number one priority. But Partials also asks big questions about what type of person you would be in the face of hopelessness and WHAT humanity and humanness means in a where humans are the minority. 

PS - did this make anyone else think of Cinder? Medical research, robots, looming war....
PPS - BEST PART= jungle animals in lower Manhattan.