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Dec 28, 2008

Barbara rated it:

Thanks to my membership at Bookbrowse.com I got an advanced reading copy of Eve. I loved, loved,loved it.

Here's the basic premise: What was Eve's life like after Eden?

The story goes back and forth in time and is told in 4 voices: Eve's and her daughters, Naava, Dara and Aya. Oddly, Naava's is always told in the 3rd person, while the others are in 1st person.

Eve is portrayed very realistically and not always sympathetically. Like a real person, she has str More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 12, 2011

Baobhan rated it:

I couldn't help but be reminded of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent while reading Eve: A Novel of the First Woman. It's inevitable, I guess. Both books take place in Biblical times and retell popular Genesis myths from a decidedly female point-of-view. The main difference being that Eve -- unlike Jacob's daughter, Dinah, the heroine in The Red Tent -- is a prominent figure in Biblical myth, not merely a name mentioned in passing. That is both a blessing and curse, I think. With a name so recognized More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 18, 2009

Kim rated it:

I thought about giving this book five stars, but I feel like that should maybe be reserved for all-time favorites. So let's just call this 4 1/2 stars. I absolutely loved this book. I felt really attached to the characters and the story from the very beginning, and couldn't wait to get back to the book every time I had to put it down. I loved the concept of the book -- a fictional telling of Eve's life after the expulsion from Eden. The chapters rotate between the voices of Eve and her thre More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 12, 2009

Terence rated it:

In Eve: A Novel of the First Woman I was hoping to read a provocative account of the Abrahamic religions' mythical genetrix. Unfortunately, it's a fairly predictable, by-the-numbers, Christian apologia. I will give Elliott points for making Eve's and Adam's succumbing to Lucifer's temptations plausible but all the major characters - Adam, Eve, Abel, Cain, and the daughters Naava, Aya and Dara - are too broadly drawn and are "types" rather than real people. Elliott also can't seem to de More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 01, 2009

K rated it:

i did not care for this book. i found the writing to be insipid...the characters' voices (Eva and her daughters, Naava, Dara and Aya) all seemed the same. i did not find that they were truthful to the time or the atmosphere. i found myself thinking, are they really saying these things and in this way? i didn't care for any of the characters, save Aya, and i couldn't bring myself to care about them. I am so disappointed in Eve, i had hoped it would be similar to The Red Tent but it was just so po More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 17, 2009

Tina added it

Thanks to Goodreads I won an advanced copy!

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the way Elissa Elliot took the "skeleton" of this old story and as she said bulked it up with "fictional fat".

I could identify with the characters. I could understand Eve's feelings of abandonment by Elohim. That loss of companionship and intimacy with Him was confusing for her and shook her faith. In my opinion, a believable scenario. Believable enough to care for and em More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2008

Alex rated it:

I have to agree with Barbara about this book. It was a fast read and I should have slowed down to really absorb everything. Overall, this was a good book. I was worried about it becuase I haven't read the Bible yet, or because I didn't know much about Adam and Eve and their family. I liked all the characters, especially Aya who was disabled. I was super suprised that Eve kept questioning the existance of God throughout the book too! And how she would go back and forth from being submissive to be More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 10, 2009

Michelle rated it:

From the AP:
¶ "Eve: A Novel of the First Woman" (Delacorte Press, 421 pages, $24), by Elissa Elliott: Tossed from the Garden of Eden for a seemingly insignificant act _ eating a piece of fruit _ Eve is adrift.
¶ What did it mean? Why was the punishment so harsh? And then, where is God? Does he still exist? Does he remember her?
¶ Drawing on scholarly studies of Genesis, Judaism and Mesopotamia, and written in the easy-to-read style of "The Red Tent" and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 07, 2011

Jessi rated it:

Elliott is a very insightful and intelligent writer. Eve's journey is powerful, heart tugging, and very realistic in nature. She is not spared by the author, her story is given brutally honest truths about the hardships of motherhood, the choices a mother makes, and how her life continues to be shadowed from guilt regarding her choice of taking a bite from the forbidden fruit. The language is careful and true to the time period things are set in. I never felt lost by the setting or the minds More...

