Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Eve (Eve #1)

by Anna Carey (Goodreads Author)

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 12,822 ratings · 1,847 reviews

Where do you go when nowhere is safe?

Sixteen years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth's population, the world is a perilous 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 future as the teachers and artists of the New America. But the night before g...more

Hardcover, 318 pages

Published October 4th 2011 by HarperCollins

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Young Adult Dystopian Novels

40th out of 175 books — 903 voters

2011 October YA Releases

4th out of 52 books — 78 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 06, 2013 Kira rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, ya, i-ll-try-again-some-day, lost-the-will-to-live, made-no-sense

Yee gods, what a boring book. I literally felt my life fading away as I read it. It's not as if the prose is bad (because it isn't!) and it's not like the cover is ugly (because it isn't!) and it's not as if it's another Twilight (because it isn't!)...

But there's only so far you can go when you hate every single one of the characters.

I'll try again some day, kittens.

A Little Notie: Before, I said it's not like the plotline is crap, but actually, it is. I retract my earlier statement. The world-b...more

like 71 likes · see review

Jul 22, 2011 Jo rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-review, ya, things-are-rotten-in-the-state-of-d, oh-come-on, own

”He was a strange breed of man, part wild. Not the sophisticated kind who graced the pages of The Great Gatsby. Nor did he seem like the violent man I’d encountered on my first day in the wild. He had saved me, at least. I could only hope that it wasn’t for some nefarious purpose.”

High Points.
The idea…. I know people will be like ‘B-b-but it’s exactly the same as The Handmaid’s Tale’… but I’ve never read it sooo… I think Ms Carey did a great job at setting up this idea and it was incredibly cree...more

like 108 likes · see review

Jan 21, 2012 Steph Sinclair rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Not sure, but I enjoyed it

Recommended to Steph by: I did

Shelves: dystopian, ebook, it-wasn-t-all-that-but-enjoyable, all-the-wrong-choices, what-kind-of-ending-was-that, 2012-reads, quarterly-challenge-4-december-20, could-have-been-better, heroines-i-want-to-shake, poor-world-building, surprised-me

One of the first questions I ask myself when I'm reading a dystopian novel is, "Could I ever live in this world?" I can easily answer no for Eve. I can see this book having two distinctive effects on people: horrifying them and completely turning them off or intriguing them just enough to keep them reading. I'm happy to say I fell in the latter category.

Eve lives in a world that has been devastated by a deadly Plague leaving countless children orphans. As a result, the country is in disorder and...more

like 30 likes · see review

Dec 03, 2011 Reynje rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia, e-book-kindle, not-for-me, read-2011, young-adult, no-bff-charm-for-you

Instant Dystopia: Now With 50% Less Logic!

Start with your randomly selected future date at room temperature. Add an ambiguous Plague (capitalised is best). Stir briefly to create a drastic population reduction, thereby ensuring wombs are a hot commodity in your new society. Heavily indoctrinate your characters to keep them in line and create exploitative scenarios, especially for teenagers. Insert an Improbable and Unexplained System of Government.

Got Plausibility Problems? Just add Romance! (I...more

like 134 likes · see review

Nov 10, 2012 Blythe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, 2012-reads, cried-my-eyes-out, exceeded-my-expectations, gimme-the-next-book, hand-me-some-tissues, i-totally-saw-that-coming, judge-a-book-by-the-cover, surprised-i-didn-t-hate-it, read-reviewed, 2012-favorites

To say that Eve surprised me would be a massive, massive understatement. The only reason I picked up this book to begin with was because I have an ARC of Once, Eve's sequel, sitting around, and I felt bad for neglecting it. I had fairly low expectations before going into Eve, and quite honestly, I expected my rating at the end to be at most two or three stars, after reading some of the negative reviews that almost assured I would have a similar experience.

And I think it may be because of those...more

like 27 likes · see review

Aug 10, 2011 Mara rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, apocalyptic, dystopian, young-adult

Eve essentially dooms itself from the very get go after quoting Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, immediately drawing up unfair comparisons to what is definitively a better book inhabiting the same genre Eve happens to occupy.

So about fifteen years ago a plague wipes out most of humanity but, as so often happens with these things, proves inefficient in taking out the crazies. America is a body-littered hull of its former self. Now a monarchy called New America and headquartered in the desert...more Eve essentially dooms itself from the very get go after quoting Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, immediately drawing up unfair comparisons to what is definitively a better book inhabiting the same genre Eve happens to occupy.

So about fifteen years ago a plague wipes out most of humanity but, as so often happens with these things, proves inefficient in taking out the crazies. America is a body-littered hull of its former self. Now a monarchy called New America and headquartered in the desert somewhere, most of the civilized populace live high on the backs of orphans, who breed their babies and build their cities. Probably they don't know about this. But maybe they do. Who knows. The world building is sketchy, and we're left to figure it out through the eyes of the orphans who've escaped their misery.

