Starters by Lissa Price

An international bestseller published in over thirty countries, this riveting sci-fi dystopic thriller is “a bona fide page-turner.” --MTV.com 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. Callie soon discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations’ plans are more evil than she could ever have imagined. . . . Includes Portrait of a Spore, a never-before-published short story that takes place in the world of STARTERS. Praise for STARTERS: “A smart, swift, inventive, altogether gripping story.” —#1 New York Times bestselling author DEAN KOONTZ “Compelling, pulse-pounding, exciting . . . Don’t miss it!” —New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr “Readers who have been waiting for a worthy successor to Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games will find it here. Dystopian sci-fi at its best.” —Los Angeles Times “Intriguing, thought-provoking and addictive.” —BookReporter.com “Readers will stay hooked. . . . Constantly rising stakes keep this debut intense.” —Kirkus Reviews “Fast-paced dystopian fiction. . . . The inevitable sequel can’t appear soon enough.” —Booklist "Intriguing, fast-paced . . . Fans of dystopian novels will be completely engaged and clamoring for the sequel." —School Library Journal “Addictive and alluring.” —Examiner.com “Chilling and riveting.” —Shelf-Awareness.com “A must-read for fans of The Hunger Games and Legend. Fast-paced, romantic, and thought-provoking.” —Justine

Saat dunia nyaris hancur akibat Perang Spora dan kini hanya tersisa Starter – anak-anak serta remaja – dan Ender, manula. Mereka yang berumur di antaranya sudah punah. Callie adalah Starter yang menyewakan tubuhnya di Prime Destinations. Di sana para Ender bisa menyewa tubuh untuk menjadi muda lagi. Penyewa masuk ke dalam kepalanya. Suatu hari neurochip mengalami malfungsi. Callie tersadar di tubuhnya saat masa sewa belum selesai. Semua orang mengira dia adalah Ender penyewanya. Keadaan menjadi rumit ketika dia mengetahui rencana mematikan penyewanya.
Beli ini Karena obral. Isinya dystopia seperti yg sempat menjadi trend bbrp saat yg lalu. Tidak begitu istimewa, banyak plothole & hal2 yg kurang masuk akal. Penyelesaian terlalu mudah. Dan masih ada lanjutannya...

The world in Starters is one that I don't completely understand, but know enough that I wouldn't want to live there. After a weapon takes out everyone between the ages of 20 and 60, children are left to fend for themselves on the street. For some reason, most of the old people who remain completely lose all compassion and maternal/paternal instinct and choose instead to spend all of their time “renting” the bodies of the young people (think Avatar) to joy out and party! There are some glaring similarities in Starters to many other YA dystopian books (like Fever, everything published in 2011, and of course the Hunger Games). What stands out is the writing, which is above par with only a few exceptions-what the hell is a “caffeine table”? and the characters, who were pretty decent. Callie, especially, was shown to be more kick ass and motivated than I expected. The secondary characters are all rather interchangeable.

Here's my problem, and it's not really with the book per se, but rather with the idea of the book: we live in a youth centered society that really values our young people, especially if they are good looking. The older generation in this story is portrayed in such a way to confirm what we want to hear: old people are gross and bad. Even the “loving” grandparents in this story (meaning the ones who claim and raise the offspring of their offspring) really only care about their own kids, and happily step over starving, homeless youth on their way to work everyday. In this world in which people live to 200 and the youth has zero rights, young people are expendable because the “Enders” still work and function as they have before (think 185 year old busboys at restaurants). There is no need for young people. No one seems concerned about the continuation of the species, no one seems to care about the planet at all (except for Beverly Hills, the country is a wasteland).
I'm worried that this would devalue our own elders in society even more. I think what this book has to say about our own current society is WAY more interesting than what it says about Callie's society. This felt like an outcry for respect from a youthful generation that has not proven itself yet. And one knows, if you don't give respect, you don't get it back. And that is truly why this would make a great book club choice.