Origin, by Jessica Khoury

Origin, by Jessica Khoury

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Science-Fiction, Dystopian, Romance, Mystery

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Publication: September 17, 2013, by Razorbill

Format: Paperback Edition







Goodreads Summary: Pia has always known her destiny. She is meant to start a new race, a line of descendants who will bring an end to death. She has been bred for no other purpose, genetically engineered to be immortal and raised by a team of scientists in a secret compound hidden deep in the Amazon rainforest. Now those scientists have begun to challenge her, with the goal of training her to carry on their dangerous work.

For as long as she can remember, Pia’s greatest desire has been to fulfill their expectations. But then one night she finds a hole in the impenetrable fence that surrounds her sterile home. Free in the jungle for the first time in her life, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Unable to resist, she continues sneaking out to see him. As they fall in love, they begin to piece together the truth about Pia’s origin—a truth with nothing less than deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Origin is a beautifully told, electric new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever. But is eternal life worth living if you can’t spend it with the one you love?

Review:

"Am I really all that scary?" "Your beauty is," he whispers. I know what he means, because I feel the same terrified awe when I look at him. It tugs at my heart whenever he looks at me, whenever he grabs my hand and pulls me close. My memory is perfect, yet I can't recall ever not having Eio. I've hardly known him a week, and yet I feel as if it's always been us."

  Have you ever read a book where you just simply have an insta-love moment with from the first page, and that love keeps on going on forever? That really doesn't happen that often, but when it does, it really shows that the book was amazing and will stay that way until I finish the book. 

     I will protect this book with my life because it's just so amazing. Jessica Khoury has created a dystopia/science-fiction literature masterpiece, and I believe that this book should really be out there more. More teenagers and people of any age should discover this great book that has an original idea that is sure to stun people over and over again. I normally never re-read books, but I would definitely re-read this one, one day.

     This book starts off with us meeting the "perfect" and immortal protagonist, Pia. Her destiny and fate is to create a new race of immortal people who will sure begin an end to death. She has no other purpose, no other purpose to live, except to satisfy her uncle and the rest of the scientists in Little Cam. These scientists have begun to challenge her, to test her to see if she's capable of beginning this new race of people who will be just like her, roaming the rain-forests. On her seventeenth birthday, she finds a large hole in the fence that separates Little Cam from the rest of the wilderness, and when Pia sneaks out (when she's not supposed to) she meets Eio, a handsome boy with blue eyes who is part of a different race than hers. As they fall in love instantly, Pia keeps on sneaking out and they begin to piece together the mystery behind Pia's immortality. 

       An immortal race beginning in the Amazon Rain-Forest? Insta-love between two amazing characters? If you know me well with the way I judge and love books, you'll probably know that this is definitely my type of book. Everything about it was just so addicting and I fell in love with it from the start. 

        I basically had an insta-love with everything in this book. The characters, plot, idea, romance and details were amazing. The storyline left me wanting more after every chapter and I was having real trouble trying to let go of the book. It kept me up late into the night because in order to get a good night's sleep, you'll have to know what happens in this book or else you won't be able to count sheep. The suspense hidden in between the lines just made me so eager, and before I knew it, I was finished with the book and was mourning for more great reads from this author. 

         I still can't believe that this was a debut. It feels like this could've been the author's thousandth book. She has so much talent and her writing is so devouring. It's like watching chocolate melt in a chocolate fountain. You just feel like you can't put it down.

         My little problem was that Pia's and Eio's relationship felt a little rushed. It was plain insta-love and I wish that they took a longer time to fall in love. But, I will not say that they were a bad couple. NO. NO. They were an adorbs x1000 cute couple, but rushing isn't good.

          

         

           Pia was a rather.. AWESOME protagonist. Although she was classified as "perfect," she wasn't. She ended up being kick-ass and rebellious and just awesome. She went through so much and she previously couldn't live a life that she wanted, but when she met Eio, everything went the way she wanted it to. 

           

             Hey, Chase Crawford, you're my new Eio 'cause you've got blue eyes. :)

            

         

              Okay, but anyway, I love Eio. He wasn't a jerk. He wasn't afraid to put out his feelings for Pia and he let her know. He wasn't cheesy, either, and he was so adorable and gorgeous! Ahh, I had and still have insta-love for him. 

              This book was amazing. Despite the insta-love, it was perfect. I recommend this book to everyone, young or old. Go Pio!