Eve and Arden are nearly 18, about to graduate from the School (handily named with its geographic coordinates), where they've been taught the finer things about 19th century literature and how men only exist to rape, pillage, and force women into "domestic enslavement." This is all for naught. As we all know, this is just a way to make us extra horrified when we learn the girls are only graduating to a life of forced baby making. That evil, evil dystopia! Spending precious resources educating girls and making them think they have a future that isn't being strapped down and introduced to artificial insemination. This is shocking. Shocking.

So anyway, after Eve almost drowns herself trying to get to the island where the baby making happens (somehow...she can't swim and then suddenly she's swimming, so it's clearly a miracle) she is freed from the School by a kindly teacher and released into the jungles of California. There she stumbles around and runs into Arden, who had the sense to escape from the School by herself. Arden has parents, so why the hell she was even at the School to begin with is questionable.

There's more bumbling around as Eve desperately clings to Arden, since she literally cannot take care of herself. Naturally she comes across a baby Grizzly and, comparing it to Winnie the Pooh (literally), she discovers what Mama Grizzlies are like. Naturally this is the moment for the dashing hero to ride up on his black steed (literally) and save the day. Eve reacts by fearing he might be staring at her breasts and bluntly informs him he will not be having intercourse with her. The hero is amused, because he's so going to have intercourse with her. For a girl who's been indoctrinated against men (again, for seemingly no reason) Eve's a little too easily flustered by a cute boy. Cue romance.

Random gallivanting around in the woods and running from the King commences. People learn to read and there's delightful objectification of women and there might have been a rape attempt and even more delightful victim blaming. Whatever. It's a dystopia! Then it randomly ends after a lot of bloody death and violence, demanding we pick up the second book, and then probably the third, if we are ever to figure out what's going on. So, hurrah?

I'm giving this two stars because I didn't stop reading it halfway through. I managed to skim to the end, amazed as I was by Eve's musings over her hyper-misandric perspectives on literature. I think I was offended, but I couldn't tell if I should be taking these feelings seriously. Maybe this is more like a one and a half star, that little half star accounting mainly for attracting my morbid curiosity. (less)

like 26 likes · see review

Jul 16, 2011 Isamlq rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-galley

2.5/5

There's potential here, but what comes to mind right now is Handmaid's Tale, even Wither. Except Eve is a pale version of those. Where all three possess elements of a society being rebuilt on the backs of unwanted, Eve lacks the deeper emotions and awareness that Handmaid's has; it also lacks the seamless, lush writing that Wither possesses. That said, Eve isn't a bad story despite some of the clumsy dialogue and sudden/abrupt shifts because right now it feels like to ended too soon.

Eve's...more 2.5/5

There's potential here, but what comes to mind right now is Handmaid's Tale, even Wither. Except Eve is a pale version of those. Where all three possess elements of a society being rebuilt on the backs of unwanted, Eve lacks the deeper emotions and awareness that Handmaid's has; it also lacks the seamless, lush writing that Wither possesses. That said, Eve isn't a bad story despite some of the clumsy dialogue and sudden/abrupt shifts because right now it feels like to ended too soon.

Eve's story starts where most stories like these do: a girl relatively happy (and ignorant) with how things are. But that's quick to change because after seeing how things are going to be, she runs... and finds herself in a place where she does not know what to do, with a vague goal of getting somewhere else.

And I think this is where my problems with Eve start. Everything is so vague. Her world, her history is bare, I knew little of it and what little that is known is still too bare (for my liking.) That after a plague destroyed nearly everything, rebuilding was done mainly through those orphaned. That while girls were broodmares, boys labored. That while they toiled, a new City was built, protected by soldiers of a New America. Of course there were those too old or too opposed, but we got little exposure of them. In the end? I simply wanted to see more than Caleb and Eve's love develop (which did develop. And I'm not saying that this development was a bad thing becasue, at least there was something tackled beyond a glance.)

World building is thin. Like Eve, we no little of what was and know even less about what is. Character development also leaves a lot desired. Both these could have been tackled a bit more. The parts that are absolutely clear is that there's a girl on the run with a boy who knows a bit more than she does. Their companionship goes to the next stage. A lot of chasing and an ending that's not happy but designed to push through to the sequel. As I said, while Eve is far from perfect, there's potential here, so much so that I'm likely to read the rest.

*Thanks NetGalley!(less)

like 13 likes · see review

Sep 30, 2011 H.D. Tolson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I got this book courtesy of the NetGalley Program, and have been itching to read Eve by Anna Carey ever since I read the plot. Romeo and Juliet meets The Hunger Games, I had high hopes for this book.

Nowadays, there are a ton of dystopian books for young adults trying their best to top the trilogy that is The Hunger Games. A lot of the books I have read are really great, and don’t try desperately to become the next big thing.

Sadly, Eve is not one of those books. It makes the mistakes that many...more I got this book courtesy of the NetGalley Program, and have been itching to read Eve by Anna Carey ever since I read the plot. Romeo and Juliet meets The Hunger Games, I had high hopes for this book.

Nowadays, there are a ton of dystopian books for young adults trying their best to top the trilogy that is The Hunger Games. A lot of the books I have read are really great, and don’t try desperately to become the next big thing.

