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jeslyncat's review against another edition
5.0
THIS is the dystopian-style that has been missing lately! It's great. "Eve" is an accomplishment, and I was really glad that I decided to read it, I almost didn't.
The continuity, the reality, and the emotion that Carey wrote this book with is amazing, and is the opposite of the awful YA I've been reading lately. All of the characters are great, I can't think of a single thing I would change about any of them-even her secondary characters are so...real, and memorable, that I was almost upset when they were no longer an aspect of the story.
I love the action, and I especially love the government style. I've gotten so sick of these big-bad governments that seem driven by invisible forces, but Carey has given her rulers a face and motivation that is beyond realistic.
I also love the bravery that Carey has in her story, she was not afraid to kill people or make them just disappear. It's great. I can't wait to read "Once"!
The continuity, the reality, and the emotion that Carey wrote this book with is amazing, and is the opposite of the awful YA I've been reading lately. All of the characters are great, I can't think of a single thing I would change about any of them-even her secondary characters are so...real, and memorable, that I was almost upset when they were no longer an aspect of the story.
I love the action, and I especially love the government style. I've gotten so sick of these big-bad governments that seem driven by invisible forces, but Carey has given her rulers a face and motivation that is beyond realistic.
I also love the bravery that Carey has in her story, she was not afraid to kill people or make them just disappear. It's great. I can't wait to read "Once"!
read2menow's review against another edition
2.0
2.5. I felt like this was a Christian novel that was featuring values that women will have to live by again, if the world went to shit. The book just felt like to much bullshit and I hated how the main character was suppose to be the smartest girl, but really it was only in theory of books. Interesting concept, but honestly not a great follow through.
mirrorchaser's review against another edition
3.0
This is just a YA version of [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)|Margaret Atwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578028274l/38447._SY75_.jpg|1119185]. So with that in mind, it totally makes sense that it's a little flat. It's a really complex idea for young people to process! As we've been running into a lot, books published between 2010-2015 were CRAZY full of poorly plotted dystopia to capitalize on the success of other YA dystopian successes like [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1586722975l/2767052._SX50_.jpg|2792775] (which was flawless), [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1342493368l/3636._SY75_.jpg|2543234], [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375596592l/6186357._SY75_.jpg|6366642], and [b:Divergent|13335037|Divergent (Divergent, #1)|Veronica Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618526890l/13335037._SY75_.jpg|13155899]. This heated up even more when these books started rapidly getting optioned for TV and film. People were just eating this stuff up (myself among them).
[b:Eve|9297774|Eve (Eve, #1)|Anna Carey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389188190l/9297774._SY75_.jpg|14180376] is a perfect example of a book whose negative attributes can almost certainly be attributed to the rush to get in on the dystopia pandemonium.
I think one thing that Eve as a character lacks is... well... good traits. She is honestly super annoying and not in a "I've been sheltered my whole life I don't know anything about the world" way. More in a "I just suck" way. She's selfish, makes the wrong choice time and time again, and kind of just allows other people to get her through to the end. While I can respect this (honestly, most of us would act like this in her situation) we want to read about a fearless and loyal Katniss or Harry who will put themselves in harms way and be a real hero of the story. Eve isn't a hero. She's very much focused on her own survival. It's just something that is so different than other YA heroine books I've read and I just think the risk didn't pay off in this case.
I also hate the insta-love. I wish there was more substance there.
Speaking of more substance... what's up with the government/plague/oppression situation here? The author could at least give me SOMETHING to work with. Instead of being mysterious, the oppressor is just confusing. Did this king truly capitalize on a plague or was the plague something made by the king? No one has been able to stop this man? It's just flimsy worldbuilding and I think the author is building up a big bad but he doesn't seem all that scary.
[b:Eve|9297774|Eve (Eve, #1)|Anna Carey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389188190l/9297774._SY75_.jpg|14180376] is a perfect example of a book whose negative attributes can almost certainly be attributed to the rush to get in on the dystopia pandemonium.
I think one thing that Eve as a character lacks is... well... good traits. She is honestly super annoying and not in a "I've been sheltered my whole life I don't know anything about the world" way. More in a "I just suck" way. She's selfish, makes the wrong choice time and time again, and kind of just allows other people to get her through to the end. While I can respect this (honestly, most of us would act like this in her situation) we want to read about a fearless and loyal Katniss or Harry who will put themselves in harms way and be a real hero of the story. Eve isn't a hero. She's very much focused on her own survival. It's just something that is so different than other YA heroine books I've read and I just think the risk didn't pay off in this case.
