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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I give this book three stars mainly because the plot is great, as well as the plot twist at the end (well, the plot TWISTS actually). The characters were kind of flat though. Callie, the main character who lives among the poorest of the poor at the beginning, suddenly experiences wealthiness and gets used to it in like one day!! Plus, she drives throughout the whole book like she has done it for years even though she mentionned at the beginning that she only drove once in her life! She is baddass though, which I like.
I would recommend this book anyway, and it kind of reminds me of Beta by Rachel Cohn which is another really good book!
I would recommend this book anyway, and it kind of reminds me of Beta by Rachel Cohn which is another really good book!
This was pretty entertaining, if you can get past a couple of the standard teen-lit conventions (deeply felt romance and minimal backstory). Would have been easy to wrap the up in a single volume, but from the teasers at the end, it sounds like there will be some added complexity in the next book.
The story was great but I didn't identify with Callie. She felt like a version of all the other strong girl heroines in every dystopian novel written in the past year.
This is like a delicious mix of all my favorite parts of the most popular dystopian dramas, from The Hunger Games to Divergent, to parts of Whedon's Dollhouse. The Spore Wars make me think of The Last of Us, even though there's no mind controlling plants here-- just deadly ones. But more than just that, it starts to touch on some really heavy stuff, like ageism, or the ethics of science and immortality. 10/10 would read again.
Me gusto. La trama siempre se mantuvo interesante y nunca se estanco, como me ha pasado en otros libros. El final me dejo con cara de WTF??, y pffff sentí horribleeeee, admito que no me lo esperaba para nada y nomas por eso le pongo buena calificación.
Hearing his words made it all too real. Creepy old Enders with arthritic limbs taking over this teen's body for week, living inside his skin.
Synopsis:
A year ago, Callie lived the life of an average teenager in Southern California. She lived in a house with her mom and her dad and her little brother, Tyler. Then the war that had been raging so far away hit home with the detonation of a Spore missile and the subsequent disease that killed almost everyone between the ages of 20 and 60. Without older living relatives to claim them, Callie and Tyler have been on the run from the authorities, squatting in abandoned buildings and fighting off dangerous Renegades. They are running out of resources, and Tyler is ill. But in Beverly Hills, there is a place called Prime Destinations, a company that will pay handsomely if she will do the nearly unthinkable: allow them to use her body as a rental for elderly "Enders" to experience being young again. Desperate, Callie signs on, only to learn that both Prime Destinations and her final renter have plans worse than she could have imagined.
Review:
A post-apocalyptic Los Angeles is the setting for this entry in the popular Dystopian YA genre. In Price's version of the near future, the "sandwich generation" is gone, leaving a world populated by elderly "Enders" who now live well in their second century and under-20 "Starters", who have no rights at all until they come of age at 19. The lucky ones are those with grandparents, great-grandparents, and other senior relatives to "claim" them. The unlucky ones are on the run, scrounging for food, hiding out in filthy squats, hoping to run out the clock to age 19 before getting picked up by the authorities and locked up in an Institution. Prime Destinations is strongly reminiscent of the eponymous location in Joss Whedon's short-lived series Dollhouse, with the twist that the clients are actually inhabiting the "dolls".
The interesting premise is undermined by some shaky world-building. With people living to 200, it seems like there would be more living grandparents, great-grandparents, great-aunts and -uncles, and other relatives available to claim kids like Callie and her brother. What happened to their own grandparents (and great-grandparents) is never explained. The only Enders and Claimed Minors Callie encounters are wealthy; what happened to the middle- and working-class kids who had living relatives to claim them? Finally, while it is clear that the post-war world is a huge change for Callie (and everyone else), life before the war was clearly different from what we know, but it is unclear how things got from here to there.
