Review: Origin by Jessica Khoury

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.

Hardcover, 394 pages

Published September 4th 2012 by Razorbill

(summary grabbed from GoodReads)

I don’t have very much to say about Origin that hasn’t already been said.  So why am I writing this review?  Because I am; deal with it.  Origin was a great story about a sheltered girl in the Amazon rain forest falling for a local boy.  And other stuff.  Mostly the other stuff.  It addresses real dilemmas in science such as “does the end justify the means?”  Origin was a book that can make you think and can give food for thought that takes time to digest.  I think it is worth reading beyond simply being a great story... and I do not typically feel that way about YA books. 

What I do have that is totally original is an anecdote about bookmarks.

This book gets an extra toadstool because it came with a free bookmark.  Anyone who knows me or has borrowed a book from me knows I use just about anything as a bookmark.  And that I constantly lose these “could-be-anything bookmarks.”  All.  The. Time.  My friend recently borrowed a book from me and came across a receipt.  Thinking it was the books receipt and wanting to know how much I purchased it for, she took a look.  Alas, I had paid $46.82 for gas.  Why is this relevant?  Because Origin came with a large, bright yellow, hard-to-lose bookmark; props to Breathless Reads of Penguin books.  I shall buy all books listed on the bookmark in promise of more bookmarks.

Final Thought: 9 1/2 out of 10 toadstools

This review is also available on GoodReads