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tmdavis's review against another edition
4.0
Lia Kahn is beautiful and popular until the accident that takes her life. Lia wakes up to find that she has been downloaded into a new body that only looks human. Lia will never feel pain again, she will never age, and she can't ever truly die. But because she is now a "mech" she is rejected by her friends, betrayed by her boyfriend, and alienated from her old life. Forced to the fringes of society, Lia finds and joins others like her. But they are looked at as freaks and they are hated and feared. They are everything but human.
Very interesting premise in many ways--that there are extremists who believe that mechs should not have the same rights as humans, that Lia's friends and family respond to her differently than before because they can't reconcile the new Lia with the old Lia. It reminded me a lot of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series.
The most interesting part to me was that the download process was not as simple as inserting Lia's memories into another body. Lia's accident was so sudden that if her parents had not decided to download she would have died. So Lia ends up in a body that looks nothing like her. There was no time to customize the body to look like Lia so while the memories are the same, the body is different. On top of that, Lia spends a lot of time rehabilitating herself because she must learn to speak, walk, and control her body again.
When Lia becomes friends with Auden, a boy whose father is against mechs to the extreme her life (such as it is) suddenly becomes interesting again. Hopefully the second two books in the series will be just as good.
Narrator Kate Reinders was fabulous.
Very interesting premise in many ways--that there are extremists who believe that mechs should not have the same rights as humans, that Lia's friends and family respond to her differently than before because they can't reconcile the new Lia with the old Lia. It reminded me a lot of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series.
The most interesting part to me was that the download process was not as simple as inserting Lia's memories into another body. Lia's accident was so sudden that if her parents had not decided to download she would have died. So Lia ends up in a body that looks nothing like her. There was no time to customize the body to look like Lia so while the memories are the same, the body is different. On top of that, Lia spends a lot of time rehabilitating herself because she must learn to speak, walk, and control her body again.
When Lia becomes friends with Auden, a boy whose father is against mechs to the extreme her life (such as it is) suddenly becomes interesting again. Hopefully the second two books in the series will be just as good.
Narrator Kate Reinders was fabulous.
kmc3050's review against another edition
5.0
Robin Wasserman's Skinned is a great introduction for her series. Taking place in a severely post-apocalypse future, readers find a world with superior technology that even stops death- allowing one to be downloaded into a mechanical body. Despite it's advances, this world is not perfect and is battling to come to terms with the new download procedure. Furthermore, most of the population lives in decrepit cities or in corp-towns, where they sacrifice freedom and rights for food and shelter. Only the super rich have catered lives in the country, full of food, energy, and anything technology can create. It is there that Wasserman's main character, Lia, is created, killed, and re-born into her new, machine body. While Lia does interact with others a great bit, the story really is about what is going on inside her. This first book serves it's purpose of setting up with who Lia was, what she has become, and what it all means. It is an exciting read that begs readers to consider what makes us human and would we know if we were not.
spope1527's review against another edition
1.0
If you like an angry, angsty teenage narrative - or just generally like feeling depressed, this book is for you. It had an interesting premise but absolutely no relief from misery.
tklassy's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Editing review as of 02.06.24
Original review from 2015: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Original review from 2015: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
becxreadz's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting story. Girl dies and her brain is scanned and all her memories put into a machine like body. A lot of the book is simply Lia finding out how to deal with a body, a voice, a life that isn't hers. Her family certainly wasn't any help to her. For parents who chose this route for her they weren't willing to accept their new daughter as a person and her sister was a total bitch. I definitely want to keep reading though to see how Lia's new found life works out for her. While I like the covers I'm not sure what they have to do with he story.
celiaedf12's review
4.0
Lia, one of the rich and popular kids at her school, wakes up after a car accident to find her world has changed. Due to the terrible injuries caused to her body, her mind has been "downloaded" into a robotic simulacrum of her old body. She is now feared and disliked by her peers and society at large, a "thing", rather than the girl she used to be. Her sister no longer considers her part of the family, her boyfriend doesn't look at her the same way, and she's no longer allowed to be a part of the school's running team. Lia spends a lot of Skinned wishing she had died.
