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mollywetta's review
1.0
I had to give this one up at about 60%. I wanted to check out some independently published books, and this one has a great cover that drew me in, but I was very disappointed.
The premise is not too bad. As far as fallen angels go, it's fairly standard. The twist is that God cursed demons to be killed by any humans they fall in love with. It had potential, but there are several fundamental problems.
First is editing. I can't stress this enough. Everyone needs a professional copy editor at the very least. This book was riddled with errors that even a decent literary minded friend could have caught.
But I would have overlooked a few errors if the basic plot would have made sense. The demon -angel-devil mythology was confusing. The pacing was terrible. There were little snippets of nice writing, but I basically felt like this was just ready to be workshopped rather than published.
I also couldn't forgive the absolutely cheesy Twilight reference to sparkling vampires. I should have given up at that point.
I could say more but none of it would be favorable.
The premise is not too bad. As far as fallen angels go, it's fairly standard. The twist is that God cursed demons to be killed by any humans they fall in love with. It had potential, but there are several fundamental problems.
First is editing. I can't stress this enough. Everyone needs a professional copy editor at the very least. This book was riddled with errors that even a decent literary minded friend could have caught.
But I would have overlooked a few errors if the basic plot would have made sense. The demon -angel-devil mythology was confusing. The pacing was terrible. There were little snippets of nice writing, but I basically felt like this was just ready to be workshopped rather than published.
I also couldn't forgive the absolutely cheesy Twilight reference to sparkling vampires. I should have given up at that point.
I could say more but none of it would be favorable.
fallen_for_books30's review
3.0
The book was overall good. I liked the pace of story. Th way secrets were reveled! I sometime got emotional which reading the book too! I loved the romance,the excitment, all the characters were well developed!! only thing I dint like was the girl how much ever I liked her she kept on thinking the same thing about her angel but overall it was good!!
g1rlwhol1ved's review
1.0
i thought this book was terrible and im sorry to have read it. the characters were confusing and the story didnt make sense at points. and parts were really obvious, like the fact that it is oz at the end and the new girl in her class. the only redeming factor is oz, who was really hot but extremlly gender confused.
theladygonzalez's review
4.0
Let me start this off by saying Katherine Pine certainly has a remarkable way with words. I adore Pine’s writing style – her descriptions are simply fabulous. From the moment I began the book, I was transported into Devi’s mysterious and vivid world.
Oz, the love interest in After Eden is beyond awesome. Devi describes his look as “beautiful in that indie musician or starving poet kind of way”, which let me be the first to say, yum. But the wonderful thing about Oz, is that he is a complete sweetheart. Honestly, he might just be one of my favorite new young adult studs.
I only had a few issues with After Eden, the main being the fact that the plotline deviated from its original point. The beginning premise of the book, and what is targeted in the summary, is the story of Devi finding her long lost twin brother. While the story eventually returns to that original storyline, it seems to get lost during the bulk of the book. Normally, I would take greater issue with this, but the fact is, I really enjoyed the book in its entirety. Maybe it’s a simple case of the book summary being off; it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. Because honestly, the story arc of Devi finding her missing brother isn’t the main focus – the devils and demons coming after Devi storyline is.
Which, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Because, man, are those demons and devils ever entertaining. Pine did a great job with creating these villains, because it’s impossible to see them as purely evil. As readers, we often want to label someone as “the bad guy”, when in reality, nobody is ever all bad. The devils and demons (especially the demons), do what they do because they feel too much. How can you really fault someone for that? Let me tell you what - it certainly keeps things interesting.
My only other issue with the book lies with the character of Devi. Let me begin by saying that for 75% of the time, I loved her character. But, there were a few instances, one in particular, when I was left questioning her overall sanity and self-worth. She doesn’t seem to think to highly of herself and she doesn’t come off as a very strong character. I do not want to get too deep into this, because I really don’t want to spoil anything for you guys, but I wish Devi would have shown more backbone throughout the book. Hopefully she will develop more of a spine in the next installment.
