Starters by Lissa Price. Published by Random House 2012.
Here's a new twist on the myriad of horrific possibilities described in previous dystopian fiction - the possibility of an Elder renting the body of a younger person (a Starter), so that youth can again be experienced. In many ways, this seems a very gross concept.
This is not to say I did not enjoy this book - I did. But the premise on which it is based is pretty foul even for Dystopia!
Callie, the heroine, and her little brother who is suffering from a potentially life-threatening illness, are living as squatters, on the fringe of starvation all the time, and at risk of losing what little they do have to bands of renegades.
Enter the Body Bank, a group of warped individuals who offer money in return for the loan of your body, as long as it's attractive and young. And of course, Callie signs up so she can help her little brother. So far, so good. However as these things go, something goes significantly wrong and Callie finds herself in way more trouble than she could have imagined.
This is Lissa Price's first novel, her writing style is fairly easy, and she has a quirky sense of humour which helps to alleviate the bleak nature of the plotlines. However towards the end, I felt that the various threads of the story were cobbled together a bit quickly - the last couple of chapters seemed only to tie up ends, without adding much value.
The ending, however, does give rise to some disconcerting thoughts. I 'll leave it to you to discover what those might be.
Overall, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Not a must-read, but good enough if you are keen on dystopian fiction.
