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tregina's review against another edition
3.0
I actually have a lot of really complicated feelings about this one. On the one hand, it has some fascinating worldbuilding and the development of language is of particular interest to me, as are the social rituals and relationships that have risen on this new world. Those aren't the reasons I picked it up, but they're what I got out of it. On the other, it reads like a systematic removal of women's agency, which makes me really uncomfortable. I suspect this book will be triggery for some people, too, though the ways in which it might be are probably implied in the blurb.
At the end, the story leaves a lot of balls in the air, but I feel like that's more a function of how the story is told than a setup for a sequel. Things are not wrapped up in a neat little bow, but then, when are they ever?
Overall I thought it was good, and once I got a feel for it I stayed up well into the night to reach the end (which I had long since guessed, but that makes it no less a powerful moment), but I was left too uncomfortable—in the wrong ways—to rate it higher.
At the end, the story leaves a lot of balls in the air, but I feel like that's more a function of how the story is told than a setup for a sequel. Things are not wrapped up in a neat little bow, but then, when are they ever?
Overall I thought it was good, and once I got a feel for it I stayed up well into the night to reach the end (which I had long since guessed, but that makes it no less a powerful moment), but I was left too uncomfortable—in the wrong ways—to rate it higher.
gfs0619's review against another edition
4.0
I won this book in a First Reads giveaway. I give it a solid four stars. I would categorize it as more a dystopian novel with a science fiction setting. It was a melding of Adam and Eve meets Cain and Abel meets The Lord of the Rings. Good book.
kymzii's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
avocadochicken's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a great read. The first half of this book had an almost overwhelming sense of building tension, you know as a reader that some shit is going to go down, and Eden will be forever changed.
The world building is really fun here, flora and fauna adapted to a world without a sun is really interesting, but it’s funny - you could have essentially the exact same story set on a remote island on earth (this was sci-fi, but it being sci-fi didn’t impact the plot at all)
- John’s group is working on the wheel already, so I’m pretty sure it’s over for David
- I wonder if John will fully be a villain in the later books
- I’m super excited to see what’s down in the underworld (and are any of the animals here sapient?)
The world building is really fun here, flora and fauna adapted to a world without a sun is really interesting, but it’s funny - you could have essentially the exact same story set on a remote island on earth (this was sci-fi, but it being sci-fi didn’t impact the plot at all)
- John’s group is working on the wheel already, so I’m pretty sure it’s over for David
- I wonder if John will fully be a villain in the later books
- I’m super excited to see what’s down in the underworld (and are any of the animals here sapient?)
neens_m's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault
Minor: Murder and Domestic abuse
octobyte's review against another edition
1.0
I'm so terribly disappointed in this book. I read the summary and was so excited about the idea of this book that the reality of it left me heart broken and with a bad taste in my mouth that I just couldn't finish it.
I listen to books on audio format. So with that in mind, the child like language this stranded group of humans that are several generations later from the original crew was distracting to say the least. I get what the author was going for, but repeating worlds to emphasize their meaning is just annoying and I don't see this as a plausible possibility. Think Lord of the Flies but grandparent age to children. If something is really cold, you use a different word, like freezing not "cold cold".
That part I could have over looked. I get it...you are trying to show a distinct language growing out of an ostracized group of humans, I don't agree with how you are doing it, but I get it. What killed the book for me was the complete obsession with sex (or slip). I understand sex is a big part of western culture, but I'm not a fan of it being one of the main points and constant thoughts of the characters...all the characters. This one think of I Am Legand, the book, not the movie. I want my books to have substance. If you want to put sex with substance, fine. If you want to make a character or two obsessed with sex, fine. But in the 5 chapters I listened to every character (boy, girl, young, old) obsessed over sex and bragged about it to each other...even an old blind man who's only memory of someone's grandmother he felt like talking about was the sex she gave him and how good it was.
Maybe it gets better, hell there are three books in the series already, but I just couldn't anymore. Sorry.
