A review by novelheartbeat
The Body Electric by Beth Revis

5.0

"Every hero I know is soaked in blood."

WOW, Beth Revis sure is a pro at science fiction! I was utterly blown away by the world Beth created. As far as world building goes, I think this book is one of the best I've read! Beth had me convinced that New Venice was a real place, it was SO vivid and realistic! This movie absolutely NEEDS to be a movie asap. I was so freaking impressed with everything - the cuffLINKs, the kinetic walkway (think horizontal escalator!), the Groveyard (a graveyard made of trees where ashes are buried instead of graves and bodies!), the robots, OMG! It was amazing, guys! There aren't enough words to explain how epic the world was. I want it to be a real place so I can visit it!

Oh, and did I mention there's a year?! I have this really strange hangup on years. If it's a future world and there's no year, it drives me CRAZY. But in this book, it's 2341! Holy crap, right? The world was so complex, and Beth explained everything with small snippets, so it was never confusing. I had a complete grasp on the world, I was able to picture it perfectly. Like I said, it was like it was a real place! There's also a little history lesson in the back, explaining FRX (FRX! Godspeed! FANGIRLING!), the Secessionary States, and the Secessionary War. It's incredible how much thought Beth put into New Venice and her story!

Also, I was pleasantly surprised at the random gory scenes! I didn't expect that from a Sci-fi novel. (Well, I guess I should have - I've seen Beth's panels and I know she loves blowing things up and killing her characters!) It was delightful :D *rubs hands together*

Oh, and secrets! Twists! DANGER! I loved the mystery aspect of this book too. Who is this Jack person? Why can't Ella remember him? Who altered her memories?! And there were plenty of surprises that I didn't see coming!

Spoiler

Ella altered her own memories?! To protect Jack?! Omg! And the idea of the Cy-clones was totally awesome!

There's only one complaint I have about this book. You'll notice in my Assessment section that my feels were fairly low. I didn't connect to the characters quite the way I'd hoped, and I didn't have much feeling while I was reading. (There was plenty of excitement over the world at least!) I wasn't really on board with the romance, but thankfully it wasn't front and center. The world took the spotlight in this book!

If you love Sci-fi, I definitely recommend you pick this one up!

This review was originally posted on Novel Heartbeat. To see a breakdown of my assessment, please visit the full review here.