I also hate the insta-love. I wish there was more substance there.
Speaking of more substance... what's up with the government/plague/oppression situation here? The author could at least give me SOMETHING to work with. Instead of being mysterious, the oppressor is just confusing. Did this king truly capitalize on a plague or was the plague something made by the king? No one has been able to stop this man? It's just flimsy worldbuilding and I think the author is building up a big bad but he doesn't seem all that scary.
mandikaye's review against another edition
4.0
I left this as a comment on someone's review before I was finished with the book, and I'm posting it here because after finishing it... I find it's still how I feel.
"At this point in the book, I still really dislike Eve. She’s whiny, annoying, spoiled, and has virtually no redeeming qualities. She is quite naive. I even want to call her stupid in many places.
But at the same time, this world that Anna Carey built is fascinating. Even through my dislike of the main character, I have bonded with supporting characters. I want to know that the world will get better for Arden, Benny, and Silas. So I will finish this book. And I will read the next one.
But man. I really dislike Eve."
"At this point in the book, I still really dislike Eve. She’s whiny, annoying, spoiled, and has virtually no redeeming qualities. She is quite naive. I even want to call her stupid in many places.
But at the same time, this world that Anna Carey built is fascinating. Even through my dislike of the main character, I have bonded with supporting characters. I want to know that the world will get better for Arden, Benny, and Silas. So I will finish this book. And I will read the next one.
But man. I really dislike Eve."
chobits_94's review against another edition
4.0
-"Te quiero, Te quiero, Te quiero."
No pensaba que este libro me iba a gustar tanto,ya que he leido otros libros con la idea de una epidemia y una nueva America etc... Pero no me hubiera imaginado que esta historia y los personajes me entretenieran tanto.
La historia da un poco de miedo. Miles de personas murieron a causa de una Epidemia. La madre de Eve fue una de ellas, asi que Eve vive en un internado ,como todas las otras chicas, hasta que puedan dejar el colegio y aprender un trabajo.
Felicidad, blah blah... hasta que Eve coge a una de las alumnas que intenta escaparse y ella le cuenta a Eve que todo era mentira. Que va a hacer Eve ahora? Va a escaparse a un mundo lleno de peligros o va a quedarse protegida por un muro y esperar a que acabe su vida?
Solo puedo recomendarlo!
No pensaba que este libro me iba a gustar tanto,ya que he leido otros libros con la idea de una epidemia y una nueva America etc... Pero no me hubiera imaginado que esta historia y los personajes me entretenieran tanto.
La historia da un poco de miedo. Miles de personas murieron a causa de una Epidemia. La madre de Eve fue una de ellas, asi que Eve vive en un internado ,como todas las otras chicas, hasta que puedan dejar el colegio y aprender un trabajo.
Felicidad, blah blah... hasta que Eve coge a una de las alumnas que intenta escaparse y ella le cuenta a Eve que todo era mentira. Que va a hacer Eve ahora? Va a escaparse a un mundo lleno de peligros o va a quedarse protegida por un muro y esperar a que acabe su vida?
Solo puedo recomendarlo!
cdale8's review against another edition
2.0
Meh, pretty formulaic and the symbolism will beat a more experienced reader over the head, but the writing was smooth and it was a quick read. I'm waiting to find out that the King 's first name is Adam...
captkaty's review against another edition
2.0
Eve" is part romance, part dystopia, with the budding romance between Eve and Caleb sharing equal stage with the disturbing revelations about their society. Reading "Eve," it’s hard not to think of some of the other recent heroines in dystopia -- Katniss of "The Hunger Games" trilogy or Tris from "Divergent" -- but unlike these feisty, strong girls, Eve ... well, she’s a bit of a drip. One character tells Eve she’s got plenty of book smarts, but no street smarts, and it’s true. Eve mostly seems along for the ride, relying on the sharper wits of her companions, and making some shockingly stupid decisions. It was hard for me to root for her.
vincentpriceisright's review against another edition
3.0
not the greatest dystopian I've ever read. a lot of it wasn't logical, and eve annoyed me at times. still entertaining and worth reading if you're in the mood for an apocalyptic/dystopian plotline.
jinny89's review against another edition
2.0
(This review is cross posted at http://skyink.net)
2.5.
