The Body Electric

by Beth Revis

• ISBN10: 0990662616
• ISBN13: 9780990662617
• Publish Date: 22 August 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Scripturient Books
• Edition: Special ed.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 396
• Language: English

Reviews

[bookishzelda]

The Body Electric is an interestingly thought out world of androids versus humans. Can an Android think for itself or is their lack of a human soul a weakness. Beth Revis manages to bring a very interesting idea to life.

Loved the world building. I think Revis is very good at creating a sci-fi world in a confined space. Much like the ship in the stars, the city felt expansive. I also liked the flashbacks to the way things look before and comparing them to how they are now. I could picture everything vivid in my mind and was actually having crazy dreams myself while reading the book.

I had mixed feelings on Ella. I didn’t dislike her because I could tell there was a reason for her actions. Every time she turned around something was changing, something was dependent on her actions. I found her character flawed and I never consider that a bad thing. I loved how much she trust and believes in her parents and vice versa.

The plot is pretty interesting. he beginning felt a little slower to me but I think it’s because I was anxious because the synopsis almost gives too much away. I was like okay when does this guy show up. I think I’ve just got more impatient lately. There was place in the middle where if felt like continuity glitch. Ella decides something and then reverts back to her other way of thinking on the next page. Honestly it feels like all hell breaks loose towards the end. Which was great. I love when there is a ton of action and it’s like wait what. So there were some curve balls thrown in there that I didn’t expect and I kind of had to piece a couple things together in my own mind.

I thought the political intrigue was also interesting. It’s basically pointing out how many wars start. Lust for power and greed.

The romance is cute but also very light. It doesn’t really drive the plot even though she can not remember Jack. It’s more about the reason why she can’t.

Bees...buzzing nanobots. I’m pretty sure that’s the connection with those two. It took me a while to get the Bees.

I liked the reference to Godspeed and the way she made this happening on Earth while that was happening in space. It was a fun little tid bit.

I really enjoyed the book and definitely loved the world building. I thought the idea of the androids and nanobots was pretty cool. I really think it’s unique and interesting how they are combined. I would say if you are a sci-fi fan definitely pick this one up.

[inlibrisveritas]

The Body Electric is a difficult books to put into words. It’s a deliberately paced story set in on a futuristic Earth, with so many twists and turns that it kept me guessing and intrigued.

Ella is the daughter of two well respected scientists. Her father, now dead, helped developed nanobots that encourage good health and help with day to day tasks. Her mother, develops the Reverie, a type of memory chamber that allows the person to visit their memories and live them for a short people of time. When the threat of terrorist arise their leader approaches Ella with the chance to help stop the plot, unfortunately the moment she agrees her world becomes one filled with lies and intrigue. I absolutely loved all of the cool technology that Revis included, from the nanobots in everyone’s system to the androids meant to help with task. The world that she paints is one attempting to (and in some ways both succeeding and failing at) recover from a war that took place well before Ella was born. We see the prosperity and the poverty, and the price that each one costs. And to top off the cool factor there is even mention of the Godspeed from Revis’ other novel Across the Universe. The plot does slow down towards the middle, making it feel longer than it really was but once it picked back up it didn’t really slow down again.

Ella’s journey to save her family is one that had me on edge. She takes a bunch of risks, not with the intention of taking down a government (she’s very level headed) but the with intention of saving the people she loves.

The Body Electric is definitely one of those tales that seems to be cautionary, and why the technology is incredibly cool it does make you it does make you think twice about ever wanting it to go so far. If you have read Revis’ other books then i definitely think this one is worth grabbing. If you haven’t and you enjoy a true sci-fi novels with some bizarre and sometimes chilling twists, then go find a copy!

[celinenyx]

After a terrible war, people will do anything to keep the peace.

Ella is the daughter of two scientists, one who was amazing with androids and nanobots, and one who discovers Reveries. Inside a Reverie, people sleep and dream lucidly about one of their memories. When Ella discovers she can enter other people's Reverie, she gets caught up in a plot that concerns national security.

For the first ten percent, I held my heart. The Body Electric got real close to being too similar to Inception. The way Ella enters someone else's dream, and the imagery of it was corresponding with the movie almost exactly. I was relieved when after the introductory action, the resemblance dissipates, and The Body Electric stands on its own.

My love for Ella was cemented when she punches a creepy guy in the face. FINALLY. That's what you do when someone sneakily approaches you. You don't swoon or fall in love, no, you punch him. Or kick. Or run.

Although Ella's parents are scientists, and she has helped them occasionally, she's not a scientist herself. I was slightly disappointed by this, because for once I would love a female scientist YA protagonist. I wasn't too sad though, because on all other fronts she's a likeable and realistic character.

