Origin

I found this book in my local e-library, and decided to give it a go. It's beautiful.

It's not easy to sum up the premise, because I found it unlike anything I've ever read before, but let me give it a try: in a remote lab in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, a group of scientists have cut themselves off from the outside world. They've done the impossible, by creating a human being who is well-and-truly immortal. This book is her story, and is all about her coming to terms with her immortal status, and the growing sensation that there's a whole world out there that she's never been exposed to.

She's seventeen years old as the story opens, and is starting (quite late, by human standards, but consider her cloistered existence) to discover all sorts of emotions that she never knew she had. Up until this point, her upbringing has been that emotions are always bad, and scientific thinking, logic, are always good.

The book makes you think, and it's peppered with subtle Christian references comparing her to Jesus Christ. The narrative never goes ahead and SAYS it, but if you know your Bible, they're there. I thought that was strange, until I found out the author is actually a Christian, after which the story took on a whole new meaning to me.

The pacing's fantastic and the editing is almost flawless. One or two missing words here and there, but nothing to detract from my enjoyment.

In my e-book, though, the formatting's a bit inconsistent, and it keeps jumping from the "blank line between paragraphs" to the "first-line indent" method. That's a bit jarring, but it's probably only the OverDrive version.

Full review on Reader's Dialogue: readersdialogue.blogspot.com/2012/09/origin.html

I was captivated by this book from the very first pages. The first thing that struck me was the richness of description. There's such music in it! Besides for using sensory images to bring the scene to life, the way each detail is described brings such life to the picture - "depositing dew" - with a sense of movement and vivacity. And that continues throughout the whole book. Everything Pia experiences has this quality of descriptive aliveness. Part of it is that she gets to see so many things for the first time when she finally leaves Little Cam and ventures out into the rainforest, so her descriptions are full and fresh. Which makes for great heartthrob scenes between her and Eio!

The premise of Origin is really unique, and amazingly thoroughly followed through. Every step of the explanation makes sense, and it's unfolded throughout the story so that it feels organic to the tale but still gives all the necessary detail. I love how there's a bit of native folklore mixed into the science. The scientific process seems like a really good explanation for the phenomenon, but when the magic gets introduced, it lends a sense of the supernatural, just the right amount, the perfect touch to sort of humanize Pia instead of having her be completely a scientific specimen.

The whole story is a gripping mystery as Pia starts to realize that Little Cam is not the perfect place she always thought it was. The suspense and tension builds thrillingly as the evil minds are slowly revealed, little by tiny detail. And then, once it all explodes and the action starts, it's a nail-biting ride! Every half a page, the tide turns and the other side has the upper hand. And then there are all the unexpected things each character does in the thick of battle.

Especially what Pia does. The ending of the book is one shocking turn of events after another, and I never would have guessed how it would turn out. I'm not going to give anything away here, but I'll just say that whether the ending is a typically happy ending or not, it definitely is satisfying. Especially the last line! (Excluding the epilogue. I don't quite get the point of the epilogue.)

I was just blown away by the intense emotion in Origin, from all the characters - Pia and her struggle with herself and her choices, but also Eio and his father, and Dr. Fields, and even Pia's mother, to some extent. Add to that a top-notch thriller and an extremely well-crafted plot, and you've got a winner!