The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand

The Chocolate Thief

Judul: The Chocolate Thief
Penulis: Laura Florand
Genre: Contemporary romance-Chicklit
Seri: Amour et Chocolat #1
Penerbit: Kensington
Tanggal terbit: 31 Juli 2012
There might be spoilers. You've been warned.
#PostingBarengBBI Juni: Romance

***

Paris—fashion, romantis, dan cokelat.
Namun, tidak untuk wanita Amerika sepertiku. Aku sudah tidak tahan lagi berjalan (sok) anggun dengan high heels ini. Menurutku, Paris juga bukan kota teromantis di dunia. Dan tolong catat, semua itu berawal dari Sylvain Marquis yang dengan sombongnya menolakku untuk bekerja sama.

Oh God! Apa dia tidak mengenaliku? Aku ini Cade Corey, pewaris tahta Corey Chocolate, perusahaan cokelat terbesar di Amerika. Oke, lihat saja.... Memangnya hanya dia satu-satunya pembuat cokelat terbaik di dunia ini?!

"There you go again."
"What do you mean?"
"Falling for some glamorous, rich woman who's just going to use you."

I love June! Tema baca barengnya pasti nggak jauh-jauh dari summer reading, holiday, atau sesuatu yang ringan-ringan dan berbau contemporary =D Buat baca bareng BBI dengan tema romance kali ini saya baca The Chocolate Thief-nya Laura Florand.

Cade Corey adalah wanita sukses pewaris takhta Corey Chocolate, sebuah perusahaan besar milik keluarganya yang dibangun di Maryland, Amerika. Kali ini Cade punya satu keinginan: Membuat sebuah premium-line bagi cokelat produksi Corey, yang akan dibuat eksklusif bersama seorang chocolatier terbaik dari Prancis. Target utamanya adalah Sylvain Marquis, chocolatier handal dari Paris yang tidak hanya berbakat, tapi juga tampan dan sangat passionate terhadap cokelat. Namun Cade tidak menyangka Sylvain akan menolak tawarannya ini mentah-mentah. Meskipun ia punya daftar panjang chocolatier lain yang bisa ia ajak bekerja sama, Sylvain tetaplah target utama. Cade yang geram berusaha mencari cara lain agar ia bisa mengetahui resep rahasia pembuatan cokelat dari Sylvain. Ia bertekad akan melakukan segala cara, termasuk menyamar jadi orang lain demi mengikuti workshop pembuatan cokelat oleh Sylvain maupun menyusup ke dalam tempat kerjanya. Hence the name, The Chocolate Thief.

Things that are special about The Chocolate Thief...

1. Ceritanya berlatarkan kota Paris, kota favorit semua orang saat membaca. Iya kan? Rasanya saya jarang banget nemuin buku berlatar Paris/Prancis yang nggak disukai orang-orang (Stephanie Perkins' Anna and the French Kiss, Rachmania Arunita's Eiffel I'm In Love, Gayle Forman's Just One Day, to mention a few). The Chocolate Thief nggak menggambarkan Paris secara detail, tapi suasananya tetap terasa selama membaca keseluruhan buku. There are bits of french every here and there, yang mendukung untuk menambah kesan 'Prancis' di dalam ceritanya.

2. Sudut pandang cerita menggunakan sudut pandang ketiga, baik dari sisi Cade maupun Sylvain. And Laura was good at telling the story this way. Meskipun penulisan dari POV ketiga kadang membuat cerita terasa distant dengan pembaca, tapi overall hal ini nggak jadi masalah besar saat membaca The Chocolate Thief. Not to mention the book is also very funny and entertaining! Penulisnya jelas-jelas tau apa yang ia tulis dalam ceritanya. Penggambaran maupun pendeskripsian mengenai dunia per-cokelat-an dijelaskan dengan ngalir dan enak, seolah-olah kita pembacanya sendiri lagi menikmati sebatang cokelat yang lezat.

Best Books I've Read So Far in 2013

Ugh, I hate it, hate it when my wifi is being such a snail. Grrrrr.
I'm participating back in this week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by the awesome people over at The Broke & The Bookish) and the topic this time is:

BEST BOOKS I'VE READ SO FAR IN 2013

This year has been (and still is) a very busy year for me so I've only managed to read about 46 books *insert sad face* Sometimes it's hard to even take a peek at books that I really wanted to read, even going to a bookstore has been a rare ocassion these last months :( Okay, enough with the whining. Anyway, here is my list of favorite books that I've read this year!

