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Eve #1
Eve: The Awakening
Eve is an outcast. A chimera.
After years of abuse and rejection, 19-year-old Evelyn Kingston is ready for a fresh start in a new city, where no one knows her name. The esteemed Billington University in sunny Southern California seems like the perfect place to reinvent herself—to live the life of an ordinary human.
But things at Billington aren’t as they seem. In a school filled with prodigies, socialites, and the leaders of tomorrow, Eve finds that the complex social hierarchy makes passing as a human much harder than she had anticipated. Even worse, Billington is harboring a secret of its own: Interlopers have infiltrated the university, and their sinister plans are targeted at chimeras—like Eve.
Instantly, Eve’s new life takes a drastic turn. In a time filled with chaos, is the world focusing on the wrong enemy? And when the situation at Billington shifts from hostile to dangerous, will Eve remain in the shadows, or rise up and fight?
After years of abuse and rejection, 19-year-old Evelyn Kingston is ready for a fresh start in a new city, where no one knows her name. The esteemed Billington University in sunny Southern California seems like the perfect place to reinvent herself—to live the life of an ordinary human.
But things at Billington aren’t as they seem. In a school filled with prodigies, socialites, and the leaders of tomorrow, Eve finds that the complex social hierarchy makes passing as a human much harder than she had anticipated. Even worse, Billington is harboring a secret of its own: Interlopers have infiltrated the university, and their sinister plans are targeted at chimeras—like Eve.
Instantly, Eve’s new life takes a drastic turn. In a time filled with chaos, is the world focusing on the wrong enemy? And when the situation at Billington shifts from hostile to dangerous, will Eve remain in the shadows, or rise up and fight?
547 pages, Paperback
First published August 12, 2015
211 people are currently reading
3324 people want to read
About the author
Jenna Moreci
8 books3,461 followersJenna Moreci is an award-winning romantasy and writing craft author and YouTube sensation. Her first installment in The Savior’s Series, The Savior’s Champion, was voted one of the Best Books of All Time by Book Depository. Following the release of her first writing craft book, Shut Up and Write the Book, she’s been asked to speak for many literary communities and affiliations about the writing process and romantasy genre, including Robinson College at the University of Cambridge, the University of Groningen, and the London Screenwriters’ Festival.
Born and raised in Silicon Valley, Jenna spends her free time snuggling up with her charming husband and their tiny rescue pup, Buttercup.
Born and raised in Silicon Valley, Jenna spends her free time snuggling up with her charming husband and their tiny rescue pup, Buttercup.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 361 reviews
August 13, 2023
I'm not going to sugarcoat this... I didn't like this book. I couldn't even finish it: I read approximately the first half of it, but it was getting so boring and unnerving that I had to stop. Who knows, maybe it was going to get better and I'll never know, but at least I can stop feeling like I want to throw my beloved Kindle against the wall.
This is not going to be very long, because I'm not here to rant about all the things that I hated about the book. I admit that I had very high expectations, since I watch Jenna's videos on Youtube and I've always found her writing advice very helpful, but this book is just boring. The plot was dull and predictable, and the characters... don't even get me started on the characters. Most of them were just plain old stereotypes (and the college setting was so annoying and unrealistic), and I didn't like the main character at all. She was as boring as the rest of the book, and while I didn't hate her, I just found her absolutely unremarkable. Her love story with Jason didn't make any sense to me (same insta-love as ever, and zero chemistry between the two) and he was as uninteresting as Eve. I mean, why was everyone in this book a walking stereotype? And of course, Eve also happens to
I'm really disappointed, because I thought I was going to love this book, but I found it boring and, on top of that, incredibly annoying. I really regret buying it.