Sadly, Eve is not one of those books. It makes the mistakes that many dystopian books make nowadays. I was so anxious about this book, I requested it a bunch of times before I finally got approved. I tore into the novel, and noticed one thing that was a big problem: the pace.
In just the first three chapters Eve and her journey has taken off drastically. There is zilch thought process; there is not a moment where you can see that Eve is struggling to make a decision. I really like a book to be big because that means that the author does not rush the actions and the character development, it means that the scenes are not jerky. But sadly, this book is everything I didn’t want in the pacing of a story.

Part of problems with the pacing is that Eve is one of the most two-dimensional protagonists ever, and she changes so rapidly it’s unbelievable.

I found myself laughing because Eve is so easy to change, so easy to believe a person she hasn’t liked for all her life. I’d think she wouldn’t be so quick to escape when she’s so happy, when she’s succeeding. Why would ONE person change her entire thought process? Well, I sure didn’t know, and I don’t think Anna Carey did either. One minute, Eve loves Pip and Ruby and her life. She’s all perfect and is valedictorian. Then, after one conversation that lasts for half a page with some girl she’s hated for years, she’s questioning everything and escaping to nowhere in particular.
A pet peeve of mine is when a character in a book is so quick to change their mind set after having thoughts and beliefs drilled into their minds for their whole lives.

The second thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was Eve’s personality. It’s not very good whenever you don’t like the main character of a story, but sadly it happened in this book. Eve is selfish and egotistic throughout the book. She literally says that she is surprised how her love-interest treats her, and then she says: I am Eve, I am valedictorian, I am amazing, I am oh-so-holy-oh-so-special Eve…

She’s annoying and whiny; she’s everything that a protagonist in a book should not be. And yet she catches the attention of all the guys. Why would Caleb like this whiny, helpless girl who is all stuck-up, because I sure wouldn’t!

Why does this book get three stars, you’re wondering, after I’ve pointed out negative after negative? Because at the 130 page mark the book takes a turn for the better. I didn’t realize until the last page that Anna had done something right. She’d moved the plot along and added characters where characters were due. Everything became high-stakes and there was a goal taking form. The story was at least bearably readable.

In the end, Eve is the biggest disappointment I have had so far in 2011. It had so much potential to enchant us with a compelling world and a great protagonist, but Anna took the wrong route and made all the worst mistakes. She makes a world that is thinly created and implausible, she makes a cast of characters that are bipolar, characters that change their opinions after one little thing happens. She makes a plot that seems to string along and delivers a climax that is so rushed and disappointing I had to reread it a couple of times to make sure she wasn’t just kidding.

I'm still troubled by this book. I've re-read my review ten times wondering if i'm being too harsh, thinking: "She has talent, but it just doesn't show..." Eve will be recieved well by some, it has been recieved well by some, but this is not a strong story that makes you sob like SHATTER ME or other A plus dystopians. It's kind of like a middle-grade dystopian, venturing into a slightly YA theme of forced pregnancy.

I will read the next book in the series, because Anna’s writing style is very good, she has good imagery and she does a good job of disturbing the reader, but she needs to learn about constructing a dystopian world, and making a good, fleshed out cast of characters.(less)

like 5 likes · see review

Oct 11, 2011 Naru rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, au-or-futuristic, dystopian-apocalyptic, contemp-romance, young-adult

I have been waiting to read this book in what feels like forever, so you can imagine how excited I was when it finally arrived in the mail today!

Eve is set in a post-apocalyptic world that turned dystopian during the rebuild. After a plague wipes out the majority of the population, orphans are being sent to schools (girls) and labour camps (boys). It is at the school for girls, a school which supposedly "educates" them for their future, that Eve's story begins.

And what a story!

This book was enth...more

like 5 likes · see review

Jan 24, 2012 Megan marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Never, ever , ever put a review from Lauren Kate on the front cover of your book.

Ever.

'cause I'm pretty sure she would find looking at a wall a fabulous, fast paced , gripping event. And if not? then she could always go write an actual book worth reading.

Despite your stupid mistake Anna Carey, I will give your book a try. Maybe I will actually like it, I mean the idea is obviously there.

But to be honest?

Anything Lauren Kate finds good, I will probably end up wanting to throw it in fire amon...more

like 12 likes · see review

Aug 24, 2011 Madame X rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: awful-do-not-read, ya-or-teen-protagonist, post-apocalyptic-or-dystopian, weak-heroine

Man. Oh Man. I was so ANGRY at this book by the time I finished it. Just...ugh. It starts off slow and then builds into a massive trainwreck. The heroine, Eve, makes one bad decision after another after another, gets everyone around her into horrible trouble, says she's sorry, and then does it again. She's supposed to be a real smart girl but you wouldn't know it from the way she acts in EVE.

So we've got a dystopian novel in which earth's population has been wiped out by a horrible plague and e...more Man. Oh Man. I was so ANGRY at this book by the time I finished it. Just...ugh. It starts off slow and then builds into a massive trainwreck. The heroine, Eve, makes one bad decision after another after another, gets everyone around her into horrible trouble, says she's sorry, and then does it again. She's supposed to be a real smart girl but you wouldn't know it from the way she acts in EVE.