First row

Arranged by Katherine McKenzie: Fun, fun, fun. Desperate Anne is looking for a lifemate... by signing up herself into a dating service where she'll meet and marry Jack. Wow, complete stranger. How will the marriage be and can Jack be completely trusted? Love the whole Anne of Green Gables reference troughout the story!

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: Lots of people starting to recognize Rainbow Rowell's name through her works: Eleanor & Park, Attachments and (the upcoming) Fangirl. There's something special about the way Rowell writes her books... But Eleanor & Park is both painful & wonderful to read, that's for sure.

Pulang by Laila S Chudori: I rarely bought local books this year, but this one stood out. Entertaining read with a dash of history and lovely narration but definitely not boring!

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes: Cries, cries, cries! I didn't expect to meet and fall in love with Will Treynor, no. Sometimes I wish I could undo the moment when I picked this book to read... Because I'm still feeling heartbroken everytime I remember about Lou & Will's story.

Second row

Stolen by Lucy Christopher: Stolen is a letter written by Gemma to her abductor, Ty. Gemma has been stolen and brought to live with Ty in the wilderness of Australian desert. You know what's amazing about this book (beside its narration and setting description)? When you read it, you'll be able to really experience what it feels like to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. Without even realizing it yourself!

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell: How does it feels like when your crush reads all the email you wrote to your bestfriend about him? O-M-Gee, total humiliation. But Lincoln falls in love with the Beth he reads through her emails, even when he doesn't even know how Beth looks like. Fun with minimal amount of angst and lots of swoon. Totally my kind of favorite!

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen: Recent read. Sarah Dessen is back with her full power! A lovely coming of age story, set in summertime filled with beach, hot boys, and a pinch of family drama. Perfect read for summer! :)

Origin by Jessica Khoury: I've been to lots of places through books that I've read in 2013 but this one is totally my favorite: In the depth of amazon jungle, South America! Yay! Meet Pia, Eio and Alai, and be ready to fall in love.

Third row

Tangled by Emma Chase: Reading a story from a man's point of view can be oh so fun. Moreover it's from Drew Evans, an handsome but arrogant multibillionaire from New York. Drew is used to get anything he wants when he wants it, so what happens when he meets a woman who cannot fall upon his charms?

Golden by Jessi Kirby: My first time reading a book from Kirby and I fell in love. Golden by Jessi Kirby is another beautiful coming of age story, told in a unique way from Parker's eyes after finding Julianna Farnetti's journal. Quiet, moving, realistic, entertaining.

Do we have any of 2013's favorite books in common? Tell me what you think or share your list so I could check it out! :)

Read other awesome entries of 2013's best reads so far... here.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

The Moon and More

Title: The Moon and More
Author: Sarah Dessen
Genre: Young Adult-Contemporary
Published Date: June 4th 2013
Publisher: Penguin, Viking Juvenile
Pages: 435 pg
There might be spoilers. You've been warned.

***

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

 “Welcome to Colby Realty! Name, please?”

The Moon and More is definitely a cupcake! The book is beautifully crafted. Look at that beautiful cover. I looooooove it so much! I'm always excited reading a book with beautiful covers. And it's by Sarah Dessen, anyway. You know what to expect when you read her works. But still, The Moon and More ended up as another pleasant reading experience.

Reading Emaline's story is like listening to a friend-that-you-like's experience of her lovely summer. She's just graduated from high school, working at her family's beach-realty company while waiting for college to start in August. There's a lot of things I like about Emaline: She's a small-town girl with a nice spirit who wants to do 'something big', to achieve 'something great', but also stays true to her roots. I adore the lovely dynamics she has with her family (Emaline has a dad and a father, and through this story I realized that the two titles has such different meanings). This summer she found out Luke, her long-term boyfriend since ninth grade had cheated on her, so they broke up and later Emaline's got a summer fling in the form of Theo: a NYU student who's currently working for Ivy, someone who wants to make a documentary about a painter who comes from the town Emaline lives in. As a boy who comes from a big city, Theo's not like everyone else: He's a dorky nerd who has ambitions, and is driven about the things he wants or his life's goals. He evokes this side of Emaline that exist too, the side who's yearning to get out of Colby and move somewhere new, somewhere she can live a totally different life. This different-ness of Theo is something refreshing for Emaline.

Through The Moon and More too, Emaline learns that with hope sometimes also comes disappointments, and that changes, no matter how much you're dreading it, will always be inevitable, eventhough it's in a form you did not expect before. Emaline got a chance to study at Columbia, which is a big thing for her, but unfortunately she could not accept it because his father who's been encouraging her to achieve it suddenly called off the promise of supplying the tuition fees. Their relationship has been awkward afterward, but now Emaline has to deal with him and her little 10 yo half brother, Benji (Emaline's brother from her father) who's currently spending the summer in Colby after Benji's parents decided to separate.