There are a few last side notes that I wanted to add before I wrap this one up. First of all, if you are previewing the book (either on your ereader or on link I posted above), be sure you read the first chapter as well as the prologue. Because, honestly, the prologue didn’t really do anything for me. It was the first chapter that really sold me on the book. Between Pine’s wonderful descriptions of Morrison’s and Devi’s first meeting with Oz, I was taken away with the story. So read on my friends. Secondly, I am not sure who is supposed to be on the cover, but it doesn’t look like the Devi I read about. If I remember correctly, she is supposed to be a small curvy, pale girl with black hair and dark brown eyes. So who’s the blonde? I don’t have a clue. And lastly, I had a hard time figuring out her exact age; the time line seemed to be a bit off. I thought her brother disappeared when she was seven (because her headaches began when she was 7 – pg. 22) and then Forenus said he disappeared seven years ago (pg. 33) . So that places her at fourteen. But, then later Devi insinuates that she is somewhere over the age of fifteen, but under eighteen. Which leads me to believe she is suppose to be sixteen or seventeen. Thank you awesome reasoning skills.
Anyways, back to business here. After Eden is a thrilling and exciting series opener. I hope that Pine continues to build on and develop the characters; I have a feeling this series will just get better and better. I am going to say that Pine is definitely an author to watch!
Oz, the love interest in After Eden is beyond awesome. Devi describes his look as “beautiful in that indie musician or starving poet kind of way”, which let me be the first to say, yum. But the wonderful thing about Oz, is that he is a complete sweetheart. Honestly, he might just be one of my favorite new young adult studs.
I only had a few issues with After Eden, the main being the fact that the plotline deviated from its original point. The beginning premise of the book, and what is targeted in the summary, is the story of Devi finding her long lost twin brother. While the story eventually returns to that original storyline, it seems to get lost during the bulk of the book. Normally, I would take greater issue with this, but the fact is, I really enjoyed the book in its entirety. Maybe it’s a simple case of the book summary being off; it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. Because honestly, the story arc of Devi finding her missing brother isn’t the main focus – the devils and demons coming after Devi storyline is.
Which, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Because, man, are those demons and devils ever entertaining. Pine did a great job with creating these villains, because it’s impossible to see them as purely evil. As readers, we often want to label someone as “the bad guy”, when in reality, nobody is ever all bad. The devils and demons (especially the demons), do what they do because they feel too much. How can you really fault someone for that? Let me tell you what - it certainly keeps things interesting.
My only other issue with the book lies with the character of Devi. Let me begin by saying that for 75% of the time, I loved her character. But, there were a few instances, one in particular, when I was left questioning her overall sanity and self-worth. She doesn’t seem to think to highly of herself and she doesn’t come off as a very strong character. I do not want to get too deep into this, because I really don’t want to spoil anything for you guys, but I wish Devi would have shown more backbone throughout the book. Hopefully she will develop more of a spine in the next installment.
There are a few last side notes that I wanted to add before I wrap this one up. First of all, if you are previewing the book (either on your ereader or on link I posted above), be sure you read the first chapter as well as the prologue. Because, honestly, the prologue didn’t really do anything for me. It was the first chapter that really sold me on the book. Between Pine’s wonderful descriptions of Morrison’s and Devi’s first meeting with Oz, I was taken away with the story. So read on my friends. Secondly, I am not sure who is supposed to be on the cover, but it doesn’t look like the Devi I read about. If I remember correctly, she is supposed to be a small curvy, pale girl with black hair and dark brown eyes. So who’s the blonde? I don’t have a clue. And lastly, I had a hard time figuring out her exact age; the time line seemed to be a bit off. I thought her brother disappeared when she was seven (because her headaches began when she was 7 – pg. 22) and then Forenus said he disappeared seven years ago (pg. 33) . So that places her at fourteen. But, then later Devi insinuates that she is somewhere over the age of fifteen, but under eighteen. Which leads me to believe she is suppose to be sixteen or seventeen. Thank you awesome reasoning skills.