(2015 read)
This is not going to be very long, because I'm not here to rant about all the things that I hated about the book. I admit that I had very high expectations, since I watch Jenna's videos on Youtube and I've always found her writing advice very helpful, but this book is just boring. The plot was dull and predictable, and the characters... don't even get me started on the characters. Most of them were just plain old stereotypes (and the college setting was so annoying and unrealistic), and I didn't like the main character at all. She was as boring as the rest of the book, and while I didn't hate her, I just found her absolutely unremarkable. Her love story with Jason didn't make any sense to me (same insta-love as ever, and zero chemistry between the two) and he was as uninteresting as Eve. I mean, why was everyone in this book a walking stereotype? And of course, Eve also happens to
I'm really disappointed, because I thought I was going to love this book, but I found it boring and, on top of that, incredibly annoying. I really regret buying it.
(2015 read)
May 16, 2018
Practise what you preach?
October 24, 2016
First off, I want to say I love Jenna Moreci's youtube vlog, but this book was a flop for me. I read a lot, and I tend to be critical of books, but this has been one of the worst I've read in years. My expectations were high after watching the author's vlog, but I was frustrated in 50% of Eve: The Awakening. For the life of me, I don’t understand why there are so many 5 star reviews for this novel, but I’m going to be honest about my opinion. I wish I had been one of Jenna's beta readers, and here are some of the issues I would have brought to her attention:
1) I don't understand the widespread persecution of chimeras. No real reason is given for them to be hated so much by the rest of human kind, aside from their powers attracting the interlopers, but that’s obviously not their fault. This issue seemed like a cheap way for the author to victimize the protagonist and help her stand out.
2) A huge chunk of the 500+ pages in the book was taken up by straight up annoying characters. Not the kind of characters who made me root for the protagonist, but the kind who made me angry that I was wasting my time reading the stupid stuff coming out of their mouths. ex) Dr. Dick, Madison, Hayden, Heather, Chin Dimple. They were over-exaggerated bad-guys and I think the book could have made its point without them...and without annoying the senses out of me.
3) Characteristic dialogue. The author makes a point to give Sancho his “balls”, which is cute, but everyone else is the same. Multiple characters in the book say “dynamic”, “sucktastic”,”scrote”, “hammer”, etc. and its distracting and weird. I hardly ever hear people in real life say these words at all, not to mention frequently.
4) The characters are boring. Nothing about anyone jumped out at me as memorable and everyone, except Eve at times, seem like throw in’s to move the plot along.
5) If Eve is so strong and independent, how in the hell does she put up with Madison, Hayden, and Heather for so long! I get it, she is trying to blend in and doesn’t want to throw them against the wall with her melt, but she doesn’t have to follow them around like a complacent puppy for the first quarter of the book.
6) Finally (I have more issues, but I’m tired of thinking of this book so I’ll just stop), I feel like this book isn’t story or character driven, but page after page of just plain writing for writing’s sake. The book was way too long for the story it told, fluffed up by easily cut-able characters, settings, and scenes.
Jenna Moreci once stated in a vlog that she doesn’t read reviews about Eve, which I think is unfortunate. Her writing would have been good if maybe 50% of it was cut, and although she slacked on some of the other characters, the protagonist was interesting at least. For a debut novel, it’s a little less than ok. I bet her next book will be much better, especially if she takes some of the criticism I’ve seen here and other places.
1) I don't understand the widespread persecution of chimeras. No real reason is given for them to be hated so much by the rest of human kind, aside from their powers attracting the interlopers, but that’s obviously not their fault. This issue seemed like a cheap way for the author to victimize the protagonist and help her stand out.
2) A huge chunk of the 500+ pages in the book was taken up by straight up annoying characters. Not the kind of characters who made me root for the protagonist, but the kind who made me angry that I was wasting my time reading the stupid stuff coming out of their mouths. ex) Dr. Dick, Madison, Hayden, Heather, Chin Dimple. They were over-exaggerated bad-guys and I think the book could have made its point without them...and without annoying the senses out of me.
3) Characteristic dialogue. The author makes a point to give Sancho his “balls”, which is cute, but everyone else is the same. Multiple characters in the book say “dynamic”, “sucktastic”,”scrote”, “hammer”, etc. and its distracting and weird. I hardly ever hear people in real life say these words at all, not to mention frequently.