 “Life is long. Just because you don't get your chance right when you want or expect it doesn't mean it won't come. Fate doesn't punch a time clock or consult a schedule.”

Golden by Jessi Kirby

Golden

Title: Golden
Author: Jessi Kirby
Genre: Young Adult-Contemporary-Realistic Fiction
Published Date: May 14th 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 288 pg

***

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.

“We're all more than the person we show to everyone else.” 

I love Golden by Jessi Kirby because I could totally relate to the main character, Parker Frost. It's always nice to find bits of ourselves in other people's story, yes?

All her life Parker has always been a good straight-A student, living the life according to the rules to live up her mother's expectations. She never dare to 'break out' or do something out of ordinary. Now in her last quarter of high school, Parker began wondering about one thing that would always cross every one's mind at least once in their life before experiencing adulthood: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

At the same time, Parker was helping his teacher, Mr Kinney, to return journals of her seniors that were written 10 years ago. She came across Julianna Farnetti's journal, a girl who was the golden couple of Parker's high school, the girl who was involved in a tragic car-crashed-into-the-river-and-the-bodies-have-never-been-found accident ten years ago with her boyfriend, Shane Cruz. Julianna is the main girl who everyone envied, the heart of the city. Her and Shane was always seen as the couple who had it all, before the accident happened right after their graduation night. Parker couldn't help but read Julianna's journal, and by revealing the mystery about that night and finding out a totally different Julianna in the journal than what everyone has always been thinking about her, this later helped Parker to change her perspective about life. As if finding the journal was the answer to Parker's life choices & questions.

Autumn Once More by Ilana Tan, dkk

Autumn Once More

Judul: Autumn Once More

Penulis: Alia Zalea, Anastasia Aemilia, Christina Juzwar, Harriska Adiati, Hetih Rusli, Ika Natassa, Ilana Tan, Lea Agustina Citra, Meilia Kusumadewi, Nina Addison, Nina Andiana, Rosi L. Simamora, Shandy Tan

Penerbit: Gramedia Pustaka Utama (2013)

Tebal: 232 hlm

***

Cinta <adj>: suka sekali; sayang benar; kasih sekali; terpikat.

Ada bahagia dan kepedihan dalam cinta. Cinta yang terpendam menimbulkan resah, pengkhianatan pun tak lepas dari cinta, atau bahkan cinta berlebihan sehingga menyesakkan. Galau dan rindu pun dituturkan dalam ribuan kata di buku ini.

Autumn Once More membawa kita ke banyak sisi cinta dari kumpulan pengarang, mulai dari pengarang profesional hingga editor yang harus jadi pengarang “dadakan” dan menunjukkan kreativitas mereka dalam tema abadi sepanjang masa.

"Heaven knows what's best for us."

Sejujurnya, awal-awal kumpulan cerpen ini dipromosikan di media sosial, saya nggak terlalu tertarik beli (meskipun deretan penulisnya termasuk yang wow-wow). Tapi sewaktu pergi ke toko buku dan sempet 'ngintip' salah satu kopi yang plastiknya terbuka, saya iseng liat cerpennya Ilana Tan. Ternyataaa saya baru tau 'Autumn Once More' itu ceritanya Tatsuya-Tara dari buku Autumn in Paris (seri Four Seasons)! OMG. Langsung beli-lah. Soalnya buku itu favorit saya banget dari semua bukunya Ilana! (masih inget gimana sesenggukannya nangis waktu nyelesein Autumn in Paris... huhuhu)

Be Careful What You Wish For (aliaZalea)

"Banyak orang bilang cinta terkadang membuat pikiran kita tidak rasional. Dan biasanya ketidakrasionalan tersebut dimulai dari rasa suka, yang sekilas terdengar lebih jinak daripada cinta, padahal tidak begitu kenyataannya. Gara-gara suka, kadang kita mendapati diri melakukan hal-hal yang nggak akan mungkin dilakukan kalau pikiran kita seratus persen waras."

Gimana? Kalimat pembukanya aja udah bisa bikin senyam-senyum atau angguk-angguk sendiri, ya? Karya aliaZalea yang ini ringan, temanya seputar kelakuan kita (si tokoh utama) yang naksir seseorang. Siapapun pasti bisa relate deh sama ceritany.

