First World

Walker Saga #1

by Jaymin Eve, Eva Kaminsky (Narrator)

A paranormal romance series. An epic journey. If the Seventine are released, will anyone survive?Abigail Swish might not love her life, living in gang-ridden New York in 2035 and training to fight and survive with Compound 23. But she is grateful for a few things, especially her no-filter-between-brain-and-mouth best friend Lucy and her escape each night into a dream world far different from her own. In fact, sometimes she lives for the fleeting moments she spends at night with the man who fuels every romantic fantasy she’s ever had. But each morning reality returns. She could just cry. But she won’t of course; tears don’t change a damn thing.Then without any warning, a month before her eighteenth birthday, everything does change. A guardian finds her. He explains, in a strangely familiar accent, that she was stashed on Earth for safekeeping and has been lost to her family ever since. And it is time to return home. To the First World; a land of unimagined beauty. Abigail and Lucy find themselves escaping New York, ending up on another planet and traversing through an unforgiving wilderness. Yeah, because that sort of thing just happens every day. Luckily an unexpected saviour arrives; the man from her dream-world. Brace is six-and-a-half feet of gorgeous perfectness, wrapped in an arrogance like no other. Unable to trust his assistance, and unsure which of her instincts to follow - kiss him or punch him in the mouth - Abigail eventually accepts his help to find her family. And what a family. Enter Josian, her father; larger than life and apparently not even human. He is Walker, a planet-less race revered as gods, causing mischief and mayhem through-out this star-system. Unfortunately, there is no time for a cosy reunion, since no one explained that by returning to First World her half-Walker genetics would act as a catalyst setting forth a chain of events which could spell disaster for not only her existence but that of all worlds.First World is book one in the Walker Saga, a seven-book paranormal fantasy series.Spurn - A Walker Saga Book Two release date set for September 2013.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult, Romance, Aliens, Science Fiction, New Adult

290 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2013

About the author

Jaymin Eve is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and sci-fi novels filled with epic love stories, great adventures, and plenty of laughs. She lives in Australia with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and a couple of crazy pets. To date, she has sold over three million ebooks, and still can't believe that she gets to create fantasy worlds as a job. 

For action, adventure, romance, and a guaranteed HEA, start one of her series today.

Reading order:

Secret Keepers series (Paranormal Romance) House of Darken. House of Imperial. House of Leights. House of Royale.

Storm Princess Saga (PNR/Fantasy)
The Princess Must Die. The Princess Must Strike. The Princess Must Reign.

Curse of the Gods (Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance series) UpperYA/NA
Trickery. Persuasion. Seduction. Strength. Neutral. Pain.

Supernatural Prison (UF/PNR romance -shifter, vampire, fae, magic user) Upper YA/NA
Dragon Marked. Dragon Mystics. Dragon Mated. Broken Compass. Magical Compass.

NYC Mecca Series (UF/PNR Romance - shifters) Upper YA
Queen Heir. Queen Alpha. Queen Fae. Queen Mecca.

Hive Trilogy (UF/PNR Romance - vampires) Upper YA
Ash. Anarchy. Annihilate.

Walker Saga (Fantasy/adventure/romance - gods, mermaids, dragons) YA
First World. Spurn. Crais. Regali. Nephilius. Dronish. Earth.

Stay updated:

http://www.jaymineve.com

https://www.facebook.com/JayminEve.Au...

Reviews

[E.M. McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fair warning: I’m a guy. This review is from a male perspective. Ok now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you about this fantastic book!

I came across this author and her book on a Goodreads indie author forum (I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review), and I admit my first reaction was “Oh no, I have to review a chick-lit paranormal romance”. Needless to say, this isn’t my normal genre, but I decided to risk my testosterone levels and make it to the end so I could give a fair review. And I’m a better man for it.

From the opening scenes with Abby the orphan struggling to make it in a post-apocalyptic New York I was hooked. The author does a fantastic job of setting the scene and quickly introducing you to the main characters in a fluid and well told story. Abby and her best friend Lucy make a great team throughout the novel, providing complementary personalities that strengthen and support each other when they need it most.

The action really starts to pick up as they are whisked away to the First World, where Abby finds out about her past, her family, and eventually, her future. Along the way she meets several men, including Brace, the dark-haired, brooding hunk who she pretty much falls for immediately, no matter how much she doesn’t want to. I think the author did a fantastic job of putting the romance and emotional bonds between the characters in without going overboard. There are plenty of scenes with smoldering looks and latent sexual tension, but they developed naturally throughout the story; they don’t feel forced or crowded in as with some of the current crop of YA Urban Fantasy genre. Overall it was a perfect blend of romance with action throughout the story.

