I was a little apprehensive heading into reading this one, since there's a lot of mixed reviews on GoodReads. A few of my GoodReads friends even read this several months ago and their reviews merely say that they're not sure what to say about this book just yet, and they'll have to think about the book for a bit before writing a review. So, to be honest, I wasn't expecting too much when I starting reading this. I thought I'd give it a shot and, if I didn't like it, I could just return it to the library.But I did like it. A lot.Pure has a little something for everyone. I think that the best way to describe this book is a cross between Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone. I loved how Margaret Atwood created a futuristic world whose events were based on real historical events. Pure is the same type of world: the Detonations are the equivalent of Hiroshima and this dystopian world's inhabitants are dealing with the destruction left behind. The Pures are those who live inside the Dome, the lucky ones who were granted a place inside the Dome before the Detonations. The people who live outside the Dome are fused with whatever objects, animals or, in some instances, people were nearby during the Detonations. This part of the book is slightly horrific as the reader is exposed to the tragedy that unfolds after a major explosion. I think that the book has been critiqued because of this factor, that it's just too icky, but I found that it had just the right ick factor to make it interesting, rather than turning me away. Baggot's writing reminded me a lot of Laini Taylor's, flowing and elegant despite the dark subject material. She has also published volumes of poetry and the poetess is evident in her prose.I didn't realize that this book was part of a trilogy until I read the epilogue and saw that it was the end of book one. I'm intrigued to see where the story takes off in the next part since this was an epic beginning to the story. Review also posted at: http://writergrrlreads.blogspot.ca/2012/04/pure-julianna-baggot.html
