The Time Machine

Title: The Time Machine

Rating: 3.5/5
Author: H. G. Wells
Page: 140
Genre: Science Fiction


You may recall that there are some classics worth reading and some classics that I wonder how they became classic in the first place (unless your a classics enthusiasts and love all classics. Is there such a person that loves all classics ever? Probably not since I wouldn't expect a lover of any genre to give every book in that category two big thumbs up. I think this parenthesis conversation has gone on long enough.)

For instance, why has the Twilight fandom quieted down while I have nieces who haven't even reached the double digits yet who are already Harry Potter enthusiasts? To be clear, I'm not trying to give new life to Twilight versus Harry Potter arguments. I'm just curious as to what makes something classic. What makes it stand the test of time? Thoughts? Comments? Do share.

A friend of mine has a book club that I've taken some part in. This month's book was The Time Machine, so I decided to give it a go. All I knew about The Time Machine was the movie released back in 2002 (which I apparently liked better than Rotten Tomatoes which gave it 29%) and an episode of Wishbone, which I don't remember all that well if I'm honest. So I was really curious to see how the movie compared to the source material. More about that in a minute.

Synopsis:

Well, the synopsis for this one is pretty straight forward. Our main character, simple known as the Time Traveler, sets out to prove his theories correct, that time travel is possible, and he's built just the machine to do it. On his maiden journey, he travels 800,000 years into the future where he finds that man has evolved into two separate groups, one peaceful and carefree, and the other creatures that dwell in the darkness. When his machine goes missing, he is faced with the daunting task of recovering it and returning home before he gets trapped in the future forever--and possibly hunted down.

My Reaction:

My first thought is that this is one of those books where I actually enjoy the movie better, but that's not because the book was bad. Here's the thing, the book is told almost from a scientific perspective which is what you should expect when the main character has the sort of intellect to create a time machine in the first place and those he is telling his story to are also highly educated men of different fields. The book, therefore, is appropriate in it's telling and still has moments of excitement and mystery as the Time Traveler tries to work out his situation and comes closer to danger with every passing minute that he stays in the future. To sum up, the book is great if your a fan of science fiction, and it's not super long either.

It has been quite awhile since I've seen the movie. I admit that. Still, from what I recall, here's why I like the movie better. (In case you haven't seen the movie, I'm about to spoil it for you). The biggest reason is the difference in motivation for the Time Traveler. In the book his driven simply by the desire to travel through time, to prove it possible, and to observe his findings. While this is part of the motivation in the movie, his need becomes more desperate when the love of his life is killed. The emotional aspect of this version pulled me in more and made me more invested in his story.

While core elements of the stories are the same, the movie adds some more depth to the characters. We're also introduced to more characters in the movie, such as Jeremy Irons as the leader of the Morlocks. There are a few more differences I could get into, but the motivation and character depth were the biggest differences that made the movie a more enjoyable experience for me. However, as mentioned above, the book is a great piece of science fiction. Clearly I simply get more enjoyment from a story when I'm more emotional involved.

Also, I love this bit from the movie soundtrack. That has nothing to do with the story itself, but it's still a fact that this track is amazing.


Reader's Guidance:

When the Time Traveler is describing the innocence and carefree nature of the Eloi, he refers to some as "making love." It is also inferred that the Morlocks hunt and eat the Eloi. Both groups are supposed to be descendants of men.

Discussion Questions:

Well here's something new! As I've discussed some books with others, there have been some really good discussion questions brought up to help us talk about what we've read. As I read through The Time Machine, I found myself thinking of my own questions and observations. So I've decided to include this section. Feel free to answer in the comments below!

1. Considering that The Time Machine was published in 1895, what can we learn about the time period based on the Time Travelers observations about the future?

2. The majority of the characters in the story aren't given specific names. The Time Traveler himself is never identified by name. One of the few characters whose name is given is that of Weena, one of Eloi. Why do you suppose this is? How does that lack of time, or a given name in the case of Weena, affect how you view the characters?

3. If you could travel through time, would you travel to the future or the past? Why? If the past, what period of time would you most like to visit?

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

Before getting to the review, I'd just like to point out that the blog now also has a twitter! Woohoo! Click on the link on the side bar and follow my book related twitter escapades!

Title: A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Rating: 4/5

Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Pages: 278
Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction

Synopsis:

Some time has passed since the events of A Wind in the Door, somewhere around ten years, and all the Murrays have gathered together for a nice Thanksgiving feast. Unfortunately, their festivities are interrupted by a phone call from the president about the threat of nuclear war. Their only clue as to how to stop it is an old rune that Meg’s seemingly crazy mother-in-law suddenly remembers. He’s not sure how, but Charles Wallace knows it’s up to him to save the day. With the help of a new found friend, a unicorn named Gaudior, and Meg, they may just have a chance. But with time against him and absolutely no idea what he’s meant to do, can Charles Wallace save the world in time?