Jaymin Eve has written a terrific YA Urban Fantasy story that can easily appeal to older audiences as well, even the guys out there. The storyline, pacing, and characters all make it a book that will appeal to just about any fan of Science-Fiction and Fantasy novels. Definitely worth the read!

[Sequoia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was.... An ok read. I'm trying to revamp my rating system, so a 2 star means that is was intriguing enough to keep me reading, but not enough to pull me in. And make me interested. Why? Let's break this down:

THE GOOD:
1. Abby is kick ass and who does love strong female heroines? We need more of them since there's a shortage in YA.
2. Lucy is a sidekick that is not left just for the background. She has a personality and a story of her own woven in this tale. For once, a sidekick who is not forgotten. It's a nice change.
3. The parents are doting and available. They are (somewhat) realistic in their portrayal of emotions.
4. New York world building was quite good. I very much enjoyed that part of the story.
5. Lead characters who go with the flow when their world is turned upside down. See a friend disappear in front of you? Oh, all is ok now that she's back. The book has realistic emotions that caught me thinking: I'd react like that.

THE BAD:
1. The story feels very rushed. It's a lot to cram in the few pages it has. The pace felt waaaay too rushed. Taking more time to delve deeper into the characters and world building would have added much needed depth to the story. The initial New York portion was fine, but then how everything just fell in place and information came out of the woodwork? I have verbal diarrhea.
2. Ending crashed and burned. Yes, there is a massive fight at the end (let's face it, it's like a prerequisite for the book to qualify as YA for some dumb dumb freaking reason). However, do we get anything else out of it? No. Who was the mastermind behind the life sucking and kidnappings? No idea. What's up with the mysterious nature of Brace? No freaking clue. Is Abby the queen? I sure as hell have no idea.
3. Utter disregard for rational thought by Abby when it comes to Brace. Bloody hell, he raises up red flags all the time with his behavior, but she neither thinks about it or asks him about it. Follow up girl!!! Seriously?
4. As much as I liked how everyone went along with the ridiculous world changing (by everyone I mean Abby and Lucy), it became VERY FRUSTRATING when it felt like everyone starting missing their brain. The seer angle tells us what needs to be done and why, and everyone goes along like what they were asked to do was to go for a picnic. Where's the fear and the freak outs? The denial? The heavy acceptance? The disbelief? Nothing is take. With a grain of salt here. You say it? By lord, let me accept it as truth and not think of my own because MY BRAIN MUST ONLY BE THERE AS DECORATION. Seriously... It worked in the beginning when a new world was opened, but not throughout the whole book.
5. The explanations and the words? Got confused a few times. I thought the lalunas were mini planets or something instead of the stone. Whatever, I'm still confused about that. Oh, and don't even start on the name originality of the plants. First world? Spurn? What's the next one, Tune?

Will I be reading the next one? No. It's nice for a boring read that holds your interest, but don't expect anything on an epic level. And the fact that there is a huge ass mission given at the end to pretty much destroy any end of series you might have in mind? How many books are there going to be in the series? . Shoot me. Shoot me now. Is this ever going to end?

[Tink Magoo is bad at reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh 2.5 stars



This was just okay. There was nothing too annoying or particularly exciting, I did find the heroine's acceptance of where she really came from a bit of a letdown. It was just like - "Oh, I'm from another world and an extra special snowflake. Huh. Oh, look something pretty." Blah.

[Willow Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well heck!! What can I say other than I really liked this story. I haven't read a book in a while so I was happy to find that the book I picked was enjoyable. I think this indie author did an excellent job writing a unique tale that had thrills and suspense around every corner. I enjoyed the relationships and contributions of all the sub characters. Most of all, I loved the banter between the two main characters, Abby and Lucy. I also like the romantic connections taking place in this story.

I am so curious about Brace, his powers, and what the power and connection he has with one of the MC's mean. This book is young adult friendly but I'm not sure what age group this series is directed to. All I know is that the book was good to my old self : )

[Karen Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a little different than the books I normally read because it involves aliens and travel to other planets, which is more sci-fi. But I thoroughly enjoyed the story, especially the characters, and I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series.

The main characters were engaging and well developed and I loved the banter between Abigail and Lucy. They were so different and yet they fit together very well. Brace was strong and adorable and sometimes quiet and brooding and I liked the interaction between him and Abigail.

The world building was wonderful, and the story flowed very well. I like that the story had romance but it was secondary to the main plot. It’s obvious the romance will be developed in the next book.