Eve is an apocalyptic story taking place in the not-so-distant future. The year is 2032. Sixteen years ago, an extremely deadly virus (or plague) along with the vaccine that was supposed to save lives wiped out 98% of the world. Society reorganized itself, the USA now called The New America and ruled by a king in the City of Sand.
Eve, our protagonist, was taken into a girls-only orphange called the School at the age of five, along with many other girls. Her time there was spent given a rudimentary education, but primarily focused on the Dangers of Men and Boys. Eve is the star pupil of the school and the valedictorian of her class. She and her classmates are all graduating very soon, and excited to start their four year study of a trade in the school building across the lake.
This all changes when Eve discovers the true nature of what happens in that building across the lake. What she finds is that all the Graduates who go there are not learning trades at all — they are being used to breed babies, to repopulate the country. Horrified, Eve runs away from School, and eventually comes across the first boy she has seen in a very long time. Wary of Caleb at first, Eve decides to trust him and allow him to help her escape, and along the way, their feelings bloom into a romantic relationship.
I have … mixed feelings about this book. I’ll start with the story world. This is not a HUGE problem, but it was something I pondered over as I read the book. Firstly, the population of the world is roughly 6.7 billion people right now (according to Google). 2% of that is roughly 135 million people. I don’t think that’s a number low enough to start worrying about population issues. Yes, it’s a lot less than 6.7 billion, but is it enough that you need to start forcing girls to have babies, using them as breeding machines? I’ll let you decide.
I also don’t understand why society (specifically, American society) would decide they don’t want to be ruled democratically anymore and follow a self-proclaimed king instead. “Why would society become like this?” is a question I have been having in a lot of YA dystopian/apocalyptic books lately (Wither, Divergent as examples). The answer Eve gives is that the virus killed everyone too quick, nearly all the politicians as well, and with all this chaos, people clung to the first signs of leadership they could find. I’m not entirely convinced by this answer. Yes, there is mass chaos and people are dropping like flies, but I don’t know if the survivors will willingly attach themselves to a self proclaimed king despite the situation. If this guy made himself the new President, even if a totalitarian President, that’s a little more believable. Perhaps this is all just a semantics issue I have.
As for the ‘breeding program’, I think I have a much better idea, haha. I don’t see why they just tell the young girls at School from a very young age that they are being raised to bear children. Condition them to think that they are serving their country. That way, they will have completely have accepted it from a young age (much like how they accepted hating men) and they won’t have any resistance to being pregnant; they won’t have to deal with the shock and horror, and instead, have little obedient “sows”, as they are called in the book. I don’t know, maybe this new King isn’t very smart, but this is what I would order for in his position. I do realize this would completely change the entire story though.
I did not like the main character Eve at all. I tried to be forgiving at first because she was raised from a very young age to hate men, and she is completely sheltered. I told myself, “Eve can’t help it if she’s naive, it’s the way she’s brought up”. But as the story continued, it became harder and harder to justify liking Eve. She does a lot of stupid things that gets herself and her friends in mortal peril. I also found her quite self centered. I mean, the ending is a perfect example that points to Eve caring more about herself than Caleb (or anyone else). I see absolutely no redeeming qualities as to why Caleb would decide he’s in love with her. I’m glad they didn’t fall in love at first sight, but there doesn’t seem to be a reason as to why they would fall in love.
Eve is also a psychotic feminist. Well, yes, she was raised that way, but I as I read the book, I was upset that nearly every male Eve encountered reinforced her knowledge of men. Men are represented horribly in this book. First she sees guys acting crude and violent, then she finds a group of guys who only stare at her body, then she nearly gets raped and … well, you get the idea. The exception is Caleb, of course. I was actually quite surprised how quickly Eve warmed up to Caleb. I didn’t think a person who has been taught nearly all her life to beware of men would fall in love with one in a few weeks’ time.
I said I have mixed feelings though, and this is why: I do like the general plot. The gist of it is that Eve is running away from School and trying to reach the safe camp of Califia, who are helping women and girls escape their predestined fate of being “sows”, as they are called in the book. Eve meets a bunch of characters along the way and encounters all sorts of life and death situations; overall, I do like the plot. The writing is great as well. I personally found it quite engaging — a bit slow at times, but nothing major — and I zipped through the book in no time flat.
I don’t think there’s any hope for me to ever like Eve, but I do feel exciting things are in store for future installments. I think this book was alright, but certainly can be better. With that all said, do realize that anything can happen from now until the book is officially published though!
2.5.
