Scan barcode
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!
melissasbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
This was just so so for me. 2 1/2 stars rounded up to 3. I liked it, but I felt like the author had a great opportunity and then punted. Perhaps I've just read one dystopian novel too many, but it seemed like this was The Handmaid's Tale (even though I haven't read it) meets Peter Pan (Wendy and the Lost Boys).
I listened to this on my MP3 player while doing laundry. While the narrator did a good job, the main character Eve came off as selfish, whiny and at times pathetic. I just couldn't care about her.
I also felt like the author revealed plots too quickly. I think that there are things she could have prolonged for a bigger effect, like the purpose of the schools, and especially the romance.
I will probably read the next book in the series, but it's not like waiting on the holds list at the library is any great hardship.
I listened to this on my MP3 player while doing laundry. While the narrator did a good job, the main character Eve came off as selfish, whiny and at times pathetic. I just couldn't care about her.
I also felt like the author revealed plots too quickly. I think that there are things she could have prolonged for a bigger effect, like the purpose of the schools, and especially the romance.
I will probably read the next book in the series, but it's not like waiting on the holds list at the library is any great hardship.
christajls's review against another edition
2.0
Originally posted at Christa's Hooked on Books
This book was described as The Hunger Games meets The Handmaid's Tale which gave me high hopes, as those are two of my favourite books. And for the most part I did find the premise of this book intriguing. The best way I can think to describe it is, The Handmaid's Tale out in the wild. Books like this really make me question what would actually happen if most of the population was wiped out. What would the attitude be towards re-population? Eve does an excellent job of raising some key questions and made me stop and consider the rights and responsibilities of women in such a scenario. What would happen to our freedom? (Heavy stuff I know).
Premise aside, however, I was a little unimpressed with some of the other elements of the novel. For one thing the pacing just didn't seem right. Everything happened too fast, and not in an "edge of your seat" kind of way. There wasn't enough time in between major events to really digest them and really have the characters react to them. Sometimes the reaction to a scene is just as important as the scene itself and I felt like I was missing out on that. In addition to the pacing I also found the ending a little off. I just don't buy the way things happened, it wasn't rational! I'm dying to talk to someone about it (maybe they have a different take on it than me) so if you've read Eve and want to talk about it then please contact me!! Bring on the book discussion!!
This book is the first in a planned trilogy, and I intend to check out the sequel because, as I mentioned the premise interests me. So who knows maybe the kinks will be worked out in the coming books. I sincerely hope so. Otherwise since there are so many other similar books, Eve might just fall through the cracks. I'm not willing to write off this series completely just yet and sometimes I just need to look at a book in a different way to really appreciate it. So if you have a different take on Eve please share!
This book was described as The Hunger Games meets The Handmaid's Tale which gave me high hopes, as those are two of my favourite books. And for the most part I did find the premise of this book intriguing. The best way I can think to describe it is, The Handmaid's Tale out in the wild. Books like this really make me question what would actually happen if most of the population was wiped out. What would the attitude be towards re-population? Eve does an excellent job of raising some key questions and made me stop and consider the rights and responsibilities of women in such a scenario. What would happen to our freedom? (Heavy stuff I know).
Premise aside, however, I was a little unimpressed with some of the other elements of the novel. For one thing the pacing just didn't seem right. Everything happened too fast, and not in an "edge of your seat" kind of way. There wasn't enough time in between major events to really digest them and really have the characters react to them. Sometimes the reaction to a scene is just as important as the scene itself and I felt like I was missing out on that. In addition to the pacing I also found the ending a little off. I just don't buy the way things happened, it wasn't rational! I'm dying to talk to someone about it (maybe they have a different take on it than me) so if you've read Eve and want to talk about it then please contact me!! Bring on the book discussion!!