If I had one negative thing to say it’s that the book ended on a cliffhanger, but seeing as how the other books are already published, that is moot at this point. Overall, a great read.

[Jessie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't read this. The banter between the main character and her best friend was ridiculous, especially considering the situations they end up in. The plot wasn't able to hold my attention. This book was not for me

[Elise ✘ a.k.a Ryder's Pet ✘]

DNF at 25%

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF after an hour or two into it.

I had to give up on this one.

Mostly because of the banter between the best friend and the MC. It was stupid.
The best friend was stupid.

There were too many 80s/90s pop culture references for this book to have been set SO far in the future. Hell, someone MY age (30s now) who was born in the 80s wouldn't have THAT many references, and I'm a pop culture queen. These teenagers far in the future just really wouldn't know.
And the clothing. UGH. OMG. We had to be told everything the bestie was wearing, and how everything was priceless and vintage, and she went on an 'adventure' outside the wall wearing Louboutins? Ahem, excuse me.. VINTAGE Louboutins. (Because we were constantly reminded that they were vintage)

I got as far as her getting to the other planet and going down a laundry chute head first because she was an idiot who closed her eyes because she was claustrophobic, but closed her eyes FEET away from the chute and so instead of getting in the chute properly fell in head first because she couldn't see where the hell she was going. What an idiot.

I was done. I just couldn't. I will maybe check out the author's other works, but I can't do it with this series. I think I just need to also be very very careful dipping into YA. I didn't realize this was YA at first because I literally just went 'ooh, aliens. that's what I want right now.'

[Rika Kali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay so what I want to say first and foremost is that Eve tried really hard and it shows. There was a brilliant idea behind this book and the theories were just amazing.

And here comes the but….

But this book reads like a rough draft rather than the fully finished book. The ideas chapters should have been more detailed and more flowing which they weren’t.

Abigail/Aribella is a hybrid (where have I heard that before? Oh right, in almost every YA and NA novel out there) living in post apocalyptic New York in a training facility of sorts. She has dreams about this other world which is healthy and green unlike earth. She thinks it is just her sub conscious trying to cope with stress and dismisses the dreams as just dreams.

Enter Quarn, her protector set on her by her mother after she was born and transported to earth via a dreamspan or something. Then the story is how she returns to her planet and has a happy reunion with her lost family and then sets off to find her fried lucy who was mysteriously kidnapped and her previously kidnapped brother ends up in the same compound which is run by her previous principal/recruiter/bitch Olden.

As I said, this books reads like a rough draft full of brilliant ideas like parallel universes, evolutionary differences, wormholes, travelers/Walkers, people with abilities. A compound that enhanced cell regeneration to keep them looking young, energy banks, the concept of cosmic balance.

But these ideas and theories, while brilliant, were not developed.
Not to mention that when a narrator is eighteen the book should read like an NA and not a YA but this book read like a book that was narrated by a thirteen year old girl. I mean seriously? She grows up in ganglands and has had more than a few encounters with the Gangers but she doesn’t curse and is a virgin? Ridiculous.

Look at how the Queen of all that Dies developes where the protagonist is around the same age and living in post apocalyptic world ridden with radiation and gangs and what not. It reads like a book.

Also, Eve tried to put Abigail in the typical YA heroine mold. With her virgin status, her blushes when she looks at an attractive man, her getting queasy at the sight of blood?

It was really freaking unbelievable.

This story moved too fast and too sketchily for me to enjoy it.

Not to mention that Brace was an asshole and the relationship between them was never fully introduced and explained. It read more like that Iron Queen and Ash thing rather than a proper NA.

I picked up this book after reading Dragon Marked by the same author, which is really a freaking awesome book (my reason for picking up the Walker saga), but I was sorely disappointed.

I will definitely pick up the following book because as I said the ideas behind this book were amazing.

But this one doesn’t get more than 2 stars. 1 for trying a whole different genre and not spectacularly failing. And the second one for the awesome theories of the book.

[Tammy K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Question: Why is it that so many YA Romance stories have characters that are ultra-super-duper cool?
Is it not enough to be brave, to find love, to find your place (calling) in life.

Instead you have to be the lost empress, who will live forever, in a body that doesn't age past age 28, with the the hottest guy ever in love with you?

Seriously this trend is why I do not read YA_Romance.
Heck, it's why I read rarely read from the "romance" genre.

I wanted to barf at the super-sweet-silliness of it all.

There was zero substance to the characters. They are shallow Barbie dolls.

At first I thought the plot was interesting yet predictable.
As I read on it was just predictable.

I will not be reading on in this series.

