I ended up DNFing this book. I was super interested in the premise of this book but unfortunately I just wasn’t as invested as I wanted to be in anything that was happening at the 50% mark. It was a really cool sci fi idea and I wish I would have liked it more.

This story is a Teen/YA dystopian novel where the main character and her friends are held in a large group home facility and told that "someday" they will get picked to be "adopted" by nice families if they work hard and stay healthy. Turns out adopted is code for genetically matched with a wealthy customer/s and parsed out for parts by the pharmaceutical corporation that owns their (and several other) group home. There's an underground resistance (with a weirdly high percentage of teenage membership) and teenage emotional drama {oh insta-love}. It's very reminiscent of the Scarlett Johansson/ Ewan McGregor movie The Island but with teenagers. A solid if predictable read.

I received a free copy of this e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an Honest review.

This book blew me away, I have read something similar in the past, but this book took this sci-fi, dystopian, futuristic theme and hit it out of the ball park. And the scary thing is, that it is very easy to imagine it becoming a reality. Our world is already obsessed with drugs, why not ones that alter who we are...

I didn't love the protagonist, she came across as incredibly naive, and I realise that comes from being locked away for her whole life, but she kept putting herself in stupid situations, that didn't help her or the plot. I also hated the whole love triangle aspect, I think it was totally unnecessary and took away from some of the key parts of the novel, because there was dialogue about who loves who while their actions were saving the world....

I loved the way this book is written, it allows you to imagine the world that these kids are living in, the horror of being used as scientific experements and being sold for parts. This book shows what dehumanising people actually looks like and that alone is scary.

Well written and very current.

I received an advance ecopy of this book via NetGalley. My heartfelt thanks to Diversion books and NetGalley for this opportunity.


Body Parts overall was a great book. The major appeal to me was the believability aspect - with society's hyper-focus on beauty, fitness, etc (i.e. the pursuit of perfection) in this day and age, every event that happened in Body Parts felt horribly possible. Perhaps not NOW, exactly, but with the explosion of pharmaceutical treatments in recent years and the overall vast increase of life expectancy (all while overall health declines, at least in the USA), I could definitely see a company similar to PharmaPerfect taking shape.

Now for the downsides.

I'm so over love triangles. This one tried to work. It really tried. But it just annoyed me, and there wasn't the kind of strong resolution of it that a triangle this intense and (let's be honest) forced requires to me. Both love interests irritated me in different ways (but I won't reveal them here in case of spoilers).

A few characters, while interesting, weren't as fleshed out as I would have liked. The main character's interactions with the side characters almost seemed to work in clumps - okay, Tabitha talks to Adrian here, then Sasha here . . . without any real resolution or development. I was so interested in Tabitha's interactions with Sasha and Mary in particular, and those just didn't really pan out at all.

Annnnnnd last but not least, can we PLEASE stop having "romances" between characters that are more chemistry- and passion-based than actual feelings? Yes, the characters are teens/young adults - hormones are a'ragin'. I get it. But deciding you're in love with someone just because they make you tingle isn't real love. Sure, it feels like that, but it would be so refreshing for a relationship to develop naturally into actual love instead of just tingles. I think teens today could really use some examples of how true, deep love develops.


For all of my whining above, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The descriptions were excellent, and Jessica Kapp does a great job of letting the various locations in this book set the mood for each event. I felt Tabitha's emotions powerfully every time a new location popped up. I felt the warm fuzzies of home in one place, tense and wary in another, and downright terrified at the hospital and PharmPerfect.
And I appreciated Tabitha's awareness of her moments of immaturity. Many authors either have the characters give in to childishness or act too mature for their age. Ms. Kapp allows us to see the thought processes as Tabitha deals with her situation, and I feel that the spirit of a late teens girl was captured perfectly.

This was an interesting book. On the one hand, it is perhaps a story that I have read a fair few times before, it is full of the usual dystopian tropes, but you know what? I still enjoyed it. I like the character dynamics, I liked the idea of the compound and raising these elite kids to be perfect, only to then be harvested for their "perfect" organs. I wouldn't say this is a perfect book, and there were a few times where I found Tabitha grating and her choices hard to make sense of. But again, I couldn't help it, I was sucked in! I think there is a lot for people to like, and I have already started handselling it to people who have in turn enjoyed it, so there is something here for people!