The characters populating this world are also problematic. Callie's fierce determination makes her an appealing heroine. Unfortunately, she is the only character who really gets any development. After Tyler and Callie's friend Michael are introduced early on, they spend most of the novel "off-screen", as Callie is separated from them. Even secondary characters who are more involved in the plot are left static. Complicating this, of course, is the whole body-switching issue; after first meeting someone, he may be quite literally a different person the next time he appears! There are several supplementary stories slated to appear in addition to the sequel that look like they might explore the characters a bit more.
Despite the flaws, this is a promising debut novel. The plot is compelling enough to distract from the sorts of questions that make it impossible to suspend disbelief (at least, until putting it down), and a final twist keeps the reader on the hook for the forthcoming sequel. This is an enjoyable, entertaining read. Just try not to pick at the details.
On shelves March 13, 2012.
Final Word:
An intriguing premise and compelling plot compensate for some shaky world-building in this promising Dystopian YA debut.
Source:
e-ARC via NetGalley, provided by the publisher by request
Synopsis:
A year ago, Callie lived the life of an average teenager in Southern California. She lived in a house with her mom and her dad and her little brother, Tyler. Then the war that had been raging so far away hit home with the detonation of a Spore missile and the subsequent disease that killed almost everyone between the ages of 20 and 60. Without older living relatives to claim them, Callie and Tyler have been on the run from the authorities, squatting in abandoned buildings and fighting off dangerous Renegades. They are running out of resources, and Tyler is ill. But in Beverly Hills, there is a place called Prime Destinations, a company that will pay handsomely if she will do the nearly unthinkable: allow them to use her body as a rental for elderly "Enders" to experience being young again. Desperate, Callie signs on, only to learn that both Prime Destinations and her final renter have plans worse than she could have imagined.
Review:
A post-apocalyptic Los Angeles is the setting for this entry in the popular Dystopian YA genre. In Price's version of the near future, the "sandwich generation" is gone, leaving a world populated by elderly "Enders" who now live well in their second century and under-20 "Starters", who have no rights at all until they come of age at 19. The lucky ones are those with grandparents, great-grandparents, and other senior relatives to "claim" them. The unlucky ones are on the run, scrounging for food, hiding out in filthy squats, hoping to run out the clock to age 19 before getting picked up by the authorities and locked up in an Institution. Prime Destinations is strongly reminiscent of the eponymous location in Joss Whedon's short-lived series Dollhouse, with the twist that the clients are actually inhabiting the "dolls".
The interesting premise is undermined by some shaky world-building. With people living to 200, it seems like there would be more living grandparents, great-grandparents, great-aunts and -uncles, and other relatives available to claim kids like Callie and her brother. What happened to their own grandparents (and great-grandparents) is never explained. The only Enders and Claimed Minors Callie encounters are wealthy; what happened to the middle- and working-class kids who had living relatives to claim them? Finally, while it is clear that the post-war world is a huge change for Callie (and everyone else), life before the war was clearly different from what we know, but it is unclear how things got from here to there.
The characters populating this world are also problematic. Callie's fierce determination makes her an appealing heroine. Unfortunately, she is the only character who really gets any development. After Tyler and Callie's friend Michael are introduced early on, they spend most of the novel "off-screen", as Callie is separated from them. Even secondary characters who are more involved in the plot are left static. Complicating this, of course, is the whole body-switching issue; after first meeting someone, he may be quite literally a different person the next time he appears! There are several supplementary stories slated to appear in addition to the sequel that look like they might explore the characters a bit more.
Despite the flaws, this is a promising debut novel. The plot is compelling enough to distract from the sorts of questions that make it impossible to suspend disbelief (at least, until putting it down), and a final twist keeps the reader on the hook for the forthcoming sequel. This is an enjoyable, entertaining read. Just try not to pick at the details.
On shelves March 13, 2012.
Final Word:
An intriguing premise and compelling plot compensate for some shaky world-building in this promising Dystopian YA debut.
Source:
e-ARC via NetGalley, provided by the publisher by request
I swear I'll never look at the elderly the same after this book. They're going to forever frighten me...
