Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie’s only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.
He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie’s head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator’s grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations’ plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined.
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Publication Date: March 13, 2012
Review
Starters by Lissa Price is an outstanding 2012, post apocalypse, debut novel and the perfect start to a new two book series. Every detail is worked out so that this remarkable story becomes easy to imagine as a potential future event, which is what I love best about a well written dystopian.
At the wake of a spore war, there is only enough vaccination for the weaker citizens, the very old, Enders, and the very young, Starters, and they end up being the only ones to survive. Now Starters are without parents and without the most basic necessities in life, while Enders control every avenue of society, including the use of the Starters bodies through the service, Prime Destinations.
Callie, in her desperation to care for her little brother, rents her body through Prime Destinations, only to find that renting her body is not nearly as simple or harmless as the Enders make it seem. There are politics, greed and society standards that make everything all the more complex.
I liked Callie so much that I felt invested in her life enough to hang on every word to see the outcome for her life. She faces one dangerous situation after the other as she uncovers more of the mystery that surrounds Prime Destination. Callie is brave and is one smart cookie. It is a pleasure to watch her come up with solutions for what seems like the impossible.
There is also a romance story line that brings in two leading young men. This is NOT a drawn out, annoying love triangle, but an intentional move on the part of the author to leave the reader guessing the intention of the other characters. And left guessing I was. It is all explained beautifully in the end with just enough questions to leave me wanting the next book.
The next and final book, Enders (Starters #2) is expected to release in December of this year.
This book sounds really good and it has been everywhere but is it just me or does the cover creep anyone else out/
Janiera @This is From my Heart
It was creepy to me too, and them I read the book and there is this wonderful moment when you see where the cover comes from. It turns out that it actually pretty cool.
Oh I love your review. This book was so amazing. I can't wait until the next story. I like you have many questions in my head.
I love the cover, If that doesn't drawn you in the story line will. I haven't read any...A N Y.. dystopians yet. I think I might start with this one. Thanks for your great review!
Mary
I have read a lot of good ones lately. I hope that you love the genre once you take the plunge.
I'm so glad you enjoyed this book Stephanie because I'm ding to read it .. I still have to order a copy though !! I've talked to Lissa Price a bit and she is so sweet, which makes me even more excited about Starters !! Thanks for the fabulous review :)
I hope that you like it when you get to it. I agree, Lissa is incredibly nice.
Dang it! I passed on this one because I read a couple of not so glowing reviews. Maybe I will hurry and try and request it based on your review. The entire premise sounds so different. Old people renting younger bodies. Sounds like it has a good ending and no love triangle, sign me up! Alright girl, I got your button switched out again on my roll. I can't keep up with you ;)
Wow! I'm really glad you liked it so much. I'll have to bump this up my list. It sounds great!
Oh I can't wait. This is coming up on my tbr, and it sounds really good. I think this is the 1st review I've read for it, and now I'm excited!
I absolutely LOVED Starters!! It's a shame that December is so far away because I want to read Enders now!!!!
I didn't feel the same way with Starters--I didn't see the huge appeal. I did like it, though. LOVED the premise and the twist behind who really was Blake. NEVER saw that coming. It just didn't wow me like a lot of dystopians do. I don't know, maybe am starting to get tired of this genre?
and btw, it's not a trilogy; it's a duology, meaning there'll only be two books. x)
Thank you for that information. I updated the post, thanks to you.
I am sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy it as much. I love dystopian, but have not read many of them lately, so this was fresh and pleasing to me.