[vee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something that didn’t make a lot of sense in the book to me was the was the main character spoke. Abby claimed to be from New York, but she kept using English terminology like “bloody” and ”whilst.” I’m not saying that I took off a star just for that, but I do wish the author payed more attention to those details.

I may not hate it but i didn’t really like it either, so I won’t continue to read to rest of this series.

[Kimchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Originally I wasn't going to try this but I'm really glad I did.

[Alicia Huxtable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable

This book was really good. The characters and The storyline gelled really well together and I was glad to have more than 1 strong female character

[Runningrabbit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read a book like this in ages, and I completely had a good time.

It falls in the YA category complete with virgin and fledgling attraction, which I often find a bit ho hum, and I still do. It becomes tiresome in so many YA books. It’s not that I expect them to “be there and done that”, it gets a bit old when it’s repeated in so often. I feel it doesn’t need to be expressed over and over again. I also found that the bouncing back and forth with the ‘I love him, I love him not’ syndrome was way too dragged out.

The characters were nicely rounded and not bad company to spend an evening’s read with. The plot good, and developed along with a regular pace.

This series is a quest with the main character identified as a prophetic savior. I think this is a bad idea. A series can get going in perhaps one book of a set, but when it’s continued on and it doesn’t settle well into the story as a whole. I’m sick of the whole concept.
Too many books follow this idea, and we don’t need another quest added to the fantasy world genre, there are already so very many of them on the shelves.

We will see what happens in the next book, maybe it can be carried off.

[Essie (Midknight.traveller) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to start off by saying that I think that there was a good idea and concept behind the book but it was the execution that made me like it less.

The world has been overtaken by gangs. Abby and Lucy whom are best friends are being educated and taught combat in a rebel school so that they can overthrow this system in the future, but all is not what it seems. In light of learning this they escape the confines of the school not knowing what will happen next. Things got weirder from there. Abigail and Lucy finds themselves on another planet and they're suddenly being interrogated by aliens. Did I mention that Abby is one of them too?

I regret reading the book because reading the plot was basically the whole book except a couple of details that I didn't enjoy. They enter this "first world" only to escape and by accident finds her parents (that sent her to earth in the first place). Even though she lived her whole life in fear and in her lonesomeness Abby seems to be very forgiving and accepts them immediately which is something I didn't get. It was this Kal-El moment esque, you know when his parents sends him to earth because they are all in danger and their planet is being destroyed except the fact that Abby's parents are very much alive. BUT, on the way to meeting her parents Abby's best friend Lucy vanishes.

My problem was that all of the things that happened in this book happened suddenly.

Abby is being attacked.
Abby is saved by some supernatural being whose name is very close to that vegetarian soy-meat



Lucy and Abby leaves the Compound.
Saved again by Quorn Quarn.
Travels to another planet with superpowers.
Lucy is kidnapped.
Abby meets parent.
Also meets boy from dream.

I could go on and on. Imagine the list above. Reading the book was like that. It was like points on a list and not a continuous story.

Another problem I had with the book was the fact that the characters weren’t that well developed. We are just introduced to some new character but they didn't mean anything because we didn't get to know them.It was one-dimensional and didn't feel authentic and I had a hard time connecting with any of them which is why I didn't feel invested in what happened. Abby gets stabbed at one point and I honestly didn't care. That's when I know that it's time to move on. There was too much going on all the time for there to be any character or plot development. This books should really have been about one thing. Saving Lucy or surviving the attack or something but all of them happened at once making it hard to enjoy.

[Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a mixed bag this one. First World is a sort of sci-fi/post-apocalyptic cross. Our heroine and her best friend live in post-apocalyptic New York and their relationship is the source of much of the humour in the book (and a little bit of The Selection-style fixation on outfits and home decor as if that matters when your life is at risk/your friend is missing/the world is about to end etc).

The best friend is human* but our heroine is something else entirely. Something special. And by special, I mean Special Snowflake. Said Special Snowflake runs around saving the day by being special. Meanwhile, 50% of the characters turn out to be related to her and the other 50% fall in instalove** - the heroine included.

There are glimpses of decent characterisation and plot development, but these are unfortunately inconsistent. The grammar and syntax are mainly correct, but a little further proofreading would not go amiss. I feel like too much effort was put into selling further books in the series - hints and unanswered questions galore plus a cliffhanger ending - that would have been better spent on refining this first book.

All told - three stars. It could use some work but it's not a bad freebie.

*Or is she? Lots of "hint, hint"s dropped for future books.
**Oh, and did I mention - I think I saw set up for a love triangle.

