{Book Review} Origin

Author: Jessica Khoury

Genre: YA fantasy
Published: September 4th 2012
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 394
Source: Purchased Hardback

Goodreads Summary:

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home–and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia’s origin–a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost.

My Rating of this Book – 1 out of 5 stars

My Review:

Honestly, I hate giving a single star to any novel. If you look at my Goodreads record, I have only given two in the entire time I have been registered. However, Origin really went against the grain for me. When I had picked it up at the bookstore, I had fallen in love with the concept and that the book had some links to biology, my field, but it ended up a major disappointment.

First off, I didn’t like how the novel continually generalizes, especially about scientists, who are, to my surprise, nothing but performers, overly proud, and unemotional. Coming from a scientific background, these views were really unrealistic and very insulting. Also, the many of the experiments the characters conducted, other than any revolving around the goal of creating an immortal race, seemed to have no objective other than the “because I can” factor. Every experiment (fictional or not) should have a true objective, even if it’s considered shady.

Secondly, I was very disappointed in Pia. She was trained and raised by scientists, but she didn’t have a natural investigative skill. Instead of asking the right questions and trying to uncover the answers herself, she always expected someone else to give her the answer. And when it came to finding the truth of her origin, she hardly wanted to hear it until it was too late. It drove me nuts.

And finally, when the book really started to pick up in action I found it too drawn out. It was constant capture-escape, capture-escape, capture-escape; chapter after chapter after chapter. I was never a fan of this kind of action and it became boring very quickly.

There were only a few things I did enjoy. I liked Pia’s love interest, Eio, and I was happy with the ending. But it wasn’t enough to counter the negative. Sad to say, I wouldn’t recommend reading Origin.