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| Origin by Jessica Khoury |
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.
I rate this book...
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| 5 out of 5 stars |
What I thought...
*Non Spoiler Section*
I really loved this book. It was well paced and full of surprises.
The setting of this book was beautiful. It was set in the Amazon rain forest and talked about the plants and animal living there.
I loved the main character Pia. Pia is immortal. Her skin is so strong it cannot be cut through and she never forgets anything. She can still feel pain, but it is not quite the same as a normal human would feel it.
Despite being called "perfect" constantly by the scientists she lives with at her home in the Little Cam compound, Pia was not always sure of herself. Pia often feels lonely being the only immortal human and knowing the people she loves would die one day as she lives on forever.
Her dream is to become a part of the team of scientists and help to create a race of immortal people just like her. To do this Pia needs to go through a number of tests to prepare her for this task. Then she will be told the secret to creating immortals like her.
However, when she sees a hole in the fence surrounding the compound she decides to take a look at the world outside of Little Cam and meets a boy name Eio. Eio lives nearby in a village of native people called Ai'oans. After Pia meets Eio is when the mysteries begin to unravel and Pia learns about her true Origin. Meeting Eio changes Pia's life forever.
*Spoiler Section*
Pia's dad seemed to really care about Pia but I hated Pia's mother. She didn't care for Pia's father at all and they barely talked. The only thing she cared about was Pia helping to create the immortal race and was willing to do anything to make that happen. This including killing that poor kitten for Pia. I'm not going to lie, I was bawling when the kitten was killed. How can you kill a kitten? Pia's mother is plain heartless. Really she was furious that she wasn't the immortal one instead of her daughter.
I didn't like Aunt Harriet at first, but as the story went on I liked her a lot more. She helped Pia in a lot of ways and lied for her to help her see Eio again. She broke a lot of rules to help Pia and she was pretty funny too.
I loved the little village where the Ai'oans lived. It seemed so happy and peaceful compared to the scientific labs and sterile environment in Little Cam. The people were also so welcoming to Pia.
I was surprised when the rat died when it was given the flower that had made it immortal in the first place. I also wondered though, if it really did kill the rat or if it had just made it become mortal and it died because it was so old. I wasn't sure until the very end when Pia lived after drinking the nectar from the Elysia flower.
I was shocked to find out who Eio father was. Then I was even more in shock when he came bursting in with a gun to protect his son from the scientists trying to kill him to begin creating more immortals.
The end was perfect. When Pia gets rid of all the Elysia flowers and then become mortal.
This book also brought up a lot of questions and controversial topics.
Because the book is about genetic engineering to create an immortal race, it made it seem extremely realistic. It also makes you wonder if immortality is something to be desired or not. Pia was so sad thinking that she would be alive watching the ones she loved die.
The scientists that Pia lives with in Little Cam do tests on animals which sometimes push these animals close to death or even kill them. This brings up whether or not animal testing is right or wrong and should it continue or be stopped.
If you have read this book let me know what you thought in the comments.
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