Thank you Netgalley for the review copy of this book - I aim to give a fair and impartial review

The synopsis on the book sounded quite original and having read quite a lot of dystopian young adult books, I knew I would like it. It took me away on its tangents of a 'mad' society of the future and I allowed myself to be swept away. However, the characters were stereotyped and the ending was poor (although I was glad that it didn't end on a cliff and you have to wait for the 'next in series' as so many of these young adult books do). And if I could advise any authors from now on - please, please leave out the love triangle scenario - its getting boring...

*This book was received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I really enjoyed reading about this dystopian world which is ruled by a large pharmaceutical company called PharmPerfect. The idea of raising children solely for their organs is not a far fetched idea with many children currently having their organs sold on the black market. Due to this believeability, it was easier to imagine a future in which children were trained specifically to be organ donors. I also thought that the way that the plot twists are unveiled along Tabitha's journey, as she herself becomes aware of the deception she has believed all her life, is very effective as it allows the audience to understand how Tabitha feels. I found the plot engaging and the pace was also really good. Overall, this was an enjoyable read that had an interesting premise and great characters.

Body Parts by Jessica Kapp got my attention with it's cover, lured me in with the blurb, and it kept me with the story itself. I really enjoyed the main character, Tabitha. She was athletic, smart, spunky, and just naive enough to be believable. She was an honest and loyal person too, which I really liked, because I didn't trust anyone else in this book. Not a single person. I mentally questioned them all at one point or another. There were so many aspects of this society that can be applied to us today. Are we as far gone as these people? I don't think so. Not yet anyway, but it is something that you can easily see happening. The pacing was spot on. It sped up and slowed down as needed, but it never dragged. I was never bored. I'll be watching for more books by this author.

Fans of Unwind will most likely enjoy this read. A body farm of sorts, this children's home focuses on athletes and getting the perfect body as well as the most appropriate drug for any given situation. While the start to this book hooked me, some of the dialog and situations felt a little unrealistic.

Jessica Kapp did a fantastic job and I would never have thought that this was a debut novel because it was beautiful written and not once did I think that this was a sci-fi/dystopian read. The characters were fantastic and I loved Tabitha the main character.
From the start of the book I was hooked and intrigued and quite honestly I read it in one sitting. It was a roller coaster of emotions and I even cried at the end of the book and its been awhile since a book has done that to me. So if you plan on reading this just make sure to have some tissue on hand.
One of the things I really enjoyed about the book was how the pacing went and I have to say it flowed just perfectly. It was literally like riding a roller coaster building up and the crashing and over and over again. It was enough to hook you in and keep reading.

To be honest, I loved the idea of 'Body Parts' and the blurb certainly drew me in with a new and unique story, but really it all fell a bit flat when I realised it kind of centered more on romance and teen angst. I'm a bit past the YA genre so this book was just not right for me. Don't let me put it off for you though, it had a lot of potential for someone who enjoyed something more like that.

I was drawn to Body Parts by the cover. It's captivating and made the book seem like something I'd easily love. Unfortunately, while I didn't hate the book, I struggled to get into it and had to put it down frequently after just few pages each time.

Jessica Kapp is a great writer, and I loved what she was going for, however, it didn't work for me in that I wasn't pulled in. That isn't to say other readers won't enjoy this book. There are plenty of reasons many could find it appealing. For that reason, although I struggled to keep reading it, I suggest others take the time to read the book as they may enjoy it more than I did.

I thought that this book was pretty good. The story itself was interesting. I feel like the relationship between Tabitha and Gavin happened pretty naturally which was nice. I'm assuming that this is a standalone in which case I think that things ended well. I would have liked an epilogue set after they left the island or maybe a few months down the line to see what they had managed to accomplish in terms of shutting things down and going after the people at the hospitals. I liked all of the characters, especially Tabitha, I thought she was a great main character. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and I would recommend it to people.

I really enjoyed reading this book! Man, the whole conect annoyed me so much, that people would treat their bodies so badly with these drugs, that a company decided to raise people for healthy body parts to sell.

I mean, I know I'm not perfectly healthy, but I don't need to change my organs. Not saying that people who need new organs are at fault at any way, but these people are taking drugs that they don't need and are causes these problems, that the solution is harvesting from these kids, yeah, that's not cool at all.

I really enjoyed meeting Tabitha and her friends. She's always thought that they were an orphanage, and to excel to prove that they should be adopted. Which is really cruel, given that those that are "adopted" are actually harvested for their organs, which is totally wrong.

The ending was a thriller kind of vibe, with threats at basically every turn. They went from one threat to another, all coming from the same area, but different people. And then it wasn't, and they had the law on their sad, which was really fantastic and made for a really great ending!

