The book is set in a dystopian future where much of the environment has been ruined, the government is run by corporations, and only the privileged have enough credits to live a life of luxury in sprawling mansions in the country.

Her family decides to enlist the services of BioMax, a company that takes scans of Lia's brain and downloads her mind into a mechanical body, known to the general public as "skinners," despite preferring to be called "mechs."

Lia must deal with the trials of a new type of existence, including the revulsion society feels for "skinners," the prospect of immortality, and the balance of her new life with her former one.

Due to a family history of mental illness, he is not eligible for download after jumping off a waterfall in an attempt to 'save' Lia (he forgot that she is nearly indestructible) leaves him gravely injured.

This is evident in many places throughout the novel, from Lia's internal struggle with accepting her new, mechanical life, to Auden's mother choosing to not "play God" before her son's birth.

As reviewer Thea James says: ...there are a few interesting questions that the novel quietly raises (unconsciously, perhaps): humans in Lia’s rich and privileged world have test-tube babies, with genomes hand selected with traits they desire (boy/girl, hair/eye/skin color, intelligence, beauty, a family physical trait, emotional empathy, etc).