Category: Science Fiction
Skinned by Robin Wasserman
(Cover picture courtesy of Rebecca Onion.)
Lia khan was perfect: rich, beautiful, popular—until the accident that nearly killed her. Now she has been downloaded into a new body that only looks human. Lia will never feel pain again, she will never age, and she can’t ever truly die. But she is also rejected by her friends, betrayed by her boyfriend and alienated from her old life.
Forced to live on the fringes of society, Lia joins others like her. But they are looked at as freaks. They are hated…and feared. They are everything but human, and according to most people, this is the ultimate crime—for which they must pay the ultimate price.
Skinned is an unusual YA novel that deals with loss, life, fanaticism and what it means to be human. In my opinion, it is speculative fiction of the first rate.
Lia Khan was a selfish, vain and shallow character in the beginning, but as the novel progresses and she realizes what life on the outside is like, she changes. There are still frequent flashes of the old Lia, but being a mech (what people like her are called) changes her quite a bit, especially since she is unable to feel pain or die. She tries hard to continue her old life, but eventually accepts that the mysterious mech named Jude is right: she is anything but human and needs to embrace her new self.
Robin Wasserman’s predictions about the future of society ring true. As technology advances, more and more ethical questions will be raised about how and when to use it. In a futuristic society, there will also be religious extremists that advocate against changing nature, thereby “playing God.” But it is not only the religious extremists that hate (and fear) mechs; many of Lia’s former friends do not believe it is really Lia inside her new robotic body.
Skinned can be enjoyed on many different levels and it means something different to every reader, which is what makes this such a great novel for teenagers.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
(Cover picture courtesy of Stephenie Meyer’s website.)
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away.
Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged.
When Melanie, one of the few remaining “wild” humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn’t expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Wanderer probes Melanie’s thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer’s mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body’s desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.
One of the most compelling writers of our time, Stephenie Meyer brings us a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the very essence of what it means to be human.
I received this book as a late birthday gift (coincidentally, it was from the same friend who gave me The White Queen) and after I’ve read it a few times, I’m glad I didn’t spend my hard-earned money on it.
The Host is supposed to be a novel about love, loss and what it means to be human. It is none of these three. It is a long, rambling novel that could have been written in less than 300 pages, rather than the 600+ pages of my hardcover edition. The plot is slow, with many pointless subplots that go nowhere. Wanderer would have been a decent character if she was stronger and well-developed, but she was not. She is your stereotypical gentle alien who is horrified at human barbarism. She practically went catatonic when she saw some of the experiments conducted by the “wild” humans on souls.
The idea that the aliens (or “souls”, as they’re called) have taken over other planets and live through the natives is an interesting one. However, it is at the height of hypocrisy that the souls are depicted as good, despite the fact that they take over people’s bodies and extinguish their host’s soul, killing them. Humans are depicted as horrible creatures even though all they want is freedom from the souls.
I give this book 1/5 stars.
The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley-Archer
(Cover picture courtesy of Teacher Girl’s Book Blog.)
1763. Gideon Seymour, thief and gentleman, hides from the villainous Tar Man. Suddenly the sky peels away like fabric and from the gaping hole fall two curious-looking children.
Peter Schock and Kate Dryer have fallen straight from the twenty-first century, thanks to an experiment with an antigravity machine. Before Gideon and the children have a chance to gather their wits, the Tar Man takes off with the machine—and Peter and Kate’s only chance of getting home.
Soon Gideon, Peter and Kate are swept into a journey through eighteenth-century London and form a bond that, they hope, will stand strong in the face of unfathomable treachery.
The Time Travelers is pretty much your typical time traveling story, but with much more interesting characters and more complicated science behind the actual traveling through time (especially considering this is a YA novel!). Linda Buckley-Archer uses archetypes for her characters, but lets them grow and develop at a natural pace. She also twists the plot until you are left breathless and wanting the second book in the trilogy by the end.
I received this book for my birthday one year and immediately fell in love with it. Linda Buckley-Archer is an excellent writer who obviously did massive amounts of research to bring 18th century England to life. She stays true to major historical events and places, but it is the little details that make the world of Gideon Seymour come to life for readers.
Not only did I enjoy this book with its wonderful characterization and historical accuracy, I also learned a lot from it. Therefore, Linda Buckley-Archer has done her job as a writer of historical fiction.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
(Cover picture courtesy of Wikipedia.)
Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. Not for her license—for turning pretty. In Tally’s world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to be pretty. She’d rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
Tally is a character that many young teens can identify with. She just wants to fit in, be with her friend Paris and otherwise live a happy, normal life without drama. But everything changes when she meets Shay, a spunky rule-breaker who doesn’t want to fit in and turn pretty. In the beginning, Tally’s world seems great until Shay points out that the authorities manipulate people into thinking they’re worthless so they conform and want to turn pretty.
Uglies is one of those novels that truly deserves to be among the YA greats. Like Harry Potter, it has many different messages and means something different to each reader. On one hand, it is a commentary on our society’s obsession with beauty, but on the other hand, it is a tale of love and friendship. It’s also a dystopian science fiction novel with many elements that will be familiar to YA readers: a love triangle, a long and dangerous journey, the realization that not everything was as good as it seemed and a tough choice that sets the gears of change in motion.
Uglies is a well-written book that explores many issues teens (especially younger teens) face every day. It is a book that makes you think and I highly recommend it to people ages 12+ who love to question the status quo. Scott Westerfeld really has written one of the great novels of our generation.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.