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Enmity #1
Enmity
Love vs Life.
Good vs Evil.
War vs Warfare.
Which would you choose?
After a solar flare wipes out most of the world’s inhabitants, it leaves behind nothing but a desolate earth and a desperate population. Existence is no longer a certainty. And with factions now fighting for the power to rule, people start to become reckless with their lives. The world has become a dangerous place.
Amongst the ensuing chaos, Nate and Hermia — two victims of the new world order — are taken against their will to The Compound. Joined by eight other teenagers all chosen for a specific reason, Nate and Hermia are forced to train as assassins to overthrow the current president and make way for a new leader of the free world. Here, they learn to plan, fight, and most importantly... to survive.
Except, despite the casual cruelty of their new existence, both Nate and Hermia — two very strong but very different people — begin to form fragile bonds within the group. But they soon realize their happiness is short lived...because their training is just the beginning.
A war awaits...regardless of how ready or willing they may be.
Good vs Evil.
War vs Warfare.
Which would you choose?
After a solar flare wipes out most of the world’s inhabitants, it leaves behind nothing but a desolate earth and a desperate population. Existence is no longer a certainty. And with factions now fighting for the power to rule, people start to become reckless with their lives. The world has become a dangerous place.
Amongst the ensuing chaos, Nate and Hermia — two victims of the new world order — are taken against their will to The Compound. Joined by eight other teenagers all chosen for a specific reason, Nate and Hermia are forced to train as assassins to overthrow the current president and make way for a new leader of the free world. Here, they learn to plan, fight, and most importantly... to survive.
Except, despite the casual cruelty of their new existence, both Nate and Hermia — two very strong but very different people — begin to form fragile bonds within the group. But they soon realize their happiness is short lived...because their training is just the beginning.
A war awaits...regardless of how ready or willing they may be.
295 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2014
7 people are currently reading
854 people want to read
About the author
E.J. Andrews
1 book13 followersE.J. Andrews was raised in a small town on the west coast of New Zealand by a gold miner with a fascination for guns and a nurse with an obsession with dragons.
Growing up, E.J. constantly felt that she needed to write down the vivid thoughts going around her head, but it wasn’t until her aunt gave her John Marsden’s Tomorrow series to read that her writing bloomed and her interest in books became a full-blown fixation.
At the age of eighteen she decided to live with her sister in Brisbane, Australia, where she found a job working at a boat club on the beautiful Moreton Bay. In between split shifts and while others her age were out enjoying their adolescence, E.J. was writing well into the early hours, trying to get down those ever-present ideas of a not-so-bright future.
E.J. now lives on the Redcliffe peninsula with her partner and their cat Senga.
Growing up, E.J. constantly felt that she needed to write down the vivid thoughts going around her head, but it wasn’t until her aunt gave her John Marsden’s Tomorrow series to read that her writing bloomed and her interest in books became a full-blown fixation.
At the age of eighteen she decided to live with her sister in Brisbane, Australia, where she found a job working at a boat club on the beautiful Moreton Bay. In between split shifts and while others her age were out enjoying their adolescence, E.J. was writing well into the early hours, trying to get down those ever-present ideas of a not-so-bright future.
E.J. now lives on the Redcliffe peninsula with her partner and their cat Senga.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
May 27, 2015
Whenever I start yet another YA post-apocalyptic-dystopian-fiction, I am prepared for one of two reactions: delight, or disappointment. Unfortunately, at the moment, disappointment seems to be the most common reaction as each new book feels like a clone of the previous one, with no new ideas and – usually – no good writing to set it apart. Occasionally, however, a book will come along that is completely original and unique, with a clear and distinct voice that sets it apart from the others in the genre. The Hunger Games was one of these anomalies, with Marie Lu’s Legend and (especially) Julianna Baggott’s Pure continuing the trend of being unexpected delights (though in Baggott's case, "delight" may not be the right word - the world of Pure is too dark for that). Reading yet another, new YA post-apocalyptic-dystopian-fiction book by an unknown author is, therefore, a bit of a gamble – will this one be a let down, or a contender for book of the year?
Even a week or so after finishing Enmity, the debut novel by New Zealand/Australian author E.J Andrews, I still have no idea which of those categories it fits into.
...Andrew’s writing is skillful, and she clearly gets across a sense of unease and tension as the teenagers are put through increasingly dangerous, difficult tasks. Where it gets confusing is in the pacing of the story. Half the time I found myself flicking back through chapters to work out what I missed, only to find that I had in fact missed nothing. New information is thrown in all the time with no warning, and there are many parts where it feels as though entire chapters have been skipped as the plot starts to make less and less sense. This, coupled with a few frustrating cases of “insta-love” and some rather bizarre character developments, made the whole reading experience rather jarring.
Full review here
Received from publisher through NZ Booklovers
Even a week or so after finishing Enmity, the debut novel by New Zealand/Australian author E.J Andrews, I still have no idea which of those categories it fits into.
...Andrew’s writing is skillful, and she clearly gets across a sense of unease and tension as the teenagers are put through increasingly dangerous, difficult tasks. Where it gets confusing is in the pacing of the story. Half the time I found myself flicking back through chapters to work out what I missed, only to find that I had in fact missed nothing. New information is thrown in all the time with no warning, and there are many parts where it feels as though entire chapters have been skipped as the plot starts to make less and less sense. This, coupled with a few frustrating cases of “insta-love” and some rather bizarre character developments, made the whole reading experience rather jarring.
Full review here
Received from publisher through NZ Booklovers
February 28, 2014
1.5 / 5 stars --
Enmity by E.J Andrews could have been a fantastic, action-packed, and romantic read if only it had lived up to its potential. The novel opened up promising: it opens up just before the solar flare that destroyed most of the world takes place, and follows the story in alternating point of views of Hermia and Nate. Nate and Hermia, along with a bunch of other teenagers (who are badly characterized, might I add) are forced to become assassins to overthrow the president.
My first piece of criticism is the alternating point of views. Ordinarily, I don’t like how novels flick back and forth between two protagonists in first person. Their narration is all meshed together until sometimes I’m unsure about whose point of view I’m actually reading. On more than one occasion I had to flick back some pages to check, which is a sign of not very good writing in my opinion.
First person present tense is a tough writing style to conquer, and I’m afraid that E.J Andrews did not master it. I felt myself slugging through it most of the time I was reading, skimming over paragraphs that were badly written, and just wanting to get to the end. There was enough action and intrigue to keep my interested, yes, but the writing style let the storyline down.
The romance in Enmity was another major let down. It was rushed and moved much too quickly. For example, one of the characters was declaring their love for another by page 133. This bothered me a lot—they hardly knew each other. The relationship I am referring to was painful to read to the point of eye-rolling, and I found that there were few, if any, redeemable factors of this novel.
Alas, there was nothing special about this. There are better dystopian reads out there.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for this eARC.
Enmity by E.J Andrews could have been a fantastic, action-packed, and romantic read if only it had lived up to its potential. The novel opened up promising: it opens up just before the solar flare that destroyed most of the world takes place, and follows the story in alternating point of views of Hermia and Nate. Nate and Hermia, along with a bunch of other teenagers (who are badly characterized, might I add) are forced to become assassins to overthrow the president.
My first piece of criticism is the alternating point of views. Ordinarily, I don’t like how novels flick back and forth between two protagonists in first person. Their narration is all meshed together until sometimes I’m unsure about whose point of view I’m actually reading. On more than one occasion I had to flick back some pages to check, which is a sign of not very good writing in my opinion.
First person present tense is a tough writing style to conquer, and I’m afraid that E.J Andrews did not master it. I felt myself slugging through it most of the time I was reading, skimming over paragraphs that were badly written, and just wanting to get to the end. There was enough action and intrigue to keep my interested, yes, but the writing style let the storyline down.
The romance in Enmity was another major let down. It was rushed and moved much too quickly. For example, one of the characters was declaring their love for another by page 133. This bothered me a lot—they hardly knew each other. The relationship I am referring to was painful to read to the point of eye-rolling, and I found that there were few, if any, redeemable factors of this novel.
Alas, there was nothing special about this. There are better dystopian reads out there.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for this eARC.
May 27, 2015
To be honest, I really didn't like this one. I found it to be too jumpy, with the two points of view. We'd have one scene in Harmia's POV than jump into Nate's in a completely different time and place. There was no clarity throughout this book, I was lost a lot of the times with the plot and who was good and bad. Harmia is a complete and utter bitch and was not so fun to read about. Nate on the other hand was in love with someone after two weeks of knowing them... And it was only two weeks after his family was murdered. I mean really?
Not sure if there is going to be a sequel but I'm most defiantly not picking it up.
Not sure if there is going to be a sequel but I'm most defiantly not picking it up.
April 23, 2014
I'd seen this book at the bookshop multiple times before I built up the courage to finally get it, and I am so very glad I did. I absolutely adore this book. It stretches the boundaries of the typical YA dystopian genre in a way I have never read before. I loved the change in perspective between Nate and Hermia throughout the novel and it was really well signposted which made it an easy read. I was extremely surprised by the end of this story and I hope that there is a sequel because the story kind of just finished. Never the less it was a phenomenal story and I can't wait to see how the characters progress. :) Well done E.J. Andrews.
