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A review by doessusanwrite
Body Tourists by Jane Rogers
5.0
To get the awkwardness out of the way first - I read this book ages ago but just wasn't quite ready to review it until now. Why? Well on a superficial level this book is enjoyable if somewhat to creepy read. Great - just my kind of book. Unfortunately, if you even analyse it slightly then the narrative becomes terrifying. Set at some point in the near future, the story revolves around a clinic and those who use the clinic to benefit their lives. If only it were that simple.
You see this is a classic body swap, reminiscent of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse (what an underrated, and also incredibly dark, show), where the exploitation of the young and desperate is facilitated by impressive brain doctors and shady rich folks. In Dollhouse, those exploited are mostly criminals whos only other option is a prison sentence. In Body Tourists those being exploited are not criminals but those who had the misfortune to be born poor and want a life out of poverty. In both cases, the customers are rich people, the only difference being that in this book the paying customers are the families of the people inserted into the bodies, unlike dollhouse where the brain scientists design the perfect person for the customer to enjoy.
Setting aside the absolute horror of the storyline, it is not hard to imagine the social politics that led to the society as written. It seems to be the way we are heading - the rich get richer and the poor poorer, provided with a fragment of what it is like to have anything you want (in this case virtual reality allows those living on the estates freedom from the grimness of their lives). This is already happening - the accessibility of mobile phones and devices is distracting those who otherwise would feel helpless in their situations.
4.5 stars out of 5. Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for an advanced egalley.
You see this is a classic body swap, reminiscent of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse (what an underrated, and also incredibly dark, show), where the exploitation of the young and desperate is facilitated by impressive brain doctors and shady rich folks. In Dollhouse, those exploited are mostly criminals whos only other option is a prison sentence. In Body Tourists those being exploited are not criminals but those who had the misfortune to be born poor and want a life out of poverty. In both cases, the customers are rich people, the only difference being that in this book the paying customers are the families of the people inserted into the bodies, unlike dollhouse where the brain scientists design the perfect person for the customer to enjoy.
Setting aside the absolute horror of the storyline, it is not hard to imagine the social politics that led to the society as written. It seems to be the way we are heading - the rich get richer and the poor poorer, provided with a fragment of what it is like to have anything you want (in this case virtual reality allows those living on the estates freedom from the grimness of their lives). This is already happening - the accessibility of mobile phones and devices is distracting those who otherwise would feel helpless in their situations.
4.5 stars out of 5. Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for an advanced egalley.