Scan barcode
A review by vanessamariebooks
Out of Body by Nia Davenport
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This story is fast-paced, which I love, and keeps you flipping through pages to find out what's going to happen next. Read this in one day and did not want to put it down. While I'm not a huge sci-fi reader, I loved the concept of this one and the idea of being able to transplant/switch your consciousness with another and the ethical implications of this type of science. The only thing is I wish we could've gone deeper into this topic and the ethics/morality surrounding it, especially given the conversation towards the end (but I won't spoil that for anyone). I feel like the story gives us an introductory, surface-level exploration of the topic, but the ending does leave the possibility for future books, so if there are more books in the future, I hope we get to dig deeper into this topic/theme. Also, because this is a "low sci-fi" story," it's easily accessible to anyone new to the sci-fi genre or gets confused by heavy science topics.
I also appreciate the main character, Megan, and how smart and active of a character she is. So many books and movies like this have characters that are passive and/or react in dumb ways that makes the situation worse and the only reason for that is so the writers can raise the stakes and try to back the character into a difficult situation that puts them in peril, but this book shows that writers don't have to do this. You can have smart characters and have them do things that are smart and logical, but still get trapped into an impossible, no-win (seemingly) situation. Doing this makes the payoff, when they do finally get out of that situation, much more rewarding.
I also love that the romance subplot is a small part of the story and it doesn't overtake the story like a lot of YA novels tend to do. I love the natural progression of Megan and Ryan's relationship, it definitely did NOT feel like insta-love and it never got to be too much for the story. They both stayed focused on the mystery of the story and I appreciated that. This story also has some interesting twists that I didn't see coming until right before they happened. Not sure if that's just because of how fast-paced the story is, but I enjoyed the twists as well. Overall, this was a quick, fun read and I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you love fast-paced, YA sci-fi stories.
To hear more of my thoughts on this one, check out the Diversity is Lit bookclub discussion: https://www.youtube.com/live/zTjMj7izT3Y?si=Ns_HNIGbHK-HCQLZ
I also appreciate the main character, Megan, and how smart and active of a character she is. So many books and movies like this have characters that are passive and/or react in dumb ways that makes the situation worse and the only reason for that is so the writers can raise the stakes and try to back the character into a difficult situation that puts them in peril, but this book shows that writers don't have to do this. You can have smart characters and have them do things that are smart and logical, but still get trapped into an impossible, no-win (seemingly) situation. Doing this makes the payoff, when they do finally get out of that situation, much more rewarding.
I also love that the romance subplot is a small part of the story and it doesn't overtake the story like a lot of YA novels tend to do. I love the natural progression of Megan and Ryan's relationship, it definitely did NOT feel like insta-love and it never got to be too much for the story. They both stayed focused on the mystery of the story and I appreciated that. This story also has some interesting twists that I didn't see coming until right before they happened. Not sure if that's just because of how fast-paced the story is, but I enjoyed the twists as well. Overall, this was a quick, fun read and I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you love fast-paced, YA sci-fi stories.
To hear more of my thoughts on this one, check out the Diversity is Lit bookclub discussion: https://www.youtube.com/live/zTjMj7izT3Y?si=Ns_HNIGbHK-HCQLZ
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship