Review: Eve by Anna Carey

Title: Eve
Author: Anna Carey
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Dystopian/Romance
Release date: October 4th, 2011
Pages: 318 (Hardcover)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Won
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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.

This story shows the dangerous world from the point of view of an eighteen-year-old girl named Eve.  Orphaned girls are taken to school, where they spend their lives with the wool pulled over their eyes.  They learn about the plague that has killed most of the population, but what they don't know is that their fate has already been decided for them before they graduate.  All of those years spent studying has gone to waste.  Feeling the need to escape, to find a way to free herself and eventually her friends, Eve makes a run for it.  After days spent traveling alone through the woods, she's able to find hope for her future in the form of a boy named Caleb.

Eve is a likable character who has been in the dark for far too long.  Everything in this live has been a disappointment to her, and I know that all she wants is to have a family again, to feel that protection that she hasn't felt in a long time.  When she runs into an old schoolmate on her way to a safe haven called Califia, they team up and try to find the safest way possible.  This girl, Arden, won't be your favorite character at first.  She seems selfish, but slowly she begins to peel off her mask.  They meet a boy, Caleb, who becomes a large part in their survival.  He's interesting, caring, and may actually be my favorite character of them all.

Throughout the book, you notice that Eve isn't the strongest heroine, but that didn't bother me at all.  She needed to be saved more than once, but it's pretty understandable after being shielded from harm her entire life.  If anything, those girls at school weren't being kept safe; they were being kept captive, and that's bound to put you at a disadvantage among those who have been living in the wild for years.

Overall, the plot was absolutely captivating.  The action will keep you turning the pages, but the characters and their emotions will really draw you in.  Anna Carey's writing alone makes me want to begin reading the sequel straight away.  Once the story ended, I sat there with my heavy heart, wondering what could possibly happen next.