Review: Starters by Lissa Price

Starters

By: Lissa Price

Pub. Date: March 13, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages: 368

Source: Netgalley

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. . . .

I received a chapter sample of Starters at ALA, and I was so intrigued that I had to request the rest of the book from Netgalley! I thought this book was so original and it was so hard to put down, I ended up reading it in one night.

In Lissa Price's dystopian world, its tough to be a minor. Unless they have a grandparent willing to take you in, minors either live on the streets or in institutions. All of the adults died during the war due to a virus that was unleashed. Now, the country is ruled by Enders, the older generation that can live well into their hundreds. Since minors aren't allowed to work, there aren't many options for 16 year old Callie to be able to support her younger brother, Tyler. There is one loophole though, and that is working for Prime Destinations, where the young can rent their bodies out to the old.

Ok, seriously! How creepy does that sound?? Someone is literally "living" in your body for a week or two. That premise alone completely hooked me! They basically can do anything they want in your body, except alter it physically and murder someone.

Callie was reluctant from the very beginning to rent out her body, but she needed to make money, and this was her last resort. When the chip in her brain malfunctions, Callie wakes up, and is able to communicate with the old lady who rented her body, and this lady has some plans of her own! This is definitely where Starters becomes an awesome book!

Even though I enjoyed Starters a lot, there was definitely a few things that I had problems with. While I liked Callie, I felt no real connection to her. I understood the reasoning behind her actions, but I just didn't really care about her. I also wish there was more background knowledge, especially involving the Enders and the war that basically killed half the population.  

Despite this, Starters was an excellent book. It had many different plot twists that I did not see coming. It was fast paced and had an extremely strong ending. What a cliffhanger!

I also seriously love the cover! How creepy is it? I think it is absolutely perfect for the story.