April 1, 2014
I wanted to love this one, regular readers of my blog know how much I love Dystopia and Enmity held such promise. The synopsis sold me ... sadly the execution failed to live up to it.
There was enough action to keep the plot moving but poor writing turned something that could have been amazing into a hot mess. It makes me sad criticising an author's 'baby' but I'm just one opinion so be sure to check out other reviews.
There was enough action to keep the plot moving but poor writing turned something that could have been amazing into a hot mess. It makes me sad criticising an author's 'baby' but I'm just one opinion so be sure to check out other reviews.
September 24, 2024
THE FIRST PART WAS REALLY SLOW. AND I WAS REALLY CONFUSED BECAUSE HERMIA WAS HINTING AT THINGS WE HADNT LEARNT YET. ONE QUESTION WHO IS ‘HE’? MAYBE IM JUST SLOW.
I WAS WORRIED ABOUT READING THIS. BUT DYSTOPIAN FICTION NEVER FAILS. IT FELT LIKE A ALTERNATIVE VERSION OF DIVERGENT TBH.
NATE AND MARINA ARE SO CUTE. BUT I GOT ROBBED. HOW COULD IT FINISH WITH HIM DYING AND THEM IN THR MIDDLE OF A FIGHT. LIKE GORL. BUT LIKE THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS UNDERDEVELOPED. LIKE ONE SECOND AFTER MEETING HE PROFESSED HIS LOVE. LIKE WHAT.
BUT PLEASE TELL ME. DID CHASE TRUELY LOVE HERMIA. I NEED TO KNOW. AND OML. DID SHE REALLY NEED TO KILL HIM. SHE REALLY ANNOYED ME. LIKE HER PERSPECTIVE OF PEOPLE WAS JUST SO NEGATIVE.
“But maybe he does love me.
Why? Why me?
My hand rises before I can know why. Then I realise. Chase is better off dead than in love with me.”
LIKE WHAT. GORL. GET HELP.
THE LAST 20 PAGES. JESUS. PEOPLE WRRE DROPPING LEFT RIGHT AND CENTRE.
I NEED A REUNION WITH HERNIA AND NATE. I LOVE THEM. I ALWAYS HAD A FEEING THAT THEY WERE GONNA BE FAMILY.
ANYWHO. LOVE THIS BOOK.
I WAS WORRIED ABOUT READING THIS. BUT DYSTOPIAN FICTION NEVER FAILS. IT FELT LIKE A ALTERNATIVE VERSION OF DIVERGENT TBH.
NATE AND MARINA ARE SO CUTE. BUT I GOT ROBBED. HOW COULD IT FINISH WITH HIM DYING AND THEM IN THR MIDDLE OF A FIGHT. LIKE GORL. BUT LIKE THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS UNDERDEVELOPED. LIKE ONE SECOND AFTER MEETING HE PROFESSED HIS LOVE. LIKE WHAT.
BUT PLEASE TELL ME. DID CHASE TRUELY LOVE HERMIA. I NEED TO KNOW. AND OML. DID SHE REALLY NEED TO KILL HIM. SHE REALLY ANNOYED ME. LIKE HER PERSPECTIVE OF PEOPLE WAS JUST SO NEGATIVE.
“But maybe he does love me.
Why? Why me?
My hand rises before I can know why. Then I realise. Chase is better off dead than in love with me.”
LIKE WHAT. GORL. GET HELP.
THE LAST 20 PAGES. JESUS. PEOPLE WRRE DROPPING LEFT RIGHT AND CENTRE.
I NEED A REUNION WITH HERNIA AND NATE. I LOVE THEM. I ALWAYS HAD A FEEING THAT THEY WERE GONNA BE FAMILY.
ANYWHO. LOVE THIS BOOK.
June 3, 2014
I'm really sad with this book because it had so much promise to change from that normal dystopian style to something a little outside of the box but in the end I was extremely disappointed with this book and it left me with a whole lot of unanswered questions (not the good kind) and just a whole lot of "What?"
Can I just start by pointing out that we meet a girl in the beginning called Saoirse (can i just say how much i love that name) and she basically walks us through the solar flare that wipes out most of the earth's inhabitants and then we never hear from her again. Like POOF! Did she ever even survive? I swear every time a character started going on about there family I was always like - okay now he's gonna reveal that she was his grandmother - but nope. In the end she never even gets mentioned again. I feel like the author could of at least thrown her in there or I just feel like that just wasted a huge colossal time of my reading. If your not gonna mention her again then why not just describe the solar flare through Nate and Hermia's thoughts? She was honestly a complete waste of a character.
Characters:
Ok so now we're introduced to two completely different characters Hermia and Nate. So lets just get straight into that.
Nate: Nate is supposed to be a happy-go-lucky, so-nice-it-makes-me-sick kinda guy but I never saw that in him. That random outburst at the table about his family. That random time when he got that keeper to beat him up. I never even saw him be happy that much at all. Another one of his huge traits is supposed to be his great leadership. Leaders are supposed to be courageous and wise but he just threw himself into the line of fire all the time to keep his team safe - it may be heroic but leaving your group to try and figure out what to do once your dead is not leadership and I always think he was just looking after himself or nearly getting his friends killed to look after Marina, not exactly leadership. Speaking of what was the deal between those two. Marina and Nate was the most unbelievable love story. They were love at first sight I guess an then they just follow each other around for ages the they randomly kiss and their what - dating now? Then she gets annoyed and he nearly does as its like - the end. What. The. Actual. Frick.
Hermia: so moving on from that we have Hermia. Now I thought Hermia had the potential to be a really powerful character but Andrews totally ruined her. At the beginning I liked her attitude and her judgemental and narcissistic ways. But towards the end she gets really weird. She has like a mental breakdown, and this character that Andrews has been developing as a strong figure cries all the time and just becomes a completely lost cause. It's like what. And that relationship with Chase. I really liked chase as a character and unlike marina and Nate I felt like this romance was going somewhere. They meet, they deny each other, then they finally get together - thank god. Then Darria walks in on them and she gets all morally righteous and decides to believe Bill's nonsense then she hates him and then when she finally sees he was lying to Darria and that he actually does love her. She kills him. For absolutely no reason other then the fact that she doesn't think she deserves to be loved and its like . WHAT?.
Overall Hermia and Nate were under-developed characters. It's like she hadn't even thought them through. Not only that but there were just too many characters, and it was hard to remember them all and there weird personality's. and was it just me or did anyone else notice Lola disappeared half way through the book and never came back. Not only that but I think it was a weird way to go choosing Nate and Hermia's perspective as the books narrators because they are complete opposites and they go against each other and it results in the book not flowing properly.
Plot: lastly the plot in this was once again underdeveloped and not at all thought through. It left me with so many unanswered questions and not even a sequal to answer them. It explains at the end that they performed an in-vitro fertilisation and that it gave them heightened senses and freak aim but it never fully explained the heightened senses or freak aim just a few mentions here and there. And the The Cain wasn't explained properly or really anything. It just made me frustrated that it didn't really give me something to take away.
So overall I just thought this book was extremely underdeveloped and fustrating!! Sorry if it didn't make sense but I tend to rant a bit when I'm this fustrated.
Can I just start by pointing out that we meet a girl in the beginning called Saoirse (can i just say how much i love that name) and she basically walks us through the solar flare that wipes out most of the earth's inhabitants and then we never hear from her again. Like POOF! Did she ever even survive? I swear every time a character started going on about there family I was always like - okay now he's gonna reveal that she was his grandmother - but nope. In the end she never even gets mentioned again. I feel like the author could of at least thrown her in there or I just feel like that just wasted a huge colossal time of my reading. If your not gonna mention her again then why not just describe the solar flare through Nate and Hermia's thoughts? She was honestly a complete waste of a character.
Characters:
Ok so now we're introduced to two completely different characters Hermia and Nate. So lets just get straight into that.
Nate: Nate is supposed to be a happy-go-lucky, so-nice-it-makes-me-sick kinda guy but I never saw that in him. That random outburst at the table about his family. That random time when he got that keeper to beat him up. I never even saw him be happy that much at all. Another one of his huge traits is supposed to be his great leadership. Leaders are supposed to be courageous and wise but he just threw himself into the line of fire all the time to keep his team safe - it may be heroic but leaving your group to try and figure out what to do once your dead is not leadership and I always think he was just looking after himself or nearly getting his friends killed to look after Marina, not exactly leadership. Speaking of what was the deal between those two. Marina and Nate was the most unbelievable love story. They were love at first sight I guess an then they just follow each other around for ages the they randomly kiss and their what - dating now? Then she gets annoyed and he nearly does as its like - the end. What. The. Actual. Frick.
