What do you think?
Rate this book
Eden
When Arianna meets a mysterious stranger, she is taken to a mystical place called Eden. The secrets she finds there will have the ability to alter and extend her life forever. She will have to choose between the icy-eyed boy she dreams of and her best friend and protector while having the adventure of a lifetime. Eden is an edgy twist on a timeless legend.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 8, 2011
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 18, 2011
Eden starts off very strong, with a death and the blossoming of a sure-to-be-close bond. Ariannna is introduced as this sweet, family-loving outsider. She views herself as someone unworthy of others, never having friends other than her ‘angel’ Gabriel, and that didn’t bother me at first. Both Arianna and Gabriel are easy to like in the beginning, but once they get into a fight, their immaturity showed. The two of them ignore each other and then attempt to make each other jealous. It was annoying, but bearable.
Once the paranormal aspect comes into play, via Arianna’s aunt Ava, the story spins into entirely new territory. Meeting all the new people at Eden – the lavish estate owned by Ava’s mysterious boss Julian – is an overload of spirited characters that are animated and intrigued by their new houseguest. Even though Ethan, Savannah, Walker, Sebastien, and Jade aren’t fleshed out completely, they all offered a little something to the plot.
The big mystery behind Eden and Arianna’s family is fascinating, but it’s overpowered by the love story. Normally, I enjoy a love story in my paranormal reads, but I had issues connecting to Julian. The never-aging older guy with the teen girl is overdone and kind of creepy to me. I could deal with that here, but Julian is unappealing with his good guy/bad guy act. Arianna’s love/hate thing for him bothered me too. At times in the story, she’s very mature and thinks things through, but when it comes to Julian or Gabriel, she becomes this whiny, annoying girl.
Eden has a lot to offer with its unique and thought-provoking plot, but it is somewhat eclipsed by exasperating characters that flip-flop in their thoughts and emotions. With more consistency in her actions, Arianna could have been an amazing character, but she, along with Julian, fell short for me. Gabriel has his moments and I found myself liking Arianna much more when she was in his presence. Ava is an excellent sister-like figure and I enjoyed all the scenes between her and Arianna and Ethan’s quiet intensity captured my interest immediately.
Michelle Haley has attacked a topic that I’ve never seen done before in YA and she has done it in unexpected ways. Eden tackles the fragility of life and the choices we must make to be the people we want to be. Even though I had some issues, character-wise, I was engrossed with the premise and seeing exactly what was going on in Eden.
Once the paranormal aspect comes into play, via Arianna’s aunt Ava, the story spins into entirely new territory. Meeting all the new people at Eden – the lavish estate owned by Ava’s mysterious boss Julian – is an overload of spirited characters that are animated and intrigued by their new houseguest. Even though Ethan, Savannah, Walker, Sebastien, and Jade aren’t fleshed out completely, they all offered a little something to the plot.
The big mystery behind Eden and Arianna’s family is fascinating, but it’s overpowered by the love story. Normally, I enjoy a love story in my paranormal reads, but I had issues connecting to Julian. The never-aging older guy with the teen girl is overdone and kind of creepy to me. I could deal with that here, but Julian is unappealing with his good guy/bad guy act. Arianna’s love/hate thing for him bothered me too. At times in the story, she’s very mature and thinks things through, but when it comes to Julian or Gabriel, she becomes this whiny, annoying girl.
Eden has a lot to offer with its unique and thought-provoking plot, but it is somewhat eclipsed by exasperating characters that flip-flop in their thoughts and emotions. With more consistency in her actions, Arianna could have been an amazing character, but she, along with Julian, fell short for me. Gabriel has his moments and I found myself liking Arianna much more when she was in his presence. Ava is an excellent sister-like figure and I enjoyed all the scenes between her and Arianna and Ethan’s quiet intensity captured my interest immediately.
Michelle Haley has attacked a topic that I’ve never seen done before in YA and she has done it in unexpected ways. Eden tackles the fragility of life and the choices we must make to be the people we want to be. Even though I had some issues, character-wise, I was engrossed with the premise and seeing exactly what was going on in Eden.