Reaction:

I enjoyed this book better than the last one, but it didn’t resonate with me in the same way that A Wrinkle in Time did. I think the subject matter was just more enjoyable for me. No, not the threat of nuclear war, but the way Charles and Gaudior have to go about fixing it. This book still uses the echtroi as a sort of nemesis (they were introduced in the last book and could be compared to devils who basically just want to make everything horrible for everybody). So Charles has to fight against them and his lack of time to stop a madman from setting off his nuclear weapon, and he does this by time travel. It was almost like L’Engle’s version of a Doctor Who episode.

One of the things I thoroughly enjoyed was getting glimpses of different time periods. At one point, he’s in the Salem witch trials era. At another point, he’s in the civil war era. Having a bit of interest in history, this aspect of the story really appealed to me. Plus, there’s a bit of a mystery to be solved which also made things interesting. The whole time you learn little bit by little bit with the characters until everything comes together and forms a resolution.

One of the major themes I got from the book was the idea that by trying to control everything we sometimes do more harm than good—a valuable lesson and a realization that sometimes we need to accept that things are out of our control.

Reader Guidance:

There are a few brief instances of things such as domestic violence, recollections of war, a man falling to his death—things of that nature. The war descriptions include a man getting his face blown off and another man stabbing his own brother because they were on opposite sides. The domestic violence describes a young man getting in the way of a blow intended for his grandmother. As a result, he falls down the stairs and fractures his skull.

Similar Books:

The other books in the Time Quintet:

A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Many Waters
An Acceptable Time

Next Book:

I had some other books in mind, but since I received that proof of Sheer Power: Second Chances, I decided to go ahead and do that one next. So we’ll take a break from Madeline L’Engle for now. The other two books are about Meg’s twin brothers and Meg’s daughter respectively. Since they don’t focus as much on the characters we’ve focused on in the last three books, this seems like a good place to take a break! Happy reading!

A Wind in the Door and a Follow Up on Last Week's Post

First of all, here's a little follow up on last week's post.

Thanks everyone for reading and commenting! You offered a handful of books that you wouldn't recommend, and I'll admit, I haven't read a single one of those! I also got a couple of book recommendations out of the deal, so it was a win-win situation for me. In case you are curious, here are the books that your fellow blog readers said they wouldn't recommend:

1. The School for Good and Evil - This specifically went for book one as they didn't keep reading. A choppy and predictable story line as well as an immature main character without enough growth made this book not very enjoyable.

2. Eat Pray Love - Apparently this one is hard to get into. I know that it was pretty popular at one time, but I've actually heard a few people say they didn't like it. Having only seen the movie myself, I can't make my own personal judgement on the book.

3. Across Five Aprils - There were conflicting comments on this book actually. So, possibly, this one is worth a read. It may just depend on whether or not it's your cup of tea.

4. Banner in the Sky - This book sounds quite adventurous and exciting (I just read the book description on Amazon), but apparently it's a bit of a let down and is actually quite boring.

5. Ready Player One - I've been curious about this one with the upcoming movie and all. It looked interesting and sometimes I like a good pop culture reference, but apparently the premise is really the only good thing about it. But hey, it's a bestseller, so someone obviously likes it...

So there you have it. Add those to your don't read list or possibly to your I'm going to read this anyway and see if I agree list. Seriously, the only reason why I read the The Golden Compass was because of all the negative hype surrounding the movie. It peaked my curiosity. So, the second book list is totally legitimate. And come to think of it, I went on to read the second book in that series, didn't care for it, and never read the third. I suppose that's another series that didn't tickle my fancy.

Okay, on to business!

Title: A Wind in the Door
Sequel to: A Wrinkle in Time
Rating: 3/5
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Pages: 211
Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction

Synopsis:

Something is seriously wrong with Charles Wallace. Up until this point, Meg has attributed it to the bullying he's received since he started going to school. But when he tells her one day that there are dragons in the twins' vegetable garden, she's forced to realize that Charles Wallace's condition is much worse than that.

Once again, Meg is called upon to fight and incredibly evil force. With the help of Calvin and some new friends along the way, they must pass three trials in order save Charles Wallace's life as well as their own!

Reaction:

I'm not as in love with this book as I was with the first one. I just didn't connect with it as much, I suppose. It's not a bad story, and it certainly isn't poorly written. It just didn't pull me in as much and therefore landed in the middle of the rating scale.