I really liked this take on the "downloading the mind" concept - the fear that the "skinned" version is merely a sophisticated computer, not the real person at all. After all, they're only a copy - what rights should they have? Skinned doesn't really come to any conclusions, nor does Lia really come to terms with her new body. It's the first book in a series, but it's quite a intriguing beginning.
I really liked this take on the "downloading the mind" concept - the fear that the "skinned" version is merely a sophisticated computer, not the real person at all. After all, they're only a copy - what rights should they have? Skinned doesn't really come to any conclusions, nor does Lia really come to terms with her new body. It's the first book in a series, but it's quite a intriguing beginning.
mdoering's review
5.0
I absolutely love this book. First off, I love the concept and the plot. Second, I love that Lia is a stone cold bitch. For some reason I find myself drawn to protagonists that are flawed in some way. It makes them more relatable. Lia was just so hateful and raw. She didn't truly care about anyone until it was too late and that had nothing to do with her basically becoming a robot; it was just her being a horrible person to begin with. She has so many things swirling around in her head and they all just kind of make you cringe, but she is not the least bit apologetic. The book is very very deep and is definitely not light reading, but I loved it so much. It just struck me as being a very powerful social commentary. If you like sci-fi I would definitely recommend it.
adubrow's review
5.0
Lia Kahn is dead, but that ends up just being the beginning when she gets downloaded into an artifical body/mech and returned to her "normal" life.
And if that sounds like an awesome idea for a novel? That's because it is an absolutely awesome idea. I literally could not put this book down.
It's really amazing how Wasserman turns Lia being made into a mech version of her former self into a sort of story any teenager can relate to about the bullying, isolation, and struggles one faces for being different. Of course Lia also struggles with being able to feel, having a place in her own life, and finding someone to understand her.
But this isn't a book where the future technology and makeovers are there for show. Wasserman never takes the easy way out and there is nothing comfortable or simple about Lia's situation or the world she lives in. I'm glad about that too because that was always my issue with Uglies and a lot of YA fiction. And because of that Lia is a very strong female character and intensely enjoyable to follow around.
Basically if you like anything relating to robots, Battlestar Galactica, or any of the crazy future tech-filled dystopia fiction that's been coming out, this book will be perfect for you. And you will be so pleased by how well it's written and the level of thought, care, and work put into this novel which is the first of a trilogy. (And the last book recently came out so now's a good time to start it.)
My only criticism with this book is the insane typos in one section where a female character and male character end up with the same name for roughly two pages. Totally not the author's fault or doing, however.
And if that sounds like an awesome idea for a novel? That's because it is an absolutely awesome idea. I literally could not put this book down.
It's really amazing how Wasserman turns Lia being made into a mech version of her former self into a sort of story any teenager can relate to about the bullying, isolation, and struggles one faces for being different. Of course Lia also struggles with being able to feel, having a place in her own life, and finding someone to understand her.
But this isn't a book where the future technology and makeovers are there for show. Wasserman never takes the easy way out and there is nothing comfortable or simple about Lia's situation or the world she lives in. I'm glad about that too because that was always my issue with Uglies and a lot of YA fiction. And because of that Lia is a very strong female character and intensely enjoyable to follow around.
Basically if you like anything relating to robots, Battlestar Galactica, or any of the crazy future tech-filled dystopia fiction that's been coming out, this book will be perfect for you. And you will be so pleased by how well it's written and the level of thought, care, and work put into this novel which is the first of a trilogy. (And the last book recently came out so now's a good time to start it.)
My only criticism with this book is the insane typos in one section where a female character and male character end up with the same name for roughly two pages. Totally not the author's fault or doing, however.
madde's review against another edition
2.0
The concept is good but the characters weren't developed enough.