Review: Eve

Eve by Anna Carey
Genre: YA Fiction, Romance, Distopian
ISBN:9780062048509
Published: October 4th 2011 by HarperCollins Publishers

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Summary (From Goodreads):

Where do you go when nowhere is safe?

Sixteen years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth’s population, the world is a perilous place. Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred other orphaned girls have been promised a future as the teachers and artists of the New America. But the night before graduation, Eve learns the shocking truth about her school’s real purpose—and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Arden, her former rival from school, and Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust . . . and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

In this epic new series, Anna Carey imagines a future that is both beautiful and terrifying. Readers will revel in Eve’s timeless story of forbidden love and extraordinary adventure.

When I started Eve, I tore through the first half. I stopped about halfway through because it got sappy and dramatic and frustrating, but luckily I picked it up again and found that it only lasted a few pages. Aside from that one chapter that felt twilight-esque in its drama, I couldn't put it down and I loved it.

The pacing was great. It's been a while since I've read a book that I really had trouble putting down. I felt like I could read it forever, because the action and the tension never stopped: it just kept pulling you along at a very fast rate. And boy, did Carey pack a lot of story into this concise book. And the writing was good! It wasn't fantastic or jaw-dropping, but it was easy to read and it matched the character.

I liked Eve enough, but I really like Arden, one of the supporting characters whom Eve befriends while she escapes. Arden is something special and I understood her pain right away. She's that mean tough jerk of a girl on the outside with something sweet and beautifully broken on the inside. I wanted to know more of her story, and I hope in the other books I learn more about her and watch her grow. Eve herself was a strong sweet gentile innocent girl. She was so naïve I felt sorry for her. She reminded me of a child who thinks they understand the world and is devastated when they discover they're wrong. Luckily, Eve had more strength than that, and she loved strongly, so she was able to overcome her fears and her weaknesses.  

The plot itself never stopped. There wasn't a section in the book that felt like "filler" story—like the author was trying to come up with plot to get from point A to point B. Everything was important, and everything was paced well. The word I used earlier was concise, and really that's one of the best ways to describe the plot. It was concise, but it was also elaborate and complicated and it never really stopped.

Which brings me to the end. The ending was not enough for the ending. It felt like there was something else that should have happened. I'm not going to spoil it, but I will say this: I wouldn't have had a problem with it if it had gone straight to part 2 or book 2 or something, but because the book ended where it did, I felt a little like I'd had cold water splashed on me. I would have liked either one more happy thing to happen, to close it up a little, or one more piece of the future plot to be revealed, to give me something specific to look forward to. Now it wasn't nearly as bad as Suzanne Collins's cliffhangers, or Cassandra Clare's chapter-esque endings; in fact it really wasn't bad at all. But I would have liked just one more something. Even a little more interior monologue for closure, or that wrapping-up feeling.

All in all I loved Eve,and will definitely recommend it to anyone ages 13+. There was no language, and not enough sexual content to even call it that (there was a kiss in the snow. Not bad, right?).

This review is copyright Haley Mathiot and Amazon Vine.