Title: Vitro
Author: Jessica Khoury
Genre: young adult sci-fi

Vitro is a spinoff or companion novel to Jessica Khoury's first book Origin; each book can be read on its own or out of order without running the risk of spoilers.

Sophie Crue has idolized her research scientist mother ever since her parents divorced when she was a little girl. Sophie often lived her life trying to prove herself to her faraway mother. When Sophie receives an urgent email, supposedly from her mother, she jumps at the chance to rescue her while visiting the mysterious and taboo Skin Island...
After a crash landing, Sophie soon learns that all on Skin Island is not what it seems and that her family's past was a crucial part in Skin Island's secret research: the Vitros are test tube teenagers engineered to imprint on their master and blindly obey all commands; this blind obedience make Vitros valuable bodyguards, servants or worse. But not all Vitros were created equal... some Vitros have no free will and some have no conscience. When Sophie discovers her personal connection to the Vitro program, things go to hell in a hand basket pretty quickly.
Teens will like the action and developing romance between Sophie and Jim. The teens-at-heart will enjoy the philosophical and ethical questions this book brings up: What's better? Blind obedience or free will? How are psychopathy and lack of a free will interrelated, yet opposite from each other? Many of the teenage Vitros are like toddlers when they wake up. What does this tell us about human experience shaping our view of the world and our learning experiences?