Starters by Lissa Price

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. . . .

Release Date 13th March 2012

Lissa Price has created quite a scary dystopian world in Starters. All the adults are dead, only people over 60 and kids have survived the spore wars. Kids with no grandparents are forced to either live on the streets since they can't work or get taken into an institution, which is basically like a slave camp for kids. Callie has her brother to look after and is forced into going to Prime Destinations to get money, but her rental malfunctions and she's forced to pretend to be her renter while she tries to fix things. But she soon finds out her renter had big plans for her body.

You don't meet a huge amount of characters but all the enders (old people) come across as stuck up and seem to look down on the kids. Callie is a bit naive for someone who lives on the streets, I know she's young and all but I would've thought she would have a bit more sense. The whole renting your body thing squicks me out, I don't think I could do it no matter how much money they were offering. Although I get that the world created here isn't exactly normal. I'm looking forward to reading the next book.


Book Depository: Starters
Amazon UK: Starters