Skinned

Skinned
Robin Wasserman
Simon Pulse, 2008. 361 pgs. Young adult fiction.

Lia Kahn has a perfect life. Anything she wants is hers, with wealth, beauty, and popularity on her side--until a tragic accident changes everything. She awakens after a car crash to find herself "downloaded" into a mechanical body, and with that procedure, her old life begins to slowly fall apart. She is shunned by her old friends and boyfriend and even, to a degree, by her own family. Due to the controversy of the download process, many people hate her for what she has become, although there is a select crowd--others who have also been downloaded--that will accept her, if she so desires. Lia floats between her old and new life, trying to continue on as before, but gradually becoming an entirely different person in the process.

This book is reminiscent of both Peter Dickinson's Eva and Pearson's The Adoration of Jenna Fox. However, although Skinned was interesting and fast read, it was lacking in the depth of aforementioned books. It had a bitter aftertaste with all the betrayal and backbiting that goes on, and sadly, the main character wasn't very likeable. Nonetheless, if readers are looking for a book in the genre of science fiction along these lines, this one is still worth keeping in mind.

CW