Author Interview with Jessica Khoury

With only 2 more days until the release of Jessica Khoury's new novel, Vitro, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to get my hands on a copy. To tide me over until Tuesday, Jessica has graciously agreed to answer some questions to curb our appetites. We also have the unique opportunity to play along in a spectacular contest called #operationvitro over at www.corpusnetwork.com. Jessica is giving away prizes to EVERYONE that participates and you have the opportunity to win some really swank grand prizes.

Jessica Khoury is the author of one of the most original stories I have ever read. Origin, which was released in September of 2012, is the story of a genetically engineered girl who discovers that she's not as perfect as everyone has been telling her her whole life. 

Her new novel, Vitro, is the story of Sophie and Jim. Sophie's mother works on an island, called Skin Island, that nobody knows anything about. All people know is that it is a scientific research facility and it is off limits to outsiders. Sophie's mother sends her an emergency email asking Sophie to come to Skin Island. Sophie travels to Guam and searches in vain for a pilot to fly her out there. Then, she finds Jim. Jim and Sophie were childhood playmates who haven't seen each other in years. Jim is the only one who will agree to fly Sophie out to Skin Island. What they'll find there is anybody's guess.

Welcome Jessica! I am so excited to chat with you about your new novel, Vitro, which is coming out in just 2 short days! First off, tells us a little about Vitro and what we can expect to find in your newest novel. 

Vitro tells the story of Sophie, a girl whose mother left her behind ten years ago in order to pursue her research for Corpus on a remote Pacific island. Now Sophie is on her way to find her mother, and the only person willing to fly her to the island is her old childhood playmate, Jim. Together, they begin discovering what Sophie's mother has been doing--raising test-tube embryos with computer chips integrated into their brains. These Vitros, as they're called, have abilities beyond those of normal humans--but at a terrible cost.

Ooooo. A terrible cost. How intriguing. What draws you to writing medical and scientific stories? 

I've always loved reading these kind of stories, and I think there are some fascinating ethical dilemmas intrinsic to developing technologies that make for great drama. Plus, these questions are very relevant to our current reality, which adds to the stakes.

So, Vitro isn't really a sequel to Origin, but will we see any of the same characters? 

You will meet one familiar face in Vitro, but I won't give away who it is!

Any chance we'll see Pia and Eio in any future novels? 

At this point, I don't have any plans to continue Pia and Eio's story--but you never know what the future will hold.

Right now, both of your novels are stand-alones. Do you have any desire to write a continuous series, or do you enjoy writing single novels?

I think I'd enjoy working on a series at some point; stand-alones have many advantages, but a series allows you to really dig deep into the characters and worldbuilding.

Most YA stories these days, including Origin and Vitro have a female heroine who is paired with a male counterpart, but rarely, if ever, is the main hero a male. Why do you think that is? 

I think this reflects today's teen readership, which is largely female. However, in Vitro, Jim is as much the protagonist as Sophie, and I really enjoyed getting to bring his male perspective into play. I think that most readers enjoy stories told from either gender's viewpoint, so I'd love to see more male protagonists.

When you wrote Origin, you mentioned on your blog that it was originally titled Perfectly Pia. I personally think that Origin was a much more compelling title and really reflected the depth of the story. Were you disappointed to have the title changed, or did you feel a connection between the new title and the story? And did you have a similar experience with Vitro? If you did, what was Vitro's original title? 

With Origin, I knew from the beginning that a title change would likely happen, so I wasn't upset when it did. I loved "Origin" from the moment we chose it, and knew it was a perfect title! Vitro was pretty much Vitro from the beginning; before it was final, I just called it "the island book."

What does your writing space look like? 

I have my desk, where I usually work, as well as a huge, comfy chair flanked by overflowing bookshelves. I like to have a lot of open windows too; natural light is relaxing and healthy! My favorite thing about my writing space is my TARDIS bookshelf, which my husband built for me as a Christmas present. It even lights up!

Last question. The thing I enjoyed most about Origin was the way it left me thinking at the end. Will we get the same treat with Vitro? Are there deep underlying issues that will intrigue our minds? 

I think so, and I hope you will leave with questions hanging in your mind. In Vitro, the ethical dilemmas at the heart of the story (which I can't state here without giving away the twists!) are less black-and-white as they are in Origin. I didn't want the characters to have any easy answers, because that's often how these situations are in real life.

If you're like me, these 2 days are going to take For-ev-er! Don't forget to pick up your copy of Vitro on Tuesday, January 14th! And in the mean time, continue to play #operationvitro for your chance to win some great prizes!

