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okenwillow's review against another edition
4.0
Origine est un thriller principalement axé sur la psychologie de la narratrice, Lena, une jeune femme à la personnalité complexe et torturée. Son personnage est particulièrement intéressant, elle nous plonge dans l’enquête de manière totalement immersive. Le style est excellent, l’écriture est fouillée, travaillée, le rythme peut surprendre, notamment lors des dialogues, très souvent entrecoupés par les réflexions personnelles de Lena. Ses impressions parsèment le récit, on pourrait presque qualifier ce thriller d’introspectif, bien que je n’aime pas trop ce mot. Le passé de Lena est pesant, ne connaissant pas ses origines et ayant nourri sa propre interprétation de ses rares souvenirs, elle a du se construire avec des lacunes et des zones d’ombres. Ses relations avec ses parents adoptifs sont ambigus, de même que celle avec son ex-mari. L’enquête sur laquelle sa profession l’amène à intervenir va la plonger dans le mystère de ses origines, la pousser à agir différemment, à remettre en question son rapport aux autres, à se découvrir.
L’intrigue elle-même est bien traitée, même si le suspens n’est plus à son comble assez vite, elle n’en reste pas moins passionnante, malgré l’importance du personnage de Lena et de son cheminement intérieur. Le final ne manque pas d’émotion, on empathise totalement avec Lena. Un thriller au rythme singulier, ni sanglant ni spectaculaire, mais tout en nuances et en humanité. Un excellent roman, intelligent et superbement écrit.
L’intrigue elle-même est bien traitée, même si le suspens n’est plus à son comble assez vite, elle n’en reste pas moins passionnante, malgré l’importance du personnage de Lena et de son cheminement intérieur. Le final ne manque pas d’émotion, on empathise totalement avec Lena. Un thriller au rythme singulier, ni sanglant ni spectaculaire, mais tout en nuances et en humanité. Un excellent roman, intelligent et superbement écrit.
oregon_colette's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this book without really paying much attention to what it was about. I like the author's other books so I assumed I would like this one as well. I was wrong. I couldn't get past the main character's initial assumptions about her life before adoption. As an adult she's a finger print analyst so she's used to looking at details, so of course part of her characterization is noticing details about her settings --details that I didn't care to read about. I kept reading, hoping that it would all click together. It never did.
In the end, I had a hard time rating this book. If I had properly vetted it when I picked it up, I would have never bought it.
In the end, I had a hard time rating this book. If I had properly vetted it when I picked it up, I would have never bought it.
kjboldon's review against another edition
A terrific, atmospheric literary thriller, perfect for the short dark days of winter.
courtneyreviewsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I don't normally read a whole lot of Adult Fiction, but this was a nice change from my usual YA fantasy readings.
Lena, the main character, is around 33, and believes that she was raised by Gorillas until she was about 3, when she was placed in a foster home. She carries much resentment toward her foster parents, because they never adopted her, despite her living with them until she was an adult.
Separated from her cheating husband, very introverted and anti-social, her job as a Lab technician specializing in fingerprinting keeps her occupied most of the time. When a string of SIDS deaths hits a particular neighborhood, Lena gets called in to investigate.
This was a well-written, solid book that dealt with trauma and loss and pain, yet kept the characters real. Lena isn't that likeable and isn't likeable at the end. The ending wasn't happy for me, it was rather sad. I didn't feel any better or worse for Lena, and maybe that was the point?
Lena, the main character, is around 33, and believes that she was raised by Gorillas until she was about 3, when she was placed in a foster home. She carries much resentment toward her foster parents, because they never adopted her, despite her living with them until she was an adult.
Separated from her cheating husband, very introverted and anti-social, her job as a Lab technician specializing in fingerprinting keeps her occupied most of the time. When a string of SIDS deaths hits a particular neighborhood, Lena gets called in to investigate.
This was a well-written, solid book that dealt with trauma and loss and pain, yet kept the characters real. Lena isn't that likeable and isn't likeable at the end. The ending wasn't happy for me, it was rather sad. I didn't feel any better or worse for Lena, and maybe that was the point?
accovino's review against another edition
4.0
I've never liked mystery on the whole, but I picked this up at a used book event at some point without realizing its genre. I was pretty taken with the story, and though the main character is often too passive for my tastes, I really enjoyed this. I found myself distracted at times, but overall it was a satisfying and engaging read.
margardenlady's review against another edition
5.0
Wow - this was very skillfully written. The story of a lab tech with a mysterious past, working to solve a mysterious crime, but that description so lacks the depth of this writer's work. She has painted a multi-faceted picture of a troubled young woman, struggling to know herself among the many pressures of modern day, layered with her not knowing her own origins (interesting angle for me - an adopted person). Wonderfully crafted!
wildflower37's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting... An unusual premise. As always, Abu-jaber's writing is lush and exquisite. A murder mystery is not what I was expecting based on her other works and is not my favorite genre. But I was intrigued by Lena's story about her past. For some, her past is the vehicle for understanding the murders, but for me, the murders helped me learn about Lena.
torts's review against another edition
3.0
Satisfying for its conformity to my expectations of chick-lit/murder mystery. Fun but occasionally frustratingly facile. Not that it's stupid or poorly written. It's actually original for its damaged/borderline Asbergers-y protagonist. And it was engaging enough to keep me guessing about the "answers" to the crime and the protagonist's origins and how they were connected. Maybe a little too predictable romance-wise, but that part was kind of like a guilty pleasure to the reading. Good ol'fashioned heightening of melodrama.
It's more mentally engaging if you try to think about the implications of its female author also having an Arab-American identity. And publishing this book after 9/11. Like how there might be commentary on "de-realization" of Arab-Americans in the look into her origins (plane crash, jungle, adoption...) and the essentialization/hysteria of all crime being "terrorism" after 9/11. Or how maybe it's just a struggle to assert her humanity/regular-person-ness by publishing something so blandly genre-conforming.
It's more mentally engaging if you try to think about the implications of its female author also having an Arab-American identity. And publishing this book after 9/11. Like how there might be commentary on "de-realization" of Arab-Americans in the look into her origins (plane crash, jungle, adoption...) and the essentialization/hysteria of all crime being "terrorism" after 9/11. Or how maybe it's just a struggle to assert her humanity/regular-person-ness by publishing something so blandly genre-conforming.
canadianbookworm's review
3.0
This novel is set in Syracuse, New York. The main character, Lena Dawson, is a fingerprint expert at the crime lab. She has a small circle of friends that she works with, is separated from a philandering policeman, and is estranged from her foster parents. Lena has always felt a bit different, and has always resented her foster parents for not adopting her, even though they promised to at different times. She doesn't know anything about her true parentsHer relationship with her husband is a complex one. It was he who left her despite his infidelities and over the first few months of their separation she begged him to come back many times. She still has dinner with him once a week.
When there are suddenly more than the normal amount of SIDS deaths occurring, Lena is approached by one of the mothers to find the truth behind the deaths. Despite herself, Lena is drawn into the inquiry and finds that she may be targeted by the killer as well.
Lena's character is a interesting one, and the reader is allowed into her mind as she tries to understand what is going on, not only with the babies, but with her own past, and her own feelings in the present.
When there are suddenly more than the normal amount of SIDS deaths occurring, Lena is approached by one of the mothers to find the truth behind the deaths. Despite herself, Lena is drawn into the inquiry and finds that she may be targeted by the killer as well.
Lena's character is a interesting one, and the reader is allowed into her mind as she tries to understand what is going on, not only with the babies, but with her own past, and her own feelings in the present.