Eve

Eve
by Anna Carey

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 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 Arden, her former rival from school, and 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. (description from Amazon.com)

I finally took the time on my vacation to just read books I had in my Nook, but had never gotten to...and let me tell you, this particular book turned out to be an EXCELLENT plane read.  It was just the right length, not too long, not too short. It had just the right balance of action and emotion and I could not turn the pages fast enough. I sped through this one and immediately wished I had invested in the second and third books before takeoff.  

I want to learn more! More about everything.  Who is the mysterious King that wants Eve for his own.  How on earth did we Americans let ourselves really get to the horrible point that Eve's generation now finds themselves in, with women and men terrified to interact and women being bred like cattle (*shudders*)..

As much as I always have that niggling feeling that characters fall in love too fast in these circumstances and there is something a little formulaic about how Eve and Caleb are drawn in to each other, (girl meets boy is terrified, he saves her, she intrigues him, he saves her again...etc) overall, I just liked their two characters together too much for it to matter.  I *wanted* them to succeed and be able to just be together... 

That was really what I loved about this book. It wasn't the best I've ever read by any means, but I was thoroughly invested in it. Carey MADE me care.  Kudos for that. 


Full disclosure: eARC originally from Netgalley, book purchased on my Nook