Book Review: Eve

Title: Eve by Anna Carey

Release Date: Oct. 4, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 336 pages
Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction
Rating: 3.5 stars
Source: Publisher

Goodreads Summary: 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.

I love dystopian/apocalyptic novels and Eve is a good addition to the genre. After a virus destroys most of the population, the US has reverted to a monarchy form of government and is slowly working to rebuild the population and civilization.

Eve, an orphan, attends an isolated girls’ school where the students are well educated and taken care of. She is pretty, smart, the head of her class and looking forward to attending university to learn a trade and move to the wonderful City of Sand, a utopia-like place she has only heard about. Eve and her classmates are indoctrinated to believe that men and love are bad and can only hurt you. As a result of spending the majority of her life in this school, she is extremely sheltered and naïve.

Much of the story takes place in the wild and I enjoyed the world that Anna Carey built. It’s always interesting to wonder what the world would look like if civilization fell apart and the author did a great job creating that apocalyptic desolation and decay. I adored Caleb’s character and how Eve grows to trust and love him. I did, however, spent much of the novel wanting Eve to take more control of her own situation but I realize that her going from street dumb to a street smart, kick-butt kind of girl in a matter of a few weeks would be unrealistic. There is room for her character to grow and become stronger and I look forward to it.

The book does end with a cliffhanger and I will definitely be reading the sequel. This is a good start to what I hope will be an exciting new series!

Content: Kissing and violence.