Review: Eve (Eve #1) by Anna Carey

Eve (Eve #1)
by Anna Carey

Published December 1st 2011 by HarperCollins

Where do you go when nowhere is safe?

After a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth's population, the world is a terrifying 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 bright future in 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 Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Caleb slowly wins her trust . . . and her heart. But when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: December 1st 2011

Publisher:  HarperTeen

Format: paperback, 318 pages 

Series: yes

Source: my own copy

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When I first started reading Eve, I had no idea what it was about. I had just reached over to my pile of unread books and it was sitting there, so I grabbed it.

It's not 'Oh, my, this is fantastic, everybody should read this before they die, here's a copy', but it is a good, intense read. A little silly and slow at times, sure, (I mean, this IS YA), but the whole post-apocalyptical situation is so terrifying and aggravating, Eve's world so indignant, and the action scenes so... 'heart-racing', that it becomes well balanced. :)

I'm strange about the books I keep and the ones I trade, but this one... well, this one I'll keep. It's not a 5 stars book on the whole, mind you, but for a few excellent scenes... it gets very close to it. I get the feeling Anna Carey could do so much better, but that maybe she held back sometimes because she wanted it to become a YA book... her violent scenes are so... no-nonsense and clear and disgustingly real, they're blood-curdling in their simplicity. I think she would make an AMAZING Adult writer. Really. Here's hoping, right?

That scene with the pregnant students tied down... yeesh. >.< *shudders* It still resurfaces in my mind randomly. And I've read it over a month ago. O.o I can also still recall the almost-rape scene... the yellowish color of the evil man's teeth... how sweet the the orphan boys were. You see? It's about the little things, the very well-written few parts that suck you in! But there can't be that many of those, because it's supposed to be for young audiences... and, really, JUST 318 pages? I though this kind of books normally could go up to 368 pages, or am I wrong? I am aware this is a series, however, I feel the story could have been slightly improved in those 50 more possible pages... 

The romance was cute and light, not insta-love, which is a certain plus... friendship was also nicely dealt with in Eve, and so was jealousy and betrayal. I can't wait to read Once and Rise. I am really looking forward to learning more about this weird, evil King that forces young girls to study for years straight only to tie them down and get them pregnant until they die of exhaustion and/or childbirth. I mean, seriously? How freaking mean and black-hearted can you possibly be? If you only want them as 'sows' for reproduction, why make them study so hard and hope for the future so bad? Like that'll make better babies! ... Or maybe he does it so they'll have something to occupy their brilliant minds with while they're tied down and knocked-up for the twentieth time, so they won't break so quickly? I don't know.... >.> Like I said, Carey is the boss here. ;P

Have you read Eve? What did you enjoy the most about it? If you haven't read it, do you feel like reading it?