Review: Starters by Lissa Price - Juhina

Title: Starters (Starters #1)

Author: Lissa Price
Publication date: March 13th, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Genre(s): Young Adult (Dystopian)
Challenges: SARC, A-Z Title, DAC, Dystopian 

Source: NetGalley
Format: Digital ARC

Pages: 368  

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER

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. . . .

Starters was definitely different. I wanted to read it as soon as I found out it was a new dystopian, and you all know how much I love dystopians. The world Callie lives in right now is split in two. The starters (people younger than 20) and the Enders (people older than 70). Most of the people in between died from an epidemic. The Enders now don't die by the age of 80-90, they live up to 200+. The story starts with Callie wanting to rent her body at a body bank to get money for her and her young brother. The body bank "Prime Destination" is a secretive organization that only a few selective people know about. Enders get to have their choice of bodies and relive their youthful days, literally. 

On her third rental trial, Callie wakes up, takes full control of her body and finds herself living her renter's life. The luxury cars, designer clothes, and the fake name. However her renter isn't just out to have some fun, she has her own plan, a plan that might ruin Callie's life, if it didn't already end it. Callie would do anything to protect her brother, she was brave, rational, and a headstrong protagonist. The book had a plot, a mystery, an evil character, but I just felt that something was missing. I would have loved if I got a better glimpse at their dystopian world. 

I liked the build up of the story. Right from the start you get tidbits of information to unveil the conspiracy of Prime Destination and in just how much trouble Callie is in. You're not left in the dark for long, and when one question is answered, another one pops up. Especially towards the end, so many gasp moments occur and secrets are revealed that leave you hardly able to wait for the release of the second, and final book in this dystopian duology. 

3 musical notes