Skinned (novel)
Skinned is a young adult science fiction novel by Robin Wasserman, first published in 2008. It is the first book of the Skinned trilogy and was followed by Crashed and Wired. The novel is set in a dystopian future where much of the environment has been ruined, the government has been taken over by corporations, and a few privileged members of society live in luxury at the expense of others trapped in ruined cities or corp towns. Lia Kahn is one of these privileged few, until an unexpected car accident leaves her fatally injured. Her family therefore decide to enlist the services of BioMax, a company which takes detailed scans of Lia's brain and downloads it into a mechanical body. After waking up in her new body, Lia must deal with the trials of a new type of existence, with the revulsion some members of society feel for "skinners", with the prospect of immortality (as her stored memory data can be uploaded to as many new bodies as she wishes), and with the impact of the accident on her family.
Characters
Lia Kahn
Lia is fatally injured in a car accident at the beginning of the book. Her brain was then scanned and downloaded into a mechanical body. She initially hates her new life as a mech, wishing she was still human and missing the increased sensory perception and emotional life she had. Her old friends are not interested in the new, outcast Lia and so she becomes good friends with Auden, another social outcast at school. She also interacts with other mechs, but is unsure she wants to embrace the risks they take in their almost indestructible bodies, or to let go of her old life as they have. Near the end of the book, Lia jumps off a waterfall in order to feel fear and exhilaration again, but Auden is injured when he panics and tried to help her. This, in conjunction with the feelings of rejection she has from her family, cause her to decide to embrace the mech lifestyle fully.
Auden
Auden, an outsider at school, is not a "designer baby" like most of the elite in society as his mother believed in not playing God. He is fascinated by mechs, but dislikes the mechs who try to reject their old lives and want Lia to do so as well. At the end of the novel he is severely injured but is rejected for upload due to a history of mental illness in his family. This causes him to blame Lia and tell her to walk out of his life.
Quinn
Quinn's family died in a car crash when she was little, leaving her to be an orphan living on the streets of a city. She was born without her legs. Therefore, she loves being a mech and the new freedom this has given her. She embraces the reckless lifestyle and wants Lia to do so as well.
Jude
Jude runs a group of mechs who reject their old "org" lives, doing things such as hurting themselves to feel, saying the past doesn't matter, and considering orgs weak; however he has made a place for mechs who feel rejected by society and does seems to care about their well-being. He has mixed feelings towards Lia; believing she has a lot of potential but is wasting it on Auden and her family and trying to still be an org. He kisses her at one point, but it is unclear if he has feelings for her or is just trying to manipulate her or get a response.
Zoie Kahn
Zoie, usually called Zo is Lia's sister who believes that her older sister is dead and the mech can never replace her. Because of this, she steals Lia's friends and boyfriend in order to keep her dead sister's life safe from the mechanical imposter. It feels incredibly cruel to Lia as a mech, who feels like the same person she always was, but it motivated in some way out of love. She also reveals to Lia that she does not think of Lia as her sister anymore. She was the one who was initially going to be in the car-trip that killed Lia so there is also resentment between the sisters because of this.
Ani
Ani is one of Jude's mechs. She is best friends with Quinn. She sometimes is shown with having feelings for Quinn. It is also unsure what her last name is.
Walker
Walker was Lia's boyfriend before the accident but dumped her for Zo.