Eve (Eve, #1)

by Anna Carey

[jeannamichel]

After a plague that took out most of the population, people needed to learn how to rebuild. Eve grew up in a School that protected her from the Wild, where men and boys sought to take woman in the dead of night, or so she was taught. After figuring out what happens to students after graduation, she runs away looking for a safe place in the Wild, where the government will not find her. However, she is wanted by the king and it is only a matter of days before they catch her. She meets a boy, Caleb, who doesn’t seem to be like the normal boys as described in her School books. He helps her but when Eve is on the run, and to be strong, she has to face the world alone. Eve has to choose between true love or safety, but she can never have both.

The cover is the only negative thing I have to say about this book. It just doesn’t capture the fantastic story that Anna Carey has created. The bridge is too narrow to fit more than a one-way street on it. Therefore, it doesn’t really fit with the story. The girl on the front, looks lost in an awkward pose that I can only assume she had been running. She looks like a Barbie doll with extreme care to her hair. Eve is much more awesome than this cover, so don’t judge the book by its cover, because if you do this one will surprise you.

I’ve been reading a lot of dystopian this summer. But there is a catch with dystopian for me. The books in this certain genre can either be fantastically read-till-you-drop sort of books, or they are the awful books that you will-drop-while-reading. They can never been somewhere in the middle. I either like them or I don’t. With Eve, I quickly fell in love with Carey’s world and it easily became one of my favorites.

Carey writes so well that I barely noticed I was reading because I was so into the novel. Her voice speaks through her characters and from page one, I was involved in this dystopian society. Carey created this society that reminded me a lot of the background of I Am Legend, the movie starring Will Smith (not the book). She set the scene in many different places, but in every place I would get chills from the description she gave. The thought that all these suburban houses were abandoned and crawling with weeds gave me an appreciation for the work. Carey created a place that already existed but she put in her own original society with a girl on the run. It was genius and I am still shivering from the world of Eve.

The characters are what brought this book together. Eve is just the most innocent girl ever and when she goes out into the Wild, I was surprised she made it as far as she did, at first. Her innocence created such amazing comic relief in this dystopian universe that made me love her even more.

Ahhh… I don’t want to spoil the ending for you but it was just so GOOD! I was almost brought to tears in the length of about two sentences and it wasn’t even because of the mad cliffhanger dangling in front of me. It was because Eve… I have no words to say about it without giving it all away. So I leave you by telling you that you need to read this book.

Eve was a great read with innocent characters and fantastic descriptions. You will not be able to put it down.