Most Unusual Origins

Published: September 4th, 2012

Origin

By: Jessica Khoury

Razorbill

ISBN-13: 9781595145956

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.

Review

   Pia is the first in a race of immortal beings.  Or at least that's the hope of the scientists, who have been injecting her ancestors with serum from a mysterious flower they call Elysia, that finally altered Pia's genetic makeup (she is fifth generation of the experiment).  She has grown up among a top-secret research facility and it's staff, being told how special and perfect she is.  Pia is taught everything scientific she could ever need to know, but everything about the outside world is kept from her.  There is nothing she knows outside of Little Cam.  The mission is noble, all encompassing and more important than anything.  Then on the night of Pia's 17th birthday after the arrival of a vibrant new scientist (Dr. Harriet) who challenges everything she's been taught, she discovers and opening in the electrical fence and decides to explore the jungle, against the rules.  She discovers the native tribe of the Ai'oans and learns that there is more to life than striving for immortality - especially in her growing relationship with Eio, the son of a native woman and a scientist from Little Cam (whose identity he won't reveal).  When all the secrets of Little Cam come spilling out, will Pia choose to stay involved with the scientists research or will she escape to the Ai'oans and be free for the first time in her life?  And what will the cost of the second choice be in the end?  I adored this book.  It was such an interesting concept, even if it wasn't a new one by far.  Scientists trying to engineer an immortal race, animal experiments, cruel mental tests and brainwashing all lent to the realism of Pia's struggles in this book.  I loved that Harriet came into Little Cam, making Pia question her blind obedience and giving her a map of the entire world (something she has never seen before).  Pia's relationships with Eio and his young foster sister Ami are very sweet and so heartbreaking.  The fact that she is able to relate to them, but so far apart due to her exclusion from reality is angering to me individually.  I loved the plot twists involved, although the identity of Eio's Father was pretty obvious from the start of the mystery.  I loved Alai's relationship with Pia and was disappointed when he disappeared for the second half of the book until the very end.  The climax of the novel was full of violence, moral uproar and some very stirringly emotional goodbyes.  The descriptions of the jungle and the compound were very lush and beautiful for someone who had never been there before writing the book!  I loved the philosophical questions this book raises so effortlessly, while it worldbuilds around the reader.  I would highly recommend this to people who like sci-fi, but aren't hardcore fans and want a very fast-paced mystery/adventure book with elements of sci-fi included.  I really loved this book and if anything my only complaint would be that it ended and that it left us hanging as to the endings of Pia, Eio and Harriet's individual stories after the fall of Little Cam.

VERDICT:  4.85/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published September 4th, 2012.*

I'm Awake and Alive

Expected Publication: May 8th, 2012
Revived
By: Cat Patrick
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780316094627


As a little girl, Daisy Appleby was killed in a school bus crash. Moments after the accident, she was brought back to life.

A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency's true goals, she realizes she's at the center of something much larger — and more sinister — than she ever imagined.

Review

   Daisy Appleby has been dead more than once.  The first time she died was in a horrific bus accident, but it allowed testing of an experimental drug called 'Revive' which brought her and almost everyone on the bus back from the dead.  Now, she has been stung by bees (to which she is highly allergic) when she was without her eppy pen.  Daisy was brought back by her guardian, Mason, but it is getting harder each time to revive her.  Now Daisy must start over in a new town, at a new school, with a new name.  But the upside is that this time she begins to feel like a normal teenager - like she belongs.  Will she risk everything to tell her secret to her new friend Matt (who may be more than a friend...)?  And has she been followed by someone?  Is the project in danger of corruption by the founder - the God of Revive?  And if it was Daisy might have to kiss more than her new friends goodbye...  After her latest death, Daisy moves to a new town, Omaha.  She quickly makes a friend of Audrey, a really pretty girl who for no apparent reason appears to be an outcast.  Also, Daisy finds herself falling for Audrey's brother Matt.  But Daisy isn't living a normal life - instead of parents she has handlers named Mason and Cassie.  They're scientists who work for Project Revive, whose job is to monitor her life and the effects the drug has had on her over the years.  But Daisy stumbles onto evidence that God (the man who created Revive) might be corrupt and using the project for his own ends.  When the morality and plausability of the thing keeping you breathing is called into question, where can you turn?  I really liked this book for the depth and wonderful personalities of the characters.  Cat Patrick really knows how to make your heart alternately bleed and then pound for joy.  I expected more from the plot, especially after her debut novel Forgotten had such an effortless way of weaving the plot twists around the character development.  I liked how she dealt with the morality issues, but felt like there was too much plot and not enough character.  That said, I honestly enjoyed the ending and the whole book, never experiencing boredom at all while reading it.  This book is highly recommended, just expect more personal journey than sci-fi thriller.

VERDICT:  3.75/5  Stars

*I got this ARC by chance and luck of the draw (and a truly awesome librarian friend!). No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is expected to be published May 8th, 2012.*