The Reader's Shire - Book Reviews

Book Review: Eve

Title: Eve
Author: Anna Carey
Series: Eve #1
Genres: Young Adult Dystopian fiction.
Format: eBook
Length: 301 pages.
Publication date: March 13, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Goodreads Avg. Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

DNF @ 64%

"Sometimes, it feels like all the things I need to know, I don't."

That's it. No more YA Dystopias for Ayesha. Maybe if I read this book three to four years ago, I might have genuinely liked it but it's obvious that I'm no longer the target audience because I've completely outgrown this genre. I'm sick of this repetitive writing formula which most YA Dystopias have:

A deadly plague + an annoying  heroine + a handsome male (sometimes, athletic) love interest + a way too predictable plot + zero world building + futuristic America + an evil government + some rebellious group.

This book is literally screaming, "I'm a typical YA Dystopian book! Love me, fangirls!". It's mostly romance driven and boring with a shit plot, mediocre writing and mostly nothing happening during the first 15 chapters. There's absolutely nothing interesting or almost original about it apart from one character by the name of Arden (who should've been the main character) and the promising premise, hence, the two stars. 

So, a boarding school where girls are taught to fear boys and romantic relationships, study classes like, "Dangers of Men", always be obedient and meek, maintain the perfect health and stay pretty... just for the sake of breeding more children for a sexist and corrupt society? Pretty clever and ominous. Heck, there are still some cultures in this generation who possess similar mentalities. I found the parallels and the contrast quite intricate which is pretty much why I had high expectations. 

I'll admit I liked Eve at the beginning. While she had those obvious Mary Sue characteristics, I excused them because she was still quite flawed. We have a lot of heroines who easily blend into the new "living in the woods" lifestyle which is sometimes quite unrealistic. But we had this girl who, after learning about her school's unforgivable secret and escaping her seemingly easy and organised life, expected an easy route to her safe haven. And then suddenly being hit with the bitter reality -  realizing her useless "book smartness", being shown her zero practical skills - inability to hunt, swim, fish - and the biggest surprise of them all: discovering that perhaps, all men aren't exactly manipulative, sex-deprived and greedy sociopaths. 

"What sort of funny songs?"
"My balls are sweating my balls are sweating I can't keep my balls from sweating ohhh no."
"How is that funny?" I asked.
"As in the balls of your feet?"
"No, it's like this thing..... Never mind," he said.

Eve was an idealist. She was innocent and  awfully naive (and didn't know it) but frankly, I found it quite amusing and realistic at first. Maybe if I had been taught to despise men, maybe if I had been brought up with no male interaction, I might have had the "all-men-are-rapists" stereotype too. Maybe I wouldn't have known what balls are either.

At the beginning, she was not very thrilled with relying on the gender she immensely mistrusted and desperately wanted to leave. But even then, she was eager to cooperate, to be of use. At first, she maintained that mistrust, that cold civility towards every guy...but then all of a sudden, she's falling in love and can't get enough of some guy. Suddenly, this book is all about love.

I had once read, in one of those pre-plague books in the library, that love was bearing witness. That it was the act of watching someone's life, of simply being there to say: you're life is worth seeing.

Love was death's only adversary, the only thing powerful enough to combat its clawing, desperate grasp.

You can love anyone. Love is just caring about someone very deeply. Feeling like that person matters to you, like your whole world would be sadder without them in it.

Loving someone meant knowing your life will be worse without them in it

Love, love, love!!! I suppose there aren't big hopes of liking a book if you're unable to connect with the main character. In two words, I can summarize Eve's unlikable personality: Mary sue. That's what she mostly was. She got excellent grades, was a model student, teacher's pet, the school's valedictorian, the popular girl, exceptionally pretty, wanted by the King and awfully full of herself.

“What do you mean ‘I’m not your type’?” I asked.

The plague had killed far more females than males. As one of the few women in The New America, especially an educated, civilized woman, I’d always supposed I was every man’s type.

The boy glanced at me once and shrugged. “Eh,” he muttered.

Eh? I was intelligent, I worked hard. I was told I was beautiful. I was Eve, the valedictorian of School. And all he could say was, Eh?

Come on, everyone! Let's bow down to Princess Eve, the flawless Valedictorian!

So, after getting that schoolgirl crush, she suddenly stops caring about anything else. Her life suddenly begins revolving around him which is bullshit, if you ask me. If I had been taught to hate men, I wouldn't automatically fall for the first guy I meet. And to add insult to injury, when he tells her that she must leave for her safety and everyone else's, she turns into a whiny asshole - "blah blah my teacher was right about men" "blah blah he broke my heart!". Well, guess what, you naive little girl? He's right. He owes you nothing for putting himself and his group first. Get over yourself.

And where was the girl power? These girls had spent their whole life in the company of only females. You would've expected them to have grown a mutual respect and appreciation for each other, but no. The angsty girl-on-girl hate was everywhere. And what for, exactly? For being more rebellious. For not being "lady-like". For getting bad or better grades. For being more prettier, smarter and likable. It was pathetic.

If you're thinking along the lines of, "As if you're not guilty of this!", then you're right. I'm probably guilty too but while I love reading books which are realistic, I wouldn't mind something which is possible, something good which I don't see much. I already witness enough ugliness in this world so I don't want extra helpings from books too. I want my books to be something positive. I don't mind feeling inspired by my characters. I don't mind things which are a little out of the norm.

This book was just not for me. If you're new to this genre, if you've recently read and liked books like Divergent, Shatter Me, Delirium, The Maze Runner then please ignore my review. Pretend like you never saw it. This book will probably end up becoming a favourite. If you haven't but still liked this book, do let me know if it gets better but even then, chances of me liking this one are pretty slim.

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