So we've got a dystopian novel in which earth's population has been wiped out by a horrible plague and efforts to re-build and re-organize are still in their early stages. The plague orphaned Eve and a lot of other kids, who are placed in sex-segregated Schools. Here's the first weird thing: Eve gets some pretty fancy schooling. Like, most private schools currently operating right now in the US aren't this fancy - she learns to waltz and play the piano and she's always yammering on about the books she reads, like Anna Karenina and The Great Gatsby and To The Lighthouse. Fancy, right? Yet, for some reason, this very elaborate education is dished out to the orphan girls...so that they can be tied down in hospital beds and forced to bear litters of children for the rest of their lives. It turns out all the orphan girls are "sows" whose sole function in life is to repopulate the earth as quickly as possible.

Now. I could buy some very basic schooling to keep the kids docile until they're of childbearing age. But I can't buy this really elaborate, intensive schooling that lasts all the way until they're 18 (well into those precious peak childbearing years), not when none of the schooling will ever be put to use. It makes no sense. I'm guessing the author was more interested in evoking the hip, dystopian shock of betrayal that Eve feels when she discovers the truth than actually creating a world that makes any logical sense.

And that's just the beginning. Like I said, it gets worse and worse. So next we find out that Eve has been selected to be the King of New America's broodmare. We don't find out what this entails; a special hospital bed? A life of luxury? Eve doesn't care - she is dead set against it no matter what! So suddenly that's our conflict. Once Eve escapes from school, the surprisingly extensive military apparatus of this destroyed, resource-starved country is mobilized to hunt for her, because even though she's a random orphan who's never met the King, she's THE ONE and he will STOP AT NOTHING to find her!

How does this make sense? If the whole point of the orphans and their Schools is how disposable they are, how they're treated like slaves (slaves who read Tolstoy!), it makes no sense for the King to waste resources searching for uppity little Eve.

I could go on. The world makes no sense. Neither does the story. And neither do the characters. Eve somehow manages to become MORE naive as the book goes on. When she meets Caleb, the handsome boy-hero, she's pretty wary of him. Things happen, lots of them bad, like assault and betrayal and attempted rape. These experiences lead Eve to reflect on how horrible and untrustworthy people can be, on how cynical she's become...and then she sees a lit window in the wilderness and runs right toward it, totally convinced that she will find a nice person inside to save her from her troubles. If I could have reached into the novel and slapped her, I would have.

Seriously people. Give this novel a pass. It may be chock-full of literary references (the school for slaves also teaches James Joyce, can you believe it?) but that doesn't make up for the author's lack of actual writing chops.
(less)

like 37 likes · see review

May 10, 2012 Terri ♥ (aka Mrs. Christian Grey) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Quick review

Cover: Interesting
Rating PG
Thumbs Up 3.5
Overall: Frustrating.
Characters: Well written
Plot: Certainly interesting
Page Turner: Kind of
Series Cont.? Maybe
Recommend Maybe
Book Boyfriend: Caleb

SUMMARY (50 words or less)

Eve's story was different and compelling. Even though there were trouble points in the story/writing at times, I find myself interested enough to read more. My heart wrenched at the end and I have to say, Eve wasn't my favorite person at that point.

To see my full revi...more

like 11 likes · see review

May 09, 2013 Scott Pilgrim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, dystopia-post-apocalyptic, packaged

Check out my blog for reviews, giveaways, and more!
"Love is just...feeling like that person matters to you, like your whole would be sadder without them in it."

I bought Eve on my kindle a while ago when it was on sale at Amazon. For some reason it was just sitting there unread until recently when I was in class dying of boredom. I was so bored in school so I decided to read Eve on my computer's Kindle app. Thank you to my teachers for inspiring me to read Eve because I enjoyed this book! (T...more

like 2 likes · see review

Nov 27, 2011 Abigail rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you go through the other reviews, then you can figure out that his is a disutopian novel about Eve, who runs away from her all-girls school.

(If I see anyone compare this to The Handmaid's Tale, I'm going to go, "Bitch, don't even go there.")

Now, I can get why Eve is so inept at basically every decision-making aspect of her life post-school. She (and pretty much every other student in the school) has been brainwashed into believing lies issued by the King. However, that doesn't excuse most of...more

like 6 likes · see review

Nov 05, 2011 Mimi Valentine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Rating: 3.5

It's no secret that I have a weakness for super-cool dystopian novels, so I knew I had to read Eve from the moment I heard about it — and I'm glad I did! Considering its insane competition, it's not the best dystopian I've ever read but it was still really enjoyable!

Anna Carey did an awesome job with making the world believable in that awful, gut-wrenching sort of way, which is so important in a dystopian book! It was gritty and dirty and full of such selfish people. Some parts actua...more

like 4 likes · see review

Aug 03, 2012 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: apocalyptic-or-post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, ya, 2012

This review shares a lot of early plot detail you might not want to know before reading the book.

