Quick Book Review: Starters by Lissa Price
April 17, 2013 21 Comments
This book has appeared on several book blogs that I read. Dystopia always sounds good to me, and so I recommended this book to my son (15) first, then when he enjoyed it, read it myself.
The story is told by the 16 year old Callie. She and her brother live in derelict houses with a friend, Michael. They are on the run from the police, who round up “unattached minors”. After a virus attack, only minors (Starters) and the elderly (Enders) are left alive, as they were the first to be vaccinated. Starters that have no Ender to look after them, roam the streets.
Callie decides to rent out her body, to make enough money to get her own home. At the Body Bank, she is connected up such that an elderly can use her body for the day (or longer) and have fun like she used to when young. When she is rented out for the third time something goes wrong and she discovers there is a plan that will endanger many teenagers. She and the elderly lady that rents her body work together to try and change the plans.
This was a fun story. The idea of someone inhabiting another person’s body was an interesting idea that worked well in the book. The story as such was reasonably well developed but it missed a certain wider story: the virus attack came from another country but there is no ongoing war or occupation by foreign soldiers. There also wasn’t a clear explanation as to why people could live up to 150 years and how long this had been the case.
This is a YA story that will also be fun for adults that enjoy dystopian novels.
Rating: 4 / 5
Number of pages: 352 (My Dutch edition)
First published: 2012
I got this book: from the library
Genre: dytopian fiction, Young Adult fiction
Have you read this book?
Did you enjoy it?
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Sounds interesting the thing about renting your body to other people 😯
I never read distopians, so I want to give the gender a try.
The genre, Isi? 😉 Yes, this was a fun book, I love dystopian because it often has some great new ideas, in this case, people using someone else’s body.
oops sorry!
Literary genre and gender (male or female) have the same word in Spanish (género), so when I don’t think so much about what I’m writing, I get confused!!
I didn’t know that, Isi. I know you’d like the learn better English, so that is why I mentioned it, I’m sure you understood.
Yes, of course, and I’m really grateful!!
Agreed! A very fun book to read! I wonder when the next installment will come out to answer some of those questions. Also don’t tell anyone but I even enjoyed using the app (from the front cover) lol
I didn’t see an app, fox in a hat, but mine was the Dutch translation of the book so maybe they didn’t promote it here.
Goodreads says that the next book is out in January next year. A long wait!
It was a pretty interesting promotional idea, you scanned the front cover and something like a television ad would play advertising the company Prime Destinations.
Definitely a long wait! Too long lol
Have you read the series Uglies by Scott Westerfeld?
Fox, Uglies has been on my radar for ages, but I haven’t read it. I wonder if it’s too much a children’s book for me.
I think Uglies is quite a smart, well paced YA, the main character has a strong voice like Callie in Starters. When you have time definitely give it a go 🙂
Without the background information it sounds lacking, though the premise is pretty good. Scary, but then having teenagers and elders working together is interesting to explore, because in real life it seems far removed sometimes.
Yes, I liked it because of the premise, Charlie. It was good enough in order to enjoy the book.
Sounds a bit like a Star Trek episode. With my bad knees I’d like to rent a youthful body for a day or too!
That would be two, least anyone think those with bad knees can’t spell. 🙂
I have no idea about Star Trek, Leslie. It sounds worse than prostitution to rent out your body – in my eyes, and I wouldn’t rush to rent one, either. 🙂
I have read it and enjoyed this as well 🙂 I liked it because it was very different from any other dystopian I read so far. But I do think this would be better as a standalone. I didn’t really need this book to be part of a trilogy again.
Uniflame, I agree, it was fine as it is.
This isn’t normally a book that would call out to me. But, as usual, you’ve made me curious! 😉
I don’t read a lot of YA books, Jennifer, but the idea appealed to me. And I did like it!
Ah, you’ve read my old frenemy, Lissa. I’m not so thrilled with the author, who was a friend for many years before she got successful, but I have to admit I enjoyed the novel. I’ll be seeing her again in July, and we’ll pretend we’re still friends. Barf.
I don’t imagine I’ll learn anything about the long-delayed sequel from her. She keeps her cards close to her vest. But I do know that Enders was originally scheduled for publication this past winter–less than a year after Starters was published. (And it’s just the two books, BTW, not a trilogy.). I’m fairly positive that the reason for the delay is film-deal-related. I haven’t heard anything official announced, but then, I really do try to ignore Lissa as much as possible these days. I know that she was working on adapting book one as a screenplay while she was putting the finishing touches on book two. Lissa lives in LA, and her husband is a television director, so the two of them are very immersed in the whole Angelino lifestyle.
And I’ll stop talking now before I say anything worse.
You said enough, Susan! Thanks for the background. I’m not sure I need a movie of this book, I liked it as it is.