I picked up this book less than a week ago, and I'm really glad I decided to read it. (Funny story: While browsing my local library, I found it on the wrong, and instead of finding its rightful spot, I decided to check it out.) At first, I didn't realize it was the second book of the Corpus series because it's not really part of a "series." The author calls them companion books. I read the first book more than two years ago, but both can be read as standalones. In Vitro, the author introduces us to completely different characters, yet the scientific atmosphere and mystery is very similar to the first book, Origin. Also, instead of working on immortality, the scientists in this book are working on human beings that are grown in labs in order to serve a specific purpose.

Sophie Crue never really understood what her mother's work on Skin Island was, but she always suspected it was something cutting edge and extraordinary. When she receives a cryptic email from her estranged mother, she flies from the continental US to the island of Guam, the island where she spent most of her childhood growing up. With the help of her childhood friend Jim, she finds a way onto this top secret island, worried that her mother is in real danger. However, the person who's in real danger isn't necessarily her mother. Someone wanted Sophie on this island.

I like how unexpected every chapter is. I definitely predicted some of the things that happened in the story, but most of it was really surprising, one twist after another. While I had a few reservations about the science in Origin, the science behind this story seems a little bit more realistic and plausible. As a science nerd, I like it when things hold up in reality. If not, then I like it when things are explained in order to create a better foundation for the story. In my opinion, Jessica Khoury did a better job with this in this second book. With a title like Vitro, one can only expect human beings grown in labs, and even if this is a recurring theme in many books, the author did a great job in putting her own spin on it. The book is based enough on modern reality and society that I have a hard time qualifying it as a true science-fiction novel, however, it does have enough technology and futuristic science to categorize it in this genre.

Jessica Khoury is definitely a fan of exotic settings. Her debut book, Origin, was set in the Amazon Rain Forest. Now this second book is set near the island of Guam, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean, for those who didn't know (I sure didn't). At the end of Vitro, we mention something going on in South America linked to Corpus, the cooperation that funded the Vitro project. It seems Corpus has roots in many scientific experiments, and we've only began to learn its power. In the summary of the next book, it looks like Corpus also has ties to the Kalahari desert in southern Africa. I'm curious to see if all three books will be tied together. Like I said earlier, these books don't seem to be part of a series. They are simply linked by this big cooperation and its scientific experiments that go on for years.

I definitely liked Vitro better than the first book. It feels like the characters and the story were more thought out. There was a slight lag in the middle of the book, as the characters were trying to figure out what was going on, but all in all, I think it was a good science/adventure book that will please many science nerds like me. It's not Orphan Black, but it definitely draws on some of the same themes and ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMnICjb7V8Y

Origin by Jessica Khoury

Book Stats:

Reading level: Young Adult
ARC: 394 pages 
Genre: Science-Fiction
Publisher: Penguin
Release date: September 4, 2012

Series: n/a

Reviewed by: Stéphanie

Source: Won from Heather Marie

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

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.

A very intriguing and original debut, ORIGIN definitively caught my attention when I first read the summary. As a wannabe science geek, the idea of creating an immortal race of human beings through science was something I really wanted to know more about. Scientifically, the immortalization described in this book doesn’t really make sense, but for the purpose of telling a fictional story, it works. Jessica Khoury created a rich setting and wonderful characters to tell her story

While the idea of immortality to question the mortality and the morality of the human race was genius, the science of it just didn’t work for me. The unrealistic science is my main concern about the book. I liked how part of the immortalization process is through the nectar of a plant found in the Amazon rainforest, but the catalyst to make the elixir work is a little too far fetched for me. I’m not going to reveal more about the catalyst because that would ruin the story for those who haven’t read the book, but truthfully, I expected more.

One thing that did work for me is the development of the characters. Pia is a wonderful heroine despite her indecisiveness about the group of scientists she lives with and about her romantic feeling towards Eio, the boy she literally meets by crashing into his naked chest. For an educated and intelligent girl, Pia is very cloistered, knowing almost nothing about what lies outside the gates of her little village in the middle of the rainforest. As the only immortal human, the scientists of the village have decided to raise her by revealing nothing of the outside world. And that means growing up with no children surrounding her and without any idea what true family and romantic relationships are about. So when she meets Eio and his amazon tribe, the idea of loving people and caring for their well being somewhat new to her. Pia’s indecisiveness can get a little tiresome after a while but it’s really what keeps the story going by questioning her immortality and her morality. At first, Eio seemed a little unrealistic because of his forced and cheesy dialogue but as the story went on, he convinced me that his feeling for Pia were authentic.

Morality is a theme that’s investigated well throughout the book. Pia is raised to have an analytical and scientific mind but that doesn’t prepare her for the tests the scientists of her village make her go through. Doing something evil for the greater “good” of their research makes her doubtful and when the final test comes along, I think it’s the final turning point for her. Morality wasn’t a concept taught to her growing up but meeting and speaking to people she shouldn’t speak to opens a whole new world to her, almost literally.

The first person narrative is perfect for this book because we get to see Pia’s world through her naïve point of view. We get to see how her mind works even if we don’t completely understand her way of thinking. We see her grow as a person throughout the book as she discovers things that have always been forbidden by her small community, for example, leaving the gated community to go meet Eio. Her defiance for the rules makes us cheer her on, but at the same time, we worry about the consequences of her being caught. In fact, being caught is one thing she’s afraid of as an immortal (that an anacondas) because she doesn’t know what the consequences may be.

ORIGIN really wasn’t what I expected and that’s not a good nor a bad thing. The story simply caught me by surprise and the originality of the novel is a definite plus. The rich and luscious setting of the amazon rainforest really worked to the author’s advantage because it’s not a setting that’s utilized often. It feels fresh, authentic and most important of all, well researched. I think, for a debut novel, the story was quite entertaining since it had me speed through it to get to the end. It’s not a book that enthralled me but I can see how it could please many readers. The forbidden romance, the hidden secrets and fighting the rules are the basis for a good YA novel, and the author hit all these points. I just wished the science behind it all could have been a little more realistic.