The Body Market
Unplugged trilogy, book #2
by Donna Freitas
Science Fiction
* * * Stars (Pretty good)
Skylar makes it out of the app world and once again inhabits her body in the real world. It’s both amazing and terrifying. She discovers that her family are way more powerful and politically connected than she knew (in both the real and virtual worlds), and her sister, Jude, has orchestrated a plan to sell the bodies of those who are plugged into the app world. The Body Market is about to commence! Skylar’s was supposed to have been the first body sold, but she manages to escape and allies herself with a resistance movement. When she learns that it’s possible to shift in and out of the app world with control, she comes up with a plan that will cause a stir in both the app and the real world. Along the way she falls in and out of love and learns a lot about what it means to be in a real body.
There are a few loose ends that aren’t tied up in the first two books. What is Skylar’s mother up to? And there’s got to be some kind of confrontation/resolution between Kit and Skylar! I’m also not sure how people intend to use the bodies they buy at the market. There’s a suggestion that they could be used for parts, but some people seem interested in bodies in their entirety. Is the technology advanced enough that they can transfer a different mind into someone else’s body? Should they?? Lots of moral/ethical dilemmas in these books. For high school teens.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
