Common Sense Media Review
By Sierra Filucci
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Post-apocalyptic story has great characters; still gruesome.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
As the Pure trilogy continues, Partridge's father is determined to lure him back to the Dome to install him as the new leader. He begins to kidnap orphans, turn them \"pure\" through operations, and then release them with programmed messages encouraging Partridge to return. He also deploys explosive arachnids he threatens to detonate if Partridge does not turn himself in. Before Partridge turns himself in with the intention of garnering support from rebels within the Dome, he and Lyda get more intimately involved. Meanwhile, Bradwell and Pressia -- who are also getting closer -- are determined to unlock the secrets of the black box and uncover the origins of the Dome and the Detonations.
Is It Any Good?
While still incredibly compelling and packed with brutal but fascinating images and concepts, Fuse suffers slightly from being the middle book.
The title of the second book in the Pure trilogy -- FUSE -- refers both to the objects embedded in the characters' bodies (birds, a doll, a pearl necklace, a child, etc.), as well as the developing physical and emotional relationships between Pressia and Bradwell and Partridge and Lyra. Being a dystopian story, these relationships are fraught with doubt, distance, misunderstandings, and mistakes, but they are at the emotional core of this story, overshadowing the characters' various quests to some degree.
The goal of Pressia and Bradwell's quest isn't always clear, though this also makes Fuse less predictable than cookie-cutter dystopian novels. The world these characters inhabit is so strange and yet subtly familiar that readers will be eager to move on to the finale and see the various loose ends tied up.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the central conflict in the story. Who are the specific people battling one another and what do they represent? Can you see any real- world ties to the conflict in the story?
Does Pressia remind you of any other literary characters? What makes her different, and what traits are similar to others?
What commentary is the author making about modern culture? Think about the "mothers" and the "Basement Boys" -- who are they today? Is there an environmental critique, too?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Science Fiction
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Friendship , STEM
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
- Publication date : February 12, 2013
- Number of pages : 416
- Available on : Hardback, Kindle
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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