On the eve of her graduation from School, Eve believes a golden future awaits her. At the top of her class, awarded the Medal of Achievement, she looks across the lake to the high blank wall of the building next door, where she and all the other girls at School will live for four years while they learn the trade of their choice, making them into contributing citizens for the King's City of Sand in Ne...more

like 9 likes · see review

Nov 22, 2011 Janus Vielle (The Blair Book Project) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-paperback

Eve has caught me by surprise. I did not expect to like this book.

When I first heard of Eve, there were a lot of speculations about it; lots of mixed reviews so I really didn’t know how to perceive Eve.

What I like about this book is how straightforward the approach is. The author, Anna Carey, tells the story, it was definitely direct to the point. No detours and side stories that are not deemed relevant to the characters’ journey.

I also commend Carey’s way of creating a post-apocalyptic world th...more

like 3 likes · see review

Nov 06, 2011 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: signed-arcs, books-i-own, own-arc

Overall I enjoyed reading this one, and I’m really interested to see how the rest of the trilogy plays out.

Things that I liked. The characterization was great. Eve, though grated my nerves at times, was very well portrayed as were Arden and Caleb. Even the minor characters such as the boys from the dugout or the couple from the safe house were realistically portrayed and fleshed out characters. I love reading stories where the characters feel like real people. The characters in Eve are just tha...more

like 3 likes · see review

Oct 24, 2011 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3.5
*low whistle* WOW. There is quite a bit of ragging on this book here.
I did a naughty thing. I picked this book to read, then looked at the reviews here. And did I ever TAINT my own mind!
So I immediately started off wanting to hate it and call it misogynistic. But guess what? I actually DIDN'T hate it!

Okay, so it's not the Mona Lisa of YA, but really, I don't think it deserves the one and two star ratings.

Here's the biggest thing to remember about this dystopian world:
The role of women in this...more 3.5
*low whistle* WOW. There is quite a bit of ragging on this book here.
I did a naughty thing. I picked this book to read, then looked at the reviews here. And did I ever TAINT my own mind!
So I immediately started off wanting to hate it and call it misogynistic. But guess what? I actually DIDN'T hate it!

Okay, so it's not the Mona Lisa of YA, but really, I don't think it deserves the one and two star ratings.

Here's the biggest thing to remember about this dystopian world:
The role of women in this society is something society-created, not humanity-created.
What I mean by that is that this is a dystopia for a reason. Eve, Caleb and even Leif are all products of that particular society.

That being said, was Eve incredibly weak and annoying at times? Yes. Was her attitude around Caleb highly and annoying naive at times? Yes! But (and this is really true) she did everything with the best intentions.
Some of the worst things imaginable have started with the best intentions, but that is not the point here.
The point is I would judge a female character from this world acting like that harder than I judged Eve in her world.
AND I got say I thought she manned up there at the end. In the beginning she was deathly afraid of a man and by the end (NOT A SPOILER) she's pointing a gun at a man. AFTER all the death, etc she's seen. Come on, that takes some gutage.

And don't get me wrong. The premise of this book is quite appalling. I wouldn't call myself a feminist by definition, but the idea of women being a baby-factory is disgusting, demeaning, degrading and morally wrong. So don't think my defense of Eve's character, etc is stemming from some hyper-traditional beliefs. It's not.

But the story was well-written, there was good pacing, the characterization was good, and you know what? I think I will be checking out the sequel!
I did feel like certain things were rushed. Like her finding out about the baby-factory life, the escape and the relationship with Caleb (though I could argue myself on that one - being uber sheltered would lead to more extremist feelings when they came about).

Okay. Off my soapbox now!(less)

like 17 likes · see review

Sep 13, 2011 Jennifer Jensen (Literally Jen) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazon-vine

At Eve’s all-girls school, the students are richly educated in literature, music, and more so that once they graduate they will enter training for their new positions in the City of the Sand. Eve is the Valedictorian of her class, and has never questioned her upbringing. But the night before their graduation, Eve ponders the warning of her most hated classmate, Arden, who informs her that everything is not as it seems. Eve steals away into the night, haunted by Arden’s words. When she crosses th...more At Eve’s all-girls school, the students are richly educated in literature, music, and more so that once they graduate they will enter training for their new positions in the City of the Sand. Eve is the Valedictorian of her class, and has never questioned her upbringing. But the night before their graduation, Eve ponders the warning of her most hated classmate, Arden, who informs her that everything is not as it seems. Eve steals away into the night, haunted by Arden’s words. When she crosses the lake and peers into the building Arden spoke of, she recognizes the Valedictorian from last year: she is tied down to a table, and her belly is swollen with pregnancy.

98% of the world’s population had been wiped out 16 years ago. To the hostile world outside of Eve’s school, the girls are considered sows, who will breed and replenish the King’s city. Eve doesn’t know what is out there, but she knows that she must escape. With the help of one of her teachers, she leaves her friends behind and embraces the unknown. Along the way, Eve meets up with Arden, and together they go in search of Califia. But Eve is wanted by the King of the City of Sand to produce his heir, and troops are hot on her trail. Eve and Arden take up with a band of young men in the forest, and Eve experiences her first taste of romance with Caleb, the first boy she has ever encountered.

