Origin

Title: Origin

Author: Jessica Khoury (This is her first book)

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Romance, Mystery

Review: I have kind of mixed feelings about this book. If I was forced to give it a star rating, I'd probably say a 4 out of 5. I'm usually pretty easy to please, and find it extremely difficult to rate books less than 5. However, there were some good and bad things about this book. First of all, the action takes forever to get going. I read five to six chapters, and was about ready to give up. I hated everything about it, and it felt like it was just about a girl that wanted a boyfriend. I'm not a big fan of romance, but this book seemed to do a good job of making it not all about the love story, despite what I originally thought the book would turn out to be.

But it did get better. Also, in areas it was very difficult to read, as it felt like the author just took a thesaurus and looked up a ton of random words. The flow was very difficult. However, I do have some good things to say about the book as well.

After the action started to pick up, I was drawn in. I was still experiencing a few problems with the style of the writing, but I was able to ignore it for a good concept. That's something you should know about me. I'm a sucker for a good concept. In essence, Origin is about an immortal girl living amongst scientists - the mortals that created her. She is in the process of trying to become a scientist herself, so that she might help create a race of others like her to populate the world. But there is a possibility that there's evil lurking somewhere just out of reach.

It's a great concept. For me, it made reading the book worth it, and though it's definitely not the best book I've ever read, I would probably recommend it. However, there are some slightly graphic/intense scenes, and it explores the concept of just how far people would go for science. I wouldn't recommend it for younger children for this reason; it was very suspenseful, and there was a lot of exploration in life and death, as would be expected from a book of this nature. Overall, it was a decent book, and I enjoyed reading it.

Ender's Game

Title: Ender's Game

Author: Orson Scott Card (The first of the Ender Quintet)

Genre: Science Fiction, Classic, Dystopia

Review: This book has been on my to-read list for what seems like forever. However, I'm not going to lie, the movie that was just recently released may have spurred me forwards, even if just a bit. I was not disappointed.

I'm used to seeing lists of classic books that you need to read in the science fiction genre, especially if you are going to be writing that type of style. Which I do. Thus, the thought that I should be reading this has been going through my head for what seems like forever. I really, really enjoyed it. It's one of the best books that I've read in a while, and that's saying a lot, as I am pretty easy to please when it comes to books.

Ender's game follows Ender, a six year old boy, as he is recruited and constantly trained in Battle School. He faces many difficulties, including being hated by the other boys and girls at the school because of his young age. This book spans many years, and ends when he is twenty-two years of age. There are several sub-plots having to do with the people that are training him, as well as his brother and sister that remained on Earth. As I was nearing the end of the book, I was crossing my fingers for an amazing ending, and I must say I wasn't disappointed. There was a major twist near the end of the second to last chapter, and I'm pretty sure my jaw was dropped for most of the last.

Even though I enjoyed this book a lot, I wouldn't recommend it for kids that are more on the younger side; there are quite a few mentions to nudity, and a bit of language throughout. The entire book is also centered around wars and battles, and there are several direct deaths that you see happen. However, if you're okay with these things, then Ender's Game is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, an amazing read, and I would highly recommend it.