CRASHED

Before Lia Kahn became a “mech,” with a teenage body made of synflesh (Skinned, 2008), she loved chocolate and stroking her cat’s silky fur, but now, six months after a deadly car crash, these sensations are only memories that her mechanical sensors can’t replicate. In this fast-paced futuristic sequel readers are quickly caught up with Lia’s history, which includes the downloading of her brain into a mechanical body and her rocky departure from life with “orgs,” which includes her still very-alive family. Trapped in this synthetic body, Lia now lives on a protected compound with fellow mechs all searching for something to make them feel. When a series of unexpected events snaps Lia from the comfort of the compound she is forced to reconnect with her past in a deadly endgame that challenges her assumptions about the humanity of mechs and orgs. A thought-provoking bioethical conundrum that raises difficult questions about the definition of life, this text will intrigue and entertain readers. (Science fiction. YA)