Genre:

Where do you go when nowhere is safe?

After a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth's population, the world is a terrifying 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 bright future in 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 Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Caleb slowly wins her trust . . . and her heart. But when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

Review

The Great Plague of Europe has finally spread to America centuries later. From its ashes, The New America arises.  There is no Congress, no President, and no laws; there’s just the King and you’re either with him or against him.

Eve is an orphan. She has never met her father and her mother fell prey to the plague. Eve was just five when she was brought to the School with the other orphaned girls. There, they are educated and promised bright futures in the King’s Capital, The City of Sand. They are taught to view the male specimen as evil all except the King that is.

The night before graduation, a girl sparks Eve’s interest in the building across the lake from the School. From there the truth unravels.   Eve is no longer safe; everything she’s been taught is a lie and so she flees. Lost in a world she does not understand struggling to find the safe haven Califia, Eve stumbles across Caleb. Caleb’s tough, rebellious, and Eve’s first confrontation with the male specimen.  As he slowly sinks under her skin, Eve finds that there is a soft, caring boy under his callous façade. But soldiers are hunting her and she’s putting everyone in danger.

Eve is the first book in Anna Carey’s Eve series. It’s filled with adventure and just the right touch of romance.  And then there are those heart wrenching moments that make the reader just want to shed a tear. Eve is such a strong character; she went from being pampered at the School to living in the wild, and she survived. Arden, the rebel girl that is the reason Eve has uncovered the truth is remarkable and misjudged. At first, you want to admire her guts, then you want to strangle her for all the mean things she has done, and then you want to give her a big hug for being such a loyal friend. The plot is well developed. It flows smoothly and just when you think everything is mellow something happens that leaves you gasping and asking yourself, how could that happen?

I wish there were more Caleb and Eve scenes, there’s definitely potential for a deep relationship. Although the reader only sees some of the interactions between the two, their strong feeling for each other cannot be denied. What Caleb tells the reader about The City of Sand has me intrigued; I want to know more about it, but hey I guess that’s left for book two.

Eve by Anna Carey is a perfect read for those days you want to just go on an adventure. It describes an America after the America that exists today has been destroyed. I can’t wait to pick up the sequel, Once and continue on Eve’s journey for the truth.

Reviewed by Afra

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