4) The characters are boring. Nothing about anyone jumped out at me as memorable and everyone, except Eve at times, seem like throw in’s to move the plot along.
5) If Eve is so strong and independent, how in the hell does she put up with Madison, Hayden, and Heather for so long! I get it, she is trying to blend in and doesn’t want to throw them against the wall with her melt, but she doesn’t have to follow them around like a complacent puppy for the first quarter of the book.
6) Finally (I have more issues, but I’m tired of thinking of this book so I’ll just stop), I feel like this book isn’t story or character driven, but page after page of just plain writing for writing’s sake. The book was way too long for the story it told, fluffed up by easily cut-able characters, settings, and scenes.
Jenna Moreci once stated in a vlog that she doesn’t read reviews about Eve, which I think is unfortunate. Her writing would have been good if maybe 50% of it was cut, and although she slacked on some of the other characters, the protagonist was interesting at least. For a debut novel, it’s a little less than ok. I bet her next book will be much better, especially if she takes some of the criticism I’ve seen here and other places.
October 9, 2022
Really love this book had everything I was looking for an more.. Loved it,
but where is the second book?
Seriously does anybody know?
Why would you call something book 1 if you are not going to write book 2?🙄
but where is the second book?
Seriously does anybody know?
Why would you call something book 1 if you are not going to write book 2?🙄
July 21, 2015
HOLY SHIT!
I've been thinking that phrase over and over again ever since I discovered Jenna Moreci on Youtube way back in April (or March, who the hell even knows?). I always loved her writing-advice videos, her personality, and her book didn't disappoint (I mean, with all the tips she vlogs about, that would have SUCKED). But it didn't, so we're all good.
Now, I don't want to spoil this kick-ass novel because it has one HELL of a plot that you'd kill me for telling you the end. But what I can say is that Evelyn "Eve" Kingston is one of the best heroines I've read in a novel in a long time! I finished the first 12 chapters within 1.5 hours way back in April when I BEGGED Jenna to send me the first 12 chapters before she staged an intervention and told me to wait like the rest of her street team to get the book (which happened yesterday).
I finished the rest of the book within an hour because it was THAT good and suspenseful—the woman knows how to get your heart racing to near dangerous levels. The last few chapters were even more stressful than usual. And what an end it was! Read some of the teasers below and if those don't have you DYING to know what happens, then I don't know what else to say to you besides the fact that we probably don't share the same taste in books.
To everyone who does like the teasers and book description, I say PREORDER NOW and prepare for one crazy adventure come August 12th!
I've been thinking that phrase over and over again ever since I discovered Jenna Moreci on Youtube way back in April (or March, who the hell even knows?). I always loved her writing-advice videos, her personality, and her book didn't disappoint (I mean, with all the tips she vlogs about, that would have SUCKED). But it didn't, so we're all good.
Now, I don't want to spoil this kick-ass novel because it has one HELL of a plot that you'd kill me for telling you the end. But what I can say is that Evelyn "Eve" Kingston is one of the best heroines I've read in a novel in a long time! I finished the first 12 chapters within 1.5 hours way back in April when I BEGGED Jenna to send me the first 12 chapters before she staged an intervention and told me to wait like the rest of her street team to get the book (which happened yesterday).
I finished the rest of the book within an hour because it was THAT good and suspenseful—the woman knows how to get your heart racing to near dangerous levels. The last few chapters were even more stressful than usual. And what an end it was! Read some of the teasers below and if those don't have you DYING to know what happens, then I don't know what else to say to you besides the fact that we probably don't share the same taste in books.
To everyone who does like the teasers and book description, I say PREORDER NOW and prepare for one crazy adventure come August 12th!
January 30, 2025
I always intended for this review to undergo twenty-one edits; it's just that when I originally wrote it in 1977 we didn't have the technology.
