Book Review: Starters by Lissa Price

Title: Starters

Author: Lissa Price

# Of Pages: 352

Publisher: Delacorte Books

Publication Date: March 13, 2012

Level: Young Adult

Rating: 5 Hearts

Synopsis

(From Amazon.com)

In the future, teens rent their bodies to seniors who want to be young again. One girl discovers her renter plans to do more than party--her body will commit murder, if her mind can't stop it. Sixteen-year-old Callie lost her parents when the genocide spore wiped out everyone except those who were vaccinated first--the very young and very old. With no grandparents to claim Callie and her little brother, they go on the run, living as squatters, and fighting off unclaimed renegades who would kill for a cookie. Hope comes via Prime Destinations, run by a mysterious figure known only as The Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to seniors, known as enders, who get to be young again. Callie's neurochip malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her rich renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, even dating Blake, the grandson of a senator. It's a fairy-tale new life . . . until she uncovers the Body Bank's horrible plan. . . .

My Verdict

When this book first started making its way around the web I didn’t really know much about it and wasn’t really interested. However, after seeing the books trailer I decided I wanted to read it. I was bummed to see a lot of mediocre reviews of it and my hopes for it dropped. I’m here to say that this book surprised me with its brilliance! I’m so glad I didn’t let those things keep me from reading this amazing book!

The plot line is so intricate and detailed. I felt like every little detail had been planned and was critical to the story. All these details click together sooner or later, and the things that didn’t come together by the end of this book I’m sure will be solved in the next. I don’t think there will be any loose ends with this series.

I’m going to warn you, the first half of the book is pretty slow as the world, characters, and story line are being built up, but once it hit the second half I was totally engrossed!

Callie was a strong and loving heroine whom I really enjoyed. She was smart, and could hold her own. She had strong beliefs of right and wrong and always did what she believed to be right in her heart. Another character I loved was Callie’s little brother, Tyler. We don’t really get to know Tyler’s character first hand but rather grow attached to him through Callie’s love for him.

I admit the book could be really confusing on occasion, but it just took me a few minutes to collect my thoughts or flip back and reread a passage and I could usually figure it out.

The ending wasn’t exactly a cliffhanger but boy did it pack a punch! I’m so excited for the next book, Enders, and was disappointed to find out it’s not coming out until sometime in 2013 because the back of my book said December 2012. I’m a little nervous because this is the kind of book where all the little details are important, so if the wait ends up being too long I know I’m going to forget everything and be totally lost when I pick up the sequel.

Take my word for it, this is one series you don’t want to miss!

PS. 

Here is the book trailer that got me hooked!

MINI REVIEW

After finishing Starters I needed more! I was super excited to discover The Unhidden Stories: three short stories offering a little bit more of a focus on the characters. I quickly snapped up the first one “Portrait of a Starter,” which followed Michael and how he came to draw the famous sketch of Callie (which is on the cover of the book.) It was a little extra that I enjoyed reading but something I could have easily lived without.  

After paying $2.99 I was disappointed that it was only 15 pages! I was finished within 5 to 10 minutes and would have easily breezed through the other two short stories, “Portrait of a Marshal” and “The 3^rd Unhidden Story” had they not cost $2.99 each. I came to the decision that while, yes I wanted to read them, $3 for 15 pages is kind of ridiculous.