Hermia: so moving on from that we have Hermia. Now I thought Hermia had the potential to be a really powerful character but Andrews totally ruined her. At the beginning I liked her attitude and her judgemental and narcissistic ways. But towards the end she gets really weird. She has like a mental breakdown, and this character that Andrews has been developing as a strong figure cries all the time and just becomes a completely lost cause. It's like what. And that relationship with Chase. I really liked chase as a character and unlike marina and Nate I felt like this romance was going somewhere. They meet, they deny each other, then they finally get together - thank god. Then Darria walks in on them and she gets all morally righteous and decides to believe Bill's nonsense then she hates him and then when she finally sees he was lying to Darria and that he actually does love her. She kills him. For absolutely no reason other then the fact that she doesn't think she deserves to be loved and its like . WHAT?.
Overall Hermia and Nate were under-developed characters. It's like she hadn't even thought them through. Not only that but there were just too many characters, and it was hard to remember them all and there weird personality's. and was it just me or did anyone else notice Lola disappeared half way through the book and never came back. Not only that but I think it was a weird way to go choosing Nate and Hermia's perspective as the books narrators because they are complete opposites and they go against each other and it results in the book not flowing properly.
Plot: lastly the plot in this was once again underdeveloped and not at all thought through. It left me with so many unanswered questions and not even a sequal to answer them. It explains at the end that they performed an in-vitro fertilisation and that it gave them heightened senses and freak aim but it never fully explained the heightened senses or freak aim just a few mentions here and there. And the The Cain wasn't explained properly or really anything. It just made me frustrated that it didn't really give me something to take away.
So overall I just thought this book was extremely underdeveloped and fustrating!! Sorry if it didn't make sense but I tend to rant a bit when I'm this fustrated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2014
I don’t actually know what happened here.
Ok, so I know that a solar flare killed off almost everyone on earth. There were two hundred people in the (US?) army. There are ten people left in the world, with type O blood. I don’t actually know what the adults do now, but the kids go to school (that’s right, they’re in SCHOOL!).
Not Hermia though. I think she was a dancer in a strip club? Maybe.
Anyway, Hermia, Nate and a bunch of other kids (aged 17-20) are kidnapped and then put into a freakishly lavish training centre and trained. To kill the people who are threatening the life of the President (of the US?), or to protect the President, or maybe both. Except that their training includes being killed, almost killed, and maimed frightfully. I’m not entirely sure how that works either.
The story is told in dual point of view by Hermia and Nate, who (thankfully) aren’t destined to be romantically involved. I liked Nate a lot, but Hermia was really annoying. She judges anything and everything around her, no one is ever good enough for her. She’s got issues. Any display of emotions makes her want to vomit, the charming thing she is. Nte was much more enjoyable to read about. He’s level-headed and cares for the people around him – a natural born leader.
The romances in this book are oddly clinical. I didn’t feel any passion or fire, Nate and Hermia just saw people and fell in insta-love. Oh, and there was a bizarre obsession with eyes: everyone was either falling into eyes or captured by eyes. Eyes changed colour, pupils dilated, darkened with desire etc. Eyes, eyes everywhere. Actually, I remember thinking at one point that Marina was just a pair of blue eyes to Nate, maybe with lips attached for kissing. (Har har, I’m funny).
But the biggest let down of this book wasn’t the world-building or the romances, it was the oddly clunky plotting. I really don’t have a clue what was going on most of the time. Some of the kids died in the training and many of them sustained horrible injuries. It really made no sense if they were kidnapped to be the heart of some rebellion or protection detail. Also, they were just walking around and they stumbled on the headquarters of the bad guys. Moreover, the climactic battle was very confusing, with people running everywhere and getting themselves captured or killed, and then the captured people were rescued in increasingly unrealistic fashions. And the ending really, really confused me.
I was liking the book while I was reading it – there was certainly a lot going in – and I guess I’d assumed that everything would eventually become clear. Except it didn’t. So when I turned the last page, I was mostly disappointed. Enmity left me very confused, and ultimately I didn’t enjoy it much at all.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.
You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic .
Ok, so I know that a solar flare killed off almost everyone on earth. There were two hundred people in the (US?) army. There are ten people left in the world, with type O blood. I don’t actually know what the adults do now, but the kids go to school (that’s right, they’re in SCHOOL!).
Not Hermia though. I think she was a dancer in a strip club? Maybe.
Anyway, Hermia, Nate and a bunch of other kids (aged 17-20) are kidnapped and then put into a freakishly lavish training centre and trained. To kill the people who are threatening the life of the President (of the US?), or to protect the President, or maybe both. Except that their training includes being killed, almost killed, and maimed frightfully. I’m not entirely sure how that works either.
The story is told in dual point of view by Hermia and Nate, who (thankfully) aren’t destined to be romantically involved. I liked Nate a lot, but Hermia was really annoying. She judges anything and everything around her, no one is ever good enough for her. She’s got issues. Any display of emotions makes her want to vomit, the charming thing she is. Nte was much more enjoyable to read about. He’s level-headed and cares for the people around him – a natural born leader.
The romances in this book are oddly clinical. I didn’t feel any passion or fire, Nate and Hermia just saw people and fell in insta-love. Oh, and there was a bizarre obsession with eyes: everyone was either falling into eyes or captured by eyes. Eyes changed colour, pupils dilated, darkened with desire etc. Eyes, eyes everywhere. Actually, I remember thinking at one point that Marina was just a pair of blue eyes to Nate, maybe with lips attached for kissing. (Har har, I’m funny).
But the biggest let down of this book wasn’t the world-building or the romances, it was the oddly clunky plotting. I really don’t have a clue what was going on most of the time. Some of the kids died in the training and many of them sustained horrible injuries. It really made no sense if they were kidnapped to be the heart of some rebellion or protection detail. Also, they were just walking around and they stumbled on the headquarters of the bad guys. Moreover, the climactic battle was very confusing, with people running everywhere and getting themselves captured or killed, and then the captured people were rescued in increasingly unrealistic fashions. And the ending really, really confused me.
I was liking the book while I was reading it – there was certainly a lot going in – and I guess I’d assumed that everything would eventually become clear. Except it didn’t. So when I turned the last page, I was mostly disappointed. Enmity left me very confused, and ultimately I didn’t enjoy it much at all.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.
You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic .
February 5, 2014
I don't know what to say about this book and to be honest I wasn't sure if I would like this book or not (this is probably because the cover and the font used on this cover reminded me so much of Veronica Roth's Divergent cover and heck it's probably the same elements as that Divergent cover but I don't really care about covers all to much). But regardless of that, I still wasn't entirely sure about this book and yet I still wanted to have a crack at this book. And I did.
So while I liked the direction the story was heading in and some of the characters featured in the book, however I felt this particular title wasn't original enough for me to come to like it and maybe it's because of the genre being too much of that 'same thing' if you know what I mean. I guess in the future I may take a break on dystopian books . . . for a while at least because it's hard to find anything original these days.
Overall, while I didn't like this book as much as I wanted to, but I can still see many other readers come to like this book as it has that Divergent and Hunger Games feel to it.
* Thanks to the publisher on netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this book.
So while I liked the direction the story was heading in and some of the characters featured in the book, however I felt this particular title wasn't original enough for me to come to like it and maybe it's because of the genre being too much of that 'same thing' if you know what I mean. I guess in the future I may take a break on dystopian books . . . for a while at least because it's hard to find anything original these days.
Overall, while I didn't like this book as much as I wanted to, but I can still see many other readers come to like this book as it has that Divergent and Hunger Games feel to it.
* Thanks to the publisher on netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this book.
April 26, 2017
This book wasn't the worst but it wasn't the best. It was the worst dystopian book I've read. It was quite boring and the only reason I carried on reading it and finished it was because when I was half way and I thought I've gotten this far and I've wasted my time so I should just finished.
There is meant to be a sequel and it still hasn't come out and if it does I will read it because the book isn't finished and I'm the type of person that need closure when reading and I hate it when authors leave the book unfinished.
There is meant to be a sequel and it still hasn't come out and if it does I will read it because the book isn't finished and I'm the type of person that need closure when reading and I hate it when authors leave the book unfinished.
August 5, 2016
My feelings towards this novel changed as the story progressed. During the first few chapters, I felt that it lacked emotion and direction. But after a while, I began to enjoy reading from Nate and Hermia's perspective. I started to love the characters like they were my own friends, and I was eager to know what was in store for them all.
Full review here: http://gailaranas.blogspot.com/2014/0...
Full review here: http://gailaranas.blogspot.com/2014/0...
Read
February 7, 2014Not liking the characters, & now there was a big jump in the storyline that made no sense. I'm giving up. No rating since I didn't reach far enough in the story.
June 5, 2024
I READ THIS BOOK SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO
Enmity is a great title for this book as it is the exact word I would use to describe by feelings towards it.
The premise of this book was extremely promising I loved all the ideas that were presented on the back cover and that is where the excitement for this book stopped.
We are forced into the perspective of two very 2 dimensional characters with 0 like ability living in a dystopian society forced to join some secret society to fight a war where everyone seems to be related. And that is where the plot ends.