I am truly at a loss for how to judge this book. The fact that the author is a public online figure has influenced my judgments both positive and negative. I don't think I'm the only one struggling to give an objective review.
With the author going out of her way to be known for her writing advice (her bio on this very site currently stating that she "dominates" the YouTube writing advice community--modesty, very nice), that makes for some very specific expectations. Having a popular writing channel where she frequently brings up her supposed experiences creates even more expectations. The book is marketed as "new adult," and described as "dark," adding to the pile of expectations.
Expectations are then blown to the next eon with all the ferocity of an Interloper's fart, with the actual book reading like an unfinished draft for a mediocre YA novel. And let it be known that I went into this book with low expectations; I'd read reviews, and had come to expect something between "meh" and "ugh, that was a bad book." So the fact that the first few chapters blew me away with their juvenile, cliched writing and repetitive gimmicks should be telling. And like so many others, I was just flabbergasted by all the five-star reviews, and disturbed by how phony so many of them came off as.
A visit to FakeSpot yielded some....interesting results.
But the fact is, this book was far from the worst I'd ever read, and I can give you a laundry-list of things I liked in it, and things I think this author does well. But these things are lifeboats floating erratically in a storming sea of bland filler and WTF.
THE GOOD:
Take-charge lead, good female role model: Bland self-insert protagonists are like bland everyman Earthling captains on "Star Trek," so I let that one slide. I was pleasantly surprised by how active Eve Kingston was, initiating the start of her own story. No wise old mage or rich billionaire poofs into her shitty life to tell her she's the Chosen One or her talents are just what he needs for his next mission. Eve plots her own escape from her crappy life, and enters the story's conflict on her own choice when she sees a problem and realizes she can do something about it. She is also the strong, independent, heroine with a healthy romantic relationship that is needed now more than ever in a post-"Twlight" and post-"50 Shades" world. I will never stop applauding the author for that, at least.
Writing style is easy on the brain ... if extremely bland and cliched. But Christopher Paolini very literally redefined "bad" writing for me. If I'm not being pummeled with purple prose every other sentence, then I tend to be very lenient on writing style. This author's is far from good--it's very bland and very cliched, and is very similar to "Twilight's," but the trauma of "Eragon" has long since desensitized me to this type of thing. This author's writing style slides easily off the brain for the most part, though there are a few jarringly funny lines that weren't meant to be ("flawless chocolate skin....")
Descriptions are there. They're not the best written, but I don't care. So many authors (usually adult authors) snobbishly refuse to describe anything, for fear of looking "flowery," and it gives me the sense that they just don't care. Jenna Moreci's descriptions were plentiful, if not fantastically written. She clearly cared about her characters. Or at least what they looked like.
Good use of "show don't tell." I recall being impressed in the first few chapters at how the author conveyed this was the future by working little bits of information in here and there, no opening crawl needed. That was well done.
Names: I really liked the names in this book. Madison, Hayden, JJ, Sancho, Interloper, they were all just stereotypical enough to remember but unique enough to be enjoyable. And not once in 500 pages did I lose track of who was who, which is VERY rare for me, even in my favorite books.
Page-turning action: None of the fight scenes left a mark on me, all were quite forgettable; but I will admit they were page-turners, and I read through them fast. The violence was messy and believably done, with one exception (mentioned later).
Some fun characters: All of the characters are cliches and stereotypes, but this doesn't stop some of them from being fun anyway. JJ the goth hacker, Percy the posh gun nut, Percy's zainy mother, and cute crazy little Sancho, were all favorites of mine. The Mean Girls could also be great fun when used for comedy.
Here's a bit of sloppy fan art I drew while reading, back when I was still following the YouTube channel:
Shares the spotlight: While Eve treads dangerously close to Mary Sue territory, the author does a good job and making sure Eve is not good at nor right about everything, and must rely on her friends for certain important things. The ending of the book also has a great moment for the supporting characters to shine.
