Starters by Lissa Price

Pages: 336

Intended Audience: Teens and Mature Tweens

Genre: Dystopian

Notes for parents: Some mature scenes

The Inside Cover

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, are 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 hin 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…

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

This is book one of a two book series.

What’s good?

The premise is unique and the swift moving plot keeps you guessing. The characters are well drawn and develop evenly as the story progresses. While Callie, the main character, is fairly even (with the occasional outburst), the supporting characters are not, like desperate Helena, the puzzling Old Man, unpredictable Michael, sympathy-inducing Tyler. The science involved in this future world is vague, but suspending disbelief is easy thanks to the fast pace, the action, and the evolving mystery of it all.

Best part: The ending. It definitely gives you a reason to read book 2!

  

What’s not so good?

I had a hard time buying into the idea that the old would be so willing to abuse the young. While the gap between the rich/poor divide was very believable, the lack of sympathy shown by the majority of “enders” felt…unbalanced. Overlooking the science was easy, but accepting the social dynamics of the world was not.

Worst part: Nothing was notably bad.

Recommendations þþþoo

It was good. I don’t think it’s award winning, but it was entertaining, with healthy doses of action, mystery, romance and thrills. Recommended.

Price, Lissa. Starters. New York: Delacorte, 2012. (Hardcover)