The switches between the POVs are very jarring and you find yourself wondering how you got to certain moments in the story as it doesn’t flow or connect very well. There is a tiny thread of story if you continue and climb out of the giant plot holes along the way
The overarching theme I get is that the author had so many ideas and just shoved it into a 259 page book. I believe this was supposed to be a series as it ends on somewhat of a cliff hanger but nothing else has been published since 2014.
There are plenty of great dystopian sci-fi books out there unfortunately this is not one of them
Enmity is a great title for this book as it is the exact word I would use to describe by feelings towards it.
The premise of this book was extremely promising I loved all the ideas that were presented on the back cover and that is where the excitement for this book stopped.
We are forced into the perspective of two very 2 dimensional characters with 0 like ability living in a dystopian society forced to join some secret society to fight a war where everyone seems to be related. And that is where the plot ends.
The switches between the POVs are very jarring and you find yourself wondering how you got to certain moments in the story as it doesn’t flow or connect very well. There is a tiny thread of story if you continue and climb out of the giant plot holes along the way
The overarching theme I get is that the author had so many ideas and just shoved it into a 259 page book. I believe this was supposed to be a series as it ends on somewhat of a cliff hanger but nothing else has been published since 2014.
There are plenty of great dystopian sci-fi books out there unfortunately this is not one of them
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2017
I didn't have high expectations for this book, though it still succeeded in disappointing me. Firstly, the plot and setting in general felt generic and overused, as if someone had seen the success of YA dystopian stories such as the hunger games and decided to make a bad version of it. The world never felt fully developed, and I was left feeling confused about what the whole conflict and motivation for the characters even was. I think this is really due to the poor writing style, that felt oversimplified and a classic case of telling, and not showing. The characters were also 2-dimensional and annoying, making them almost impossible to like or root for. In fact, most of the characters felt exactly the same, with no discernible qualities that separated them. The plot did get a little more interesting toward the end, though the bland characters really stopped me from having any hope of enjoying it. I would have put this book down, if not for the fact that I bought it a few years ago and hence felt the need to read it entirely. Let's just say I regret purchasing it greatly...
December 5, 2020
Didn’t enjoy this book at all. The characters were boring and awfully written, the romance was basically insta-love and the alternating pov’s were very jumpy. The action in this book was underwhelming and the war they were preparing for only went on for a few pages before they retreated. Majority of the book was the characters preparing for this war and then when they went to attack it lasted for a couple pages. There were so many plot points that were just glazed over and could have been expanded on. The last 60 pages were very rushed and the ending was lacklustre. I’m not surprised there is no sequel to this book.
January 19, 2025
This book was very confusing. Jumped around a bunch and I had to flick between Hermia and Nate’s point of view to even remember what happened in the previous part of the plot.
Also like some of the characters introduced in the chapters become unmentioned until random places????
Why even introduce us to them? 🧍♂️
Where did Saorise (who was mentioned at the VERY beginning and then gone???) Lola, Jared, Robert and Cora go for 70% of the book? 😭
I liked the aspect of their “superhuman traits” but nothing was discussed until the end of the book? Clear way to make a cliffhanger but this book was released in 2014. It’s 2025 now🫡
Also like some of the characters introduced in the chapters become unmentioned until random places????
Why even introduce us to them? 🧍♂️
Where did Saorise (who was mentioned at the VERY beginning and then gone???) Lola, Jared, Robert and Cora go for 70% of the book? 😭
I liked the aspect of their “superhuman traits” but nothing was discussed until the end of the book? Clear way to make a cliffhanger but this book was released in 2014. It’s 2025 now🫡
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2018
I truly believe this could have been a good book if some actual thought went into it. It was a nice easy read though
January 13, 2021
Interesting enough concept but slow going to read and unresolved questions at the end
May 12, 2014
See the original review and Guest Post (The Villains of Enmity) on my blog, Behind the Pages
Thanks to Harlequin Australia for providing a copy for review
Full of action and suspense. Enmity has you on the edge of your seat and keeps you guessing until the very end.
What. The. F**k.
There is nothing else that describes this book once you have finished it.
I literally sat on my bed after putting the book down and just started staring at everything, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do now. This book leaves you so unravelled, and so.... I don’t even know!
I’m pretty sure the prologue is my favourite part of this novel. It hooked me into the novel and I was excited for what was in store after reading this. Yet....... 60 years into the future and there is I think two mentions of the solar flare and how hot it could get sometimes in the first few chapters, then it’s like it never even existed. It’s like we are just in any other kind of dystopian novel. I was hoping to get insight on the solar flare, and to see something more come from it all than just a prologue. The worst thing is, is that I kept trying to find out where Saoirse was in the book, or at least what became of her and if anyone descends from her, through THE WHOLE BOOK... and I got zip, nada, zero. It’s like she never existed along with that solar flare.
The only other thing that I liked about this book was how much action was happening. The story was always going forward, and we were always entertained in some way (even though the end was pretty much a slow decline). There was some sort of action in every decent length chapter and I wanted to keep on reading to see more! There was also quite a bit of suspense in this novel, it was always leading up to something, and even if it wasn’t done in the right way (leaving me thinking WTF is this for!), I was always kept guessing at the truth.
Insta-love. Right up there for me with love triangles, and oh, the hate I have for insta-love characters. And it was practically one sided both ways! This wasn’t very tolerable for me, it was like, as soon as you say one word, the other character instantly falls in love with them. OH COME ON!! ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?! And then Hermia at the end of the book! What the actual f**k. Her actions left me stunned and shocked, I literally slammed this book closed after reading that. How can you do something like that, then want to think about the other person later on and feel guilty, and even some sadness because you did something when they actually wanted to be with you. Are you INSANE?
What you find once you finish reading this book, is that Hermia and Nate have yet the same voice but different. In some parts of the book, you can tell whose POV we are reading, but then you suddenly get lost and wonder whose POV it really is. Confusing, but that’s the reality of it! Then, for practically every chapter, the other character goes through the exact same thing. Literally, either they both get hurt in a chapter right after the other or find out some big secret. You never see one proper chapter in either Nate or Hermia’s POV without going through the same (or slight differences) scene right after each other. Once one character does it, the other has to as well. Even in the romantic aspect. They both find love interests in chapters right after each other, and we see that only person in each of the two relationships loves the other (insta-love right here folks!!), and believes that the other loves them back, even when they don’t say it.
The writing style in this book was so on and off for me. One minute, I’m understanding what’s going on, the writing style is easy to read and picture, then BAM. It’s like the author just wanted to start changing her writing to make it sound, what? Professional? Technical? Complex? I don’t know, you decide which is better, because at the times when I really needed to understand what was going on, I was so confused by the writing in this book, that I needed to go back and re-read the paragraph (sometimes the page), again and again. Sometimes I still wouldn’t understand, so I just skipped it after so many re-reads I was getting annoyed. This book was leading up to this big main battle (as most reads do), but then when we get to this battle, we are literally jumped forward in time. We don’t even get to see this big battle that the characters were preparing THE WHOLE BOOK FOR. I can’t even.... I just.... urghhh.
Concluding thoughts. Well, the action throughout the whole book made it enjoyable for me, minus everything else. And the fact that I was kept guessing at what the truth could be in different scenarios, and not getting any right was a good thing as well. This book kept me on my toes, while wanting to throw it to the wall. It’s definitely a book that I might need to re-read once the rest of the series comes out, to see if it becomes clearer to me. This is a strange one guys!
Thanks to Harlequin Australia for providing a copy for review
Full of action and suspense. Enmity has you on the edge of your seat and keeps you guessing until the very end.
What. The. F**k.
There is nothing else that describes this book once you have finished it.
I literally sat on my bed after putting the book down and just started staring at everything, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do now. This book leaves you so unravelled, and so.... I don’t even know!
I’m pretty sure the prologue is my favourite part of this novel. It hooked me into the novel and I was excited for what was in store after reading this. Yet....... 60 years into the future and there is I think two mentions of the solar flare and how hot it could get sometimes in the first few chapters, then it’s like it never even existed. It’s like we are just in any other kind of dystopian novel. I was hoping to get insight on the solar flare, and to see something more come from it all than just a prologue. The worst thing is, is that I kept trying to find out where Saoirse was in the book, or at least what became of her and if anyone descends from her, through THE WHOLE BOOK... and I got zip, nada, zero. It’s like she never existed along with that solar flare.
The only other thing that I liked about this book was how much action was happening. The story was always going forward, and we were always entertained in some way (even though the end was pretty much a slow decline). There was some sort of action in every decent length chapter and I wanted to keep on reading to see more! There was also quite a bit of suspense in this novel, it was always leading up to something, and even if it wasn’t done in the right way (leaving me thinking WTF is this for!), I was always kept guessing at the truth.
Insta-love. Right up there for me with love triangles, and oh, the hate I have for insta-love characters. And it was practically one sided both ways! This wasn’t very tolerable for me, it was like, as soon as you say one word, the other character instantly falls in love with them. OH COME ON!! ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?! And then Hermia at the end of the book! What the actual f**k. Her actions left me stunned and shocked, I literally slammed this book closed after reading that. How can you do something like that, then want to think about the other person later on and feel guilty, and even some sadness because you did something when they actually wanted to be with you. Are you INSANE?