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Aug 10, 2009

Heather rated it:

Eve: A Novel of the First Woman by Elissa Elliott

Genre: Biblical Fiction

Many people know the story the Bible tells of Adam and Eve: Adam was the first man, Eve was created from his rib, they were expelled from Eden for eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they had 2 sons (Cain & Abel) and Cain killed Abel. That is about where the Bible’s version of this story ends. Elissa Elliott picks up where the story leaves off and creates a very detailed back story for More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 27, 2011

Nicole rated it:

I really wanted to like this entire book. The flashbacks to life in the Garden, the temptation of the forbidden fruit, and their consequent expulsion were really interesting and well written. Unfortunately, that was only about 15% of the book. The rest of the story fell into repetitive and self-absorbed reflections. The story is written from the viewpoint of the women in Eve's family, but they each fall into a female stereotype that was really cringeworthy. It was as though Eve produced all the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 02, 2011

Jill rated it:

I didn't dislike this book, but I didn't love it, either. I love biblical fiction, and I was really looking forward to reading this book. I think, though, that I was too distracted by details to fully enjoy the story.

I expected Adam and Eve to be more primitive and discover new things. I was hoping to see the world as if everything was brand new. Instead, they all seemed to already know things- like how to take care of animals, raise children, cook and weave. When they stated the More...

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Mar 06, 2010

Susan rated it:

Eve is a beautifully written re-imagining of one of mankind's oldest stories. Elliott's writing is exquisitely lyrical, weaving a fascinating story from the multiple points-of-view of Eve and her daughters. I picked up Eve at my library and read it completely for enjoyment, not as someone who has studied the Bible in-depth. Personally, I found it to be an incredibly compelling piece of historical fiction.

Elissa Elliott's writing is delicious! Her prose is expressive and graceful - t More...

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Oct 15, 2009

Apzmarshl rated it:

2.5 stars

Elliot takes poetic license as she delves into the mysterious lives of Adam and Eve. The story is told by Eve and her daughters; Naava, Aya, and Dara. Eve tells about the Garden, her relationship with Adam and her children and the undoing of Cain. Naava is a self centered beauty. Aya is the caregiver. Dara is young, sweet, easily swayed and somewhat overlooked.

Elliot had some great nuggets of wisdom interspersed with eh. I didn't really like any of the char More...

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Jun 26, 2009

Robin-Taine rated it:

Eve, a novel of the Biblical story of the garden, is a gutsy choice for a fictional narrative. The author calls the Biblical story a skeleton, but really, the bible gives us only a few bones of the life of Adam and Eve. This novel attempts, from the perspective of Eve and her 3 daughters, to tell the story of the garden and of the weeks leading up to the murder of Abel by Cain.

There were a lot of things about this book that I liked. First, and perhaps most importantly to me, was More...

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Nov 21, 2009

Elizabeth rated it:

Somehow, I managed to read a review of this book early enough that I was one of the first at my library to request it! Score! This was a great book. If you liked The Red Tent, you'll love this one. This novel takes the Garden, Cain and Abel, and Adam and Eve and puts them in a perspective that you've most likely never thought about before. They were real people, with real emotions, thoughts, actions. I found this book fascinating and an easy read. Once I picked it up, I didn't want to put it dow More...

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Oct 31, 2011

Natalie rated it:

This may very well be one of my favorite fiction concerning the stars of the old testament, and I read alot of biblical fiction! The tale is centered around Eve and her daughters, all except Naava being told from a first person POV. Like the author cautions, she used the creation story told in Genesis as her skeleton and gave it some literary meat and fibers to fill out the gaps. Although this is her debut novel, she is a pro from the begining. The way that she describes life in Eden, to the won More...

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Feb 26, 2011

Laura (booksnob) rated it:

Everyone knows the timeless story of Adam and Eve and the tragic story of their children Cain and Abel.

Get ready to re-imagine and gain a new perspective.

Eve is an old story told with a creative twist where ancient history and Jewish traditions are woven into the story and the readers learn of what everyday life is like outside of the Garden of Eden. Elliott's book is told from Eve's perspective on what happened that fateful day in Biblical history and Eve's story interwea More...

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Mar 25, 2010

AC rated it:

I managed to read this rather long book in one weekend, thanks to two ten-hour train rides. Thank God that it's interesting, or else I would've just slept and missed my stops.

Eve is about what you expect...Eve, the "first woman" (though the author, in a stroke of artistic liberty, gave the First Family a city to make trouble in) and her and her daughter's struggles from the time in the Garden to the summer that Cain killed Abel, and a little afterwards but no real detail i More...

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Apr 28, 2010

Danielle rated it:

This was not an easy book to read. I knew it probably wouldn't be after attending a reading and discussion with the author, Elissa Elliott. She admitted that she wrote this book as a way to explore questions she had regarding the book of Genesis, God, and tragedy. And most of us know how this is going to end.

I could have read this book quickly, just as a nice novelization/piece of fiction. The book can work that way. However, it doesn't take much to really think about what is More...