This book was Good! Honestly a solid 4 stars. I let the romance that I felt was shoved down my throat go. For obvious reasons. The lack of world building total -.75 but that ending the last page before the cliffhanger I totally saw coming got it a -.25stars because to me it just seem like its going to be another forced romance In the 2nd book*sighs*. I guess I can forgive the sorry excuse for romance if I can find out more on the war. Those are my only gripes.
I'd definitely recommend to folks so enjoy this genre because clearly other folks don't get it.
This book was Good! Honestly a solid 4 stars. I let the romance that I felt was shoved down my throat go. For obvious reasons. The lack of world building total -.75 but that ending the last page before the cliffhanger I totally saw coming got it a -.25stars because to me it just seem like its going to be another forced romance In the 2nd book*sighs*. I guess I can forgive the sorry excuse for romance if I can find out more on the war. Those are my only gripes.
I'd definitely recommend to folks so enjoy this genre because clearly other folks don't get it.
La storia si svolge a Los Angeles, una città che al giorno d'oggi è una delle più famose e visitate al mondo per quanto riguarda gli Stati Uniti (credo sia seconda solo a New York e Manhattan) ma quella di Callie, la nostra protagonista, non è la LA che tutti conosciamo.
Nel mondo è scoppiata una grande guerra, una guerra che ha decimato la popolazione americana attraverso le spore, un'arma chimica di distruzione di massa. Le spore hanno infettato ed inseguito ucciso tutta la popolazione americana compresa tra i 20 ed i 60 anni.
L'America si è ritrovata a passare da Nazione potente a Nazione rinchiusa e bloccata nei suoi confini. Perché le spore non hanno infettato tutto il pianeta, ma solo gli Stati Uniti contro cui sono state scagliate e per questo tutti gli altri paesi hanno chiuso loro le vie di fuga.
Gli americani dunque si ritrovano in un mondo sottosopra composto solo da due generazioni che non potrebbero essere più lontane fra loro: adolescenti e bambini contro anziani ed ultracentenari.
In un mondo in burrasca si salvano solo i ragazzi che hanno dei nonni, tutti gli altri sono ridotti alla fame e all'illegalità, a vivere come dei reietti fino al compimenti della maggiore età, unico momento in cui potranno ufficialmente entrare nella società e trovarsi un lavoro per vivere.
Gli Starters, cioè i ragazzi, si dividono poi in: amichevoli e rinnegati. Gli amichevoli sono i ragazzi che si limitano a vivere alla giornata, cercando di aiutarsi l'uno con l'altro, convivendo. I rinnegati sono invece i ragazzi che si danno alla delinquenza, che rubano agli altri e che sono pronti a tutto pur di avere quello che desiderano.
Dall'altro lato della città ci sono invece gli Enders, i vecchi che ancora lavorano e quelli che hanno raggiunto l'età pensionistica. Nessun Ender è povero. Tutti loro sono ricchi, più o meno, e conducono una vita decisamente sopra la media.
I loro nipoti sono gli unici giovani che possono realmente godersi la vita.
Sotto la superficie però c'è ben altro: un'azienda chiamata Prime Destinations sta affittando i corpi di adolescenti soli e poveri e soprattutto disperati per una tecnologia che permette agli Enders di entrare nel loro corpo e viverci all'interno per qualche giorno o anche qualche mese.
E quel che Callie fa è proprio questo: firmare un contratto con la Prime Destinations per tre prenotazioni in modo da guadagnare i soldi per curare il suo fratellino Tyler malato e bisognoso di medicine troppo care per le loro tasche vuote.
Callie Woodland viene così rimessa a nuovo, spogliata di tutte le sue imperfezioni e messa sul mercato.
Ma le cose non sono mai come sembrano: tutto inizia ad andare storto ed alla fine una verità molto inquietante verrà fuori sulla Prime Destinations.