May 10, 2011
GENRE: Ya Paranormal Romance
THEME: Immortals
RECEIVED: From Author
AUTHOR: Michelle Haley
MY BLOG: http://seeingnight.blogspot.com
REVIEW:
I was contact by Michelle about her novel Eden and was very excited to get a copy of it after reading the synopsis. I love books that have a kick of mystery and paranormal elements, plus being a romance I couldn’t resist.
The book starts out introducing you to Arianna, the lead female who at a young age had to cope with a family tragedy. Growing up with her best and only friend by her side Gabriel she lives a semi normal life with her uncle and grandmother. Gabriel is everything a girl would want, protective, funny and all around great guy. Arianna and him are inseparable…until a long lost relative comes to visit.
Arianna’s life take a whole new turn when her Aunt Ava comes to have her stay with her over the summer. The story goes through the mysterious background of their family, how they are connected to a man whom Arianna seems to remember from her dreams. It’s a whirlwind adventure with wonderful characters and romance.
The romance in this is a major love triangle that has you biting your nails. You want her to choose but then you don’t because your heart just keeps going back and forth. I found myself screaming team Gabriel… now it’s your turn to read and see whom you will choose.
The mystery and paranormal element to this story is a nice refreshing change and actually something I have never read before. I really enjoyed it and all the challenges it gave the characters. But I do say this is a hugely based character story and there are so many that you’ll love. Unfortunately I was a little bothered by the lead Arianna, she just irritated me with her indecisiveness, and she almost contradicted herself most of the time. This was the hardest part for me with the book; I just couldn’t get myself to agree with her decisions. But this is only my opinion and I loved all the other leads. I read this all in one sitting even though Eden is a good size read, I just really needed to know what happened, this is definitely a book to check out.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult novel that fans of C.C. Hunter and Kristie Cook books with definitely enjoy this YA paranormal romance.
THEME: Immortals
RECEIVED: From Author
AUTHOR: Michelle Haley
MY BLOG: http://seeingnight.blogspot.com
REVIEW:
I was contact by Michelle about her novel Eden and was very excited to get a copy of it after reading the synopsis. I love books that have a kick of mystery and paranormal elements, plus being a romance I couldn’t resist.
The book starts out introducing you to Arianna, the lead female who at a young age had to cope with a family tragedy. Growing up with her best and only friend by her side Gabriel she lives a semi normal life with her uncle and grandmother. Gabriel is everything a girl would want, protective, funny and all around great guy. Arianna and him are inseparable…until a long lost relative comes to visit.
Arianna’s life take a whole new turn when her Aunt Ava comes to have her stay with her over the summer. The story goes through the mysterious background of their family, how they are connected to a man whom Arianna seems to remember from her dreams. It’s a whirlwind adventure with wonderful characters and romance.
The romance in this is a major love triangle that has you biting your nails. You want her to choose but then you don’t because your heart just keeps going back and forth. I found myself screaming team Gabriel… now it’s your turn to read and see whom you will choose.
The mystery and paranormal element to this story is a nice refreshing change and actually something I have never read before. I really enjoyed it and all the challenges it gave the characters. But I do say this is a hugely based character story and there are so many that you’ll love. Unfortunately I was a little bothered by the lead Arianna, she just irritated me with her indecisiveness, and she almost contradicted herself most of the time. This was the hardest part for me with the book; I just couldn’t get myself to agree with her decisions. But this is only my opinion and I loved all the other leads. I read this all in one sitting even though Eden is a good size read, I just really needed to know what happened, this is definitely a book to check out.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult novel that fans of C.C. Hunter and Kristie Cook books with definitely enjoy this YA paranormal romance.
June 14, 2011
Great read!! Can't wait for book 2. I can't find any info on release date, does anyone have any info? Can't message the author on this site.
July 1, 2011
i liked the book when it was just her and gabriel, its well written and they are soo meant to be together. but I dont like the turn the story took once she met Julian.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews