Thursday, May 8, 2014

Book Notes: "Ruins", by Dan Wells

I think we're all familiar with the trend of YA trilogies that start out strong, and then kind of sputter to an end in the second or third books.

Well, I'll give Dan Wells' Partials trilogy this: it ends stronger than it started.

You can read my reviews of the first two books in the trilogy here and here. I liked them well enough, but I'll be honest: this last one is my favorite. (Probably. I think. I only hesitate because, for some reason, I really enjoyed the description of an abandoned, half-flooded Chicago in the middle of the second book.)

But I knew I liked this one when I found myself wandering around, the first couple of days after I finished it, thinking, "Man, I really want to read something moody and atmospheric and post-apocalyptic . . . why do I want to read something like that?" and then realized, "Oh! it's because I really enjoyed that Dan Wells book."

I wouldn't start with this one, but I would read the trilogy, if you're a fan of YA, sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic. (The first two books are "Partials" and "Fragments".) This third book isn't just a third book so that there'll be a third book; it's a satisfying end to the whole series. And, given how hopeless the genre can be, it's a surprisingly uplifting end to the series, too. I don't want to spoil it, but I do really like the way he concluded the main technological problem of the book. It's an end that could have been downright cheesy if it hadn't felt so natural to the story he'd set up - so full props to him for being able to pull it off.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

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