Skinned, by Robin Wasserman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 361
Reading Level: 14 and Up
Enjoyment Level: Medium/High
Welcome to another post for Book Week. Sci-Fi Saturday is a little more difficult to do since most of the Sci-Fi I have, I haven’t read yet. I had planned to do a little something special with the three books in this series when the third comes out later this year, but I think it’s worth posting the first review now.
Lia Khan was everything everyone else wanted to be. Until she died. Her brain functions were transferred to a body that will never die, and now all of the people who said they loved her have abandoned her. Worse than that, there are those in society who see her new life as an abomination. People fear her, and she doesn’t even feel like herself anymore. She’s been skinned, and she may never feel normal again.
I felt like the beginning of this book was kind of slow. I also will admit that I had some troubles relating to Lia in a lot of ways. It seems like she’s without real emotion except for anger and depression, so there are very few points where silver linings are visible. Not everyone will be able to identify with her. I have a smidgen of hope that Lia won’t always be such a downer. She’s gone through a really hard time, of course, so I tried to give her some leeway on that.
The other characters are mainly self-centered and nothing to write home about. The vaguely post-apocalyptic world sets them all up as rich, snobby do-nothings that only care about themselves. The character I did end up liking was Auden, a boy who takes an interest in Lia. I found him to be interesting, with a good mix of compassion and reality.
I found the basic plot and science to be interesting enough to keep me going, though I certainly didn’t race through the book. The writing is good, and I can say that the world is set up a certain way and the author stays true to that world the entire time. Even though I didn’t care for most of the characters, they are genuine for this book’s setting.
While I can’t say it has the same charm for me as Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series, I did enjoy Skinned for the writing and the rich and well-done setting. I’ll be reading further in the series, too, hoping to find a light at the end of the tunnel for Lia.
Book Week is almost over… Have you read a good book this week?
~ Vilate
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 361
Reading Level: 14 and Up
Enjoyment Level: Medium/High
Welcome to another post for Book Week. Sci-Fi Saturday is a little more difficult to do since most of the Sci-Fi I have, I haven’t read yet. I had planned to do a little something special with the three books in this series when the third comes out later this year, but I think it’s worth posting the first review now.
Lia Khan was everything everyone else wanted to be. Until she died. Her brain functions were transferred to a body that will never die, and now all of the people who said they loved her have abandoned her. Worse than that, there are those in society who see her new life as an abomination. People fear her, and she doesn’t even feel like herself anymore. She’s been skinned, and she may never feel normal again.
I felt like the beginning of this book was kind of slow. I also will admit that I had some troubles relating to Lia in a lot of ways. It seems like she’s without real emotion except for anger and depression, so there are very few points where silver linings are visible. Not everyone will be able to identify with her. I have a smidgen of hope that Lia won’t always be such a downer. She’s gone through a really hard time, of course, so I tried to give her some leeway on that.
The other characters are mainly self-centered and nothing to write home about. The vaguely post-apocalyptic world sets them all up as rich, snobby do-nothings that only care about themselves. The character I did end up liking was Auden, a boy who takes an interest in Lia. I found him to be interesting, with a good mix of compassion and reality.
I found the basic plot and science to be interesting enough to keep me going, though I certainly didn’t race through the book. The writing is good, and I can say that the world is set up a certain way and the author stays true to that world the entire time. Even though I didn’t care for most of the characters, they are genuine for this book’s setting.
While I can’t say it has the same charm for me as Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series, I did enjoy Skinned for the writing and the rich and well-done setting. I’ll be reading further in the series, too, hoping to find a light at the end of the tunnel for Lia.
Book Week is almost over… Have you read a good book this week?
~ Vilate
Posts
Yes, agree. Couldn't say that I thought "Skinned" was as good a story as Westerfeld's.
ReplyDeleteAs to good books, read 3 this week. (Sometimes I get lucky!) Red Pyramid, Prince of Mist, and The Boneshaker (Kate Milford's book, not the scifi one).
Regards!