Eve - Anna Carey

Title: Eve
Author: Anna Carey
Release Date: October 4th, 2011, hardcover

Publisher: HarperTeen
Group: Young Adult Literature
Rating:★★★

 
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.

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Eve had a lot of potential and promise. The idea of the story is very creepy and awful to imagine. Eve is one of the orphans after the plague killed her mother and almost all of the population in the world. She has grown up believing in the dangers of men and knowing that after she graduates she will be able to learn a trade and move into the city. However, this is all a lie that she has been told. She learns that after she graduates, she will be used to help populate the New America and won't be able to do anything else with her life.

I don't know what it was, but I thought the story was boring and dull. This could be because I just finished the amazingly wonderful "Divergent by Veronica Roth" before I read this. So my expectations were kind of high for this novel. The cover looks absolutely gorgeous and I was pulled in from the first line in the summary, but that is where my fascination stopped. I didn't like the main heroine Eve. She was weak and naive, which I understood, but I just love fierce strong characters to read from. I also found the story almost kind of cheesy, and no, this wasn't the good kind of cheese that I like. The whole idea of the King is almost laughable along with the whole idea of the Sand City.

While the pacing of the story is fast paced and easy to read, I found myself rolling my eyes at some parts in the story. It just seemed weird that she would point out a Wal Mart and Winnie the Pooh, when she should be more concerned about her life and getting to Califa. We get to meet Eve's love interest, Caleb, a couple chapters into the story. He was sweet and nice, but that was all that I felt about him. I also didn't like the "insta-love" between the two characters. It would have been nice if the relationship could have started out slow and not rushed into.

The only thing that I absolutely loved about this book was Arden. She was a great character! I know that we haven't seen the last of her yet. I can't wait to see what will happen with her in the next book. I wish the story could have been told from her point of view.

Overall, this book just didn't do anything for me. I feel really bad about writing a bad review because I actually wanted to love this book. I am sad that I am disappointed with the story, but there isn't much I can do about that. I do plan on reading the sequels to the books; just too see what does happen to the characters in the end.

Plot: ★★★★

Characters: ★★★

Writing:★★

Ending: ★★

Cover: ★★★★★