It still has some religious themed mixed in with the science, although it's not quite so straightforward in this one. If you're a religiously minded person, you can pull out parallels and similarities to things like the devil and temptation, but it doesn't come straight out and mention things like the Bible, etc. There are also some good themes about the power of knowing who you are and how love makes you the best version of yourself, the true you. So there are definitely some great themes and thinking moments. In the end, I just preferred A Wrinkle in Time. The book is still worth a read.

Similar Books:

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Next Book:

Time for the third book in the Time Quintet! We'll be reading A Swiftly Tilting Planet, which I can't remember a single thing about! There's a unicorn on the cover, so I guessing there will be unicorns. Who doesn't love that!

See you next time!

A Wrinkle in Time

Rating: 5/5

Author: Madeleine L'Engle

Pages: 211

Genre: Children's/Young Adult/Science Fiction

Synopsis:

It's been a long time since Meg Murray has seen or heard from her father--long enough for people to start spreading rumors. Meg knows that he's off doing something incredibly important, but she doesn't know what. It's getting to the point where people are telling her to move on, but she can't while there's still hope that her father will one day return. 

One day, Meg is introduced by her incredibly intelligent younger brother to three mysterious figures who not only seem to know what her father was working on before he disappeared, but they also know where to find him. And he's in incredible danger! Meg, Charles Wallace, and there newfound friend Calvin are whisked away on incredible adventure to different worlds where they learn about the war of light against the darkness. Only together can they save Meg's father, but can they resist the powers of darkness and save her father before it's too late?

Reaction:

This is my fourth time reading this book, and I must say, that I don't think I've ever enjoyed it so much as I did in this last reading. I loved it! The only slightly negative thing I could think of is that Meg is sometimes a little whiny, but given the circumstances and her age, I think it's justified. Not only that, but the fact that she has flaws is actually pointed out by the characters and is used to make a good point--we can do great things despite our flaws, and there are times where what we consider flaws can actually become a strength. So it worked in this case, and wasn't too the point where I wanted to tell her to shut up. That sort of thing happens to readers on occasion when they encounter certain characters.

But I digress.

Not only does this book stir the mind and imagination and has some great adventure and conflict, there were themes in the book that just spoke to me this time around. That classic fight of good versus evil, the idea that our world isn't perfect but having our own individuality is a blessing, or the idea that we can be a force for good no matter our circumstance. There are also some religious references in the book, and for me, being a religious person myself, I enjoyed having those in there.  They talk about how Jesus is taking part in the battle against the darkness, there's reference to guardian angels, and Meg's father quotes from the bible to bring her some encouragement. I saw L'Engle's style of writing compared to that of C. S. Lewis who is also known for Christian themes in his writing.

It's a great read that kids everywhere will love to read under their desks instead of listening to their fifth grade teachers, just like I did (Just kidding, teach your children to pay attention in class!).

Fun Fact:

This book is a Newbery Medal winner, but it is also on the American Library Association's list of  Frequently Challenged Books, meaning it is a book "that is sought to be removed or otherwise restricted from public access, typically from a library or a school curriculum" (Thanks, Wikipedia!). Did you know there was a such a list? I learned about it in my Young Adult Fiction class in college. We were given an assignment that involved reading one of the books on the list. I chose this one, and that's how I got one of my four readings in. It sounds like it's been challenged for references to witches and crystal balls, religious content, and listing Jesus alongside well known artists, philosophers, scientists, and other religious leaders as people fighting against the darkness. I wasn't bothered by any of those things at all, and I should mention that those references to witches and crystal balls aren't actually references to magic or witchcraft, not really. One of the characters even says essentially, "You know they're not witches." Anyway, no dark magic going on. Take a read for yourself and see if you would put it on the challenged list!

Reader Guidance:

I've already mentioned the Christian themes, so if that's something that bothers you, this may not be the book for you. The only other thing I can think of that might be troubling is a glimpse at a boy who didn't stay synchronized with this particular world's rhythm (watch the trailer for the new movie and you should get an idea of what I'm talking about). He appears to be in extreme pain as he is forced to synchronize. 

Similar Books:

Well, this is the first of five books, but as I recall, they also work pretty well as stand alone books. But, besides the other books in the series, another great series is The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. That series is more on the fantasy side than the science fiction side, but still a great one if you enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time.

Next Book:

Next up is the next book in the series of course, which is A Wind in the Door. The only thing I remember about this next one is that it deals with saving Charles Wallace. Let's jump in! Also, you should know, I finally got a copy of Red: The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood which I've been wanting to read ever since I finished Rump. So, just keep in mind that that book will be coming up on our list shortly!