[Melinda Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read. The book was great because it had little romance and there wasn't insta love. I loved the parallel worlds and the mythical beings were described in detail. It was an action packed adventure that i would recommend fans of intergalatical relations, dystopia/ end of the world/ apocalypse, YA and romance fans to read. A great book.

[alicat ♡➹♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I definitely enjoyed this story - a couple things irked me that kept it from loving it. Dramatic situations seemed a bit too easy and over too quickly. Also some instalove and a potential of a love triangle.

The actual storyline itself was pretty interesting and I am interested in seeing where the series leads.

[Searcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series!

This series starts on Earth - a slightly dystopian Earth - and our heroine, Abigail Swish, is quickly pulled to another world where she learns things about her heritage she had never known.

Jaymin Eve creates a unique world for each installment of this series, and adds another character from that world (and usually her love interest). Though the whole series is told through the lens of our world, Earth, and the MCs Abigail and Brace. It works for me, because you have the side plot of the developing love interests for each world, but without losing the focus of the MCs you've come to love. Her worlds range from an almost completely water world, to a dry and desolate desert world, a night world, a jungle/forest world...you get the idea. But it really gives each book a different flavor, and keeps things interesting.

Confession: I have a real love-hate thing with series that have a different love interest and MC every book, set in the same world. I much prefer to have the series revolve around the same people. So this series was a nice compromise for me.

I enjoyed this series so much, that after reading through it on Kindle Unlimited, I just had to go out and buy the omnibus so I owned this series to re-read. Well worth it, IMO.

Read it, seriously :)

[Laveda Kasch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be devouring this series at a rapid pace.

Oooooooh, I think I'm REALLY going to love this series. Abby and Luce are too cool and Brice makes my heart pitter patter. Really unique story concept, love the whole alien angle, and I just love the way the writer gives her characters, well, such character. They are funny as all get out and I feel a connection to them through their awesome use of sarcastic communication. I feel like I'm reading a book with a character created from my own personality and I freaking love it! Not only do you get a super neat, kick a** story, but you also get some comedy relief. I am 100% sure that I totally have a girl crush on this author and I will be devouring this series at a rapid pace.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled for the first 30% of this book. The dialogue between Abby & Lucy was cheesy & unrealistic & felt like it was trying too hard to be funny. It was not funny. In fact I wanted it to be more serious; Abby grew up in this bleak & violent environment with no family but it didn't come across that way. I mean I get that she has grown to be strong because of her upbringing but it felt like it wasn't taken seriously.

Now that was only the first 30%. The rest of the book was a massive improvement, the action picked up, the tone became more serious & we got Brace. Then that ending. Very well done. I defy anyone to finish this book & not immediately want to pick up the next one.

[Chanin Malley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was extremly good, I loved the different worlds i loved learning more about the two main characters oh man i almost don't know what to say about this book i enjoyed it so much.Her abilities while not used much were still interesting.To be honest i saw Olden coming from a mile away no lie.Everything else was interesting i liked hearing about the different worlds.So I'm going to recommend this book to all who while they love a end of the world book they also like a slash of sci-fi, a cute boy, and an adventure in the works.Oh boy was that fun :)

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read.

I've been meaning to start reading some of Jaymin Eve's books for a while now, and when I saw that the first 5 books in this series were free yesterday I immediately one-clicked all 5.

I read the first book in the series, First World, last night in one sitting. I loved the characters and the storyline. The main female character and her bestie were hilarious, I love a story that has great banter and fun times between besties. And bonus, I have the next 4 in the series waiting to be read.

[Goosegirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I have to say is that Jaymin Eve is one of the most talented authors I have ever come across.

The different worlds that she is able to create are absolutely magical, and make you never want to leave. Not to mention her characters are so well developed that you can't help but get invested and fall in love with them.

I will definitely be devouring anything Eve puts out. So far I have yet to be let down with anything she writes.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has real potential, but the pacing is bad and the plot is disjointed. Professional editing and mentoring could really make this into something. A lot of creativity, some very raw talent, but definitely needs polishing.

[Pernille · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am gonna stop after this one book. Not because it wasn't good -cause it was. But because it has 7 (SEVEN) books in the series all about the same problems. That is just too drawn out for me.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series starter for any fans of science fiction and young adult fiction. Engrossing world building and characters you instantly love or hate. Amazing can't wait for the rest of them!

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing special.

[Daisy Delfin · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC
Jaymin's early series
I like Abbi and Lucy
Lot's of alpha men

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quite good read. Liked the world building, like the characters. Follows typical YA paranormal genre - sassy heroine, broody hot guy, simmering potential romance, snarky sidekick, new powers...the usual, but a good start to this series.