Skinned (Cold Awakening, #1) by Robin Wasserman

Skinned by Robin Wasserman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


When I saw this book, I worried it would be a knockoff of The Uglies. It has a similar cover, similar size... Both stories use some quirky tech lingo and futuristic tech gadgets. Although this story moved at a similar pace, it is very different from Uglies. I expect readers who enjoyed the Uglies would enjoy this story as well.

There really isn't much back story. We never get to know the original Lia. I didn't find the Lia we meet to be very likable. She is very judgmental. She thinks the doctor is ugly. She thinks the shrink is less intelligent because of where she works. She thinks her sister is less attractive than her. Of course the story is written in first person so all of these thoughts are out in the open. She doesn't necessarily voice her judgments. I suppose everyone thinks sanctimonious thoughts and under the circumstances...

Interestingly she is not Lia's brain in an artificial body. None of human Lia's actual physical matter is inside the mechanical Lia. She has Lia's memories... emotions... She can make new memories, and is advised to upload them daily for safe keeping. (I wish I could do that :) She is supposedly a duplicate of Lia, in almost every 'conscious' way...

I didn't feel as much sympathy for Lia, as I did for the artificially intelligent bots in,The Bicentennial Man, I, Robot , Artificial Intelligence A.I. or the avatars in Caprica . I could understand why those around her did not accept her. After all, she is not Lia. If the process could have been performed in a manner where the brain was left intact and the body of Lia had miraculously survived, there would have been 2 Lias. There can be only one and the original Lia's physical matter was disposed of... Why not just let Lia die and be at rest? Why make the copy ? Similar to David in Artificial Intelligence, mechanical Lia's purpose is to fill an emotional void. Hypothetically, since she continues life where the original Lia left off, those who decided on the duplication might have argued they could see who Lia could have 'been' had she survived. But this is not how events unfold. The original Lia wouldn't have faced the ostracism that mechanical Lia faces. Everything is frustrating for mechanical Lia because she believes she is 'Lia'. Despite her attempts at patience and understanding, she finds it difficult to accept why everyone treats her as an imposter.

Even though I didn't have as much empathy for the main character as I would have liked, I loved this book. It is a short read and it gave me a lot to think about. I can't wait to read the next one in the series. And the ending... Could there be a nemesis in the making ?





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