Eve is an apocalyptic story taking place in the not-so-distant future. The year is 2032. Sixteen years ago, an extremely deadly virus (or plague) along with the vaccine that was supposed to save lives wiped out 98% of the world. Society reorganized itself, the USA now called The New America and ruled by a king in the City of Sand.
Eve, our protagonist, was taken into a girls-only orphange called the School at the age of five, along with many other girls. Her time there was spent given a rudimentary education, but primarily focused on the Dangers of Men and Boys. Eve is the star pupil of the school and the valedictorian of her class. She and her classmates are all graduating very soon, and excited to start their four year study of a trade in the school building across the lake.
This all changes when Eve discovers the true nature of what happens in that building across the lake. What she finds is that all the Graduates who go there are not learning trades at all — they are being used to breed babies, to repopulate the country. Horrified, Eve runs away from School, and eventually comes across the first boy she has seen in a very long time. Wary of Caleb at first, Eve decides to trust him and allow him to help her escape, and along the way, their feelings bloom into a romantic relationship.
I have … mixed feelings about this book. I’ll start with the story world. This is not a HUGE problem, but it was something I pondered over as I read the book. Firstly, the population of the world is roughly 6.7 billion people right now (according to Google). 2% of that is roughly 135 million people. I don’t think that’s a number low enough to start worrying about population issues. Yes, it’s a lot less than 6.7 billion, but is it enough that you need to start forcing girls to have babies, using them as breeding machines? I’ll let you decide.
I also don’t understand why society (specifically, American society) would decide they don’t want to be ruled democratically anymore and follow a self-proclaimed king instead. “Why would society become like this?” is a question I have been having in a lot of YA dystopian/apocalyptic books lately (Wither, Divergent as examples). The answer Eve gives is that the virus killed everyone too quick, nearly all the politicians as well, and with all this chaos, people clung to the first signs of leadership they could find. I’m not entirely convinced by this answer. Yes, there is mass chaos and people are dropping like flies, but I don’t know if the survivors will willingly attach themselves to a self proclaimed king despite the situation. If this guy made himself the new President, even if a totalitarian President, that’s a little more believable. Perhaps this is all just a semantics issue I have.
As for the ‘breeding program’, I think I have a much better idea, haha. I don’t see why they just tell the young girls at School from a very young age that they are being raised to bear children. Condition them to think that they are serving their country. That way, they will have completely have accepted it from a young age (much like how they accepted hating men) and they won’t have any resistance to being pregnant; they won’t have to deal with the shock and horror, and instead, have little obedient “sows”, as they are called in the book. I don’t know, maybe this new King isn’t very smart, but this is what I would order for in his position. I do realize this would completely change the entire story though.
I did not like the main character Eve at all. I tried to be forgiving at first because she was raised from a very young age to hate men, and she is completely sheltered. I told myself, “Eve can’t help it if she’s naive, it’s the way she’s brought up”. But as the story continued, it became harder and harder to justify liking Eve. She does a lot of stupid things that gets herself and her friends in mortal peril. I also found her quite self centered. I mean, the ending is a perfect example that points to Eve caring more about herself than Caleb (or anyone else). I see absolutely no redeeming qualities as to why Caleb would decide he’s in love with her. I’m glad they didn’t fall in love at first sight, but there doesn’t seem to be a reason as to why they would fall in love.
Eve is also a psychotic feminist. Well, yes, she was raised that way, but I as I read the book, I was upset that nearly every male Eve encountered reinforced her knowledge of men. Men are represented horribly in this book. First she sees guys acting crude and violent, then she finds a group of guys who only stare at her body, then she nearly gets raped and … well, you get the idea. The exception is Caleb, of course. I was actually quite surprised how quickly Eve warmed up to Caleb. I didn’t think a person who has been taught nearly all her life to beware of men would fall in love with one in a few weeks’ time.
I said I have mixed feelings though, and this is why: I do like the general plot. The gist of it is that Eve is running away from School and trying to reach the safe camp of Califia, who are helping women and girls escape their predestined fate of being “sows”, as they are called in the book. Eve meets a bunch of characters along the way and encounters all sorts of life and death situations; overall, I do like the plot. The writing is great as well. I personally found it quite engaging — a bit slow at times, but nothing major — and I zipped through the book in no time flat.
I don’t think there’s any hope for me to ever like Eve, but I do feel exciting things are in store for future installments. I think this book was alright, but certainly can be better. With that all said, do realize that anything can happen from now until the book is officially published though!