At the beginning of EVE, there is a quote from THE HANDMAID’S TALE, a book I am pretty familiar with. The quote is: “Maybe I really don’t want to know what’s going on. Maybe I’d rather not know. Maybe I couldn’t bear to know. The Fall was a fall from innocence to knowledge.” I went into the book without any expectations; I had no idea that EVE was being called a cross between THE HANDMAID’S TALE and THE HUNGER GAMES. I don’t think it really has much to do with either of these books, though there are some similarities to THE HANDMAID’S TALE.

The setting of EVE is 2031, and a plague destroyed the majority of the population. Eve is an unreliable narrator; the reader only knows what Eve knows, and she has been programmed to think and feel a certain way. It’s tricky because we don’t really know is the truth about her world with such a limited scope. A few things didn’t really make sense to me about Eve’s world. The family structure basically doesn’t exist anymore. But if the goal is to repopulate the world and rebuild, wouldn’t families be more important than ever? Instead, men and women are separated. The men work in labor camps doing I’m not sure what, while the girls have a pretty cushy school experience where they receive a top notch education only to be tied down to tables to become a baby making machine. Wouldn’t it make more sense to provide them with no education, because then this way they wouldn’t learn to think for themselves and rebel against society norms?

The only explanation I have for this is quite a bit of a stretch. I kept thinking about PRIDE AND PREJUDICE while I was reading this. The men in that period wanted well educated women who had a bit of talent in each area. I think perhaps that is what is going on in EVE, and that not every graduate of the School is going to end up on that table, pumping out babies for the next 20 years of their lives--or until they fall over dead. My logic for this is because the King wants Eve. He’s never met her before, but even though throughout EVE she does some pretty stupid things, she looks really good on paper--and he wants an heir. Of course he would want the smartest and the healthiest to provide his heir. This is another thing that is touched on--the girls’ height, weight, and health is carefully monitored, and they take a lot of vitamins. So what if the King gets his pick, and then the other men in the City of Sand get the next best? Then those that are left over become the girls strapped down to the table?

Unless, of course, Arden and Eve are totally wrong about the girls they saw on the table. But if they aren’t, then who are the fathers? Will all of these questions ever get answered to anyone’s satisfaction?

Back to Eve again for a moment. For someone who is supposed to be so incredibly smart, she screws up in some really big ways. One of her screw-ups result in tragic deaths, and I didn’t really get the feeling that she was that sorry about it. She only cared about Caleb in that moment, not about anyone else.

Aside from Caleb, Otis, and some of the younger boys, the men characters are all very hostile and exactly the way that the Teachers describe them. The future sure isn’t looking bright for the remaining population, is it?(less)

like 4 likes · see review

Oct 13, 2011 Joy (joyous reads) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

This is the world according to Eve:

• Men are evil.
• The world is full of them.

Okay, okay. Simmer down. You can’t really blame Eve. She grew up in a world where women are priced commodities and are apparently only good for one thing – as a part of a baby-making assembly line. I’m not kidding. This book has some serious demented concepts, far beyond the reaches of my usually open, accommodating mind.

Eve is probably one of those characters that, had she been written with a stronger personality, I...more

like 4 likes · see review

Jun 15, 2012 Megan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a feminist, I really wanted to like this book. But I felt as though the opening was extremely rushed and undermined the horror of what Eve discovered about the world (I won't ruin it). It would have been so much more powerful if the beginning of the book had been spent on her slowly awakening as a human being and realizing the terrifying fate the government had in store for her (a la Margaret Atwood's The Haindmaid's Tale). As it stands, this feels like a shallow, rushed imitation of the afor...more

like 4 likes · see review

Mar 13, 2012 Jordan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Eve was all right. The main charactr, Eve, was starting to get on my nerves and I was becoming confused with what to think of her character. At first I found her very annoying and didn't care for her at all. She was very naive but I don't even think it was a fault of the character, rather a fault of the author for not making the situation, or rather the conflict, clear and powerful enough to where I believed that anyone would buy into this mindset. I honestly felt like I was reading something a...more

like 2 likes · see review

Jun 23, 2012 Kelly-Jane marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: cover-or-title-lust, i-m-so-conflicted, mmm-cheesy-cheese-cheese, sigh-maybe

The comment on the cover.

... a fresh look at what it means to love...

I might be able to accept that little quote if it was written by ANYONE OTHER THAN LAUREN KATE.

Never will I ever trust anything that woman has to say about love after reading Fallen and Torment. NEVAR.