Anyways, back to business here. After Eden is a thrilling and exciting series opener. I hope that Pine continues to build on and develop the characters; I have a feeling this series will just get better and better. I am going to say that Pine is definitely an author to watch!
erikawastaken's review
3.0
I really loved parts of this book (and the fact Oz was not a vampire) but other parts fell flat, or we're just not set-up well enough to explain why the characters acted the way they did (and Oz drives a Volvo, for the love of all things holy can someone in YA buy a Honda?).
sarajayy's review
so far it is hard for me to get into, but i'm only a little over half way through. i don't understand the some on the concepts in this book, but hopefully it gets better.
saviola's review
1.0
First, I'll give you the good: This book is somewhat funny. I found myself laughing outright at some of the scenarios and banter, so that was good. Unfortunately, that isn't what this book is about and it doesn't make this book better overall.
I'm going to agree with some of the other reviewers on this: There is a beginning and an end, but the middle is lacking. Neither the beginning nor end are that spectacular either, and that's why I gave it two stars.
The beginning is okay. At first it seems like a complicated mess of different ideas - it starts off with a vague introduction to the situation with her brother, then cuts into something else with Oz, then goes on to Devi coming home to find Forneus in her living room, and on and on - but soon everything sort of comes together and you become more comfortable with moving on in the story. However, just as soon as it hooks you in, it disappoints. The entire middle is a big fluff of nothing. We end up with a hefty portion of the book dedicated to "padding" a friend's ex-boyfriend's car, which had zero relevance to anything else at all, and A LOT of religious talk.
That, I think, is the difficult thing with these kinds of books. An author may have a great idea or concept of Heaven and Hell for a book, but they have the daunting task of presenting that world to us so the whole rest of the story makes sense. And they have to do it in such a way that we wont be overwhelmed or confused. I'm impressed with Ms. Pine's detail of the "heavenly world" and everything that goes along with it - it's an interesting interpretation - but she unloads it on the readers all at once. You're assaulted with all these theories and stipulations, what an angel is exactly, what's the difference between demons and devils, what does it mean to have no soul.. no spirit, etc. and you just end up bamboozled. I'm glad she explains it all, but it needed to be done carefully and in small doses.
Ms. Pine's style of writing is also very messy. When you're writing something, you know exactly what it means because you know the line of thinking you went through to come up with what you wrote, but not everyone else does. I think she wanted us to draw conclusions and make assumptions about certain situations that only she could understand or make. There seemed to be gaps in conversations and situations, and behavior that didn't make sense. There was also the little editing problem. Not too big a deal for me, it's easy to get over, but when she is constantly spelling Forneus "Forenus" and words like "aliv" are missing letters altogether, I start focusing on those things; especially when the writing hardly makes sense anyway.
I was a little concerned about Devi too. She is a bit bipolar. One second she's all over Oz and wants to kiss him and be his savior, the next, she can't even look at him because she's afraid of him. Their whole relationship goes like that. They'll be laughing and flirting, then all of a sudden Devi is crying and Oz is feeling sorry for himself; or vice versa. She's like that with the angel too. She'll hate him, then pity him, then hate herself for pitying him, then cry about it and want him to feel sorry for her, then hate him again because he doesn't. At one point she even complains about Oz not being there to save her yet. She doesn't even think of trying to get herself out, she just waits and hopes Oz will come for her. Honestly, she needs to get herself together and buck up.
I think more time should have been spent on Kai as well. The very first couple of chapters revolve around his impact on Devi and then all talk of him after that is very meager and unconvincing. I wanted more of a story there.
I'm not going to continue the series. I don't think it's worth the money I'd have to spend or the time I'd have to dedicate. I don't recommend this book to others either.
I'm going to agree with some of the other reviewers on this: There is a beginning and an end, but the middle is lacking. Neither the beginning nor end are that spectacular either, and that's why I gave it two stars.
The beginning is okay. At first it seems like a complicated mess of different ideas - it starts off with a vague introduction to the situation with her brother, then cuts into something else with Oz, then goes on to Devi coming home to find Forneus in her living room, and on and on - but soon everything sort of comes together and you become more comfortable with moving on in the story. However, just as soon as it hooks you in, it disappoints. The entire middle is a big fluff of nothing. We end up with a hefty portion of the book dedicated to "padding" a friend's ex-boyfriend's car, which had zero relevance to anything else at all, and A LOT of religious talk.