This book is the first in a planned trilogy, and I intend to check out the sequel because, as I mentioned the premise interests me. So who knows maybe the kinks will be worked out in the coming books. I sincerely hope so. Otherwise since there are so many other similar books, Eve might just fall through the cracks. I'm not willing to write off this series completely just yet and sometimes I just need to look at a book in a different way to really appreciate it. So if you have a different take on Eve please share!
jennareads's review against another edition
3.0
I was really interested in this book based on what I read about in. In reading it, I really enjoyed the world and conflict Carey constructed. However, the characters lacked depth and felt flat. Eve, for being so smart seemed to make a lot of dumb mistakes. Without spoiling the plot, all I can say is multiple other characters were described as being a certain trait but then went against that trait. Normally, this would be amazing but there wasn't any other depth to the characters. So, I felt like I did not know them at all.
yousrabushehri's review against another edition
3.0
An amazing book that really dives into a possible image of our future. I really loved the characters. The book is really fast paced (sometimes, too fast). I really love how the story jumps right into the big plot of the book. The ending was sad, but there is a second book coming out and so, hopefully the ending will make more sense to me once I read the second book "Once".
Re-Read Review
So, the book is still good. The pacing is fast and doesn't allow for a boring moment, which is awesome. But the concept of the book isn't new - it's something that I've read before. And one of my pet peeves is this "insta-love" that happens in a lot of book, and it sort of happens here. Eve goes from completely terrified of men/boys to falling in love with Caleb. I understand her curiosity towards the opposite sex and how she might be drawn to him in more of a "what-they've-taught-us-at-the-school-is-wrong" sort of way, but to fall in love with him so fast felt weird. Maybe it was lust and not love?
But I loved the secondary characters, like the boys at the dugout. They reminded me of the Lost Boys in Peter Pan and I loved how Eve was teaching them to read and write (storytelling was Wendy's skill).
Anyway, the purpose of this reread is so I can remind myself what happens so I can finally read Once and Rise since I've had them on my shelf since they got released.
I'm curious to see where this trilogy goes and if the characters develop and grow.
Re-Read Review
So, the book is still good. The pacing is fast and doesn't allow for a boring moment, which is awesome. But the concept of the book isn't new - it's something that I've read before. And one of my pet peeves is this "insta-love" that happens in a lot of book, and it sort of happens here. Eve goes from completely terrified of men/boys to falling in love with Caleb. I understand her curiosity towards the opposite sex and how she might be drawn to him in more of a "what-they've-taught-us-at-the-school-is-wrong" sort of way, but to fall in love with him so fast felt weird. Maybe it was lust and not love?
But I loved the secondary characters, like the boys at the dugout. They reminded me of the Lost Boys in Peter Pan and I loved how Eve was teaching them to read and write (storytelling was Wendy's skill).
Anyway, the purpose of this reread is so I can remind myself what happens so I can finally read Once and Rise since I've had them on my shelf since they got released.
I'm curious to see where this trilogy goes and if the characters develop and grow.
paigeypng's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book! The plotline was really interesting, and I dig dystopian novels, so yeah. Although...
I just thought it was a little off that Eve has been raised basically her whole life to fear boys and learn about how bad they are and yet she falls for Caleb so quickly.. I mean, I don't know. I guess I just feel like she should be more wary since I read Delirium by Lauren Oliver and that was how Lena was. A world like Eve's seems so scary, with so much death around her. I wish they'd uncovered the origin of the plague. Her and Caleb's connection was so real and raw and amazing and adorable. Leif.. knew he couldn't be trusted. I really hope Arden's not dead. I thought it was really cute how Caleb basically sacrificed everything so he could just go to Califia with Eve even though he knew he was going to have to leave... he's amazing. I can't wait to read the second one!
