A review by deyanira
Dark Eden by Chris Beckett

challenging dark inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I LOVE sci-fi, but I'd never read a book with this sort of setup, so it really blew me away. I'm not sure if I'd say there's a LOT of character development per se, but the dark background of their world and how things play out was so interesting, I couldn't put the book down. I will say, I wouldn't recommend this book for kids to read, and please check out the content warnings before reading because there were some parts that, while they struck my morbid curiosity, were pretty gross to get through. That said, I'm sticking with my 5-star rating for a reason, and I'm about to start the next in the trilogy. 

(Minor spoiler, nothing specific.) Despite the perhaps bleak outlook on human nature, the

criticisms of religion, tradition for traditions' sake, and the look at gender roles and socialization

were absolute highlights of the book for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

I've never put so many tags on a book, but for those of you on the fence, even though it's got some gritty parts, they're treated as delicately as possible, and none of it is meant to glorify/give permissiveness to what's happening.