It's stupid, I know, but this book just lost some major points in the Which Book Shall I Read Next competition.

like 3 likes · see review

Oct 03, 2011 Sasha rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-debut-author, harpercollins, dystopian-postapocalyptic, young-adult, everyone-loved-but-me

Eve has lived most of her life within the confines of a boarding school-esque type place where she has happily gone along with whatever they told her to do (including taking medicine and getting shots). She is the top of the class - the prettiest girl - you get the picture. But then one day she sees what happens to the girls after they graduate and it is so horrible that she decides to run away...into the unknown. There, she encounters another runaway, people who hide runaways, and a clan of boy...more

like 4 likes · see review

Oct 21, 2011 Dhezza Silverio rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, books-i-own, favorites, read-in-2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. After the plague, orphans are being sent to schools for girls and labor camps for boys. The school supposedly educates the girls to learn their trade at the City of Sand. The night before Eve's graduation, because of Arden Eve learned the truth about their school. The fate that awaits her. She escaped from school. She wanders with no definite clue on where she starts looking for Califia (safe refugee for escapees) and learned to live in the wilds. She ran into Arden, a girl she knew from school...more After the plague, orphans are being sent to schools for girls and labor camps for boys. The school supposedly educates the girls to learn their trade at the City of Sand. The night before Eve's graduation, because of Arden Eve learned the truth about their school. The fate that awaits her. She escaped from school. She wanders with no definite clue on where she starts looking for Califia (safe refugee for escapees) and learned to live in the wilds. She ran into Arden, a girl she knew from school and then they met Caleb, a gorgeous boy living in the wilds.

I was so excited to read this. When I saw it at one of my favorite bookstores, I couldn't resist the urge to buy it. Seeing me devastated, my boyfriend bought it for me together with The Son of Neptune. I know, I'm so lucky.

Anyway, Eve is very intriguing, action packed and what a fresh look on what it means to love. The plot is enthralling and beautifully written. I like the original story. Because of the plague that almost wipes the Earth's population. For the King, the best way to gain what was lost is to breed and build. The school was therefore made for the girls to breed the new generation. They taught to hate men so it was more easier to breed them without men participation. They called Sows. Also, the camps was made for the boys to build new buildings and houses. It was horrifying.

I also like the characters. First, Arden is so tough. She's not giving up and she's a friend I would definitely befriended. Second, Caleb is a good guy and very charismatic. Despite the danger, he still protect Eve all the way and accompanied her to Califia even though he knows that Califia is for the girls only that they will never be together. Third, Eve is well developed for the most part. At first, I didn't like her because she keeps on babbling "Teacher said blah, blah and blah," naive and she made foolish decision that has great consequences. That's the disadvantage of being a valedictorian. But as the story goes by, she learned that while the Teachers taught her had some basis and the others are not. I really like her in the end. The ending reminds me of Delirium by Lauren Oliver. The heart-wrenching ending and I hope they will reunited soon. Anyway, they will I've read the summary of Once. Plotting against the King. Huh!

Overall, it was an enjoyable and very entertaining read. I really can't wait to read Once and I hope Arden is alive somewhere.

(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Aug 11, 2011 Andi Ruggles (Rywn) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

I found Eve to fit in delightfully with the dystopian trend that is occurring, and was quickly engrossed in Eve's tale. While I loved Eve's tale of escaping from the fate of the other graduates, I was occasionally off-put by how quickly Eve shook off years of training to hate and fear boys & men. Despite a summary and my expectations that Caleb would 'slowly gain her confidence' I found the opposite to be true, where despite a few skittish moments, Eve nearly immediately trusted him. I found...more

like 4 likes · see review

Mar 16, 2013 Becky {Somewhere Between The Pages} rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, 5-stars, review, dystopia-and-or-post-apocalyptic, gift

Though I can't say this book is absolutely astounding, it's definitely worthy of a five star rating. It's only semi-original, but Anna Carey is a fantastic author and she puts a new spin on dystopian society. The journey to freedom is a theme that's repeated in most novels like this, yet there's always a twist - it's that twist that stops the stories from being terribly repetitive. The twist in Eve comes right at the very end, and it's utterly heartbreaking, to say the least.

I loved Eve. I thoug...more Though I can't say this book is absolutely astounding, it's definitely worthy of a five star rating. It's only semi-original, but Anna Carey is a fantastic author and she puts a new spin on dystopian society. The journey to freedom is a theme that's repeated in most novels like this, yet there's always a twist - it's that twist that stops the stories from being terribly repetitive. The twist in Eve comes right at the very end, and it's utterly heartbreaking, to say the least.

I loved Eve. I thought she was a really great lead. Though her sheltered upbringing left her vulnerable, she discovers strength she never knew she possessed through her escape into the wild. I'm not going to lie and say that she was faultless - nobody's perfect - but she was such a great character that I can pretty much ignore all her worst traits. Arden is possibly my favourite character, however. She's the complete opposite of Eve, and even though they didn't get along at the beginning of the novel, Arden's loyalty towards the end is breathtaking. It's that kind of character development that sets this book apart. Caleb... oh man, where do I start with Caleb? He's ah-may-zing. I totally loved him. He was strong and brave, yet there was a hidden depth of vulnerability to him that really made him seem real. There's nothing I can say about the guy that hasn't already been said before, but I seriously loved him. Oh, and Benny and Silas were too cute.

The storyline itself - while only being semi-original - was pretty great. I do enjoy reading about journeys into the unknown, so the fact that it was less than unique didn't bother me in the slightest. I can't say a lot about the plot that hasn't been mentioned on the blurb - not without spoiling anything, anyway - but I will say that I've never read a dystopia novel quite like this one. There was never a dull moment, the action being practically non-stop. There was always something new to discover, and new people to meet, and Carey's writing style just made it all the more exciting.