I just thought it was a little off that Eve has been raised basically her whole life to fear boys and learn about how bad they are and yet she falls for Caleb so quickly.. I mean, I don't know. I guess I just feel like she should be more wary since I read Delirium by Lauren Oliver and that was how Lena was. A world like Eve's seems so scary, with so much death around her. I wish they'd uncovered the origin of the plague. Her and Caleb's connection was so real and raw and amazing and adorable. Leif.. knew he couldn't be trusted. I really hope Arden's not dead. I thought it was really cute how Caleb basically sacrificed everything so he could just go to Califia with Eve even though he knew he was going to have to leave... he's amazing. I can't wait to read the second one!
bookworm097's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book, but it took me awhile to get through. I had to put it down and pick up a different book twice before I finally finished it. It's not that the story wasn't interesting, it just seemed rather slow-moving to me. And the POV was a bit odd, so it took me a bit longer than I should have liked to get through it. But, considering this is the first book in a dystopian trilogy, I'm not surprised.
The world building was slow and there wasn't much of it. Which is to be expected with this type of book. The main character doesn't really know what's going on outside of her tiny little bubble of the world, and is fed lies about the outside world her whole life, in typical dystopian fashion. There was a bit of the world revealed, but not as much as I would have liked.
The characters were likable, though there wasn't much backstory on many of them. The main character has a good amount of backstory, but the other 2 major characters don't really have any, until the end for only 1 of them. Hopefully the next book will go deeper into their stories, and the stories of other less major characters as well.
I liked this enough to continue the series at some point in the future, but I'm not absolutely dying to find out what happens next.
The world building was slow and there wasn't much of it. Which is to be expected with this type of book. The main character doesn't really know what's going on outside of her tiny little bubble of the world, and is fed lies about the outside world her whole life, in typical dystopian fashion. There was a bit of the world revealed, but not as much as I would have liked.
The characters were likable, though there wasn't much backstory on many of them. The main character has a good amount of backstory, but the other 2 major characters don't really have any, until the end for only 1 of them. Hopefully the next book will go deeper into their stories, and the stories of other less major characters as well.
I liked this enough to continue the series at some point in the future, but I'm not absolutely dying to find out what happens next.
elena_gilbert's review against another edition
3.0
Actually, 3 stars might be overly kind. This book wants to be the YA version of The Handmaid's Tale and fails. At first I was thinking it was just that the main character is such an idiot, but reading other reviews I remembered all the other things that sucked about it.
The dialogue ("Come on in, the sludge is warm!") The weak, implausible world-building (WHY do they need so many babies in the city?) The two main female characters named Eve and Arden (like Eve Arden, the actress?) The random viewing of "Ghost", which sends the main character into an hours-long crying jag ("Thelma and Louise" would've been more helpful.) The obvious cliffhanger, the belabored writing, the stupid love story. Every time I asked "WHY?!", I had to remind myself that OF COURSE Caleb, a semi-interesting boy, would be attracted to Eve...he hasn't seen a girl in like, EVER.
Let's not get into the whole Leif incident, because that was not handled well at all. It's where you give up hope that Eve will ever be well-written or make any sense--and in fact, she only gets worse.
Arden would've been a much better main character. She grows, changes, has real feelings, makes believable decisions and is interesting. I might read the next book to see what happens to her and to Caleb, and to find out if Moss looks like Richard Ayoade. But Eve can go away now.
The dialogue ("Come on in, the sludge is warm!") The weak, implausible world-building (WHY do they need so many babies in the city?) The two main female characters named Eve and Arden (like Eve Arden, the actress?) The random viewing of "Ghost", which sends the main character into an hours-long crying jag ("Thelma and Louise" would've been more helpful.) The obvious cliffhanger, the belabored writing, the stupid love story. Every time I asked "WHY?!", I had to remind myself that OF COURSE Caleb, a semi-interesting boy, would be attracted to Eve...he hasn't seen a girl in like, EVER.
Let's not get into the whole Leif incident, because that was not handled well at all. It's where you give up hope that Eve will ever be well-written or make any sense--and in fact, she only gets worse.
Arden would've been a much better main character. She grows, changes, has real feelings, makes believable decisions and is interesting. I might read the next book to see what happens to her and to Caleb, and to find out if Moss looks like Richard Ayoade. But Eve can go away now.
lernstreads's review against another edition
3.0
The writing isn't the absolute greatest but the story line is good. Ps. It is the first in a trilogy.