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Apr 15, 2010

Rukmini rated it:

I was very excited when I first came across this book and read the description on the book jacket because it reminded me of two of my favorite books - The Red Tent and The Poisonwood Bible. Unfortunately, this book didn't measure up to either of those two. Like The Red Tent, Eve is an attempt to fictionalize events that happened thousands of years ago (the birth of Adam and Eve, the temptation in the Garden of Eden and their subsequent expulsion, and their difficult life on Earth). Like The Pois More...

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Jan 26, 2009

Sandy rated it:

I received an advanced reading copy via a Goodreads giveaway. This is Elissa Elliott's first novel but she provides a well written protrayal of Adam and Eve. Told mostly from Eve's prosepective the author weaves a tale of Eve's life. Her banishment from the Garden of Eden and how it greatly affected her throughout the rest of her days. She struggled with her belief, her marriage and her children. For the most part I found it believable and fascinating. The anger and guilt Eve felt towards God More...

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Jan 13, 2009

Mrs. rated it:

I won this novel on goodreads.com, and am glad I had a chance to read it.

Many of us have heard the story of the first people on Earth, created by God to live in the Garden of Eden. Many of us know that Eve was tempted by the Devil to try the Forbidden fruit, and that she and Adam were expelled from the garden because of this. We also know the story of the murder of Abel by Cain - the children of Adam and Eve. But we know little else.

The author did her research (the afterw More...

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Feb 09, 2009

Brianna rated it:

I'm not a scholar of the Bible, so I couldn't really tell you which parts were Biblically accurate and which parts the author took literary license on. But I can say that Elliott breathed life into the mythical/Biblical figures of Eve and Adam. And I really enjoyed that.

It makes me wonder, now, why I never thought to wonder how it would feel for someone to belong to Eden and then have it ripped away as a result of choices they made.

Eve is both primitive and familiar More...

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Feb 06, 2009

Rick rated it:

This was a very entertaining and rewarding read. Although the topic deviates slightly from scripture, it is very respectful. Like reading the bible, there are lessons to be learned and applied to our lives today. Naava's chapters were presented in the 3rd person, rather than Aya, Dara and Eve's which were all told in the first person, which I think was an interesting choice. Although I was a little fatigued at Eve's obsession with the Garden, it makes sense and really enlightens us to what More...

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Mar 22, 2009

Clare rated it:

An ambitious novel, laudable in the attempt, if not the execution.

"Eve" tells the story of Adam and Eve, and their marriage and family. I most identified with Eve during her marital struggles with Adam. Yes, it's true, even the first woman had trouble getting the first man to understand what she really wanted. The honest, conflicted reflection after Adam barters away Eve's garden belongs in a Dr. Phil session.

I found this novel poorly written, with often too mu More...

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Mar 30, 2009

Kelly rated it:

I see this more as an open door to a new topic for me. The fiction has me interested in the fact (sound familiar?). Honestly one of the most interesting parts of Eve for me was the Afterword where Elissa Elliott discusses her information sources! I didn't LOVE the characters but I kind of think that is the point. They are as flawed as real people. I did have to get over the idea that "incest is wrong" to really get into the relationships in this story. The best part of Elliott's charac More...

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Sep 29, 2009

Heather rated it:

I'm not sure whether or not I really loved this book. The concept was a good one, and well executed. Even though the novel is titled "Eve", it's really about Cain and Abel. It's a story about love, loss, and family dynamics. All the pieces of the story are told by the female members of the family, never the male members.
It's a great story, and one that I'll definitely have to re-read. I think I simply took too long to read it, and read too many other things while reading this More...

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Oct 03, 2009

Sarah rated it:

This was an interesting book to read because Mormons have a different perspective on the Fall and the Garden and Adam and Eve. Obviously, the author had to create a world for them to live in, and she does stay true to the Biblical account of Adam and Eve; however, she adds in other people...a whole city of people. She explains her reasoning for this at the end of the book, and I can see where she is coming from as an author. I do like the use of four narrators in the book: Even and her three More...

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Feb 17, 2009

Sara added it

It shouldn't have been boring, but it was. I totally did not dig on Eve as a character - found her to be whiny. Didn't like Adam - he seemed totally dull. Cain = mad, Abel = angel. The daughter Aya was possibly the best character in the book, and I still didn't much care for her. The daughter Naava was a fairly one dimensional bitch and the daughter Dara seemed a bit too precious for me. It's a book of missed opportunities really - a good idea but I felt the execution was such that I never conne More...

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