Eve (Eve, #1)

by Anna Carey

[inlibrisveritas]

Eve is yet another book to add to the ever growing Dystopian genre, and while it is not among the best it is certainly worth the read. I personally enjoyed this a lot once I got into it, despite a few moments of head scratching. The writing was clear and fluid making this a very quick and easy read once you get past the first few chapters. The story itself if really good and it certainly has the 'shock' factor that I so love in these books. It wasn't anything terribly shocking though, it didn't make me stop and re-read it a few times to let it sink it. It was more of a "Oh! Wow....that really sucks." kind of shock. The dystopia aspect is pretty creative I suppose, having a post-plague society and it's new government. I even thought the concept of the 'sow's to be pretty ingenious, and it makes complete sense for a new and growing population. I can't say I fully understood the in depth and classical studies the girls have to go through until their 18, seeing as their fate after School isn't one where it's used per say. I ended up making a logical excuse for it though and so it no longer bothered me, I just wish it had been explained a bit better. It does help you get an understanding though of how shocking it is for the girls as well as understanding exactly how misinformed and naive the main character, Eve, is. Eve isn't exactly the main character I was expecting and I can't say I connected with her on a personal level because her personality just didn't click for me, but she is a interesting character read about. I can't say I was rooting for her but I was very interested in how she was going to handle things, and her struggles were really believable for someone so naive. I wish some of the wilderness parts were longer and showed more of her plight. You got a sense of how horrible things were at times but it was over to quickly to get a true understanding of anything.I also didn't quite get the King's determined search efforts for Eve, as there are bound to be more girls out there who are less trouble and statistically Eve would probably die anyway. So what's the big deal?

There is of course a love interest, Caleb. Who thankfully has no competition, because a love triangle would have made this along the stupid side. Eve's interaction with him is also believable and it isn't instantaneous, but given how short the book it is it does seem fairly fast paced. The book suggests months and weeks but to me it felt like they had only been on the road for like a month at most, and by the end of the book it only felt like it was two months past at most. Arden is more of the girl who find typically in the spotlight of these type novels but since she's a side character she is more of a "bully gone decent" kind of girl. I actually liked Arden more the Eve at times. The ending is kind of frustrating because you seriously don't want it to end there. It's one of those things where I was demanding a sequel and then I remembered that this is an ARC of a book that hasn't hit shelves. I'll be waiting for it though.

I recommend this to YA dystopia lovers or if you want to ease yourself into the genre. It's not terribly gory or blunt but there are a few moments (as with all dystopia novels) that involve violence of some sort. Overall not an amazing story but it is definitely one that should be checked out.

I received this from HarperTeen and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.