Jessica Khoury is of Syrian and Scottish descent and was born in Toccoa, Georgia. She wrote her first book at age 4, a fan fic sequel to Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur, which she scribbled on notebook paper, stapled together, and placed on the bookshelf of her preschool classroom. Since that day, she's dreamed of being an author. 

Besides writing, Jess enjoys playing, coaching, and watching soccer and is an avid FC Barcelona fan. She also spends time directing theater for college and student groups and traveling the world in search of inspiration and stories.

Jess currently lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with her husband, two terrible dogs, and an abundance of books, shoes, and sweet tea.

She is the author of Origin and Vitro.

Code by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs

The Virals are put to the ultimate test when they find a geocache containing an ornate puzzle box. Shelton decodes the cipher inside, only to find more tantalizing clues left by "The Gamemaster." A second, greater geocache is within reach—if the Virals are up to the challenge.

But the hunt takes a dark turn when Tory locates the other box—a fake bomb, along with a sinister proposal from The Gamemaster. Now, the real game has begun: another bomb is out there—a real one—and the clock is ticking.

Woo Hoo! Ever since I discovered the Virals series by Kathy Reichs and her son Brendan, I was hooked!! The series revolves around a group of kids who live on an island used for a scientific research facility. The only people that live on the island are employees of the facility and their families, so these kids have a unique lifestyle that unites them. 

Tory, Hi, Shelton and Ben are your typical teenage kids who don't fit in at their local prep school. They get picked on because they are the weird science kids that live on an island. But the best friends have a secret. Their DNA is infused with wolf DNA and they have special abilities. They are viral! I think it would be awesome to have wolf senses and be connected to my friends through crazy pack genetics.

This latest installment finds the Virals searching out a geocache in what they think is a game that Hi has dragged them all into. He is so excited, because it is the first geocache placed on Loggerhead Island. Inside the geocache is a puzzle box. When they finally get the box open, they find another clue, which is against the rules. The hunt spirals out of control as the Virals realize that the "Gamemaster" is really a psycho who is planning on killing lots of people if they don't successfully play his game, on his timeframe, according to his rules. Throw in the fact that Tory's life is being taken over by her dad's overly peppy and pushy girlfriend and it makes for an interesting story.

This third book was even better than the 2 before it. I wondered how Reichs would be able to keep the story going forward and be different, since the first 2 had many similar elements, but this one blew the first 2 away. I tend to not like YA books sometimes, because they can be too safe and "dumbed down", and I think we don't give YA readers enough credit. But, Kathy Reichs doesn't leave the danger or pain out of these books. I'm excited to see where she takes the series next and how the Virals are going to develop individually and as a pack.

Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

 

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness. 

Elisa is the chosen one. 

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will. 

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

I hate books that have a good story line, but are so difficult to read because they are written by poor authors and I felt that The Girl of Fire and Thorns was one of those books.

I was initially intrigued by this book, because I always  like when someone comes up with a new fantastical element to write about. In this book, the main character, Elisa, has a large jewel in her navel called a Godstone. Since nobody has thought to put a priceless gem in anyone's belly before, I thought it might be rather interesting to see what it means. Unfortunately, that was the only interesting part about the story.

Elisa could have been a really fantastic main character, because she is not tall, thin and beautiful. She is short and fat and plain looking. Rae Carson could have done a wonderful thing and made her into a respectable hero that young girls could look up to and say, "Hey. She isn't skinny and popular, but she saved the world, and so can I." Instead, Elisa dwells on her obesity and brings it up, ALL THE DAMN TIME! It got to be so incredibly annoying. Not to mention the fact that the same words and phrases were used to describe how fat she was. She was also annoying because she dwelt upon all the unhealthy and overindulgent things she was eating. I kind of felt that this book was perhaps driven by the author's own struggle with weight (if she has one) and that she used the book to get all her thoughts out. Like I said, I don't know if that's the case, but that's what it felt like. I also felt that she pushed the elements from he title onto the story. When fire and thorns show up in the story, I felt like they were simply put there because they were in the title and she needed to make the title relevant.

Besides Elisa being an annoying character, the book had an interesting plot line and series of events, but it just wasn't presented in anything resembling an enjoyable read. I gave it 3 stars because I did like the story, and I think an actual young adult reader would be able to overlook the poor writing style, but I just couldn't.

