Joint review: Fuse by Julianna Baggott

Author: Julianna Baggot
Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing
Date of Publication:  February 19, 2013

When the world ended, those who dwelled within the Dome were safe. Inside their glass world the Pures live on unscarred, while those outside—the Wretches—struggle to survive amidst the smoke and ash.

Believing his mother was living among the Wretches, Partridge escaped from the Dome to find her. Determined to regain control over his son, Willux, the leader of the Pures, unleashes a violent new attack on the Wretches. It’s up to Pressia Belze, a young woman with her own mysterious past, to decode a set of cryptic clues from the past to set the Wretches free. 


This is the second book in the Pure series.  For the most part, I enjoyed Pure.  I was looking forward to reading Fuse to hopefully learn more about the Before and the detonations. I think I have more questions now than I did after finishing Pure.  

 I have to say, I was a bit disappointed in the book.  For me, it really dragged.  I had a hard time getting through it.  I found myself skimming to make it to the end.    It did get great reviews, but it just didn't  do it for me.  I didn't hate it, I just didn't love it.  I'm not sure if I will continue with the series.  I'll have to wait and see.

Some of you may remember Pure was one of the few books that Kari and I disagreed on.  I really didn't care for Pure at all.  However, it was one of those books that made me think a lot, so it did have that going for it. 

I was interested in Fuse, just to see where the story was going to go and if I liked it any better than Pure.  My feelings were the same for the second book as they were for the first book.  I just don't like this series.  Nothing against the writer, the writing is fine, just certain aspects freak me out.  The other issue I had with this book was that I had a hard time remembering all the characters from the first book.  Definitely too much time had passed between books.  Since this trilogy thing isn't going anywhere any time soon, I propose that books be release in quicker succession.