What you find once you finish reading this book, is that Hermia and Nate have yet the same voice but different. In some parts of the book, you can tell whose POV we are reading, but then you suddenly get lost and wonder whose POV it really is. Confusing, but that’s the reality of it! Then, for practically every chapter, the other character goes through the exact same thing. Literally, either they both get hurt in a chapter right after the other or find out some big secret. You never see one proper chapter in either Nate or Hermia’s POV without going through the same (or slight differences) scene right after each other. Once one character does it, the other has to as well. Even in the romantic aspect. They both find love interests in chapters right after each other, and we see that only person in each of the two relationships loves the other (insta-love right here folks!!), and believes that the other loves them back, even when they don’t say it.
The writing style in this book was so on and off for me. One minute, I’m understanding what’s going on, the writing style is easy to read and picture, then BAM. It’s like the author just wanted to start changing her writing to make it sound, what? Professional? Technical? Complex? I don’t know, you decide which is better, because at the times when I really needed to understand what was going on, I was so confused by the writing in this book, that I needed to go back and re-read the paragraph (sometimes the page), again and again. Sometimes I still wouldn’t understand, so I just skipped it after so many re-reads I was getting annoyed. This book was leading up to this big main battle (as most reads do), but then when we get to this battle, we are literally jumped forward in time. We don’t even get to see this big battle that the characters were preparing THE WHOLE BOOK FOR. I can’t even.... I just.... urghhh.
Concluding thoughts. Well, the action throughout the whole book made it enjoyable for me, minus everything else. And the fact that I was kept guessing at what the truth could be in different scenarios, and not getting any right was a good thing as well. This book kept me on my toes, while wanting to throw it to the wall. It’s definitely a book that I might need to re-read once the rest of the series comes out, to see if it becomes clearer to me. This is a strange one guys!
May 6, 2014
I found ENMITY a bit hard to get into, and was quite lost and confused to start with until I figured that the narration point of view was switching between Nate and Hermia in such quick succession that I wasn’t sure where I was or who I was with. Once I had figured it out the narration technique I was able to follow it better but I do wish the switching back and forth didn’t happen as quickly as this trend continued all through the book making it very disjointed. To be fair the age group it is aimed at is more tech savvy than me and used to snippets of information being thrust at them – short and concise then off to the next shiny thing – whereas I am older and grumpier and want it all laid out in sequence not jumping around all over the place like a butterfly with hiccups. So this gripe is really a personal one rather than condemnation of the technique. Despite the disjointedness I did enjoy the story, and gradually got to know some of the other characters and where they fitted in. Well as much as I could before various ones were bumped off without so much as a by-your-leave and left me wondering what was the point of including them in the first place because while their deaths made sense their role in the book didn’t. I also couldn’t figure out who the ‘goodies’ were and who the ‘baddies’ were but I don’t think Nate and Hermia did either so maybe that was all part of the scenario. I liked the basic idea of the plot; most of the population was wiped out sixty years ago when solar flares cooked most of Earth. It made sense that someone would want to be the head honcho and to do that violence would break out between the various groups whose leaders want to be the ultimate world leader.
Without going into the pages and pages of ad nauseam background world building that I have experienced from Sci-Fi/Fantasy authors lately, author E.J. Andrews managed to succinctly create a bleak and violent dystopian world, part of which I would expect such as huge walls to keep the sun out, armed people, muggings, robbery, girls selling their virginity just to make a living with not much option to do anything else. Then there was the part I didn’t expect such as ATMs, electricity, very advanced technology (not for the masses), no food shortages, liveable houses (with radio and TV), school, and the ‘downtrodden’ to have jobs (even though some were terrible) and normal lives just like people who haven’t gone through an end of the world experience. But the violence is really violent. Nate, Hermia and eight others are kidnapped, some with family members being killed in the process. But why these particular 10 out of all the potential cannon fodder roaming the streets? And why are they brutalised almost to the point of death during their training? I am talking heads being blown off and then everyone sits down to have dinner! Also I am not sure what the time frame is in history, but 60 years after the world has ended the group that kidnaps the 10 teens has some amazing gadgets and some super advanced scientific techniques in their secret compound. It wasn’t made clear to me how they got these incredible scientific advances although they were really effective. Hermia is blunt, angry and is not backwards at coming forwards; Nate is quieter – a thinker – the leader. Together they make a good team – but not a love interest. They each have a love interest it’s just not each other; they do have a connection with each other which explains their presence their but not really why the others were chosen, but secrets do abound and some are revealed so maybe the other secrets will be as well in the future books in this series. You don’t know who is lying, who is spying, who has an ulterior motive to do anything and this gives the reader an uneasy feeling that they just don’t know what is going to happen next, which character’s narration to trust.
Despite my problems with ENMITY I really enjoyed this complex debut story and would definitely read the next in the series to see where E.J. Andrews is going to take her characters.
Without going into the pages and pages of ad nauseam background world building that I have experienced from Sci-Fi/Fantasy authors lately, author E.J. Andrews managed to succinctly create a bleak and violent dystopian world, part of which I would expect such as huge walls to keep the sun out, armed people, muggings, robbery, girls selling their virginity just to make a living with not much option to do anything else. Then there was the part I didn’t expect such as ATMs, electricity, very advanced technology (not for the masses), no food shortages, liveable houses (with radio and TV), school, and the ‘downtrodden’ to have jobs (even though some were terrible) and normal lives just like people who haven’t gone through an end of the world experience. But the violence is really violent. Nate, Hermia and eight others are kidnapped, some with family members being killed in the process. But why these particular 10 out of all the potential cannon fodder roaming the streets? And why are they brutalised almost to the point of death during their training? I am talking heads being blown off and then everyone sits down to have dinner! Also I am not sure what the time frame is in history, but 60 years after the world has ended the group that kidnaps the 10 teens has some amazing gadgets and some super advanced scientific techniques in their secret compound. It wasn’t made clear to me how they got these incredible scientific advances although they were really effective. Hermia is blunt, angry and is not backwards at coming forwards; Nate is quieter – a thinker – the leader. Together they make a good team – but not a love interest. They each have a love interest it’s just not each other; they do have a connection with each other which explains their presence their but not really why the others were chosen, but secrets do abound and some are revealed so maybe the other secrets will be as well in the future books in this series. You don’t know who is lying, who is spying, who has an ulterior motive to do anything and this gives the reader an uneasy feeling that they just don’t know what is going to happen next, which character’s narration to trust.
Despite my problems with ENMITY I really enjoyed this complex debut story and would definitely read the next in the series to see where E.J. Andrews is going to take her characters.
February 20, 2014
Review also posted on Breezy Reads
I would first like to say that the writing style of E. J Andrews is terrific. When I opened up that first page, read the first paragraph, I actually sighed. I got excited, too. You know when you can just tell your going to like a book, simply from the first page? Just because the author can write well? That’s the feeling I got. If I have any problems with Enmity, Andrews' writing is not one of them.
Please keep that in mind for the rest of the review, because even though I thought the rest of the book could use some work, I was enthralled by the writing.
Enmity is a dystopia, right? It takes place 60 years after a solar flare wiped out the majority of the human population. This is one of the major problems I had about Enmity – because after the first two or three chapters, it feels like the solar flare never happened. It hardly feels dystopian at all.
The first chapter is when the solar flare takes place in a world that feels like ours today. Fast forward 60 years, and there’s telltale signs that demonstrates the world is ruined: Children and girls doing unimaginable jobs, huge walls to keep the sun out, young people with guns, people fighting for power, ect. After this, however, the only trait we are constantly reminded of is the political unrest. Next thing you know, we are bombarded with things from our world – there are whole intact families living in homes with electricity, running water and abundance of food. They use money, have access to ATM’s (yup, only 60 years after the world ends and there are still plastic cards that hold money in it), Live in houses, go to school, have jobs and normal lives just like ours. Isn’t the whole point of dystopias is to see how much the lives of people have changed compared to how we currently live?
Oh, but the inconsistencies don’t stop there. Not even a century after the population is nearly wiped out and they have developed better technology than we do today.
How is that even possible!?!?
How, after so much knowledge in the form of people, animals, papers, computers and history would have been destroyed in the solar flare, does that happen? How the hell did you get all the knowledge, people, resources and equipment in the span of 60 years post apocalypse? That is hardly enough time to re-populate, let alone get cool gadgets.
The only major thing that reminds us that this is after the end of the world, is that there is a war for leadership. But even that is happening today, in our lifetime.
I was disappointed by this. But even so, I still applaud the style in which it was written. It’s dark and serious, it keeps an air of mystery – some I was able to predict, some I wasn’t.
The two person narrative made the story feel a bit disjointed, though it did finally come together towards the end. I didn’t feel any strong climax in the plot. The romance for both characters felt entirely fake, and I found the badass female lead confusing. There wasn’t enough harsh background for such a harsh character – it just didn’t justify who she is today.
