Starters by Lissa Price

Starters by Lissa Price

Imagine a world where everyone between the ages of 21 and 85 were gone. A horrific chemical war where only the very young and very old were vaccinated and survived. But the average age of death has altered as well. The elderly are living to be two hundred years old. The government, still ravaged by chemical warfare, has created laws that forbid young people to work; to ensure that the elderly are employed and useful. If you are a young person and are lucky, your grandparents have claimed you and you live a healthy, stable, life. If you are like the majority, unclaimed, you are on the streets.

Callie is young and has to look after her younger brother whose lungs are slowly failing. They have no money and live in abandoned office buildings. They are desperate for food and for the will to survive. Callie hears on the street of a new and underground practice that the elderly have created: the ability to rent the body of a young teenager. The Body Bank allows a grandparent to slip their mind into the youthful body of a teenager. They can play sports that their arthritic bodies can't play anymore, they can hop from club to club staying up all night to dance and party, they can fall in love with someone young and beautiful but only for one month. In exchange for the use of their buddies, teenagers minds are put to sleep for however long their bodies are rented. Upon awaking, they receive an inordinate amount of cash. All hush hush and under the table, of course.

But what happens when Callie wakes up mid rental? When she finds her body at a late night club with a cute boy on her arm? When she looks into her purse and finds a used handgun? When her elderly renter is still sharing her body and mind?

Starters was a great book to start a new school year off with reading. The concept is very Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but for teens and with more lip gloss. The book is slow to go in the beginning but as soon as Callie wakes up on the floor of a bar, it get's interesting. Frankly, the best part of this book was the last two chapters. Two huge twists within the last pages makes me want to read the sequel (of course it's a sequel...everything is a sequel). On a vain level, the cover art is pretty cool of this book; definitely very eye catching especially to a young reader.

The creep factor of this book was very similar to the Unwound series by Neal Shusterman. It sort of feels like this could happen. After reading this book, I'm looking at my grandparents in a different light. Frankly, I think middle schoolers and high schoolers should read this book simply to have a different point of view on older generations. Just because your grandma is super cute and loves to knit doesn't mean she doesn't have the secret desire to pour tequila shots into her mouth while wearing sequin booty shorts. Older people don't just have to sit around watching FOX News all day; they want to have a life too! They were young once!

Okay, maybe I'm getting a little too deep on this matter. But this book is worth picking up. It reads quickly and keeps you pretty interested. Plus, the two twists at the end are ones you don't see coming. So often in dystopian set novels, the twists are always: "It was the government the whole time!" or "He was so bad but now he is the hero!". This novel gives a refreshing change to such a popular genre.