Origin

* * * */ Four stars (almost five; almost)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Suspense, Mystery, Intellect, Romance, Humor (small and slightly dry, but present, none the less)

In this amazing novel by Jessica Khoury, Pia is a girl that is turning 17, just like every other teenager in the world; accept for the fact that she is immortal, and she shall never die. She lives in a scientific compound, awaiting the day that she can prove herself to the rest of the scientists there that she calls 'Uncles and Aunts' and finally learn the secret of her DNA, and make an immortal race that will survive along with her when the rest of them die. Instead, on the day of her sweet 17th birthday in the middle of the jungle, Pia finds a hole in the wall that surrounds the entire base and she climbs through it from sheer curiosity, since she had never visited the outside world. Instead of just taking a quick peak and going back, she meets Eio, a local boy from one of the native tribes in the jungle. Pia soon realizes that, although she has studied her whole life, she knows so very little about the outside world. When tests begin arising even harsher and harsher than those of before to test her emotional will against her desire to please everyone else on the compound, Pia begins to question for the first time what she actually wants. Will Pia be willing to go to unmeasurable lengths and go against her judgement to fulfill the image of what her fellow scientists want her to be, or will she find enough inner courage to leave behind everything and everyone she's ever known to fight for an unguarded new future in the real world?
I really enjoyed this beautifully crafted novel that questions what it truly means to be 'human'. Pia is asking a question that most of us have probably asked ourselves at one point or another; would we want to be immortal if we can't share our infinite life with someone else? I recommend this book to anyone looking for a book that they can 'think on'.