Thirty Something (Anastasia Aemilia)

Premisnya sebenarnya sederhana dan agak klise: Tentang dua sahabat yang saling naksir (tapi nggak pernah diungkapkan). Ribetnya, tokoh utama cewek kita ini udah dijodohkan oleh neneknya ke orang lain, sementara tokoh utama cowoknya mau pergi ke Jepang. Endingnya bittersweet, but I did enjoy reading this piece. (Karya Anastasia Aemilia yang lain, Katarsis, juga rame dibicarakan di media sosial Gramedia dan disebut-sebut sama Mbah Hetih sebagai karya yang bagus. Tapi genre-nya thriller, makanya saya belum baca. Ada yang udah?)

Stuck With You (Christina Juzwar)

Gimana rasanya melulu terjebak di lift kantor bersama dua cowok ganteng? Itu yang terjadi sama Lita. Saya juga heran kok bisa-bisanya si lift itu macet terus sewaktu si Lita naik. Jangan-jangan Lita ini orangnya mengandung aura buruk (lah). Tapi namanya juga fiksi, hihihi.

Jack Daniel's vs Orange Juice (Harriska Adiati)

Dennys yang hobinya ngebir bareng teman-temannya, sholat aja jarang, dan pulang pagi melulu, jatuh cinta sama anaknya Pak Haji. Waks! Tapi anak Pak Haji mana mau sama cowok tipikal Dennys yang demen gaul ini? Dennys-pun mati-matian merubah sikap supaya jadi lebih alim dan bisa dibilang pantes jadi jodoh anaknya Pak Haji.

Quick Recap #1: From Unravel Me until Meant to Be

So. I've just decided to add a new thing. This idea came up to me while blogwalking some other bookblogs and read a confession (Deidra's post here, to be exact) about the amount of books we actually read and the ones we also write the review. For me, there's a big difference! You know how lazy I am to write a proper review... In a week I could manage to finish up to 5-6 books, but I only write 1 book review heheh :D

So this quick recap will sum up about books I've read in a week/more (or books in the past that I haven't review), and I'm gonna review them in some sentences. Thus, no books will be missed or feeling left out and I won't feel guilty anymore!

Ok, we'll start with five books first, this time. The book that I read in bahasa (translated edition) written here in bahasa.

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi.

Woah, the cover. Woah, the sequel. Woah, the whole book.

I'm so satisfied!

I started the book with my heart still captivated by Adam (and no, I haven't read Destroy Me) and dude, it was really hard not to fall for Warner. Now I know what you all meant back then. #TeamBoth! :p

For a book which main character I didn't like that much, I ended up really liking Unravel Me. By all means, the ending wasn't what I wanted (because there are many aspects that for me, were still left out hanging), but I think it's perfect for the book. If you have read Shatter Me, don't take much time to read the sequel!

Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Gah, man. This book was intense. Golden boy meets troubled girl. Angst, angst, angst everywhere. I haven't read Pushing the Limits, so I read this with nothing in my mind. I had a hard time liking Beth, actually, with her being super annoying to her (awesome) uncle, crazy mom which chose to stay in an abusive relationship, her push and pull game with Isaiah, but I love the Beth I read when she was with Ryan. I love how being together made them a better person.

“I like you. I. Like. You. I'll admit you're annoying. Sometimes you agitate me to the brink of insanity, but you can throw it back at me like no one else. When you laugh, I want to laugh. When you smile, I want to smile. Hell, I want to be the one to make you smile.” 

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Gimana rasanya jatuh cinta sama cowok yang ternyata adalah gurumu sendiri di sekolah? Well, well...

Untuk ukuran buku terjemahan, Slammed nggak mengecewakan. Konfliknya sebenernya simpel, tapi ada konflik-konflik tambahan yang bikin ceritanya tetep jalan & menarik. Untungnya Will bukan tipe cowok-cowok YA yang nggak punya pendirian; hanya karena dia jatuh cinta sama Layken, nggak berarti dia pasrah aja dan jadi nggak profesional atau jadi nggak peduli tentang masalah keluarganya sendiri (juga keluarga Layken). Aspek Slams/pertunjukan puisi yang ada di buku termasuk hal baru yang menarik buat saya, jadi itu juga yang nambah poin plus! :)

Eon by Alison Goodman

Covernya bagus yah!

Saya tertarik baca Eon gara-gara rekomendasi beberapa orang di twitter BookClubID. Secara keseluruhan, menarik sih, jalan ceritanya bagus (I found dragons to be really cute hehe) dan dipermanis dengan legenda-legenda naga yang agak kompleks. Tapi terjemahannya enak dibaca. This is one of those book that could sucked you into their world while reading. Minus point-nya, the lack of romance (I knooww, I'm so lame heheh) but if you love fantasy and you prefer reading books that doesn't focus in romance, I'd highly recommend Eon.

