Starters

In STARTERS, a spore missile wiped out all non-vaccinated citizens and left only teenagers and the very old alive. The elderly, called Enders, run everything, and the teenagers/children, called Starters, are either claimed by an Ender family member or are condemned to a life on the streets where they run from marshalls who will commit them to institutions.

Enders have really long lives (due to technological advances that seem to have been in place before the book started), and some of them want the thrill of being young again. That's where a company called Prime Destinations comes in. Prime entices unclaimed Starters with promises of wealth and security to allow PD to implant a chip in their brains that will allow an Ender to rent their body and control it for the duration of the rental.

Callie signs up for Prime Destinations because she needs medicine and security for her sick younger brother. All goes well until the third rental when Callie's chip malfunctions, and she begins to regain sporadic control over her body again, discovering a murder plot in the process.

STARTERS has strong worldbuilding, which I love! We are immediately immersed in the dystopian world and new terms, history, and technological advancements are flawlessly woven into the narrative. It's an intriguing premise and a compelling world. The plot takes a little while to really get going, but I'm okay with a gentle escalation of tension. By the time we reach the middle of the book, it's a wild ride to the finish.

I was less enthusiastic about the character development and the plot from the middle of the book to the end. I felt like I was quickly told how Callie felt about things but was never really allowed to SEE Callie feeling those things and therefore experience it for myself. I didn't buy the romantic relationship, so when that was the motive for her actions, I had a hard time going along with it. And so many (!) things happen near the end, I got a bit confused and felt like I needed more explanation and a bit more clarity so I could believe everything.

That being said, this is a solid start to a fascinating dystopian series, and I think readers will be eager to have their questions answered in the sequel.

Callie is trying to survive as an unclaimed minor with her young brother, Tyler, in a world where everyone but the very young and very old have died of a virus. Callie is squatting in an apartment building, so when she finds out she can make a lot of money at Prime Destinations, "renting" her body to "Enders" (older adults) who want to be able to live in a young body for a while, she leaves Tyler in the care of Michael and turns herself over to Prime. They give her a laser makeover so is is gorgeous, and rent her out for a day. Eventually, she is rented to Helena, but things start to go wrong-- she wakes up while posing as Helena and can hear her voice in her head. It turns out that Prime is not just taking unclaimed minors-- Helena's granddaughter joined Prime in order to get the makeover, and died. Helena is bound and determined to kill the owner of the business, so Callie tries to uncover what is going on. When Prime announces a new program for Enders to buy bodies instead of just simply renting them, Callie realizes that something must be done. Can she manage to take down prime but survive to take care of her brother?

Starters by Lissa Price was the most original dystopian I have ever read. I had heard tons of hype for Starters, and while it didn't quite live up to that ultimate level of awesome, I still found it to be a very enjoyable read.

The whole idea of Starters is just fascinating, and is what originally intrigued me. Lissa Price really steers away from anything that has been done before, and writes an original story. Starters ended up following a very different path from what I had been expecting, and it was a lot of fun to figure out who was behind what and see what twists Lissa Price would throw at you next.

The beginning of Starters was definitely slower, but by the end of the book the plot builds to a crazy intense high. When I was reading, I found myself a bit disinterested. There was never that urge to not want to put the book down for a minute because I needed to find out what was going to happen next.

I really loved the characters. Blake was awesome - what a charmer. Lauren was another pretty cool character. I'm very curious to see more of both of these two in the sequel!

I am very curious to see where the sequel goes after this one. Starters was a very promising debut from Lissa Price. It had a few flaws, but it was just very original and can only take off from here.

STARTERS is a well written, interesting story full of heart pounding suspense, and has twists and turns that will leave you guessing right up to the very end! There's even a little romance thrown in for good measure. Acutally, this romance has the potential to break your heart but you'd have to be sure you know whose heart your breaking to begin with. *wink*

The Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty and forced Callie and her little brother Tyler into a life of hiding on the streets. Their friend Michael is another victim of the war and together they do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means stealing or risking their lives over a cookie. (OK, so Idk that I'd risk my life over a cookie. A cupcake? I.will.kill.you.in.your.sleep. ) When Callie learns about Prime Destinations, a place where Enders (seniors who long to be young again) can go to rent the bodies of teens, and pay big bucks to do so, she decides she's just desperate enough for the money. Tyler is sick and needs medicine and it's only three rentals, how bad can it be? What Callie doesn't know, or isn't told, is that her renter has a hidden agenda, one involving more than just reliving her youth.

When Callie's microchip (the one placed inside her head to facilitate the rentals) malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her rental, she has a choice to make. Does she go back to Prime Destinations and explain what happened or does she continue on per her contract? After all, this is her chance to have the life she never had. Pretending to be her renter, she lives the life of luxury, driving sports cars, wearing the latest fashions and dating gorgeous Blake, who happens to be the grandson of a powerful Senator.

Callie knows the things in her renters world aren't real, but who else is pretending like her and whose a renter? Who can she trust? Things get more complicated the closer she gets to Blake and even more frightening when she discovers the true intentions of the man behind Prime Destinations. She'll have to decide if honoring her rental contract is worth the cost...and it will cost her, more than she ever imagined.

I have to admit I had a little trouble getting into this one at first. The premise of a hundred year old person "renting" a teenagers body like a rental car kinda creeped me out and I even contemplated moving on to another book but I'm so glad I stuck with it! The twists are really unexpected, the romance heart wrenching and the end left me both satisfied and anxiously awaiting the next book. STARTERS, is just the beginning...