CW: Description of some medical procedures. Fertility and infertility - test tube babies left to die because they were not male. Man sacrifices himself to let others escape

This is one of those books where I hope the authors are setting the scene for a really good book two. The premise was good but in reality it didn't quite deliver (sorry for the pun). I'm not quite sure why though. I think perhaps the romance element could have been removed and the focus changed to Eve's awakening to the world she lives in and not the carefully crafted one designed to make her a happy broodmare. An amazing dystopic world was created but not explored enough. Again this maybe something that is described more in book two. I'm excited to see where the rebellion plot will take us and will probably follow the series through at some point. Finally, Eve better become a stronger female lead because I'm not down with there being much more of the 'male saves delicate flower' trope. ( )

The premise of this book is great: the last woman on Earth being held by an evil corporation trying to profit off her fertility. Sadly, the authors convey prejudices that are intolerable.

1.) Fat shaming/body prejudice: There are two male characters Hartman and Chubs who are mocked for being fat. Even more ridiculously, Eve, the last young woman on Earth, could have been shown as the epitome of female beauty no matter what her body looked like (just like every woman is! Our natural bodies are beautiful exactly as they are!!). But no. On the day Eve is to meet her first Potential mate, she eats only a breakfast of fruit, not a substantial breakfast because we wouldn't want a "bloated tummy" distracting her suitor. Also, in preparation for meeting her suitor, she wears makeup to "accentuate her finer features and diminish her flaws." Seriously!?! Is this the message we're trying to send to young men and women? Even worse, as she puts on her dress, the belt of her dress is fastened "making her waist look tiny." WTF! It's 2019. Why are we promoting a tiny waist as attractive? I feel badly for the author that she is still trapped under these beauty myths, but please stop perpetuating them.

2.) Racism: **Spoiler alert** Diego, Potential suitor #2, is from Peru and is described as "short" with "skin dark and rough...and beady eyes." This character goes on to try and kill our main character. I find it disgusting in a book that is overwhelmingly white that one of the few people of color is described in such a way and then revealed to be a murderer.

3.) Woman as natural mother: this book comes across as hugely pro-life (calling embryos souls). Also, the authors make scientific intervention in pregnancy seem monstrous, which is hurtful and insensitive to couples who depend on scientific intervention in order to be parents. Lastly, the author talks about women who are unable to conceive as "failures" "with flaws" which is ridiculous. Not every woman wants to give birth and not every woman is capable of giving birth; those scenarios do NOT make them failures in any way.

There are several more problems with this book, but I'm heart sick at even having to write this. I would obviously NOT recommend this book to anyone. ( )

ARC BOOK REVIEW
Release Date-31/5/18

This really appealed to me the idea of a dystopian landscape where female births have decimated to the point where the last XX Birth in fifty years is the honour of one young girl aptly name Eve.
Unsurprisingly she is one hot commodity; kept segregated from the common masses in the tower with the Mothers; Aged woman who have made it there lives vocation to raise her.
Eve is raised with the ideals that she alone is the last hope for humanity; a heavy responsibility for any young girl.
Her only companion aside from the mothers is Holly a kind of ready-made best-friend; she's a sort of hologram run by three drivers one of whom is Bram.
Bram and Eve, though they have never touched in person have sort of grown to adulthood side by side.
Despite only interacting through Holly; these two have learned to recognise each other.
And it's not long before the deep feelings these two inspire in each other spill over into real time.
So I did find this slightly disappointing sigh.
Not much really happens in the first two-thirds of this story, it's all Eve meeting the potentials and a whole lot of inner turmoil from both Bram and Eve and I did find things to be quite slow and plodding in nature a kind of slow build.
This didn't work for me really and I found my attention at times drifting somewhat.
Also, there's no real explanation for why things are the way they are which I found a rather perplexing fact.
I felt this was a missed opportunity to further expand on this unique backdrop.
So For me, this was all gearing up to be a 2.5 review then luckily things did kick up a notch going from snail pace to 100 MPH in ten seconds flat.
What a relief, With this then upbeat in the storyline, things really did improve for me rescuing "Eve Of Man" and reinvesting me in the storyline.
Eve herself finally becomes less of a victim and more proactive in her own life; her eyes are finally opened to what is actually occurring around her when she endeavours to break out of her bubble and take back some control of her own life.
Bram also came into his own eventually as well, though I do feel that he took the scenic route rather than the main road but never mind the point is he gets there eventually.
This is told in dual POV from Both Eve and Brams perspective and though there was a budding romance here this is a completely clean YA and the romance is more of a secondary concern the main focus being on the underlying greater purpose and the breakdown in society..
I also found this to be a very imaginative read, though I do think we are not giving the XY gene enough credit in regards to society's breakdown without the female input.
Ultimately I will read book two as I do want to know where this is going but I'm not sure how invested I am yet. watch this space.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of "Eve of Man (Eve of Man Trilogy #1)" of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions are entirely my own.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm.
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com ( )