That, I think, is the difficult thing with these kinds of books. An author may have a great idea or concept of Heaven and Hell for a book, but they have the daunting task of presenting that world to us so the whole rest of the story makes sense. And they have to do it in such a way that we wont be overwhelmed or confused. I'm impressed with Ms. Pine's detail of the "heavenly world" and everything that goes along with it - it's an interesting interpretation - but she unloads it on the readers all at once. You're assaulted with all these theories and stipulations, what an angel is exactly, what's the difference between demons and devils, what does it mean to have no soul.. no spirit, etc. and you just end up bamboozled. I'm glad she explains it all, but it needed to be done carefully and in small doses.
Ms. Pine's style of writing is also very messy. When you're writing something, you know exactly what it means because you know the line of thinking you went through to come up with what you wrote, but not everyone else does. I think she wanted us to draw conclusions and make assumptions about certain situations that only she could understand or make. There seemed to be gaps in conversations and situations, and behavior that didn't make sense. There was also the little editing problem. Not too big a deal for me, it's easy to get over, but when she is constantly spelling Forneus "Forenus" and words like "aliv" are missing letters altogether, I start focusing on those things; especially when the writing hardly makes sense anyway.
I was a little concerned about Devi too. She is a bit bipolar. One second she's all over Oz and wants to kiss him and be his savior, the next, she can't even look at him because she's afraid of him. Their whole relationship goes like that. They'll be laughing and flirting, then all of a sudden Devi is crying and Oz is feeling sorry for himself; or vice versa. She's like that with the angel too. She'll hate him, then pity him, then hate herself for pitying him, then cry about it and want him to feel sorry for her, then hate him again because he doesn't. At one point she even complains about Oz not being there to save her yet. She doesn't even think of trying to get herself out, she just waits and hopes Oz will come for her. Honestly, she needs to get herself together and buck up.
I think more time should have been spent on Kai as well. The very first couple of chapters revolve around his impact on Devi and then all talk of him after that is very meager and unconvincing. I wanted more of a story there.
I'm not going to continue the series. I don't think it's worth the money I'd have to spend or the time I'd have to dedicate. I don't recommend this book to others either.
areagle1112's review
3.0
So, I marked this “to-read” quite a while ago and have been a little reluctant to actually read for some reason which I didn’t know. I was attracted to the cover and title at first, then the synopsis, but I still was iffy on it, I guess. After Eden is of fallen angels who are known as actual demons and devils.
Let me start off by saying that I did actually like this – it was funny, there were great characters and the story was unique, different, and enjoyable. The reason behind the angels falling is for their love of Eden, of the world’s beauty, and so God kicked them out of Heaven because they loved that more than they did Him. Now, I’m not much of a religious woman so when it first began its explanations, I thought that it was about Christianity and all that, and that thought bothered me a bit. But it really wasn’t – at least, not as much as other fallen angel centered series. The story, though, was still a bit predictable after a certain point, and it also felt a bit rushed. The ending was kind of just there too – no real resolutions and a clear acceptance of what happened in the previous few chapters.
I thought the whole of the book was about Devi striving to get her twin brother back after he was taken by an angel but it really wasn’t, which upset me. Katherine did sorta solve the problem but I think I expected more than just a cop out explanation that he had to leave.
I liked Oz (or Azazel, as he is properly called). He was funny, sexy, and a nice love interest to have – not too cocky where it was disgusting or cruel, not too clingy or overprotective, just a simple demon boyfriend. One thing that creeped me out, however, was when he decided to enroll in Devi’s high school as a girl . Knowing that she was actually a he didn’t help when she (Oz) began flirting with Devi a little and acting like an actual girl. Why he couldn’t shape-shift into a younger, high school-aged guy is beyond me. Devi herself was an okay protagonist but she was way to down on herself and self-conscious. (Seriously, where did all the strong, bold, capable women characters run off to?) Their love did start out a little too soon for my tastes but I guess it kinda had to as Oz was attracted to what she had that reminded him why he fell in the first place.
