Rating: 3/5
Author: Lissa Price
Pages: 336
Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction/Dystopian
Synopsis:
Callie has never felt more desperate. The Spore Wars left
her world in devastation as it resulted in the deaths of everyone from their
twenties to their sixties. With her parents dead and no other family to speak
off, she is forced to roam the streets with her sick brother and their friend,
Michael. With danger at every turn, their very lives are at stake.
When Callie gets word on the street about a company called
Prime Destinations, a place willing to pay teens more money than Callie could
ever dream of having. This could be her one way ticket out of the slums. All
she has to do is allow an Ender (the society’s senior citizens) to occupy her
body for a time, giving them a chance to feel young again. It’s all as easy as
falling asleep.
But when Callie wakes up in the middle of her rental session
in a place she’s never been before, she soon finds out that her renter had more
on her mind than a few nights on the town, and that Prime Destinations has a
much bigger, sinister plan up their sleeves.
My Reaction:
I liked the unique concept of this book. I’ve read a good
handful of these sorts of books, and although I was reminded of some of them, I
feel like as a whole this is an idea I haven’t seen before. This is definitely
an action packed, thrilling ride. There’s a lot of mystery that slowly unfolds,
but things aren’t all completely satisfied which leads us into the sequel, Enders.
Something that made the book relatable is that we have
somewhat familiar settings and objects that make this world seem like it really
could happen at some point in our future. Hopefully not though…
Overall, this book kind of fell in the middle of the scale
for me. It wasn’t bad, in fact I think I’d say it was a good story, but it
wasn’t necessarily a book that will land on my all time favorites list. I’m
curious enough to check out the second book just to see how a couple details
play out, but at the same time I feel like I could walk away from it. Like I
said, it isn’t bad read, and I do think there are some readers who will absolutely
love it.
I didn’t necessarily care for one of Callie’s relationships
with one of the characters. The one good thing that came out of it was an
interesting twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. I won’t say anymore.
Once you get to the end of the book, you’ll know who I’m talking about.
The style and feel of this book reminded me of a number of
other popular dystopian books out there. For that reason alone, I feel that
there is definitely an audience for this book, and if you enjoyed any of the
similar books listed below, you should pick this one up and give it a go.
Reader Guidance:
- There were a couple of things worth mentioning. If this were made into a movie, I could see it being rated PG-13.
- When Callie first goes to Prime Destinations to find out how it all works, she asks if there’s any chance her renter would have sex while in her body, and she’s told that’s strictly prohibited. Later on, she’s reminded by another character that no sex is allowed.
- There’s a couple of instances where some guys check out girls and it’s referred to as “undressing us with their eyes.”
- There are two small make out scenes (Nothing too major. Nothing past kissing and talking about the thrill and touching “my face, my neck, my hair.” Honestly, I didn’t care for those scenes because it’s just slightly enough to make me shy and start to get a little uncomfortable, but I’m extra sensitive to those sorts of scenes. I realize this. If a small make out doesn’t bother you, you’ve nothing to fear!)
- There is some violence. Note that this may contain some SPOILERS:
o
Chips inserted in the brain are setup in such a
way that if you try to remove them they will explode (this doesn’t actually
happen to anyone).
o
There are a couple instances of physical
fighting. The more intense one involves a girl with what sounds like brass
knuckles. She gives quite a beating the requires a stitched up face afterwards.
o
A 12 year old girl is killed while acting as a diversion.
o
A small car crash leaves a character with a
lovely gash in her head.
o
Okay, here’s a SPOILER: Callie
tries to kill someone. They are pushed out of the way by another character, so
he isn’t killed, but the shot still hits him in the arm.
o
The marshals (cops) use a sort of enhanced,
sometimes lethal taser to help hunt down unclaimed minors.
o
Another SPOILER: Callie’s renter is
killed. We aren’t witness to it, so we don’t really know details except for
that she’s murdered.
Similar Books:
While there were a number of books I thought of, there were
two in particular that came to mind.
The Host by
Stephanie Myer—The main reason I was reminded of this book was because of the
similarity of essentially two beings in one brain that can communicate with
each other. Also as I recall, there was a bigger make out scene in this book
that also made me uncomfortable. I tell you, I have a hard time reading that
sort of thing. What can I say? (If you’re looking at the screen incredulously,
would it help you to know that I’m chuckling a little at myself right now?)
Uglies by Scott
Westerfield—This one is the first book of a series. I was reminded of it
because of the fact that there’s a lot of work done on Callie in the beginning
to make her look physically perfect and therefore more appealing to renters.
But there’s not so much emphasis on this as there is in where a huge point of the plot is that once you turn a
certain age you are made pretty and get to go live the good life with all the
pretty people. As with Starters,
everything is not what it seems. There was probably making out in this book
too. HA! It’s been too long for me too remember specifically, but I do remember
a love interest, so, you know, make out potential there.
Next Book:
We’ll go ahead with the next book in the series, Enders. After all, we have to figure out
the rest of the answers to the mystery. Besides, sometimes you like stories
better as a whole than just as one book. Let’s give it a go!
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