I listen to books on audio format. So with that in mind, the child like language this stranded group of humans that are several generations later from the original crew was distracting to say the least. I get what the author was going for, but repeating worlds to emphasize their meaning is just annoying and I don't see this as a plausible possibility. Think Lord of the Flies but grandparent age to children. If something is really cold, you use a different word, like freezing not "cold cold".
That part I could have over looked. I get it...you are trying to show a distinct language growing out of an ostracized group of humans, I don't agree with how you are doing it, but I get it. What killed the book for me was the complete obsession with sex (or slip). I understand sex is a big part of western culture, but I'm not a fan of it being one of the main points and constant thoughts of the characters...all the characters. This one think of I Am Legand, the book, not the movie. I want my books to have substance. If you want to put sex with substance, fine. If you want to make a character or two obsessed with sex, fine. But in the 5 chapters I listened to every character (boy, girl, young, old) obsessed over sex and bragged about it to each other...even an old blind man who's only memory of someone's grandmother he felt like talking about was the sex she gave him and how good it was.
Maybe it gets better, hell there are three books in the series already, but I just couldn't anymore. Sorry.
michalice's review against another edition
4.0
First of all I want to say a HUGE thank you to Midas PR for giving me the chance to review this book via Audible.
Thank you's over, now its time to see what I thought. I had not heard of Dark Eden, so when I was asked If I would be interested in reviewing it I did a bit of research before saying yes. The book sounded very interesting, and although the cover isn't bright and colourful, it definitely caught my eye. I quickly replied with a 'yes' and had the wait of a few days before I was able to download it. Listening to Dark Eden took longer than what I expected, first with real life issues, and then that fact that it was so long, 13 hours and 20 minutes.
I love audiobooks and listen to them every chance I get, going to work, doing paperwork, cleaning, cooking, and going to sleep. One thing that first caught my attention when I began Dark Eden were the accents by the narrators, I am English yet the voice of Oliver sounds so much more English than mine it was far too easy to fall under its spell. Listening to audiobooks isn't for everyone, but for me to enjoy it I need to find the narrator interesting and captivating, even the best audiobook doesn't stand a chance if I find the narrator boring or droning, and Oliver and Jessica managed to do just that.
Dark Eden is told in multiple points of view from members of family and Johns group so we get to see how individuals feel about what is happening but also get alternating chapters from the narrators which helps to keep you focused if their voices didn't already draw you in..
I love how the author, Chris Beckett, has made this world and although there are a few 'earth' thing in it, a lot of the words and passages of time are 'family' words, waking is a day, they measure time by womb time and only oldies use years. Lets take a closer look at family. Family is the group name of all the people who live together on Eden, but there are also different communities, Spiketree, Redlantern, Batmouth, London, Brooklyn etc. Each community does different things for example red lantern group harvest the red lantern trees getting sap from them and they all have their own waking times, and sleeping times. Family is a happy place for people to live but soon it starts to break, John, no longer happy with being stuck where they are, unable to move or unable to explore starts to retaliate. Speaking out in meetings when he shouldn't, moving stones from Circle , the place where the first people, Angela, Tommy, and the three companions landed on Eden, and where family look after the stones in the hopes that someone from earth will return and take them to earth. This eventually leads to his banishment from Family.
The unrest from John begins slowly at first, with hints and thoughts from him, but even when he has it in his mind what he wants to do it takes nearly all the first part of the audiobook to do something, and then once its done things seem to progress quickly, he ends up with lots of people joining him and going out further to explore. The first half of Dark Eden seemed repetitive, with the same history and story being told to us, but as soon as John leaves I found myself really enjoying Dark Eden and wanting to know what would happen to this small group that followed John, how could they survive in Eden without Family.
Listening to Dark Eden ;and seeing how they have learnt to survive, the clothes they wear and the methods they follow in order to survive, and even though the characters don't sound particular smart, you have to admire them for still being alive. When I began learning about their history I had to stop and think about the book, the people of family all came from a small group of people, and the babies that are being born are from parents that are also related too, and while I thought this was definitely strange and a bit freaky, when you look at why they do it, to survive and keep family alive, it's kind of easy to shrug that bit of detail off, come on how else would people still be on Eden hundreds of years later when only a few people stayed.
