REVIEW: Eve (Eve #1) by Anna Carey

 

Author: Anna Carey

Series: Eve

Pages:

Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian

Publisher: HarperTeen

Amazon: Eve

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, 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 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.

REVIEW: 3 out of 5 stars

In Anna Carey’s dystopian world a plague has wiped out most of the worlds population. The year is 2032, our main protagonist Eve was orphaned as a child when her mother died from the deadly virus so she ended up at one of the many gender based schools where the teachings are top-notch but also focuses on them despising and distrusting all men. Eve is a bright, beautiful and talented student who on the eve of her graduation finds out the truth about what her future will hold and it is certainly not what she has been led to believe so with the help of a teacher, leaves her close friends behind and escapes.

Her journey is long and treacherous but eventually she comes across Arden, another escapee from her school and travels with her in the hopes of finding a place known as Califia.

Along the way, she meets a group of rogue men, including Caleb who is nothing like what she has believed and she soon starts to trust that he will look out for her. We also learn that while the females are groomed to breed, the men are forced into labor, all by a king who rules in the City of Sand which unfortunately we don’t learn a lot about.

Eve ends up on the run and in hiding after learning she has been selected by the King to bear his children - I was eager to learn why she had been chosen but we don’t find this out and she ends up having to evade his military men time and time again.

Eve is a rather helpless and naïve, I was cringing with a few things she spoke out loud; the life she was led to lead certainly didn’t come across in most of her mannerisms and behavior. I found it hard to connect with her; she lacked the strength and determination I tend to love in my main heroines and seemed to rely too heavily on others. In some aspects she was take charge (teaching the young boys to read) but in others too reckless (sending out a radio message).

We get a small glimpse of love interest Caleb and his past, I don’t feel we know enough about him to really get a good grasp of the type of person he is but I am eager to see how this relationship will pan out or even if he will be a part of Eve’s future??

Ms Carey’s description of New America was certainly vivid in the imagery, you could get a glimpse of what things would be like, the ruins and abandonment of the houses and cars are what you would expect within this world as was their new way of living – hunting for food, finding clean drinking water and even having amenities needed for daily hygiene, it would be a scary way to live.

What I found to be confusing in Eve was why the girls were given such elaborate, formal education when all they were going to do upon graduation was breed, this aspect just didn’t make sense to me. I was also curious about why the genders were still segregated (in the wild) outside of the schools.

We get a small glimpse of the secondary characters although I found the development of each to be lacking. I especially liked Arden; she is the sort of heroine I love! Kick-butt, sarcastic and rebellious, she knows what she wants and she goes for it, I hope we see more of her in the sequel.

What an ending! Definitely not what I had expected but I am keen to see the outcome and what will come of Caleb and Eve.

Whilst Eve wasn’t one of my most favorite Dystopians, the premise was certainly appealing and it was an enjoyable read none the less. It is certainly a unique and fascinating world Ms Carey has created but there was just something lacking for me and it fell short.

There are a lot of unanswered questions in Eve that I am curious to find out so I will be reading the sequel.

 

Obtained: Amazon for Kindle