E' un libro che parte piano ma che poi sale esponenzialmente, ricco di colpi di scena secondo me, dato che più volte ho esclamato "questa non me l'aspettavo" e di cui non vedo l'ora di leggere il seguito per vedere come va a finire l'intera faccenda.
Poi non manca neanche la storia d'amore ed il triangolo amoroso che a molti piace, anche se non è decisamente il cardine della storia, anzi. E questo è un gran punto a suo favore!
Lo consiglio a tutti, soprattutto a chi ama il fantasy e lo sci-fi, ovviamente. E' davvero un bel libro, merita di essere letto ♥
Nel mondo è scoppiata una grande guerra, una guerra che ha decimato la popolazione americana attraverso le spore, un'arma chimica di distruzione di massa. Le spore hanno infettato ed inseguito ucciso tutta la popolazione americana compresa tra i 20 ed i 60 anni.
L'America si è ritrovata a passare da Nazione potente a Nazione rinchiusa e bloccata nei suoi confini. Perché le spore non hanno infettato tutto il pianeta, ma solo gli Stati Uniti contro cui sono state scagliate e per questo tutti gli altri paesi hanno chiuso loro le vie di fuga.
Gli americani dunque si ritrovano in un mondo sottosopra composto solo da due generazioni che non potrebbero essere più lontane fra loro: adolescenti e bambini contro anziani ed ultracentenari.
In un mondo in burrasca si salvano solo i ragazzi che hanno dei nonni, tutti gli altri sono ridotti alla fame e all'illegalità, a vivere come dei reietti fino al compimenti della maggiore età, unico momento in cui potranno ufficialmente entrare nella società e trovarsi un lavoro per vivere.
Gli Starters, cioè i ragazzi, si dividono poi in: amichevoli e rinnegati. Gli amichevoli sono i ragazzi che si limitano a vivere alla giornata, cercando di aiutarsi l'uno con l'altro, convivendo. I rinnegati sono invece i ragazzi che si danno alla delinquenza, che rubano agli altri e che sono pronti a tutto pur di avere quello che desiderano.
Dall'altro lato della città ci sono invece gli Enders, i vecchi che ancora lavorano e quelli che hanno raggiunto l'età pensionistica. Nessun Ender è povero. Tutti loro sono ricchi, più o meno, e conducono una vita decisamente sopra la media.
I loro nipoti sono gli unici giovani che possono realmente godersi la vita.
Sotto la superficie però c'è ben altro: un'azienda chiamata Prime Destinations sta affittando i corpi di adolescenti soli e poveri e soprattutto disperati per una tecnologia che permette agli Enders di entrare nel loro corpo e viverci all'interno per qualche giorno o anche qualche mese.
E quel che Callie fa è proprio questo: firmare un contratto con la Prime Destinations per tre prenotazioni in modo da guadagnare i soldi per curare il suo fratellino Tyler malato e bisognoso di medicine troppo care per le loro tasche vuote.
Callie Woodland viene così rimessa a nuovo, spogliata di tutte le sue imperfezioni e messa sul mercato.
Ma le cose non sono mai come sembrano: tutto inizia ad andare storto ed alla fine una verità molto inquietante verrà fuori sulla Prime Destinations.
E' un libro che parte piano ma che poi sale esponenzialmente, ricco di colpi di scena secondo me, dato che più volte ho esclamato "questa non me l'aspettavo" e di cui non vedo l'ora di leggere il seguito per vedere come va a finire l'intera faccenda.
Poi non manca neanche la storia d'amore ed il triangolo amoroso che a molti piace, anche se non è decisamente il cardine della storia, anzi. E questo è un gran punto a suo favore!
Lo consiglio a tutti, soprattutto a chi ama il fantasy e lo sci-fi, ovviamente. E' davvero un bel libro, merita di essere letto ♥
My local bookstore has a bargain section for young adult books, and in this section all of the books are either five or six dollars, and it is one of my favorite places to shop because I feel as if I can always find gems hidden among them. One of the books that was there for a VERY long time was Starters by Lissa Price. The cover caught my eye because of how shiny and strange it looked, but when I read the synopsis, it didn't quite seem like something I would be interested in, so I didn't buy it.