Origin by Jessica Khoury

Wowza! Let's talk about one of the most interesting books I've read in a long time, Origin by Jessica Khoury! This review is a little different, because there have been some pretty heavy crusaders out to kill Origin, and I have some things to say about it.


Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rainforest. 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.


Perfect Pia (the original title of origin was to be "Perfectly Pia") was "created" in a laboratory. She was born just like any other child, but she has been genetically engineered to be immortal and perfect. Scientists in a secret Amazon facility called Little Cam, which is short for Little Cambridge. The facility is surrounded by an electric fence and Pia's room is completely made out of glass, but this doesn't seem strange to her, because it is all she's ever known. At 17, Pia is finally about to take her final Wickham test (horrible heinous tests she is put through to prove she is capable of being a scientist) and finally be allowed to know the secret behind her immortality and begin to create a mate for her in an effort to start a new race.

But a new arrival to Little Cam, who Pia call Dr. Klutz, asks Pia why she doesn't question what is on the other side of the fence. That puts a seed in Pia's mind and she sneaks outside for the first time, with her super awesome jaguar pet, Alai (because who doesn't want a majestic jaguar as a pet?). She meets Eio and begins to discover that maybe being perfect isn't all it's cracked up to be. Pia uncovers the truth behind her immortality and the devastation that has led to her birth.

Reception for Origin has been mostly awesome with a few ridiculous Debbie Downers out there. If you look on Goodreads, you'll find all sorts of naysayers talking about the HORRIBLE (sarcasm) topics in Origin. Of course, Jessica Khoury is promoting racism, abusive relationships, women as objects, and animal cruelty (sarcasm again). Come on, people. Just because she wrote about it doesn't mean she believes in it. Ms. Khoury created a FICTIONAL VERSION OF THE WORLD and took creative liberties to really express just what it was like for Pia growing up. So, she was ignorant, and she fell in love with Eio, even though he's the only boy she's ever met, and so the scientists perform horrible experiments on animals. Those elements are all super important to the plot. Pia is ignorant because she's been made to not question ANYTHING. Maybe Eio is the most awesome boyfriend material in the entire Amazon, we don't know. And animal torture was 100% necessary to understanding the steps the scientists took in order to create Pia. I believe it was something like 150 years that they had been working towards it. We test new medicines on rats, same kinda thing.

But, no matter what the Debbie Downers say, I LOVED Origin. I thought it had a really unique and interesting plot line and I can't wait to see what Vitro, Jessica Khoury's next YA release, has in store. I read the first chapter and I'm already hooked. All in all, 5 out 5 stars to an incredibly original story idea from debut author Jessica Khoury!

If you want to know more, you can find Jessica on her website, which is a visual masterpiece.

Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter

Love or life. 

Henry or their child. 

The end of her family or the end of the world. Kate must choose. 

During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can’t stop her—until Cronus offers a deal. In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he’ll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead. With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything. Even if it costs her eternity.

Kate Winters has been through a lot. Her mom got cancer and moved her to a small town. Then her mom died. Then she agreed to perform tests to see if she was worthy of marrying Henry (aka Hades) and become Queen of the Underworld. Then, she won, but she didn't think Henry would ever love her, even though she loves him. Then everything was great there. Then, Kate got pregnant. Then, she was kidnapped by Calliope, aka Hera (who has some real self-absorption issues). And this is where we begin the third installment of the Goddess Test series. 

Kate has been held captive by Calliope for 9 months and it is almost time to have her baby. Calliope plans to keep him for herself and try to make Henry finally love her (which has been her goal since Book 1). Calliope thinks her father, Cronus, is on her side, but he has plans of his own. He promises Kate that if she becomes his queen, she can keep her baby and he won't destroy the world, but he will destroy the Council. But what about Henry? Is it ok to be selfish when the fate of the world is pitted against the love of your forever life?

I was really excited to get this last installment in the Goddess Test series, because I loved the idea of a Greek mythology taking place in the present world. I'm a sucker for mythology and love when it is redone in a new and interesting way. That being said, I was disappointed in the style of this book. I felt that Kate was too wishy-washy in this book and a bit of a damsel in distress, when she wasn't like that in the first two books. I also wanted a lot more Kate and Henry interaction, but we still had all this, "Is Henry pulling away?" "I thought he finally realized he loved me". It was just starting to get a little old. I thought this book should have been a strong pulling together of them and their love for each other and their baby and fighting together, and it wasn't. However, I did enjoy it purely because it was the finale of the series and did manage to have a conclusion that I was happy with. All in all, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If Aimee Carter writes more books, I will definitely read them.