I really wanted to like this – during some parts of the story, I could almost convince myself I did like it, just because of how it was written. But then would come along something stupid like ATM’s or ridiculous romance, and I would go back to doubting and picking out all the plot holes. Sadly, I cannot recommend Enmity.
I would first like to say that the writing style of E. J Andrews is terrific. When I opened up that first page, read the first paragraph, I actually sighed. I got excited, too. You know when you can just tell your going to like a book, simply from the first page? Just because the author can write well? That’s the feeling I got. If I have any problems with Enmity, Andrews' writing is not one of them.
Please keep that in mind for the rest of the review, because even though I thought the rest of the book could use some work, I was enthralled by the writing.
Enmity is a dystopia, right? It takes place 60 years after a solar flare wiped out the majority of the human population. This is one of the major problems I had about Enmity – because after the first two or three chapters, it feels like the solar flare never happened. It hardly feels dystopian at all.
The first chapter is when the solar flare takes place in a world that feels like ours today. Fast forward 60 years, and there’s telltale signs that demonstrates the world is ruined: Children and girls doing unimaginable jobs, huge walls to keep the sun out, young people with guns, people fighting for power, ect. After this, however, the only trait we are constantly reminded of is the political unrest. Next thing you know, we are bombarded with things from our world – there are whole intact families living in homes with electricity, running water and abundance of food. They use money, have access to ATM’s (yup, only 60 years after the world ends and there are still plastic cards that hold money in it), Live in houses, go to school, have jobs and normal lives just like ours. Isn’t the whole point of dystopias is to see how much the lives of people have changed compared to how we currently live?
Oh, but the inconsistencies don’t stop there. Not even a century after the population is nearly wiped out and they have developed better technology than we do today.
How is that even possible!?!?
How, after so much knowledge in the form of people, animals, papers, computers and history would have been destroyed in the solar flare, does that happen? How the hell did you get all the knowledge, people, resources and equipment in the span of 60 years post apocalypse? That is hardly enough time to re-populate, let alone get cool gadgets.
The only major thing that reminds us that this is after the end of the world, is that there is a war for leadership. But even that is happening today, in our lifetime.
I was disappointed by this. But even so, I still applaud the style in which it was written. It’s dark and serious, it keeps an air of mystery – some I was able to predict, some I wasn’t.
The two person narrative made the story feel a bit disjointed, though it did finally come together towards the end. I didn’t feel any strong climax in the plot. The romance for both characters felt entirely fake, and I found the badass female lead confusing. There wasn’t enough harsh background for such a harsh character – it just didn’t justify who she is today.
I really wanted to like this – during some parts of the story, I could almost convince myself I did like it, just because of how it was written. But then would come along something stupid like ATM’s or ridiculous romance, and I would go back to doubting and picking out all the plot holes. Sadly, I cannot recommend Enmity.
April 12, 2014
This review was originally published on Bookish Ardour.
Enmity is a story I’m not quite sure about yet. The prologue caught me up, the plot intrigued me, and the ending left me hanging for more, but I can’t decide if I care.
The prologue is pre-solar flare, told in first person by a character who does not appear later, and sets a great tone for the coming story. It was easy to read, the character was relatable, and you just know the inhabitants of the time are in for a horrible existence.
First person is one of my favourite view points for a story, especially something like Enmity, to be told in. However I do have some issues with first person. In first person it can be difficult to share more details of the story and then the reader is left out of the bigger picture. Another problem with first person is when someone dies, someone being the main character. If a protagonist dies when the story is told in first person, then how are they telling the story? At some point you have to realise they’re telling the story. How can they relate what happened when they’ve died?
For the majority of Enmity I was wondering about the protagonist in the prologue. Did she die? Did she live? How did she tell her part of the story if she died? What happened to her? My main problem with the prologue, apart from first-person perspective and death, is I was so drawn into her plight I would love to read a story based in pre-solar flare.
The main body of Enmity takes place sixty years later and is told from the view of two protagonists, Hermia and Nate. Sometimes I really dislike a story being told by more than one character, but thankfully this was not one of them. Hermia and Nate take turns, don’t overlap, and are distinguishable. Their separate stories entwine and compliment each other nicely, even when they form bonds with different social circles.
Only certain characters were memorable and fleshed out for me. Some were flat enough to me for me to be surprised when they were mentioned after a while. Characters like Lola and occasionally Georgie, even though she was mentioned more often than Lola, took me by surprise. It was almost as if they disappeared completely, the story had no problem moving on without them, and then they would appear at certain intervals.
There are characters I rather enjoyed, Hermia and Nate are the top two, but I found Rence and Chase interesting. I was also intrigued by the stories preceding the current predicament the teens found themselves in. I’m sure some of it is born from wondering what happened beforehand, but I think the introduction of parents and their machinations involved with the new world order was written in such a way to pique curiosity.
Personally I’m not sure if I’m interested in finding out what happens next. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t feel the characters had great emotional dimension and created enough thrall in my interest, or if it’s the story itself. I found myself being able to forget what was happening when I wasn’t reading, even though I read large chunks of the story at a time. It would take about two-three pages of reading before I could truly pick up where I’d left off. Except, I think the premise itself was curious and I find myself really wanting to know the story behind the story.
Enmity is a story I’m not quite sure about yet. The prologue caught me up, the plot intrigued me, and the ending left me hanging for more, but I can’t decide if I care.
The prologue is pre-solar flare, told in first person by a character who does not appear later, and sets a great tone for the coming story. It was easy to read, the character was relatable, and you just know the inhabitants of the time are in for a horrible existence.
First person is one of my favourite view points for a story, especially something like Enmity, to be told in. However I do have some issues with first person. In first person it can be difficult to share more details of the story and then the reader is left out of the bigger picture. Another problem with first person is when someone dies, someone being the main character. If a protagonist dies when the story is told in first person, then how are they telling the story? At some point you have to realise they’re telling the story. How can they relate what happened when they’ve died?
For the majority of Enmity I was wondering about the protagonist in the prologue. Did she die? Did she live? How did she tell her part of the story if she died? What happened to her? My main problem with the prologue, apart from first-person perspective and death, is I was so drawn into her plight I would love to read a story based in pre-solar flare.
The main body of Enmity takes place sixty years later and is told from the view of two protagonists, Hermia and Nate. Sometimes I really dislike a story being told by more than one character, but thankfully this was not one of them. Hermia and Nate take turns, don’t overlap, and are distinguishable. Their separate stories entwine and compliment each other nicely, even when they form bonds with different social circles.
Only certain characters were memorable and fleshed out for me. Some were flat enough to me for me to be surprised when they were mentioned after a while. Characters like Lola and occasionally Georgie, even though she was mentioned more often than Lola, took me by surprise. It was almost as if they disappeared completely, the story had no problem moving on without them, and then they would appear at certain intervals.
There are characters I rather enjoyed, Hermia and Nate are the top two, but I found Rence and Chase interesting. I was also intrigued by the stories preceding the current predicament the teens found themselves in. I’m sure some of it is born from wondering what happened beforehand, but I think the introduction of parents and their machinations involved with the new world order was written in such a way to pique curiosity.
Personally I’m not sure if I’m interested in finding out what happens next. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t feel the characters had great emotional dimension and created enough thrall in my interest, or if it’s the story itself. I found myself being able to forget what was happening when I wasn’t reading, even though I read large chunks of the story at a time. It would take about two-three pages of reading before I could truly pick up where I’d left off. Except, I think the premise itself was curious and I find myself really wanting to know the story behind the story.
April 5, 2014
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
While I can say that Enmity was pretty average for me and only just scraped a two star rating, I can see where at least some of the appeal comes from. There was a lot of action that somehow made up for the lack of proper explanation and world-building, and while there was definitely some insta-love, at least some of the characters actually changed their attitudes by the end of the book. This had some great potential from the outset, and while I can't say that this blew me away as a stand-out YA dystopian, it was still something good to pass the time with.
What this was lacking in was originality. Unfortunately, I really feel that I have read this sort of story all before. In fact, it seems like a mix between The Hunger Games and Divergent. It does get annoying when you find a book that you wish would be different from these well-known dystopians but are left with something which has next to no proper world-building and scenes that change without knowing what actually caused things to happen. The dual POV didn't work for me in this case, and while I did find some of the insights of Nate and Hermia's accounts interesting at some points, for the most part I think that their styles and narrative voices were very similar (which is something that I have seen other reviewers pick up on too).
I just wish that I knew more about why certain things were happening in the book - like why was there a war in the first place? and why was there all this insta-love going on and people getting killed all the time for no apparent reason? As readers, I think that there is a line between wanting to figure things out for ourselves and let the author give us some clues into what is actually going on and the significance behind certain events.