Humor: While not laugh-out-loud hysterical, there were plenty of moments in this book that got an inner, and sometimes outer, chuckle from me. JJ's porn revenge, Percy's mother, and the lampshade to how phallic so many alien structures in movies tend to look.
Good scenes: There were also some well-rendered serious moments. Jason levitating glitter to create an artificial "starry night" for Eve, and the black-and-white ball were both enjoyable moments. And Eve's description of her abusive aunt, with just one sentence--"She would look at me like she was the victim"--was infinitely more powerful than all 500 pages of Nickelodeon bullying. (More on that later.)
Nifty cover art.
THE BAD:
Bland and cliche story, characters and writing: You probably noticed a pattern in the above section. Good or bad, this book's plot, characters, and writing style are overall quite bland and cliched. I tend to be rather forgiving of that sort of thing though, especially for a first book.
Chimeras are just better, and Eve's just the best Chimera. Chimeras all have super strength, speed and intelligence, with no drawbacks other than not being able to get drunk and being hated by everyone. I personally prefer when superpowers come with a price, and when individuals have different abilities. (One thing "Twilight" does noticeably better than this book.)
Oh, and Eve is the strongest Chimera in the world.
This is actually very limiting IMO, for a book set to have sequels. Why not leave it opened for Eve to meet a stronger Chimera for her to train with, or battle against? It also makes little sense. The excuse for her being the strongest Chimera is her powers awakening so early, with the trauma of her parents' death by a drunk driver; but what about all the small children in third-world countries, living in a living Hell from birth? There should be a lot of Chimeras whose powers awakened earlier than Eve's, unless this future is a "Star Trek"-esque utopia free of war and murder.
Victim complex? The prejudice and bullying Eve faces is so over-the-top, it reads like a parody at times. It ends up coming off like a Pureflix movie. In early chapters we kept meeting people who seemed like average, flawed college kids, only for them to abruptly morph into the most exaggerated evil caricatures, like something out of Doug Funny's paranoid fantasies, or a nightmare one of the Rugratz would have.
The characterization of the Mean Girls in particular makes this book come off like it was written by a middle schooler whose boyfriend had just dumped her for a blonde popular girl, and then sat down at her computer fuming, to write:
"There once was a plain looking but very speshul girl who everyone hated and was an outcast, because she was secretly way more powerful and speshul than the rest of them. And the blonde girl was a STUPID BIMBO and a SLUT and ann EVIL popular princess queen bee with an army of brainless minions who was really stupid and really evil and she was also a sluttly skant skank slut whore. But Jason saw right through her fake boobs and knew Eve was the girl with the better personality and brain. And the girl who kept asking Eve questions she didn't like was doing it because she was a NOSY GOSSPI BITCH who couldn't mind her own business, nad just wanted to spread rumors!! And that jerk in gym class is also pissing me off, so I think I'll make him a rapist and Eve kicks him to the moon!"
Oh, yeah. About that near-rape scene....
Big Lipped Attempted Alligator Rape!
Yes, I will bring this up every time. Yes, I need to get over it. No, I never will.
Because right in the middle of this book--right after a the touching and believable scene with Eve telling Jason about her cruel aunt, where the book was suddenly getting worlds better--"Dimple Chin," or whatever his name is, attempts to gang-rape Eve with his friends. This character was merely a dumb jock up until that point, making crude sexual jokes. (This is the most blatant example of a character going from a flawed individual to a warped evil caricature.) Eve kicks all their asses and escapes....
...and the attempted rape is never mentioned again. Even though she still sees Chin Dimple on a regular basis. Oh, it comes up that he injured her, and Jason is pissed; but the attempted sexual assault is not only never mentioned in dialogue, but Eve never even seems to think about it again. It's as if the author forgot she had that scene in there.
And yet she insisted this book had received a professional edit.
The Flashback Dream... ....was a cheap and cliched gimmick the first time it was used. When I saw it a second time I got confused, and backtracked several pages to see if I'd accidentally re-read a chapter I'd already been through. Eve dreams clear, coherent "flashbacks" of her traumatic childhood six full times within the first half of the book. All of them are unecessary, things we could easily have inferred from dialogue or shorter bursts of bad memories. "Poor Eve!" was forced down our throats very unnecessarily.
