Author: Lissa Price
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 368 pages, Hardcover
Date Published: March 13th 2012
Goodreads Description: HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER
Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.
He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .
My Thoughts: It could have been better, but it was good enough...
Starters is a dystopian debut novel that was really highly anticipated for this year. The concept of teens renting their bodies to the elderly is some food for thought... Wouldn't you say so? There were some aspects of the book that wasn't clear and took some time to understand or that I was confused about the entire way through. But other than that, it was a good read and I'm looking forward to the sequel Enders.
The whole time I was reading Starters, I was completely lost on how and why everything came to be. How did the war start? Why didn't they save at least SOME of the middle aged people? How did they even come up with the idea, let alone technology for the renting? So many questions were left unanswered and that disappointed me. I was looking forward to this book and had pretty good expectations of it, but they didn't meet. There was a pretty prominent Cinderella theme, what with Callie losing her shoe and Blake picking it up, going from being incredibly poor and homeless to a life of luxury. I didn't think much of it to be honest. I felt like it wasn't an important part of the book, considering all the other stuff that was happening. Going back to Blake, a LOT of stuff happens with him. If you've read this book, you'll understand. But if not, I won't spoil it for you. The thing that bugged me about their relationship was that it happened so quickly. There was no real growing into it... It just happened. There is a reason as to why that kind of makes sense, but in the end that question is still on my mind.
But there were some great parts to the book as well. First of all, the whole concept of the elderly renting out teen bodies is CREEPY. But so creative and imaginative! I can't even fathom how Lissa Price came up with this idea. She is a very talented author with a vivid imagination and I am looking forward to reading more from her. There was one point where I almost began crying, in the very beginning when all Callie wanted was to help save her little brother, Tyler. Being a big sister to three brothers has made me kind of protective and also very sensitive to sibling books like this. Her love for Tyler was so pure and so relatable, in my case. No, I haven't been orphaned with only me to take care of my dying brother, but I could see how Callie thought that renting her body was the best thing she could do to make the bit of extra money that they needed. I also loved the ending. It was one of those 'OMG it's a happy ending! Oh wait... Nope, more drama,' moments. Personally I feel as if the last 60 pages or so were the best out of the whole book. It was intense and twisted and completely exhilarating! The cliff-hanger was a huge shock and I am counting the days until December 12th. Theories of who the old man is are reeling in my mind and I just want to know who he is!
The whole time I was reading Starters, I was completely lost on how and why everything came to be. How did the war start? Why didn't they save at least SOME of the middle aged people? How did they even come up with the idea, let alone technology for the renting? So many questions were left unanswered and that disappointed me. I was looking forward to this book and had pretty good expectations of it, but they didn't meet. There was a pretty prominent Cinderella theme, what with Callie losing her shoe and Blake picking it up, going from being incredibly poor and homeless to a life of luxury. I didn't think much of it to be honest. I felt like it wasn't an important part of the book, considering all the other stuff that was happening. Going back to Blake, a LOT of stuff happens with him. If you've read this book, you'll understand. But if not, I won't spoil it for you. The thing that bugged me about their relationship was that it happened so quickly. There was no real growing into it... It just happened. There is a reason as to why that kind of makes sense, but in the end that question is still on my mind.
But there were some great parts to the book as well. First of all, the whole concept of the elderly renting out teen bodies is CREEPY. But so creative and imaginative! I can't even fathom how Lissa Price came up with this idea. She is a very talented author with a vivid imagination and I am looking forward to reading more from her. There was one point where I almost began crying, in the very beginning when all Callie wanted was to help save her little brother, Tyler. Being a big sister to three brothers has made me kind of protective and also very sensitive to sibling books like this. Her love for Tyler was so pure and so relatable, in my case. No, I haven't been orphaned with only me to take care of my dying brother, but I could see how Callie thought that renting her body was the best thing she could do to make the bit of extra money that they needed. I also loved the ending. It was one of those 'OMG it's a happy ending! Oh wait... Nope, more drama,' moments. Personally I feel as if the last 60 pages or so were the best out of the whole book. It was intense and twisted and completely exhilarating! The cliff-hanger was a huge shock and I am counting the days until December 12th. Theories of who the old man is are reeling in my mind and I just want to know who he is!
If you enjoy dystopian novels, Starters could be the next big hit for you. If you've read it, let me know in the comments what you thought of it 'cause I'd love to know!
Only one more week until the giveaway ends!
Happy reading!
-Kristy
Only one more week until the giveaway ends!
Happy reading!
-Kristy
Sounds great!! Your review makes me want to check it out....
ReplyDeleteI read Starters and I thought that it was really good, but I agree with you on the fact that it could have been better... there could have been things more elaborated on and other stuff too...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review!