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was really awesome!

I usually don't read books like this but the reviews and description of the book sounded so interesting that I had to give it a try.
I'm so glad I did because it was great.
It was very well written and it had an original idea that was so disturbing that I could actually see it happening in our near future.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Body Parts
Jessica Kapp
Diversion Books, August 2017
ISBN 978-1-63576-166-5
Trade Paperback

From the publisher—

Raised in an elite foster center off the California coast, sixteen-year-old Tabitha has been protected from the outside world. Her trainers at the center have told her she’ll need to be in top physical condition to be matched with a loving family. So she swims laps and shaves seconds off her mile time, dreaming of the day when she’ll meet her adoptive parents.

But when Tabitha’s told she’s been paired, instead of being taken to her new home, she wakes up immobile on a hospital bed. Moments before she’s sliced open, a group of renegade teenagers rescues her, and she learns the real reason she’s been kept in shape: PharmPerfect, a local pharmaceutical giant, is using her foster program as a replacement factory for their pill-addicted clients’ failing organs.

Determined to save the rest of her friends at the center, Tabitha joins forces with her rescuers, led by moody and mysterious Gavin Stiles. As they race to uncover the rest of PharmPerfect’s secrets, though, Tabitha finds herself with more questions than answers. Will trusting the enigmatic group of rebels lead her back to the slaughterhouse?

I’d like to say the idea of raising children for organ harvesting is a shocking idea but it isn’t entirely when you think of those families that have a child to harvest the stem cells for an older child. The big difference is that those families mean no ill will towards that younger child, unlike the drug company in Body Parts. Just imagine the betrayal Tabitha feels when she learns the truth. For 10 years, she has believed that her foster home guardians have her best interest at heart and that all the hard work getting and keeping her mind and body in top shape will win her a place with a loving family.

The time is about 2030 (based on a reference to a tv show), not so far in the future. When Tabitha first learns the truth, she isn’t at all sure who she can trust but, clearly, it isn’t the adults who’ve been involved in her “care” all these years and she fears for the friends still at the Centre. The tension at this point is high but then it sort of slides into a muddle of romantic confusion that, to my way of thinking, is neither necessary nor logical, given the need to concentrate on saving the kids left behind. When Tabitha accepts the reality of what’s going on, she becomes driven to join in on missions to rescue others but she isn’t really qualified.

Overall, this story is a good one and, while I can’t say I formed any real attachment to Tabitha or any of the other characters, the premise did provoke a bit of thinking. The real discomfort, to me, comes from the knowledge that we in developed countries are becoming much too reliant on pills and potions to make everything better, to “preserve” ourselves, if you will. Perhaps we should pay attention to the possible dangers that might seem like pure fiction.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, September 2017.

What an interesting book about perfection. I was drawn into the world and I was very interested to see what this book was really about and how things would turn out in these pages. PharmPerfect, develops the drugs that provided perfection, but at a steep price to their customers. Organ failures are the ultimate price for perfection. This was a heart pounding book for me. I wanted to know how the book would end. * I received this book from NetGalley and this is my honest review*

I must admit that this isn't my usual genre but the mystery and thrill that is hinted from the blurb really captivated me and I just had to read this book and find out more.

Tabitha seems like a special girl from the blurb, being trained to be an athlete so that she could get adopted by a family. Which family would adopt a child based on whether he/she is an athlete? That caught my curiosity. We get to know more about the foster center that Tabitha is in through her eyes and everything got more exciting when she was rescued from the hospital and more characters are added into the story.

Body Parts is an engaging story and it kept me hooked on it till the last page. The pacing of the story is just right and though I could guess the reason for something that Tabitha has experienced, this did not affect me much. I still enjoyed reading it. There is one part that irks me a little, about a decision that Tabitha has made. It seemed a little out of character but in the end it turns out ok. This is my first book from this author. I will be keeping a lookout for future books by her.

This is a fascinating story. I can imagine this happening in real life: people being raised in secret to harvest their organs to benefit those who have used artificial means to destroy their health. It’s a disturbing reality but possible nonetheless.

I was immediately sympathetic with Tabitha. She’s a strong girl, but she had been deceived her whole life so she was at a disadvantage in life. She made some mistakes by trusting the wrong people, but that can be understood since her life has been a lie.

This book was very exciting. I can’t tell you how many times my heart was pounding and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I couldn’t put it down, and I ended up reading it in one evening.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy YA dystopia stories.