Eve

After realizing that I somehow managed never to actually write a review for Eve, I rushed to borrow a copy from the library. Having the sequel, Once, in front of me reminded me that I had a blurry remembrance of events past. I think it's important to let you know that, as a re-read, I had certain biases already. Still, I made sure to clear my mind and just sit down to enjoy a good story. It was time to get lost in a book.

My first impression of the book was, once again, really great. I found myself trapped inside Eve's world. A world of oppression. A stifling world, that is built on a basis of lies and deceit. Even before I reached the climax that I knew was coming, I had already fallen for the world that Anna Carey built for her show more readers. It's hard not to forgive Eve for the way she acts when you see how she was raised. Eve's society brainwashes women into mindless drones. It's terrifying and fascinating all at the same time.

That being said, I was able to feel for Eve a lot more this read through. It's true that she can be selfish, quite often in fact. Remembering her background helped me step past that and enjoy the rest of the story. It's Caleb who really made me fall in love though. Here is a boy that, despite everything else in his world, wants to help a stranger. I'll admit I swooned a bit. After all, who wouldn't fall in love with a guy who is willing to put his life on the line for you? His story, and the stories of the boys he protects, are what really kept me reading on.

The ending broke my heart in two, even though I knew it was coming. If you haven't had a chance to read Eve yet, you should know that there is a heart wrenching cliffhanger. It will make you come back. I promise. So, at the end of the day I actually liked Eve a lot more this time around! Enough to warrant it a whole extra star. Fans of dystopian fiction will fall in love with Anna Carey's new world, and the heart of the story will keep you coming back for more. show less

Eve is the first of a trilogy that yet again proposes a population in need of fertile young girls to be terrorized and captured by rapacious men (aided, unfortunately, by sell-out older women).

Eve is about to graduate from one of the girls-only schools set up in what remains of America, after a plague wiped out ninety percent of the population. The girls at the school believe they are graduating to be part of the rebuilding of the country in the City of Sand, but actually it turns out they are being shunted into forced child-bearing factories. Eve and the friend who enlightened her, Arden, escape before the graduation ceremony.

They discover “the wild” is full of perils, not the least of which is the fact that capturing breeding-age show more women (or “sows”) brings good money on the black market. Eve and Arden have to dodge these bounty-hunters even as they must regularly come out of hiding to scavenge for food. They manage to meet some boys who seem good-hearted, but in a world of anarchy and greed, it is hard to know who is actually trustworthy. Nevertheless, they press on to try to reach Califia, the fabled safe haven “on the other side of the red bridge” by the Pacific Ocean.

Evaluation: The plot is predictable and full of dei ex machina. Eve is impulsive and immature, and not really as likeable as her friend Arden, who is, however, sort of the anti-heroine. The boy Caleb is more of a super-hero with super powers than real, and the boy Lief is so inconsistent as a character that only a diagnosis of schizophrenia for the character would seem to justify his rapid transformations. Nevertheless, this book has positive aspects, lending it the potential of developing into something more nuanced and complex in later volumes. show less

It's 20 years in the future and the vast majority of the populace has been take out by a virus. The vaccination against the virus only aided in the destruction.

The orphans have been rounded up and the boys are in labor camps and the girls are in school. What the girls don't know is that when they graduate they will basically be chained to a bed and forced to go through multiple pregnancies, until they either die or can't get pregnant anymore. What's a girl to do? Why, escape! And that's what Eve does.

This book was absurd! For example, Why would you subject girls to 12 years of schooling if you are only going to chain them up to bed and basically pop litter after litter? What was the point of making Eve the valedictorian? Giving her a show more medal for being the best and the brightest?

Part of the curricula was to teach girls about the evils of men...the only good man being the King...a left over politician from before the virus that was the first to get things moving after the devastation. So when Eve encounters a male of the species she assumes he wants to have sex with her...and she voices it to him. UGH.

Just about everyone that comes into contact with Eve ends up dying...she may have been the best and the brightest at school (best and brightest what I have yet to figure out), but she is incapable of thinking beyond what she wants right this second and the possible effects her decisions have on those around her. Instead of quietly walking away from a baby bear cub she decides to pet it and wonders why the Mama is pissed and chasing after her. REALLY?

Then she gets to the sanctuary she's heard about and finds out it's for women only and she lets the love of her life leave her there and walk away??? Absurd I tell you, especially after everything they have just gone through? I guess there had to be something for Eve to do in the next book. OY! show less

Eve is another entry into the growing world of genre of young adult dystopian literature, but still manages to feel fresh and different despite exploring well-known themes of forbidden love, obeisance, adventure and teens coming-of-age. Written in a strikingly beautiful and haunting style, Eve had me reading let into the night and wanting more.

Eve lives in a perilous future where a deadly virus has wiped out much of humanity, where she and many other young girls are kept in a place known as the School, where they are taught complete obedience to the rulers beyond and that, as women, that must beware all men, lest they be violated in some way. But when Eve discovers the truth about her School and the strange destiny that have in store show more for her, she runs away from the protective world of the School and finds a world she's never imagined, as well as a boy that she's never imagined.

The appropriately-named Eve delivers high-octane action mixed with gorgeously real writing and a unique dystopian world that feels fresh. Most importantly, Eve is an interesting character that will pull readers into the world and genuinely want to learn more about her world and her adventures. Despite the fact that Eve has the shades of the currently over-used love triangle, I still thought the romance sub-plot was still well-done, and it didn't overtake the rest of the novel, which seems like a consistent issues these days with dystopian and other YA novels.