Perhaps this novel's only saving grace was some of the character development, well at least for Hermia anyway. At the beginning she did seem like a person who could be pretty mean and had a really tough outer shell, but at least by the end we realised that she did have some heart - even if she does make a whole ton of mistakes. I really wish that I could connect with the other characters more, and Nate who was another lead, but I don't feel that there was enough invested in them and their personalities/actions to make them memorable or particularly likable.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, although I hate to say it - Enmity started off with a lot of potential but ended up as a disappointment. If only there had been more explanation into the world-building and pivotal events I probably would have enjoyed this one more.
While I can say that Enmity was pretty average for me and only just scraped a two star rating, I can see where at least some of the appeal comes from. There was a lot of action that somehow made up for the lack of proper explanation and world-building, and while there was definitely some insta-love, at least some of the characters actually changed their attitudes by the end of the book. This had some great potential from the outset, and while I can't say that this blew me away as a stand-out YA dystopian, it was still something good to pass the time with.
What this was lacking in was originality. Unfortunately, I really feel that I have read this sort of story all before. In fact, it seems like a mix between The Hunger Games and Divergent. It does get annoying when you find a book that you wish would be different from these well-known dystopians but are left with something which has next to no proper world-building and scenes that change without knowing what actually caused things to happen. The dual POV didn't work for me in this case, and while I did find some of the insights of Nate and Hermia's accounts interesting at some points, for the most part I think that their styles and narrative voices were very similar (which is something that I have seen other reviewers pick up on too).
I just wish that I knew more about why certain things were happening in the book - like why was there a war in the first place? and why was there all this insta-love going on and people getting killed all the time for no apparent reason? As readers, I think that there is a line between wanting to figure things out for ourselves and let the author give us some clues into what is actually going on and the significance behind certain events.
Perhaps this novel's only saving grace was some of the character development, well at least for Hermia anyway. At the beginning she did seem like a person who could be pretty mean and had a really tough outer shell, but at least by the end we realised that she did have some heart - even if she does make a whole ton of mistakes. I really wish that I could connect with the other characters more, and Nate who was another lead, but I don't feel that there was enough invested in them and their personalities/actions to make them memorable or particularly likable.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, although I hate to say it - Enmity started off with a lot of potential but ended up as a disappointment. If only there had been more explanation into the world-building and pivotal events I probably would have enjoyed this one more.
April 8, 2014
Enmity (Enmity #1)
by E.J. Andrews
3.48 of 5 stars 3.48 · rating details · 27 ratings · 14 reviews
Love vs Life.
Good vs Evil.
War vs Warfare.
Which would you choose?
After a solar flare wipes out most of the world’s inhabitants, it leaves behind nothing but a desolate earth and a desperate population. Existence is no longer a certainty. And with factions now fighting for the power to rule, people start to become reckless with their lives. The world has become a dangerous place.
Amongst the ensuing chaos, Nate and Hermia — two victims of the new world order — are taken against their will to The Compound. Joined by eight other teenagers all chosen for a specific reason, Nate and Hermia are forced to train as assassins to overthrow the current president and make way for a new leader of the free world. Here, they learn to plan, fight, and most importantly... to survive.
Except, despite the casual cruelty of their new existence, both Nate and Hermia — two very strong but very different people — begin to form fragile bonds within the group. But they soon realize their happiness is short lived...because their training is just the beginning.
A war awaits...regardless of how ready or willing they may be.(less)
Paperback, 295 pages
Published April 2014 by Harlequin Australia
ISBN139781743566213
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.harlequinbooks.com.au/
Review:
I was very excited when I began this book, but quickly list interest. I don't mind jumping from head to head in books, but the 2 characters (Hermia & Nate) needed to be more distinctly different to make it easier for the reader to determine who was talking without accidentally forgetting or having to thumb back. Basically Enmity was too similar to many other books I have read lately. There was a lot if repetition (the uncle's fear on his face that Hermia knew what he was hiding), etc.
I received this book from the author to review and truly expected to like it. I did like it at first, but then it seemed a good build up really went nowhere. Well, nowhere that made good sense. All of the extra characters seemed to mesh together and had nothing very important about them.
The end did have an interesting & confusing twist that might have actually saved the last half if the book if it had come out sooner. Who knows? There were some decent action scenes, but they did not really seem to have much to do with the overall point. It was too much reading with too little or no pay off.
September 3, 2016
There's a lot I loved about Emnity. It's set in an exciting world where most of the population was wiped out sixty years ago. Only the strong survive and those remaining are at war with each other.
The characters are interesting. Nate and Hermia are taken and forced to train in a secret compound. Along with other teens, they face brutal training methods and it seems that everyone has a secret. Hermia is blunt and somewhat jaded by the world she has grown up in. As uneasy as she is about what is going on, she knows there is more to her captors. Nate is devastated by what has happened to his family but doesn't let that stop him from forming relationships within their odd and mixed up group and trying to be the leader others believe he can be.
I loved Hermia. She's bold and angry with a sarcastic streak that runs deep. Nate was an interesting contrast to Hermia and I enjoyed how the point of view switched between the two. It's great to read a novel where the two main characters don't fall in love with each other. There were times when their stories seemed to mirror each other too closely and it felt just a little too coincidental but otherwise I think they were a great pair to have narrate the novel.
These characters exist in a dangerous world and I liked how EJ Andrews described the setting. Magical rooms that display memories, orbs as weapons which run off human feeling - it's all pretty cool stuff.
But unfortunately I had one big problem with this novel. I felt lost. I never seemed to know what was happening or why people were doing certain things. I wanted to like this book but I found it hard to follow. There were big reveals as to people's identities but then after one person knew - it seemed like it was common knowledge. There needed to be more build up and integration between some events and reveals and the rest of the novel. I understand that a certain level of mystery is important to build the suspense and excitement. But even now after I've finished reading the book - I feel like I have no idea what was going on.
Conceptually amazing. Enmity is an exciting dystopian by debut author EJ Andrews. There's a lot going on with some great characters and very interesting family dynamics. I don't think I'll be continuing with the Enmity series but I think that Ms. Andrews is a talented writer and I'd definitely consider reading another novel by her.
The characters are interesting. Nate and Hermia are taken and forced to train in a secret compound. Along with other teens, they face brutal training methods and it seems that everyone has a secret. Hermia is blunt and somewhat jaded by the world she has grown up in. As uneasy as she is about what is going on, she knows there is more to her captors. Nate is devastated by what has happened to his family but doesn't let that stop him from forming relationships within their odd and mixed up group and trying to be the leader others believe he can be.
I loved Hermia. She's bold and angry with a sarcastic streak that runs deep. Nate was an interesting contrast to Hermia and I enjoyed how the point of view switched between the two. It's great to read a novel where the two main characters don't fall in love with each other. There were times when their stories seemed to mirror each other too closely and it felt just a little too coincidental but otherwise I think they were a great pair to have narrate the novel.
These characters exist in a dangerous world and I liked how EJ Andrews described the setting. Magical rooms that display memories, orbs as weapons which run off human feeling - it's all pretty cool stuff.
But unfortunately I had one big problem with this novel. I felt lost. I never seemed to know what was happening or why people were doing certain things. I wanted to like this book but I found it hard to follow. There were big reveals as to people's identities but then after one person knew - it seemed like it was common knowledge. There needed to be more build up and integration between some events and reveals and the rest of the novel. I understand that a certain level of mystery is important to build the suspense and excitement. But even now after I've finished reading the book - I feel like I have no idea what was going on.
Conceptually amazing. Enmity is an exciting dystopian by debut author EJ Andrews. There's a lot going on with some great characters and very interesting family dynamics. I don't think I'll be continuing with the Enmity series but I think that Ms. Andrews is a talented writer and I'd definitely consider reading another novel by her.
April 4, 2014
Great cover.
This is a boy/girl alternating-point-of-view, first-person-present tense young adult dystopian novel. Yes, when I realised that, I had a little snooze, but I forged ahead regardless.
Hermia and Nate live in a near-future postapocalyptic world, in which the outside has been made unlivable by a solar flare. They find themselves abducted and forced to train to fight. And poison mist burns their skin, raising welts. (Yes, my eyes just about rolled out of my head just then.) But I forged ahead again. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to love this book. All of the above, being as cliched as it is right now, needs absolutely fantastic writing to carry it off, and sadly the writing just isn't great.
I found the book to be disjointed and confusing. This was done partly for effect, but the slow reveals were in the end overdone and not well paced or deft enough to keep my interest. Opportunities to grab reader interest by raising the stakes fell flat.
The slow reveals continued, even to the point of a person noticing things in a room. At one point, Hermia walks into a room for the first time - single sleeping quarters. She first notices the bed, its blue patchwork quilt, and a wall of photos. Only after that does she notice that there are five people in the room (including one on the bed). What? At another point she is fighting hand-to-hand. This all just left me irritated.
There were other issues with clunky phrasings:
"She wrinkles her nose and I see the patterns of freckles that cover most of her face jump around and then return to their normal residence."
"Marina looks like she has hate radiating from her irises [...]"
"The differences between Bill and Will are very easy to see once you get over the fact that they are almost exactly the same."
And so on, and so forth. Also, wayyyy too much unjustified insta-love.