This continued on for over a month. Every time I went into the store I would see Starters sitting on the bargain shelf and every week I would pick it up, read the synopsis again, and eventually decide to put it back down. Finally, one week, I looked at it and decided that if it was catching my attention every time I went into the store, maybe there was a reason for it, so I bought it.
The story follows a girl named Callie. Her parents are both dead due to the Spore War, and her little brother is very sick. She needs money to get them an actual house, and to buy him the medicine that he needs, otherwise there is a large chance that he won't survive. In order to get the money, she travels to Prime Destinations, a place in Beverly Hills which allows Enders, or the elderly people of the community, to rent out the bodies of teenagers so that they can feel young again. Callie signs a contract with Prime Destinations, allowing her body to be rented out three times in return for a very large sum of money.
The first two renters go very well, but the third renter requires her body for an entire month, and when, a week in, the chip in her brain which allows the connection between the Ender and her body to occur malfunctions, she has to make a choice about what to do, and exactly how far she will let the Ender use her body for the deeds that she wishes to accomplish.
I was very surprised by how much I did end up enjoying this book. Once I started reading it during the Read-a-Thons, I just couldn't stop. I had to know what was going to happen, and where the story was going to go. The story was so unique and it took some turns which I didn't expect, even after reading the synopsis a grand total of six times. The story was nothing like what I expected it to be, and that made it so much more enjoyable. The only thing which kept this book from being a total of five stars for me was the main character Callie. I found her to be very whiny throughout the course of the book, and at times she came of as pathetically weak. As a girl who has been living on the street for a year looking after her little brother, she sounded like she should be so tough, so strong. And while she was during a lot of the experiences that she went through, it wasn't the case for the whole book. In fact, most of her strength seemed to come from the Ender who has rented her.
Over all I liked this book a lot, and I look forward to reading the sequel Enders sometime in the future
This continued on for over a month. Every time I went into the store I would see Starters sitting on the bargain shelf and every week I would pick it up, read the synopsis again, and eventually decide to put it back down. Finally, one week, I looked at it and decided that if it was catching my attention every time I went into the store, maybe there was a reason for it, so I bought it.
The story follows a girl named Callie. Her parents are both dead due to the Spore War, and her little brother is very sick. She needs money to get them an actual house, and to buy him the medicine that he needs, otherwise there is a large chance that he won't survive. In order to get the money, she travels to Prime Destinations, a place in Beverly Hills which allows Enders, or the elderly people of the community, to rent out the bodies of teenagers so that they can feel young again. Callie signs a contract with Prime Destinations, allowing her body to be rented out three times in return for a very large sum of money.
The first two renters go very well, but the third renter requires her body for an entire month, and when, a week in, the chip in her brain which allows the connection between the Ender and her body to occur malfunctions, she has to make a choice about what to do, and exactly how far she will let the Ender use her body for the deeds that she wishes to accomplish.
I was very surprised by how much I did end up enjoying this book. Once I started reading it during the Read-a-Thons, I just couldn't stop. I had to know what was going to happen, and where the story was going to go. The story was so unique and it took some turns which I didn't expect, even after reading the synopsis a grand total of six times. The story was nothing like what I expected it to be, and that made it so much more enjoyable. The only thing which kept this book from being a total of five stars for me was the main character Callie. I found her to be very whiny throughout the course of the book, and at times she came of as pathetically weak. As a girl who has been living on the street for a year looking after her little brother, she sounded like she should be so tough, so strong. And while she was during a lot of the experiences that she went through, it wasn't the case for the whole book. In fact, most of her strength seemed to come from the Ender who has rented her.
Over all I liked this book a lot, and I look forward to reading the sequel Enders sometime in the future