Star Wars: Ahsoka

First and foremost, I must say that you shouldn't read this book unless you've watched The Clone Wars (meaning the animated series, and not to be confused with Episode II: Attack of the Clones). It's in that series that Ahsoka's character is introduced, and unless you have at least an overview of some of her experiences, her character conflict won't mean so much to you if you read this book. So, watch that first, maybe even Episode III, and then come back to this book.

With all of that in mind, if you haven't watched the series yet, there may be spoiler down below. If you don't want to watch all those seasons of animated Star Wars glory, here's what you need to know before reading the book. Again, SPOILER WARNING!

Ahsoka Tano was the padawan learner of Anakin Skywalker. She played a big role in The Clone Wars, fighting alongside many well known Jedi (and even some clones that may have been special enough to have their name mentioned in the movies). She even led some of the troops from time to time. But when she is betrayed by one of her fellow padawans, framed for crimes she didn't commit, she finds her faith in the Jedi order shaken. (It doesn't help the majority of the Jedi council did not believe her innocence.) Even when the real culprit is captured and Ahsoka's good name is restored, Ahsoka can't bring herself to accept the council's offer to return to her training. She leaves the Jedi temple and...that's when the TV show was cancelled!

But fear not! Ahsoka survives the events of Order 66. This book fills in the gap of her story from that moment until the events in Star Wars: Rebels.

Title: Star Wars: Ahsoka
Rating: 4/5
Author: E. K. Johnston
Pages: 355
Genre: Science Fiction

Synopsis:

This story occurs after the events of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well as Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Ahsoka Tano has survived the great purge that was Order 66, but is now forced to live under the radar. The moment she attracts too much attention or the Imperials make too much of a presence, she runs away before she or anyone associated with her can be hurt.

Now, a year after the rise of the Empire, Ahsoka must comes to terms with the past while at the same time trying to find her place in this new order. She thought she was done fighting in wars, but perhaps the war is only just beginning.

My Reaction:

I will admit that part of the reason this book merits a 4/5 is simply for the fact that I think Ahsoka is awesome! Reading this book was like watching another story arc of The Clone Wars. It fit in very well with the feel of the series.

There are little snippets from other Star Wars characters such as Senator Organa, which were fun to read. There's plenty of action and good tie ins for filling in those gaps between The Clone Wars and Rebels. We get to meet an inquisitor, for example. Basically, this is a good book for Ahsoka/Clone Wars fans. You'll enjoy the story and learning more about what happened to Ahsoka (like how she suddenly has white lightsabers when it comes to Rebels). 

Reader Guidance:

Assuming you're somewhat familiar withe Star Wars franchise, the level of violence is consistent with what you would see in some of the movies/shows. There is an instance of torture, but it's more alluded to than anything. There's not an actual torture scene. A character has a badly broken arm. One of the bad guys kills a whole group of those resisting the Empire. This is mostly done by deflected their blaster shots, but one guy is cut in half with a lightsaber, and it mentions how there's not a ton of blood. That was probably as graphic as it got. There's also a character who has something blow up in his face. None of these are overly graphic.

Similar Books:

There are other books out there based on some of the other characters in the animated series. In particular there is Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn. He also has another book coming out this year called Star Wars: Alliances. If you don't know who Thrawn is, watch Star Wars: Rebels.

Next Book:

Next up is another book recommended to me by my mother, and it's a sort of book we haven't look at before here in the Book Club of Destiny. It's called Life is so Good by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman. It fits in the autobiography genre (some of which are wonderful, by the way, although admittedly I've only read a few). It seems that it will contain some good inspiration perfect for the beginning of a new year.

The Next Book

As promised, here’s a post regarding the next book on our “to read” list!

But first, a little back story!

 I’ve always enjoyed the Star Wars franchise. My parents introduced me to the original trilogy at some point in my young life. I even remember seeing a re-release of A New Hope in theaters. Then of course there were the prequels and the two most recent films. I even played a few of the various Star Wars video games with my brothers. I was no stranger to that galaxy far, far away.

Then I got married to a fellow nerd, one who was even more involved in Lucas’ creation. He introduced me to the animated series The Clone Wars as well as Star Wars Rebels (I can’t wait for new episodes!). After some animated Star Wars marathons, I quickly decided that Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker’s padawan, was definitely one of my favorite characters. (I also quickly decided that animated Anakin is much more likeable than movie Anakin… He’s less of a creeper.)