For more reviews, check out my blog at Somewhere Between The Pages.(less)

like 1 like · see review

Jan 25, 2013 Victoria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-reads, favorites

Ugh this book! If there's one thing I've learned since starting Goodreads, it's to not judge a book by mixed reviews. I saw a lot of mixed reviews on Eve, people either loved it or hated it. I loved it!

I loved how different Eve is from other dystopians I've read. It did remind me a little bit of Delirium with 'the wild' talk but that didn't change how I felt about this book at all! I honestly loved it!

Let's start with the obvious, I loved, loved, loved Caleb. Talk about swoon-worthy. I loved hi...more

like 1 like · see review

Dec 15, 2012 Sandy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-i-own, books-reviewed-2012, dystopia

There was something about this book that I found interesting and intriguing, but I just felt it...lacked something.

Eve is about a girl named Eve who is all set to graduate and then finds out that she is destined to give birth to as many children as she can to repopulate the city as a virus and then the vaccine wiped out almost all of the human race. Once she discovers what the truth is she goes on the run, trying to find a safe haven where she can live in peace. Along the way she finds Caleb and...more There was something about this book that I found interesting and intriguing, but I just felt it...lacked something.

Eve is about a girl named Eve who is all set to graduate and then finds out that she is destined to give birth to as many children as she can to repopulate the city as a virus and then the vaccine wiped out almost all of the human race. Once she discovers what the truth is she goes on the run, trying to find a safe haven where she can live in peace. Along the way she finds Caleb and then finds there are people out there who want to be free the same way she does.

There's a lot more to the book than that, but there's also a lot less. I just felt that with the plot being so unique, it should have been more exciting then it really was. It was like a large part of the world-building and the plot was left behind. Some of the scenes could have been expanded on. It felt too rushed and not paced out enough. There wasn't enough explanation on how things came to be. Like why the King wanted her when there were so many others out there. I didn't buy the lame reason that she was prettier, smarter blah blah blah that was in the book. It just seemed the weakest of all reasons.

When I should have been able to experience what Eve was going through, I couldn't. I felt disconnected. I couldn't feel any emotions she was going through. Sometimes a writer can have me bawling my eyes out because I'm so connected to the character that I feel like the character is part of me. Yeah, well, there wasn't any of that in this book. Well, maybe at the very end. What happened at the end was kind of sad.

That's not to say I didn't like Eve - because I did. I thought she was brave, loyal and a really kind character, even if at times she was somewhat stupid. Her heart was in the right place. She befriended people who others wouldn't. She went out of her way to help little kids. She was a very likable character.

Caleb was good too. He wasn't anything exceptional, but he was the kind of boy main character I like. The fact that he sulked at times only made him seemed more relatable. I loved how he came to help Eve when she needed it. He was definitely the hero-type-of-boy.

The secondary characters were a mixed bag for me. Some of them were really cool like Arden, who was quite scrappy and I got to know some of her back story. But, the teacher at the very start - who helped Eve escape - I would have liked to have known why she had helped Eve. What was her motivation? How had she ended up at the school? I had plenty of questions. I will give Anna props though for having a back story for a majority of her characters. It's not often I read about a secondary character's back story. Usually, they're not developed to the same extent.

All in all the book was okay and I already have the second book so I will go on to read it. I would recommend this book to anyone who like Dystopian novels.

Now for my rating.

Two out of five stars

This review can be found here http://magicalmanuscriptsandwritingth...(less)

like 1 like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Young Adult Reads: Eve vs. Once vs. Rise	5	34	May 08, 2013 03:22pm
Crazy for Young A...: Eve by Anna Carey → Start Date: March 8, 2013	59	23	Mar 11, 2013 04:33pm
Caleb	11	77	Mar 01, 2013 12:39pm
Suggestions.	15	56	Feb 28, 2013 01:31pm
Dystopian: * Eve	35	31	Sep 18, 2012 12:04pm

combine
Other Editions (14)

More editions...

Genres

Science Fiction > Dystopia

604 users

Young Adult

430 users

Romance

188 users

Fantasy

103 users

Apocalyptic > Post Apocalyptic

102 users

Science Fiction

94 users

Adventure

47 users

Science Fiction > Apocalyptic

32 users

Young Adult > Teen

30 users

Adventure > Survival

23 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Anna Carey

Anna Carey has been a gift wrapper, face painter, nanny, horrific cocktail waitress, sofa saleswoman and children's book editor. She graduated from New York University and has an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College. She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she can be found writing, reading, and doodling on the giant chalkboard in her kitchen.

More about Anna Carey...

Books by Anna Carey

Survival of the Fiercest (Sloane Sisters, #2)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Eve

2 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Eve

“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.” — 133 people liked it

“A relationship between two people can be judged by the list of things unspoken between them.” — 112 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Eve
avg rating	preview: Eve Goodreads rating: 3.73 (12822 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10429082-eve?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1321934670l/10429082.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10429082-eve?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Eve by Anna Carey[/url]

Eve (Eve #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website