CKBC discussion

We'll be discussing June's book, Origin, here.

Here's the blurb:

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.

Jump in at any time.

Alright, so I started reading this basically right at the beginning of the month and I'm not very far into it but I already have all sorts of thoughts.

Spoilers, I guess? I'm literally 2 chapters in though so not that spoilery.

First of all, I'm already bothered by the idea that this this takes place in the Amazon and that Pia is described as "perfect" and also "pale." It is strange and upsetting to me that in a place where the majority of the characters have non-English names (Paolo, Antonio, Pia) and are presumably non-white that the "perfect" human they created would be white. I really can't identify a reason why she would need to be pale besides the fact that the author is a white female.

Despite that, I am intrigued by the premise. The tests that Pia is subjected to are interesting, and I am eager to learn more about what their purpose is. I also really enjoyed the moment when she encountered Skittles for the first time, and details like that are keeping me engaged. Overall, however, I feel the writing lacks a bit of detail.

I've also noticed that several YA books with female first-person narrators that I've read recently have had very similar voices (Hunger Games, Divergent, and this novel specifically), and I'm wondering why that is. Is that due to my way of reading, or is it that hard for authors (even female authors) to write distinctive female narrators? It's somewhat troubling, and I hope that Pia's voice develops in some more interesting ways.

Caroline wrote: "Alright, so I started reading this basically right at the beginning of the month and I'm not very far into it but I already have all sorts of thoughts.

Spoilers, I guess? I'm literally 2 chapters ..."

Same over here with regards to the "perfect pale skinned female." But hey, she has dark hair instead of blonde! Much progress! Such refreshing!

Caroline wrote: "I really can't identify a reason why she would need to be pale besides the fact that the author is a white female."

I attribute that to the fact that she's a product of white scientists who invaded the Amazon because that's where the "immortal" plants grew. Not that it's not problematic, but that's how I saw the book justifying itself.

I'm about halfway through, and I'm still interested in the storyline, although the writing leaves something to be desired. I can't quite pinpoint why it's mediocre, but it reads as less-than-stellar quality to me.

What I liked: the setting, the general premise, the descriptiveness, that it was a fairly readable book in terms of style and flow (DISCLAIMER: I read a lot of teen novels for work and have slogged my way through many a terrible written YA book so unfortunately my standards are kinda low)

What I didn't like: the cultural insensitivity, the SCIENCE IS THE EVILEST! thing, the ista-love (honestly, I probably would have liked Eio's character to be removed completely; he didn't add anything to the novel in my opinion--his conversations with Pia were just agonizing to me), how all the scientists character breakthroughs had to be in a sorta random screaming/crying/yelling fit (We are practical scientists, Damn it, until we explode and kill kittens!)

I really wanted to like this book a lot (jungle! science! mystery!), and while I didn't hate it, I definitely couldn't get into this or really recommend it to others.

I'm kind of with Lucky here. I REALLY wanted to like this book. I kind of got into it but I don't really have anyone I would recommend it to.

The premise was good but the book itself felt mediocre at best. I don't think Eio's character should have been removed completely but I do think a bit of less between them might have been better. Or a better developed relationship between them. I can't pinpoint exactly what felt off about this, but something about this book felt completely off and it kind of bothers me.

I also kind of agree and disagree with Lucky in the SCIENCE IS THE EVILEST thing. I do feel that in general the book DID kind of have that feel I kind of felt it was more towards the particular type of science they were doing which reading about made me slightly nauseous. Particularly knowing that there are people out there that have that kind of viewpoint. I'm all for science advancing technology and stuff but at the same time I do believe that certain scientific type things need to be reined in a little. I read this more towards the beginning of the month and I still don't have very coherent thoughts toward the book.

SPOILERS

This book had some definite pros and definite cons for me.

I liked the premise and loved the rainforest setting, and I really enjoyed reading the first few chapters. But I hit the middle of the book and my reading just slumped. By this point, I was frustrated with lots of minor inconsistencies or certain scenes/interactions just started to irk me.

I disagree with the "SCIENCE IS THE EVILEST" interpretation...but I do think the book relied on an oversimplified and pretty inaccurate depiction of what science actually entails and what scientists actually do. I highly doubt any scientists of the modern era really think they're playing god like Paolo did -- no matter if they're working with stem cells or GMOs or any other topic. Paolo was more of a Dr. Frankenstein (that is: Romantic era) character than a modern-day scientist.

At the end of the day I was mostly just annoyed at Pia's inconsistencies. As an example, she starts out pretty arrogant about her immortality, but she rarely puts it to good use. I read the whole final showdown/escape scene just griping -- "Bullets can't kill her! She should use herself to shield Eio and Antonio!" and so forth, instead of relying on them to protect her.

Also -- while I kind of enjoyed having Eio as the love interest in general, I think Khoury's writing REALLY degenerated where he was concerned. How many times did she describe his chest/ab muscles and blue eyes??? Gimme a break. I also doubt that Pia, who grew up isolated from pop culture/media images, would have been obsessed with those features in that way. Those sections felt like reading a teen girl fashion/culture magazine, which was really below the caliber of the rest of the book.

Jennifer wrote: "SPOILERS

This book had some definite pros and definite cons for me.

I liked the premise and loved the rainforest setting, and I really enjoyed reading the first few chapters. But I hit the middle..."

I haven't finished the book, but I think your last paragraph really hits the nail on the head regarding my annoyance with it. I don't think the novel is necessarily bad, but I think that Khoury's writing is a bit lazy, like she didn't fully consider what it would be for someone who's never met an outsider, or even someone her own age, to meet someone that was so different from her.

That said, I probably will finish this book, unlike last month's.

(Spoilers!)

I was not a big fan of this book.

Like someone brought up earlier, the first person present tense bothered me. I don't know if I would equate it to the Hunger Games (although I see the parallel), but it felt immature to the point of being annoying, and not just because the narrator is young. The writing was not the worst ever, but definitely not great and didn't always make much sense. I didn't mind Eio completely, but I hated how he fell into the typical "I'm a man so I'll save you!" role, with little argument from Pia. I also didn't really believe that they fell in supposed "love" so quickly - there's such a thing as young infatuation, but her having such strong and fast feelings for the first boy her age she ever meets? Not buying it.

Blow Pop wrote: "I disagree with the "SCIENCE IS THE EVILEST" interpretation...but I do think the book relied on an oversimplified and pretty inaccurate depiction of what science actually entails and what scientists actually do."

I agree. They all (aside from Antonio and Harriet) felt very EVIL and one-sided...I wish they had been allowed a bit more complexity.

I liked the inner struggle Pia felt between the scientists and the Ai'oans. I feel like the conflict and interactions between the two communities (and how connected she feels to them) was one of the more interesting aspects of the book. As integral as the immortality aspect was to the plot, I found the ending to be pretty predictable.

Overall, I didn't feel like I had wasted my time as with last month's book, but I won't be recommending this to anyone.

I get Pia's obsession with Eio since she had never seen anyone else under 30 before. I'm kind of curious as to how she actually knows what love/lust is since she was raised by a bunch of scientists & love isn't really going on in the compound. (I read this in the beginning of the month, maybe I'm forgetting something?)

I did also like the struggle she felt between the scientists & the Ai'oans, but that was probably the only good part.

I'm kind of indifferent on this book, no strong feelings at all. It was really predictable. And god the flesh eating ants & the "I'll just pull the emergency switch if anything happens"?? WTF you are a terrible scientist keeping flesh eating ants in a glass aquarium that can easily be knocked over by anyone who comes in your office.

Is there a July book yet?

Kayzee wrote: "Is there a July book yet?"

Wondering the same thing.