The Body Electric
by Beth Revis
October 6, 2014
482 pages
Goodreads Summary:
The future world is at peace.
Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift—the ability to enter people’s dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother—to help others relive their happy memories.
But not all is at it seems.
Ella starts seeing impossible things—images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience—and influence—the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love—even though Ella’s never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing…
Someone’s altered her memory.
Ella’s gift is enough to overthrow a corrupt government or crush a growing rebel group. She is the key to stopping a war she didn’t even know was happening. But if someone else has been inside Ella’s head, she cannot trust her own memories, thoughts, or feelings.
So who can she trust?
Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift—the ability to enter people’s dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother—to help others relive their happy memories.
But not all is at it seems.
Ella starts seeing impossible things—images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience—and influence—the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love—even though Ella’s never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing…
Someone’s altered her memory.
Ella’s gift is enough to overthrow a corrupt government or crush a growing rebel group. She is the key to stopping a war she didn’t even know was happening. But if someone else has been inside Ella’s head, she cannot trust her own memories, thoughts, or feelings.
So who can she trust?
Review
Going into this book, I didn't know what to expect. I only knew it was related to the Across the Universe trilogy which I haven't read yet. Since The Body Electric was a standalone, I decided to just jump in. Boy it was quite amazing! The more I read, the more complex the story became and the more questions I had. We do get answers, just make sure you keep reading ;) My one constant thought while reading The Body Electric was I, Robot meets Inception.
Ella is a simple girl but she has genius parents. Her mother created a technology where you can relive your happiest memory inside your mind and her dad brought nanotech and robotics to a whole new level. However, with her mother being gravely ill and her father dead, Ella was alone as she was thrust into a world that went beyond her mind. Then she meets Jack and through a series of events, she begins to question everything in her life. How can she not remember this guy who claims to have been the love of her life once? Both Ella and I wanted to know and once she made her decision, she was set on finding out. The romance takes a backseat in this book but Jack was a driving force in Ella's journey. Regardless of their past, he was there for her every step of the way.
As the story progressed, a string of mysteries followed. With the aid of a supposed terrorist organization and Ella's ability to see into people's memories, she makes disturbing discoveries about the government and the people close to her. There are people who want to twist her dad's work into something sinister. With the use of her mom's creation, she was being manipulated into helping. But most startling of all, she uncovers the truth about herself. I definitely didn't imagine that Ella wasn't exactly human anymore.
The villain reveal was a bit anticlimactic for me. Maybe because I've watched too much crime dramas but I totally expected Ms. White to be the bad one. I might have even been chanting for it :P Albeit, that twist at the end where we realize Jack was turned too, did shock me. Ummm excuse me what?! Thinking back now it does make sense because all the signs were there. I just brushed them aside as bigger things happened and needed explanations. So clever.
The sci-fi aspect in this book was fascinating! It was really well done but can be confusing if you're not really into the sci-fi realm. Everything eventually connected although it took me some time to put the pieces in the correct order and to make sense of it all. There's so much but too spoilery to talk about so I won't say anything. Just know that even at the end of the book, my mind was still reeling from some of the answers Ella found.
I never gave any thoughts to the title of this book but having finished it, I can say it is so fitting! I felt like this book only skimmed the surface of something bigger. Endless possibilities are there waiting to be explored and if Beth Revis decides to do a sequel, I'm most definitely going to be waiting in line to grab it!
Ella is a simple girl but she has genius parents. Her mother created a technology where you can relive your happiest memory inside your mind and her dad brought nanotech and robotics to a whole new level. However, with her mother being gravely ill and her father dead, Ella was alone as she was thrust into a world that went beyond her mind. Then she meets Jack and through a series of events, she begins to question everything in her life. How can she not remember this guy who claims to have been the love of her life once? Both Ella and I wanted to know and once she made her decision, she was set on finding out. The romance takes a backseat in this book but Jack was a driving force in Ella's journey. Regardless of their past, he was there for her every step of the way.
As the story progressed, a string of mysteries followed. With the aid of a supposed terrorist organization and Ella's ability to see into people's memories, she makes disturbing discoveries about the government and the people close to her. There are people who want to twist her dad's work into something sinister. With the use of her mom's creation, she was being manipulated into helping. But most startling of all, she uncovers the truth about herself. I definitely didn't imagine that Ella wasn't exactly human anymore.
The villain reveal was a bit anticlimactic for me. Maybe because I've watched too much crime dramas but I totally expected Ms. White to be the bad one. I might have even been chanting for it :P Albeit, that twist at the end where we realize Jack was turned too, did shock me. Ummm excuse me what?! Thinking back now it does make sense because all the signs were there. I just brushed them aside as bigger things happened and needed explanations. So clever.
The sci-fi aspect in this book was fascinating! It was really well done but can be confusing if you're not really into the sci-fi realm. Everything eventually connected although it took me some time to put the pieces in the correct order and to make sense of it all. There's so much but too spoilery to talk about so I won't say anything. Just know that even at the end of the book, my mind was still reeling from some of the answers Ella found.
I never gave any thoughts to the title of this book but having finished it, I can say it is so fitting! I felt like this book only skimmed the surface of something bigger. Endless possibilities are there waiting to be explored and if Beth Revis decides to do a sequel, I'm most definitely going to be waiting in line to grab it!
*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own and not affected in any way.
This sounds fabulous. I haven't tried this author yet but I love that this is a stand alone so I think it would be a great place to start.
ReplyDeleteYep this was my first book by her and it was gooooood!
DeleteHi Eileen, this sounds really good. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading Debbie! I hope you'll try it :D
DeleteI enjoyed for review Eileen :) I absolutely loved the Across the Universe series and I'm quite excited to read this one. I'm curious as to how the title ties into the book.
ReplyDeleteMonique @ Mo_Books
I'd love to hear what you think when you're done!
DeleteNot that much of a departure for Ms. Revis, but still different from her AtU trilogy. You've convinced me, Eileen. :)
ReplyDeleteYAY! I really hope you'll enjoy it :D
DeleteI, Robot meets Inception? Oh wow 2 movies I really enjoyed (though I had to watch the latter like 3 times to finally figure out who killed his wife lol!). This sounds really good and the sci i aspect seems unique and well written. I love sci fi but they can be a hit or miss for me sometimes. Great review, Eileen! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Giselle! I don't really read sci-fi books but I think this one was done really well! Especially if you've read the Across the Universe trilogy then I think you'll be able to relate to it more. Nonetheless, it was a great standalone! Hope you give it a try :)
DeleteI've seen this one around a lot lately but I've never read anything by Beth Revis. I didn't know it had any connection to AtU though (which has been on my tbr) for years. I'm definitely going to try to read this one soon.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first read by her and it definitely won't be the last :D I don't think I'm ever going to read AtU since my TBR is never-ending lol. I hope you enjoy this one though~
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