The twists and turns in the plot ensured I never knew what was going to happen next and I found myself turning it on again for another half an hour after it had switched off to find out what happens, as my iPod had a knack for stopping at the most nerve wracking times. The ending had me saying WTF out loud, which is a good thing that I was home and not on the bus. I was disappointed with the ending but once I found out another book was in the works, Gela's Ring, I felt slightly better about it.
Dark Eden is a captivating story and I will definitely be keeping my eye open to learn about what happened next.
Thank you's over, now its time to see what I thought. I had not heard of Dark Eden, so when I was asked If I would be interested in reviewing it I did a bit of research before saying yes. The book sounded very interesting, and although the cover isn't bright and colourful, it definitely caught my eye. I quickly replied with a 'yes' and had the wait of a few days before I was able to download it. Listening to Dark Eden took longer than what I expected, first with real life issues, and then that fact that it was so long, 13 hours and 20 minutes.
I love audiobooks and listen to them every chance I get, going to work, doing paperwork, cleaning, cooking, and going to sleep. One thing that first caught my attention when I began Dark Eden were the accents by the narrators, I am English yet the voice of Oliver sounds so much more English than mine it was far too easy to fall under its spell. Listening to audiobooks isn't for everyone, but for me to enjoy it I need to find the narrator interesting and captivating, even the best audiobook doesn't stand a chance if I find the narrator boring or droning, and Oliver and Jessica managed to do just that.
Dark Eden is told in multiple points of view from members of family and Johns group so we get to see how individuals feel about what is happening but also get alternating chapters from the narrators which helps to keep you focused if their voices didn't already draw you in..
I love how the author, Chris Beckett, has made this world and although there are a few 'earth' thing in it, a lot of the words and passages of time are 'family' words, waking is a day, they measure time by womb time and only oldies use years. Lets take a closer look at family. Family is the group name of all the people who live together on Eden, but there are also different communities, Spiketree, Redlantern, Batmouth, London, Brooklyn etc. Each community does different things for example red lantern group harvest the red lantern trees getting sap from them and they all have their own waking times, and sleeping times. Family is a happy place for people to live but soon it starts to break, John, no longer happy with being stuck where they are, unable to move or unable to explore starts to retaliate. Speaking out in meetings when he shouldn't, moving stones from Circle , the place where the first people, Angela, Tommy, and the three companions landed on Eden, and where family look after the stones in the hopes that someone from earth will return and take them to earth. This eventually leads to his banishment from Family.
The unrest from John begins slowly at first, with hints and thoughts from him, but even when he has it in his mind what he wants to do it takes nearly all the first part of the audiobook to do something, and then once its done things seem to progress quickly, he ends up with lots of people joining him and going out further to explore. The first half of Dark Eden seemed repetitive, with the same history and story being told to us, but as soon as John leaves I found myself really enjoying Dark Eden and wanting to know what would happen to this small group that followed John, how could they survive in Eden without Family.
Listening to Dark Eden ;and seeing how they have learnt to survive, the clothes they wear and the methods they follow in order to survive, and even though the characters don't sound particular smart, you have to admire them for still being alive. When I began learning about their history I had to stop and think about the book, the people of family all came from a small group of people, and the babies that are being born are from parents that are also related too, and while I thought this was definitely strange and a bit freaky, when you look at why they do it, to survive and keep family alive, it's kind of easy to shrug that bit of detail off, come on how else would people still be on Eden hundreds of years later when only a few people stayed.
The twists and turns in the plot ensured I never knew what was going to happen next and I found myself turning it on again for another half an hour after it had switched off to find out what happens, as my iPod had a knack for stopping at the most nerve wracking times. The ending had me saying WTF out loud, which is a good thing that I was home and not on the bus. I was disappointed with the ending but once I found out another book was in the works, Gela's Ring, I felt slightly better about it.
Dark Eden is a captivating story and I will definitely be keeping my eye open to learn about what happened next.
bl0ndekitten's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0