I started out wanting to like this book, but I just couldn't. I ended up skim-slogging through much of the second half. It would have been a DNF if it wasn't a netgalley book.
This is a boy/girl alternating-point-of-view, first-person-present tense young adult dystopian novel. Yes, when I realised that, I had a little snooze, but I forged ahead regardless.
Hermia and Nate live in a near-future postapocalyptic world, in which the outside has been made unlivable by a solar flare. They find themselves abducted and forced to train to fight. And poison mist burns their skin, raising welts. (Yes, my eyes just about rolled out of my head just then.) But I forged ahead again. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to love this book. All of the above, being as cliched as it is right now, needs absolutely fantastic writing to carry it off, and sadly the writing just isn't great.
I found the book to be disjointed and confusing. This was done partly for effect, but the slow reveals were in the end overdone and not well paced or deft enough to keep my interest. Opportunities to grab reader interest by raising the stakes fell flat.
The slow reveals continued, even to the point of a person noticing things in a room. At one point, Hermia walks into a room for the first time - single sleeping quarters. She first notices the bed, its blue patchwork quilt, and a wall of photos. Only after that does she notice that there are five people in the room (including one on the bed). What? At another point she is fighting hand-to-hand. This all just left me irritated.
There were other issues with clunky phrasings:
"She wrinkles her nose and I see the patterns of freckles that cover most of her face jump around and then return to their normal residence."
"Marina looks like she has hate radiating from her irises [...]"
"The differences between Bill and Will are very easy to see once you get over the fact that they are almost exactly the same."
And so on, and so forth. Also, wayyyy too much unjustified insta-love.
I started out wanting to like this book, but I just couldn't. I ended up skim-slogging through much of the second half. It would have been a DNF if it wasn't a netgalley book.
February 23, 2015
1 Star.
Now, I'm fairly open minded when it comes to books - the writing can be so-so, but if the plot/characters/setting/anything interests me, I will definitely put a good word in. I practically never give one stars, two means it was okay, but I had a lot of problems though it was still enjoyable in parts, but one, unheard of for me. Enmity was such a terrible reading experience for me, I could barely push myself to finish it, and that's even after deciding to skim from the half way mark.
The problems for me, where do I start? The writing flow is choppy, jumping from one moment to the next, and I was left most of the time confused how the characters even got there. Further, there was practically no continuity, sometimes one character would say it had been x amount of days, then another would say it as y, and I was even more confused. That is just one example of the plot flow errors.
The world was underdeveloped and never really explained - one character starts off in a brothel, then another one is happily going to school? In the same town??? It might have worked if the system had been explained and the fallout from the solar flare, but it never was. I never really understood the entire point of the plot, which was probably because the reader never has a description of how terrible the society is and that it needs to change. Instead we are told 'These kids have to become assissins' (I think that was what they were meant to be doing, I'm not too sure)for no reason whatsoever. What?!?
Oh, and don't get me started on the characters. I didn't see the point of the two MC's, and to me, they felt too similar - angry and snarky. Nate was alright, I suppose, but Hermia? I do not understand what was going through her head, especially the big plot point at the end - that just left me scratching my head. The secondary characters were underdeveloped and didn't really leave an impression.
Some people might love Enmity, so if this interests you, go ahead and give it a go, but for me, it fell short of the mark and I'm just really glad it is over.
Now, I'm fairly open minded when it comes to books - the writing can be so-so, but if the plot/characters/setting/anything interests me, I will definitely put a good word in. I practically never give one stars, two means it was okay, but I had a lot of problems though it was still enjoyable in parts, but one, unheard of for me. Enmity was such a terrible reading experience for me, I could barely push myself to finish it, and that's even after deciding to skim from the half way mark.
The problems for me, where do I start? The writing flow is choppy, jumping from one moment to the next, and I was left most of the time confused how the characters even got there. Further, there was practically no continuity, sometimes one character would say it had been x amount of days, then another would say it as y, and I was even more confused. That is just one example of the plot flow errors.
The world was underdeveloped and never really explained - one character starts off in a brothel, then another one is happily going to school? In the same town??? It might have worked if the system had been explained and the fallout from the solar flare, but it never was. I never really understood the entire point of the plot, which was probably because the reader never has a description of how terrible the society is and that it needs to change. Instead we are told 'These kids have to become assissins' (I think that was what they were meant to be doing, I'm not too sure)for no reason whatsoever. What?!?
Oh, and don't get me started on the characters. I didn't see the point of the two MC's, and to me, they felt too similar - angry and snarky. Nate was alright, I suppose, but Hermia? I do not understand what was going through her head, especially the big plot point at the end - that just left me scratching my head. The secondary characters were underdeveloped and didn't really leave an impression.
Some people might love Enmity, so if this interests you, go ahead and give it a go, but for me, it fell short of the mark and I'm just really glad it is over.
March 27, 2014
Enmity begins the same day most of the world is wiped out by a solar flare. The story starts with great anticipation as we are shown how the shit hits the fan. The first chapter seemed so promising and I was so thrilled to be reading it. In the next chapter we fast forward sixty years and get the alternating POV’s from Hermia and Nate — two teenagers living different lives in the same ruined world, trying to survive the best they can. We’re now shown how much things have changed with kids their ages doing unimaginable things to stay afloat, but then the story goes a little off the rails, some of it stops making a whole lot of sense. The world was desecrated by a solar flare, but they can still stop at an ATM machine on their way home? There were a lot of things that didn’t quite add up. It definitely wasn’t lacking in action once Hermia and Nate were “kidnapped” and forced to become guns for hire, but it didn’t quite make up for the plot holes. I also wish there would have been more distinction between the voices of Hermia and Nate. The narration was quite monotone, which made it feel as if the whole thing was told by the same character, or same type of character, even though the story was told from the view of two people who were supposed to be very different.
The idea behind this dystopian tale is absolutely fabulous, but overall the execution was lacking. I found myself skimming a lot throughout this book and was left feeling bored. I was really looking forward to reading a new dystopian story, but unfortunately Enmity did not fill that void for me. This is a debut novel by E.J. Andrews. I’m willing to bet that with some feedback and more experience, she could put out some pretty great stories
The idea behind this dystopian tale is absolutely fabulous, but overall the execution was lacking. I found myself skimming a lot throughout this book and was left feeling bored. I was really looking forward to reading a new dystopian story, but unfortunately Enmity did not fill that void for me. This is a debut novel by E.J. Andrews. I’m willing to bet that with some feedback and more experience, she could put out some pretty great stories
December 6, 2015
Firstly, given that this is E.J. Andrews first and only book so far, there is always room for improvement.
I loved the storyline, I loved and hated where things were going throughout the book.
I despised almost all the characters except for Chase and, perhaps, Darria. I didn't feel a connection to Hermia or Nate and didn't care what would happen to them.
I liked the part when Darria shows Hermia what happened to her mother and father and really liked her and Chase as a couple, I thought they balanced each other out.
I didn't like Nate and Marina together, they were both incredibly annoying and a bit dull for me.
I hated Winter with a passion and was glad she was blown up.
I found it very unnecessary when Hermia shot and killed Chase because she thought he was better off dead than loving her!! WHAT?! WHY??
I really wanted to know more about how the world got to where it was. I wanted something more than just a solar flare wiping out most of the human race.
I didn't like the writing style, I couldn't get a clear image of how the setting looked or how the characters looked most of the time.
I couldn't comprehend how Nate fell in love with Marina after a couple of days of knowing her.
Overall, I was on and off about the romance throughout the book.
I also got a Hunger Games/Maze Runner/Divergent vibe, it was like all three series were smashed into one book.
I continually kept thinking of this book as a movie and I standby the fact that if this was made into a movie it would be better than the book.
Overall, I thought Enmity was a bit 'meh' but I liked it and would most likely read the sequel, if there is one coming out.
A.Byrne
I loved the storyline, I loved and hated where things were going throughout the book.
I despised almost all the characters except for Chase and, perhaps, Darria. I didn't feel a connection to Hermia or Nate and didn't care what would happen to them.
I liked the part when Darria shows Hermia what happened to her mother and father and really liked her and Chase as a couple, I thought they balanced each other out.
I didn't like Nate and Marina together, they were both incredibly annoying and a bit dull for me.
I hated Winter with a passion and was glad she was blown up.
I found it very unnecessary when Hermia shot and killed Chase because she thought he was better off dead than loving her!! WHAT?! WHY??
I really wanted to know more about how the world got to where it was. I wanted something more than just a solar flare wiping out most of the human race.
I didn't like the writing style, I couldn't get a clear image of how the setting looked or how the characters looked most of the time.
I couldn't comprehend how Nate fell in love with Marina after a couple of days of knowing her.
Overall, I was on and off about the romance throughout the book.
I also got a Hunger Games/Maze Runner/Divergent vibe, it was like all three series were smashed into one book.
I continually kept thinking of this book as a movie and I standby the fact that if this was made into a movie it would be better than the book.
Overall, I thought Enmity was a bit 'meh' but I liked it and would most likely read the sequel, if there is one coming out.
A.Byrne
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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