The Body Electric has extremely short chapters, and all of them have a clear sense of action. The story hurls forward quickly, though not always believably. Some of the elements I found to be too easy, too convenient, or too contrived. Lovers of the genre will find plenty to love in The Body Electric. It has high stakes, lovable characters, and an interesting world.

[Linda]

*I received a free ARC of The Body Electric from Xpresso Booktours in exchange of an honest and unbiased review*

My full review will be up on (un)Conventional Bookviews on January 12th for the blogtour.

[Ashley]

REALLY GOOD!

Thanks for pulling me out of a slump, Beth. The book was really thrilling, action-packed, and (mostly) fast paced. I loved all the conspiracies and secrets. Deliiiish!

[Kelly]

Absolutely loved it!
Review to come.

[lindsey]

First of all, I just have to say that I absolutely love the cover. It's simply fantastic.

This is the first Beth Revis book that I've read, but it certainly won't be the last. I was enthralled from the very beginning, and I was despondent each time I had to put the book down to do something mundane - such as work or sleep. I couldn't wait to get back to the story so I could find out what would happen next.

Set in the future, in a world where androids are a common thing, The Body Electric follows Ella Shepherd as she deals with the death of her father, her mother's sickness, a corrupt government, and a complete stranger who claims they used to be in love. Sounds intriguing enough, but toss in the fact that Ella can enter people's dreams and access their memories through her mother's technology, and you've got the makings of a terrific sci-fi tale.

Fast-paced and sprinkled with jaw-dropping plot twists, The Body Electric is not one to miss.

[Angie]

The Body Electric is really great! It's full of technology, terrorism, dreams vs. reality, the cost of power, and what it means to be human. A lot of amazing things, plus science! I definitely would have rated it higher, but I had some issues with the twist at the end and the subsequent reveals. There's also some annoying pacing, but at the root of it, I loved most of what was going on! I love tales about future technology going wrong! It scares the crap out of me, but I love it anyway! I won't give anything away, but let's just say some amazing advances in technology go very, very wrong here.

The Body Electric is all about Ella, a girl who works for her mother in their "mental spa." Rich people come there to relive their glory days and happiest memories. Ella's mom uses it to visit her last good day when her disease becomes unbearable. But, as the disease breaks her down more and more, it becomes harder to hold onto that memory while in reverie. So Ella steps in to attempt the impossible. She's also going to enter a reverie, linked to her mother, to manipulate the memory into staying strong. I'm sure you can image what this technology can do in the wrong hands. And thus starts all of Ella's troubles, as she's asked by the Prime Administrator to enter the mind of a representative believed to be connected to terrorists. A dangerous job.

The world of The Body Electric is full of all kinds of advanced technology: primarily androids and nanobots. Androids are used as construction works, nurses, street vendors and more. They're designed to look human, but they're incapable of individual thought--something Ella's now-deceased father had been working on. Most humans are injected with nanobots which improve their sight, hearing, and more. Nanobots are also suppose to serve as connections to Ella's mother's damaged brain synapses, but nothing can really penetrate brain functions as well as science and medicine would like. I loved all of this! It felt imaginative, but also very real. Some of this would be great to have for real, but then again, after finishing the book, maybe not.

The Body Electric's plot is the pretty typical "you're not who you think you are, but you have to find out and save the world" type. I was super into it in the beginning, since there's a lot of weird surprises that I just had to know how they worked! I was in a state of "what in the world is happening" a lot, which wasn't bad. It was quite exciting, except when the plot starts to drag in the middle as Ella starts getting closer to answers but isn't quite there yet. That made the book feel really long, before it started to pick up again near the end when it was nonstop reveal and twist after twist after reveal.

So, where The Body Electric kind of lost me was in regards to the semi-romance--there's really no romance at all, but there's clearly a love interest, if that makes sense--and one of the twists. Ella meets a boy named Jack, who of course knows more than she does, and claims to know her. She's never met this boy in her life! Or has she? Of course she has, but her memories have been tampered with. I was not satisfied by the explanation of how it was done (it's glossed over, it just happens), nor the motivation for removing him. It felt very cliche and out of place, and I just didn't believe the villain would worry about that (yes, I have to be vague, sorry!). Then there's a twist regarding Jack, and I really had to roll my eyes. It's a great twist, except that Ella would have noticed it. You have me trust me on this one, but she really would have noticed. There's no way she couldn't have. That kind of ruined some of the shock, since it felt like a twist for the sake of a twist, but details were overlooked.

I had a couple of other world building issues, but I won't get into them, since at the end of it, I really enjoyed The Body Electric. There's a lot of amazing ideas here, and some quite disturbing scenes. I was actually surprised by how disturb I became at some points. It also added to my paranoia about the direction technology is going. There were some great references to the Across the Universe series, too! I really liked seeing Godspeed mentioned, since this is set at the time it was...lost. Anyway, this was a great read, despite its issues.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.