The minor characters – there were few – were either really, really great or just not needed. Like Kim, Devi’s so-called best friend. She was selfish, mean to Devi, an idiot, whiny, pretty much an overall bitch. I didn’t like her. Forneus, on the other hand, was a delight to have. Funny, the-good-but-still-bad bad guy of the book was mostly what I laughed at most. The whole story had a bit of humour to it but the relationship between Forneus and Oz was really hilarious and Forneus’s comments and actions were amusing.
Anyway, Katherine Pine created an intriguing world for fallen angels, even if it wasn’t as thoroughly planned out as I like, and I liked reading After Eden . I would recommend it to those fascinated by angels, something paranormally new, and a quick, easy read. I look forward to reading more of Oz and Devi in Beloved Purgatory , once I get my hands on it and find time to sit and read it.
Let me start off by saying that I did actually like this – it was funny, there were great characters and the story was unique, different, and enjoyable. The reason behind the angels falling is for their love of Eden, of the world’s beauty, and so God kicked them out of Heaven because they loved that more than they did Him. Now, I’m not much of a religious woman so when it first began its explanations, I thought that it was about Christianity and all that, and that thought bothered me a bit. But it really wasn’t – at least, not as much as other fallen angel centered series. The story, though, was still a bit predictable after a certain point, and it also felt a bit rushed. The ending was kind of just there too – no real resolutions and a clear acceptance of what happened in the previous few chapters.
I thought the whole of the book was about Devi striving to get her twin brother back after he was taken by an angel but it really wasn’t, which upset me. Katherine did sorta solve the problem but I think I expected more than just a cop out explanation that he had to leave.
I liked Oz (or Azazel, as he is properly called). He was funny, sexy, and a nice love interest to have – not too cocky where it was disgusting or cruel, not too clingy or overprotective, just a simple demon boyfriend. One thing that creeped me out, however, was when he decided to enroll in Devi’s high school as a girl . Knowing that she was actually a he didn’t help when she (Oz) began flirting with Devi a little and acting like an actual girl. Why he couldn’t shape-shift into a younger, high school-aged guy is beyond me. Devi herself was an okay protagonist but she was way to down on herself and self-conscious. (Seriously, where did all the strong, bold, capable women characters run off to?) Their love did start out a little too soon for my tastes but I guess it kinda had to as Oz was attracted to what she had that reminded him why he fell in the first place.
The minor characters – there were few – were either really, really great or just not needed. Like Kim, Devi’s so-called best friend. She was selfish, mean to Devi, an idiot, whiny, pretty much an overall bitch. I didn’t like her. Forneus, on the other hand, was a delight to have. Funny, the-good-but-still-bad bad guy of the book was mostly what I laughed at most. The whole story had a bit of humour to it but the relationship between Forneus and Oz was really hilarious and Forneus’s comments and actions were amusing.
Anyway, Katherine Pine created an intriguing world for fallen angels, even if it wasn’t as thoroughly planned out as I like, and I liked reading After Eden . I would recommend it to those fascinated by angels, something paranormally new, and a quick, easy read. I look forward to reading more of Oz and Devi in Beloved Purgatory , once I get my hands on it and find time to sit and read it.
nerfy's review
1.0
Not impressed at all. Poor, overcomplicated storyline, weak characters, bad ending. Won't be reading the rest of the series.
althenaruby's review
3.0
Once again I find myself not liking the main guy in a story. Oz is just plain weird. I can't figure him out. He attacks the guy who tries to drag Devi to Hell but then hangs out with him the next day like nothing happened. He's happy, then he's sad. He acts like the emo boy he's dressed like...its depressing. Not to mention his actions as Jasmine made no sense to me either. Devi seems normal-ish, if not almost boring. The angel is the only truly interesting 'person' to me. I feel bad for him. Do you think he really has no emotions? I find myself not trusting Oz when he says he doesn't. i guess we will see.