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill actually has almost all that's a contemporary book needs to be a hit. Setting: London. Characters: nerd girl & popular jock boy. Plot: they're teamed up together in an educational trip in London and the boy wants to make the girl 'loosen up a little'. So he brings her to a party, sneaking out to a downtown London instead of following the initerary... And so on.
Plus point: Everything! It's romance. It's funny. It's light, fun, fluffy and everything happened in London.
Minus point: It's really-really predictable. 

But I wouldn't mind someone like Jason to be my MTB *winks*

Top Ten Favorite Books Cover of Books I've Read :D

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme hosted by the awesome girls over at The Broke & The Brookish. This week's topic is:

TOP TEN FAVORITE BOOKS COVERS OF BOOKS I'VE READ

There are lots and loooots of book covers that I adore (whether the storyline is actually good or not), both local and international books, so it's a bit hard to pick only ten, and only from the books that I've read. I might or might not have cheated a little on this topic... :p

And by the way, YES book cover is a crucial part of the book. I'm sure there are many of us who often get interested in reading a book just by looking at the cover. That's why I often feel disappointed when an Indonesian publisher translated a good book (that has an awesome original cover) but changed and used their own version of the cover. The cover usually turns out to be ugly :(

 

1. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

2. Incarnate by Jodi Meadow

 (both books were included in my list of Top 5 Favorite Book Covers in Book Kaleidoscope 2012)

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth. It looks powerful.

4. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Indonesian edition. 

No matter how much I love the original US covers of the series (Yes, they're gorgeous for me!), I love this one even better. Gramedia did a good job, yay! It attracts your eyes immediately when they're wandering over other hundreds of books in the bookstore.

5. Four Season Series by Ilana Tan. 

Local author. I love all four covers of the books! Sweet, dreamy and beautiful.

6. Origin by Jessica Khoury

7. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi. 

I didn't fancy the first version of the cover, but this one is just lovely.

8. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. 

It may seems mediocre for you in pictures, but believe me, the cover looks so cute & adorable in prints. And the story is so, soo good. I think more people should definitely read this book.

9. Seluas Langit Biru by Sitta Karina. 

Local author. I actually love almost all of her books' cover (she illustrated most of her own books) but this one is definitely my fave.

10. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares. 

I love how the cover precisely captivated not only the festivities of Christmas time but also what's inside the book.

What does my choices say about me? Heheh

To read other entries' awesome choices of favorite covers, go here.

Until next Tuesday! ;)

Origin by Jessica Khoury

Origin

Title: Origin
Author: Jessica Khoury
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 394 pg
Website: http://origin-book.com

***

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.

"The jungle hides a girl who cannot die."

I love Origin! 

The story takes a special place in my heart merely because the setting: in a deep forest of Amazon. Just by imagining the setting is already enough to make my heart flutters with excitement :-D

But thankfully, it's also accompanied by a good, interesting plot.

For seventeen years Pia had been locked out in Little Cam, a big laboratory located in the Amazon jungle. The scientists have created Pia as perfect as a human could be: stunningly beautiful, intelligent, flawless memory, strengthened hearing, vision and all. Nothing can hurt or pierce her skin. And more importantly: Pia's immortal. She cannot die. And this is the actual goal of the Little Cam's project: to create a race of immortals.

Pia, being the first successful trial of immortal, is given a lot of knowledge as a scientist. Mention her a name of plant and she could tell you everything about it: its biological name, its family, kingdom, species, and all that. But she's isolated from the real world. She doesn't know any names of cities, places, how to get out of Little Cam, where it's located, or what's outside the Little Cam. Now already seventeen, she's of course has a lot of curiosities.

The plot thickens upon the arrival of Dr Harriett Field and Pia finding a hole in her room that could connects her to the outside. Guess what did she find on the first time she's there? Of course, a jungle boy. Eio, a boy from the Aio'ans that live in the Amazon. After that first time, just like any other teenagers her age, Pia tries to find a way to sneak out into the jungle everytime she can. This also involved some help from Dr Harriett (seriously, I love this quirky Dr Harriett!). From those 'outings', Pia discovers a lot of secrets. Secrets of Eio, of the Aio'ans, of the Little Cam projects, which somehow are connected together.

Soon Pia has an internal battle between herself: to believe the scientist in Little Cam, stay there and keep going on making the race of immortals, or to break out into the real world?

“No one should live forever," I whisper. "Isn't that how it goes? There must be a balance. No birth without death. No life without tears. What is taken from the world must be given back. No one should live forever, but should give his blood to the river when the time comes so that tomorrow another may live. And so it goes."