I will point out that Eve did have a few low points. There were times were the action or plot dropped just too far for me, so much so that I found myself shifting uncomfortably at certain points, just wanting the story to get on with it. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to destroy the story, but it still bugged me at times.

But overall, Eve was another excellent YA dystopian novel with subtle beautiful, great writing and fascinating characters. Recommended to anyone who enjoys the genre show less

Eve by Anna Carey gives us a glimpse of the possibility and aftermath of a world-wide plague dystopia filled with tyranny, a corrupt monarch, tragedy, exploitation and SO much more. I love it! I love it! I love it!

I am one of those people who believe in this kind of probability to occur. Face it, there are a lot of things in our day to day lives that can lead to this practical consequence of our unstable and at times impractical endeavors. Which made "Eve" all the more easily relatable and realistically believable.

Anna Carey created a chilling world that draws you in and compels you to read on, daring you to predict what happens next. As well as her talent in character building excels and made the story more engaging. I cried so hard show more for Benny and Silas!

Eve is a strong character but I ran hot and cold on how I feel about her. I understand that she grew up in an all-girls school, sheltered, and was taught to fear/avoid/dispise men, but sometimes she made choices that really disappointed and upset me. She is very smart and can be strong in her own way, but Eve is really the damsel-in-distress. And how the ending played out made me flustered with her. With that said, even though I have my issues with her it's what makes "Eve" all the more enjoyable to read because of it's emotional impact.

Thank you HarperTeen for the ARC & Thank you Anna Carey for an exceptional read!! show less

Man. Oh Man. I was so ANGRY at this book by the time I finished it. Just...ugh. It starts off slow and then builds into a massive trainwreck. The heroine, Eve, makes one bad decision after another after another, gets everyone around her into horrible trouble, says she's sorry, and then does it again. She's supposed to be a real smart girl but you wouldn't know it from the way she acts in EVE.

So we've got a dystopian novel in which earth's population has been wiped out by a horrible plague and efforts to re-build and re-organize are still in their early stages. The plague orphaned Eve and a lot of other kids, who are placed in sex-segregated Schools. Here's the first weird thing: Eve gets some pretty fancy schooling. Like, most private show more schools currently operating right now in the US aren't this fancy - she learns to waltz and play the piano and she's always yammering on about the books she reads, like Anna Karenina and The Great Gatsby and To The Lighthouse. Fancy, right? Yet, for some reason, this very elaborate education is dished out to the orphan girls...so that they can be tied down in hospital beds and forced to bear litters of children for the rest of their lives. It turns out all the orphan girls are "sows" whose sole function in life is to repopulate the earth as quickly as possible.

Now. I could buy some very basic schooling to keep the kids docile until they're of childbearing age. But I can't buy this really elaborate, intensive schooling that lasts all the way until they're 18 (well into those precious peak childbearing years), not when none of the schooling will ever be put to use. It makes no sense. I'm guessing the author was more interested in evoking the hip, dystopian shock of betrayal that Eve feels when she discovers the truth than actually creating a world that makes any logical sense.

And that's just the beginning. Like I said, it gets worse and worse. So next we find out that Eve has been selected to be the King of New America's broodmare. We don't find out what this entails; a special hospital bed? A life of luxury? Eve doesn't care - she is dead set against it no matter what! So suddenly that's our conflict. Once Eve escapes from school, the surprisingly extensive military apparatus of this destroyed, resource-starved country is mobilized to hunt for her, because even though she's a random orphan who's never met the King, she's THE ONE and he will STOP AT NOTHING to find her!

How does this make sense? If the whole point of the orphans and their Schools is how disposable they are, how they're treated like slaves (slaves who read Tolstoy!), it makes no sense for the King to waste resources searching for uppity little Eve.

I could go on. The world makes no sense. Neither does the story. And neither do the characters. Eve somehow manages to become MORE naive as the book goes on. When she meets Caleb, the handsome boy-hero, she's pretty wary of him. Things happen, lots of them bad, like assault and betrayal and attempted rape. These experiences lead Eve to reflect on how horrible and untrustworthy people can be, on how cynical she's become...and then she sees a lit window in the wilderness and runs right toward it, totally convinced that she will find a nice person inside to save her from her troubles. If I could have reached into the novel and slapped her, I would have.

Seriously people. Give this novel a pass. It may be chock-full of literary references (the school for slaves also teaches James Joyce, can you believe it?) but that doesn't make up for the author's lack of actual writing chops. show less

Okay – I don’t know about you, but if my world were falling to pieces, the last thing I’d want to do is get all cuddly with some guy. Eve, apparently, does not share that sentiment.

As I read this book all I could think about was just how selfish this girl is. She leaves people being like crazy, she thinks only of herself and when disasters happen she doesn’t even give those injured or killed by them the courtesy of mourning them. Yes, I understand the need to keep a story going but.. seriously? There’s some really hardcore stuff happening in this book and it’s just glossed over – and if there’s something I really don’t like, it’s characters being created just to be killed off.

I wish I could say glowing things about show more Eve, because the premise was interesting and I was really looking forward to it, but all this book is is a teenage love story with a dystopian/apocolyptic sheer covering over it. show less