Starters by Lissa Price
March 13, 2012 from Delacorte Books
After the Spore Wars, Callie and her brother Tyler are desperate for food, shelter, and their long dead parents. At 16, Callie takes care of her brother by scavenging and scrounging, but her brothers declining health leaves Callie looking for more than scrapes of food. She heads to Prime Destinations to loan her body out to an Elder that needs a little vacation time in a young and beautiful body. Where do I sign up? Anyway, Callie gets more than she bargains for when she "wakes up" in the middle of her rental. Callie isn't sure where she is and what happened to Helen, her rental. Over the course of a few hours, she learns of a frightening plan that would put both Helen and Callie in a lot of danger. Callie decides to fake her way and pretend to be an Elder inside her perfect young body in order to stop the ill-fated plan. Everything would go a lot easier if she knew who to trust and learn why she keeps blacking out and waking up with guns in her hands.
I love Callie's fighting spirit! She does whatever it takes to provide for her brother and keep him safe. She only has his best interests at heart, and I love seeing positive sibling relationships. Callie has a lot of relationships to juggle. Her budding relationship with another unclaimed (child without parents), her kinda lusty relationship with the Senator's son, the fake relationships with other renters who think she is an Elder in a young body...it's all a lot for poor Callie to handle at times. She really doesn't know who to trust, and of course, we find out along the way that not everyone is worth the time of day. Price juggles everyone without a hitch and we learn just enough to keep us interested.
There is a lot of adventure - running, hiding, car chases, spying - that make this story not only interesting but fun. This book definitely has a science fiction feel and I personally really enjoyed that. In fact, that was the #1 reason why I picked up this book. The reader immediately understands that the story takes place several years into the future because of the Spore Wars and loss of all people between 20-60-years-old. Can you imagine? The references to the demise of the country are fascinating and this story had the right balance of sci-fi, mystery, suspense, and romance to keep me tuned in. I think this is a strong addition to the ever growing (and ever loving) dystopian genre. Highly recommend!
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You can find Price at her website
