Body Parts

By: Jessica Kapp
Location: FIC KAP
Genre: Sci Fi Dystopia   

People would kill for her body.

Raised in an elite foster center off the California coast, sixteen-year-old Tabitha’s been sculpted into a world-class athlete. Her trainers have told her she’ll need to be in top physical condition to be matched with a loving family, even though personal health has taken a backseat outside the training facility. While Tabitha swims laps and shaves seconds off her mile time, hoping to find a permanent home, the rest of the community takes pills produced by pharmaceutical giant PharmPerfect to erase their wrinkles, grow hair, and develop superhuman strength.

When Tabitha’s finally paired, instead of being taken to meet her new parents, she wakes up immobile on a hospital bed. Moments before she’s sliced open, a group of renegade teenagers rescues her, and she learns the real reason for her perfect health: PharmPerfect is using her foster program as a replacement factory for their pill-addicted clients’ failing organs. And her friends from the center, the only family she’s ever known, are next in line to be harvested.

Determined to save them, Tabitha joins forces with her rescuers, led by moody and mysterious Gavin Stiles. As they race to infiltrate the hospital and uncover the rest of PharmPerfect’s secrets, though, Tabitha finds herself with more questions than answers. Will trusting the enigmatic group of rebels lead her back to the slaughterhouse?

Chandra reflects on this book- this way...
"The world is actually going in this direction, I think. Maybe not so much in raising kids for body parts, but this world the author created consists of pills that can cure just about anything. Need a tan? Take a pill. Get rid of wrinkles? Take a pill. Want to be smarter? Take a pill. Want to excel at sports? Take a pill. I think you get the drift. The real world today actually has a tanning pill going through FDA approval and is approved in a couple of countries. I only know this due to my "allergy" to the sun and was almost part of a test group. So I can absolutely see this world Jessica created in our future... and it's a scary one. This YA, sci-fi book has all the parts you would expect - instalove, love triangle, rescue missions and rebellion against the government/pharm company. Personally, I love these types of stories (well I could do without instalove sometimes but that's all mood based) and Jessica Kapp does it RIGHT. At under 300 pages, it's a quick and entertaining read and those who love YA books will definitely take a liking to this one as well."