Eve
by Anna Carey
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. (Goodreads summary)
I started this book fully convinced I was going to give it a negative/mediocre review. I guess that is why one should never form their opinion until they have given it a chance. My goodness did I enjoy this book. By the end, I only had one problem -- it was too short!
Eve was quick paced and exciting from the start of page one. I felt the beginning was a little rushed, but as the story progressed I understood the immediacy of it all. It became an aspect I really liked. However, I would have preferred it written in present tense to add a heightened tension.
As a narrator, I enjoyed Eve. She wallowed when it was appropriate, was endearingly naive, and learned how to cope at a realistic rate. Her world was dreary and bleak, yet she had enough strength to fight through and to keep going even when it got bleaker. I never felt like pulling her hair and saying, "wah, wah get over it." She picked herself up, and I admired her for it.
Then there is Caleb. I have this attachment to the name Caleb ever since reading Steinbeck's East of Eden. Caleb Trask is undoubtedly my favorite character of all time. (If you have never read this book then you must.) Thus, I place a lot of pressure on boys named Caleb. And this one -- dreadlocks, light green eyes, and broad shoulders -- he lived up to his name. Not only was he adorably wild, he was also adorably kind. And the descriptions of their cute romance literally made my heart swell and gave me chills. I felt the emotions of love, trust and companionship alongside them.
More than the plot of this book, I loved the chracters. And the supporting cast helped supply meaning to the story. The little boys and girls orphaned and forced into labor painted the world with dark colors. The little boys weren't even taught how to read! Break my heart cute. It was like in Peter Pan when he brought Wendy to the lost boys so she could read to them and teach them about love.
In a world where a plague has destroyed lives, we are given a front row seat to the journey of those striving to find a better one. And there is no journey better than the individual search for a better life that leads to a united fight for a better world.
No comments:
Post a Comment