Origin by Jessica Khoury – Review

Origin by Jessica Khoury

Review of Origin

Title & Author:
Origin by Jessica Khoury
Publisher:
Razorbill
Publication Date:
September 04, 2012
Pages:
372
Source:
BEA

An electrifying action-romance that’s as thoughtful as it is tragic

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. – Goodreads

Origin by Jessica Khoury was an intriguing and original story set in a setting that had me completely captured.

I was super annoyed with Pia for most of the book because she was such a spoiled brat and she complained all the time and I literally just wanted someone to give her a good kick in the butt. But at the same time, Jessica Khoury built up the setting and the characters so well that I totally understood why Pia was such a spoiled brat. It’s like being an only child of 50 parents. She always gets what she wants and I kind of admire Jessica Khoury for creating a character that annoying. Granted, Pia did grow a lot in Origin. She found out a lot of secrets that made her second guess everything she knew and she finally learned how to stand up for herself, which I really admired.

I loved finding out the mysteries the jungle held as Pia did, not to mention all the secrets in Little Cam. I was shocked by many of the events in Origin – betrayal, lies, death, murder – there’s a lot of sadness and hurt and betrayal in Little Cam and I really felt for Pia having to go through it all.

While the romance in Origin could be seen as a bit insta-lovey, I could totally understand their instant attraction. I thought Pia and Eio were made for each other – they both don’t quite fit anywhere and I just thought they really worked together.

I’m going to warn you animal lovers now, there is definitely a moment of very upsetting cat death in Origin. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. It definitely broke my heart.

But I really liked the story of Origin. Some parts of the story dragged a bit, but I loved the idea of a science compound in the middle of the jungle experimenting with immortality and I thought Jessica Khoury did a great job at building up the mystery. I was rooting for Pia the whole way to stand up for what she knew was right and I loved what followed after.

And, strangely enough, I think (although I can’t say for sure) that Origin is a standalone, which is definitely refreshing. And even if it’s not, the ending of Origin is perfectly done and I closed the book feeling satisfied and vindicated.

Although Origin was not without its flaws, I thought it was an excellent debut and I’ll definitely be reading more from Jessica Khoury. Origin was full of intriguing secrets and upsetting truths and characters that you can’t help but root for.

While you’re here, you can subscribe to my feed :)