The last season of The Clone Wars was cut short. Don’t you love it when a show you’re invested in doesn’t get to wrap things up in a nice, neat little package? Because of this situation, Ahsoka’s storyline has an abrupt ending, making you stare at the screen with a dropped jaw thinking, “That can’t be it!” Spoiler alert, you get to see Ahsoka again in Rebels, thank goodness. The only bad part about that is that you’re still left with a, “What the heck just happened?!” moment. I’m hoping we’ll get a little more clarity on that.

Getting back to the point, Ahsoka’s story may have been interrupted, but to fix that little problem, Star Wars book even though I knew there were plenty of them and had seen my older brother read some (I believe most of those are no longer considered canon). But after coming to love Ahsoka, I needed to fill that void. My ever perceptive husband gave me the book for Christmas.

they gave her a book! I didn’t really think I would ever read a

I’m already just past halfway through it.

So join me in reading Star Wars: Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston.

Enders

Rating: 3/5

Author: Lissa Price

Pages: 272

Sequel to: Starters

Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction/Dystopian

Synopsis:

This is the second and last book of the Starters series. Not much time has passed since the ending of the previous book, and Callie is still hearing the voice of the Old Man in her head, but things are getting worse than Callie could have ever imagined—even with the destruction of Prime Destinations, the Old Man seeks to take control of everyone with chips in their head and sell them to the highest bidder as a weapon.

With a new found friend, Hyden, that Callie can’t be sure is trustworthy, Callie endeavors to stop the Old Man once and for all before he takes over her body and never gives it back!

My Reaction:

I must say, I liked this book a little bit better than the first one. Parts toward the end seemed to draw me in a little bit more. However, I was also tempted not to finish reading it because for the first bits of the book I was still in the, “Meh, this isn’t bad but not super awesome,” frame of mind. So if you liked the first one, definitely read this one, and just like I said with the first story, there’s definitely a market for this book and readers who will absolutely love it.

It still has some good action and mystery and a killer twist at the end that made me rethink everything about the first book. I did not see that coming! This book doesn’t really feel like the end though. It almost seems like there should be one more book. Maybe we’ll have another one in the future, or maybe it’s one of those cases where the author leaves the audience to fill in the blank. Things are wrapped up well enough so you won’t be like, “What the heck?! That’s the end!” It just seems setup for another book.

I think there was only really one, maybe two things that bugged me, and it’s just a personal preference. I’m sure other readers eat this stuff up! Number one: “He was good-looking in such an intense way, it almost scared me” (page 39). Yeah, apparently that’s just not my style of writing. I think I may have bought it in high school, but now I read it and think, “That’s not even real! Who thinks like that?!” Maybe I just don’t understand passion and romance in the world of books. Or perhaps I’m a sucker for a different sort of romance. Later on, there was a moment with the same fellow where he takes her hand and puts it on his abs for her to feel (page 86), and again I was just kind of like, “Okay?”

Like I said, I’m pretty sure that’s just reader preference. If you read the post about Starters, you’ll now know that I don’t really care for make out scenes in books or what I deem to be crazy, unrealistic romantic thoughts. I just can’t relate to that! I’ve never looked at a guy and thought he was so intensely handsome that it scared me. Nope.

Reader Guidance:

I’ll try to do this spoiler free, but here’s your spoiler warning just in case.

• There are two instances where chips in people’s brains blow up. In one case, a man’s arm is severely injured (the pain on his face is described and the fact that his arm is completely black).
• There are a few people who get shot. Some die, some don’t.
• A guy is crushed and killed by a garage door.
• There are some cases of slapping or punching people.
• A character stabs herself in the arm with a letter opener.
• In one test to control a character with a chip, the testers have the character shoot targets of harmless people, including a friend. Then the actual people are brought in and the test is repeated on them with blanks, not real bullets.
• A character has a condition where every time he touches someone he has extreme pain.
• One character remembers how his renter wanted to use his artistic abilities to draw girls naked.
• When one character is hacked, she is forced to do a strip tease. She removes her shirt and camisole so she is in her bra, but they don’t go any farther than that.
• This one is kind of a spoiler: Blake asks what he and Callie did while someone else was taking control of his body in the last book. He asks if they did anything more. Callie tells him that they just kissed giving the impression that what he was trying to ask was if they’d had sex.

Similar Books:

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Next Book:

First off, let me say that it may be a little bit before you get another book review on here. I have the next book in mind, so I’ll go ahead and put that here. However, as you saw from my last post, I’m trying to stick in NaNoWriMo mode. Not only that, my husband and I are in the processes of getting things packed up and moved to a new place which should all be said and done in a few weeks. So I might not get a lot of reading done! But the next book with be Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtlipp.

Starters

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.
•  There are a few cases of mild profanity, as well as someone giving the finger.
•  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!