ARC BOOK REVIEW
Release Date-31/5/18

This really appealed to me the idea of a dystopian landscape where female births have decimated to the point where the last XX Birth in fifty years is the honour of one young girl aptly name Eve.
Unsurprisingly she is one hot commodity; kept segregated from the common masses in the tower with the Mothers; Aged woman who have made it there lives vocation to raise her.
Eve is raised with the ideals that she alone is the last hope for humanity; a heavy responsibility for any young girl.
Her only companion aside from the mothers is Holly a kind of ready-made best-friend; she's a sort of hologram run by three drivers one of whom is Bram.
Bram and Eve, though they have never touched in person have sort of grown to adulthood side by side.
Despite only interacting through Holly; these two have learned to recognise each other.
And it's not long before the deep feelings these two inspire in each other spill over into real time.
So I did find this slightly disappointing sigh.
Not much really happens in the first two-thirds of this story, it's all Eve meeting the potentials and a whole lot of inner turmoil from both Bram and Eve and I did find things to be quite slow and plodding in nature a kind of slow build.
This didn't work for me really and I found my attention at times drifting somewhat.
Also, there's no real explanation for why things are the way they are which I found a rather perplexing fact.
I felt this was a missed opportunity to further expand on this unique backdrop.
So For me, this was all gearing up to be a 2.5 review then luckily things did kick up a notch going from snail pace to 100 MPH in ten seconds flat.
What a relief, With this then upbeat in the storyline, things really did improve for me rescuing "Eve Of Man" and reinvesting me in the storyline.
Eve herself finally becomes less of a victim and more proactive in her own life; her eyes are finally opened to what is actually occurring around her when she endeavours to break out of her bubble and take back some control of her own life.
Bram also came into his own eventually as well, though I do feel that he took the scenic route rather than the main road but never mind the point is he gets there eventually.
This is told in dual POV from Both Eve and Brams perspective and though there was a budding romance here this is a completely clean YA and the romance is more of a secondary concern the main focus being on the underlying greater purpose and the breakdown in society..
I also found this to be a very imaginative read, though I do think we are not giving the XY gene enough credit in regards to society's breakdown without the female input.
Ultimately I will read book two as I do want to know where this is going but I'm not sure how invested I am yet. watch this space.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of "Eve of Man (Eve of Man Trilogy #1)" of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions are entirely my own.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm.
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com ( )

Literary Merit: Good+
Characterization: Poor
Grade Level: High School
Recommended: Maybe (see below)

Eve: The first girl born in 50 years. The world has fallen to shambles because of the believed end to the human race; cloudscrapers are built to keep off of the flooded lands below. In the Dome, a 900 story cloudscraper, Eve is raised by villain Vivian Silva and kind-hearted elderly women called “Mothers.” Eve is sheltered from the chaos that exists outside of the Dome in the hopes that she will continue the line of humanity.

Bram: Son of the technological mastermind, Dr. Isaac Wells, responsible for the Dome as well as Holly, a holographic suit that Bram puts on to be a “friend” to Eve. Bram’s relationship with his father is volatile which makes things complicated when Eve sees through the façade that is Holly and falls in love with the man behind the curtain.

Eve of Man was a mixed bag for me. I loved the premise of humankind needing to find a way to continue the human race. However, the execution of this idea is flawed. The primary issues I take with this piece are the complete erasure of the LGBTQ+ community, the perpetuation of gender stereotypes, and the flat-as-pancake characters.

I had a hard time distinguishing the voice of the character from the quality of the writing. Does Eve truly have these thought patterns or am I hearing the author come through? Regardless, I had problems swallowing the belief that every man was a danger to Eve and would rape her if ever left alone with her. Also, that marriage fell by the wayside? Do gay people not exist? What about folks who are transgender? This lack of representation was offensive.

The world building could have used work, as well. Why is the Earth covered in water? Did the entire population decide that the Earth was unworthy of being salvaged? If so, that’s a wild generalization and if not I want to know more about the anti-movement. Were the Freevers involved in this?

Why does Dr. Isaac Wells want to take over the world? It’s clear that he and Vivian are working in tandem, if not the same person, to protect their claim over Eve but we don’t know why. It’s very unclear the motivations of the antagonists.

When Bram escapes from the Dome and meets up with the Freevers, it’s very convenient that he simply declares he is now the leader and everyone goes with it.

Overall, I’m conflicted with this book because the writing is good, great even. But the lack of depth and substance was disappointing, particularly for a 450 pager. It’s the beginning of a trilogy but I don’t know if I’m invested enough to pick up the next one. If readers can suspend their beliefs and leave their critical thinking at the door, they will like this book. ( )