Note: ARC copy reviewed. This book will be available on October 16, 2012 on Amazon and in bookstores.
Annotation:
Elysia is a 16-year-old clone created from a real girl who died, but she’s only
a ‘beta’ -- an experimental model. Life on the island paradise created for the
wealthiest people on earth changes dramatically when she discovers that she has
real feelings and emotions for those around her marking her as a “defect” and
targeted for destruction.
Cut
to the Cut: Elysia is a 16-year-old beta clone created to be a worker for
wealthy humans. She is supposed to have no feelings, emotions, or memories of
her “Other”, the girl whose body she inherited, but her life takes dramatic
turn when she begins to have feelings for two different boys, and she must
decide which one will change the course of her future.
Wrap
Back: Elysia is a 16-year-old experimental clone created from a real girl who
died (her “Other”) to be a worker on a seemingly perfect island world with a
growing worker rebellion brewing. She is purchased by a family to provide
companionship for their teenage children and enters into a household staffed by
other clones. But is she starting to malfunction when she starts to have
feelings for those around her and memories from a past that’s not really hers?
What will happen when a wealthy and mysterious teenage boy named Tahir becomes
smitten by her? Emotions get complicated when she also meets Alex, the
boyfriend of her “Other”. How can she reciprocate their feelings? After all, she’s just a Beta.
Author Rachel Cohn answers a few questions from Miss Literati about Beta. You can see the entire interview on Miss Literati's site.
MISS LITERATI: How was writing BETA different to writing your other classic Young Adult novels?
RACHEL COHN: Elysia, the narrator of this book, is a sixteen year old clone who has just been born, or emerged, when the story begins. She is supposed to be soulless. So I had a narrator who is a complete blank slate, with no knowledge of anything besides the information given to her in a chip implant, and who is not supposed to feel anything. This was super fun to write at the beginning, but as the story grew, it became more and more challenging to write. How to give out key information that the narrator should have no way of knowing? I am used to writing narrators who are stream of consciousness with their feelings and observations rather than distant and new to everything, which Elysia was. But I loved her fascination to grow out of her shell and learn things for herself. She was definitely the most challenging narrator I’ve ever written, but also the most rewarding.
MISS LITERATI: How did you come up with the idea for this four-book series?
RACHEL COHN: I had a dream about a teenage girl who was a clone who was available for sale at the mall who was bought by the wife of the governor. The story almost created itself from that start!
MISS LITERATI: Can you see this series becoming a big screen hit? Who would you cast as each character?
RACHEL COHN: Certainly there’s always the hope of a movie or TV show; we’ll see! I’d cast Elle Fanning as Elysia. Don’t know about any of the other roles! I’d love to hear suggestions!
Author Interview: Rachel Cohn
MISS LITERATI: How was writing BETA different to writing your other classic Young Adult novels?
RACHEL COHN: Elysia, the narrator of this book, is a sixteen year old clone who has just been born, or emerged, when the story begins. She is supposed to be soulless. So I had a narrator who is a complete blank slate, with no knowledge of anything besides the information given to her in a chip implant, and who is not supposed to feel anything. This was super fun to write at the beginning, but as the story grew, it became more and more challenging to write. How to give out key information that the narrator should have no way of knowing? I am used to writing narrators who are stream of consciousness with their feelings and observations rather than distant and new to everything, which Elysia was. But I loved her fascination to grow out of her shell and learn things for herself. She was definitely the most challenging narrator I’ve ever written, but also the most rewarding.
MISS LITERATI: How did you come up with the idea for this four-book series?
RACHEL COHN: I had a dream about a teenage girl who was a clone who was available for sale at the mall who was bought by the wife of the governor. The story almost created itself from that start!
MISS LITERATI: Can you see this series becoming a big screen hit? Who would you cast as each character?
RACHEL COHN: Certainly there’s always the hope of a movie or TV show; we’ll see! I’d cast Elle Fanning as Elysia. Don’t know about any of the other roles! I’d love to hear suggestions!
Elle Fanning as Elysia?
1 comments:
I think Elle Fanning would be terrific in this role!
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