Jessica Khoury Origi Origin

Origin by Jessica Khoury is an enthralling story about love and the dangers of seeking immortally. The book is narrated by Pia, a 17 year old immortal girl. We are also introduced to a character called Uncle Paolo. He is the head scientist at the facility Pia was born and raised in. We learn through Pia’s thoughts and actions that Paolo is extremely opposed to all influences of the outside world and is determined to shelter Pia from these “distractions” away from the goal of creating more immortals. He bases all of his opinions of the outside world from prior experiences and refuses to listen to any other ideas. Pia longs to be a scientist like everyone else in the facility until she meets a jungle boy one night when she escapes the facility. It is from this point forward that Pia is left with a decision to make. Should she continue to work to be a scientist or should she try and live with the person she is quickly falling in love with? Even though Pia is immortal, she is still a teenage girl and struggles greatly with this decision. She’s stays indecisive until one day Paolo discovers she has been sneaking out of the compound and a war breaks out between the scientists and the people of the jungle. The audience is left with only one question: Will Pia follow her head or her heart?

Although the book 's pacing starts out a bit slow, it quickly gains speed when the conflict is introduced. The wording used in the book is easy to comprehend yet it never seems to be over simplified. The plot is engaging enough to keep the reader’s attention but also manages to be easy to follow. I found that even though the book dragged in portions it was still an overall satisfactory read. I greatly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys books of the YA