And as someone else pointed out, all of these flashbacks appeared in chronological order. This is meant to be a part of her PTSD. I am no expert on this disorder, but I've never heard of chronic biography dream mini-series plaguing the victim with a new episode of the chronological story over the course of a few months. I infer that this is simply a unique condition that occurs to female Chimeras when they're on their periods.
(Actually, this could work well into the plot; if Chimeras have super-intelligence, I'd buy that their brains somehow replay the most important aspects of their pasts at repeated cycles, as a survival trait. If this is revealed to be the case in the next book, I will forgive those flashbacks.)
Filler: Knowing that editors charge by the word, I'm stunned this book had so much needless filler. I'm personally trying to edit down my story as much as I can before looking for an editor, specifically for this reason. When you're paying a pro by the word, no word should be wasted. But if this author really felt the six dream flashbacks showing us that Eve was bullied, pages and pages of filler, and the Big Lipped Alligator Rape, were crucial to her story, then it's by all means her prerogative to fork over the cash to that editor. Fortunately, it seems the editor was a large hairy fellow named Harvey who likely requested his pay in carrots, so no great revenue was lost.
Did I mention the Big Lipped Alligator Rape?
Prejudice is when popular people with money are mean to poor misfits, right? This book's portrayal of "prejudice" is so flat and exaggerated it seems to have no clue what prejudice even is, and encourages it against the rich and people who like mainstream fashion. None of the bigots in the book have a reason for hating Chimeras; they seem to attack Eve purely for fun, "smiling in triumph" and such.
The one believable reason for people to fear Chimeras--their powers being deadly when out-of-control--isn't addressed. Eve accidentally kills a man when she's six years old, but conveniently he was a drunk driver who killed her parents and threatened to kill the six-year-old if she told anyone, so no need to feel bad for that guy. After that, Eve conveniently never has to live with having unintentionally hurt any innocents, and never has to face a bigot in tears over their little brother being killed by a Chiemra. And of course there are no Chiemra extremists out there giving the group a bad name.
In short, "Prejudice" just seems to be an excuse to supply emotional torture porn for poor, poor Eve.
The book also encourages prejudice against "preppy" girls (do kids still say "preppy?"). I write this as a scruffy artsy nerd who had an unlikely friendship with a "preppy" girl in high school. We became best friends. We just had dinner at Huhot yesterday. I would not have become friends with her if a family friend hadn't warned me, before I entered high school, not to let my bad experiences influence how I judged others, and not to assume someone would be a bitch just because she liked makeup and fashion. How many other youngsters miss out on friendships like mine and my high school BFFs, because no one is telling them to check their own prejudices?
Most baffling of all is that Jenna Moreci was a professional model, and looks glamorous in her videos. Why encourage a prejudice she herself must be on the receiving end of?
Minor nitpick here, but... ONE death looked like it had been written by my edgy Emo friend in high school. I'm talking about the guy nailed to the X-shaped cross with nails in his eyes. It felt like someone trying really hard to be "gruesome" without actually having the balls to split skulls or spill guts or do anything truly chilling. I must point out though that this was an isolated incident, and the rest of the violence in the book, if memory serves, was fittingly gritty and messy.
Where'd the Internet go? Another minor nitpick, since this plothole is only relevant at the very beginning. Eve gets cheated out of tons of money when pawning her stuff to survive, because she's a Chimera; but why can't she just anonymously sell her stuff online? Ebay? Amazon? What happened to those sites? Are Chimeras legally banned from using computers? Did the Internet collapse sometime before this story takes place? It's particularly odd that this plot hole would exist in a book that is sold primarily over the Internet, by an author whose entire author persona is Internet based. Like I said though, minor nitpick, as the pawning isn't exactly a major plotpoint.
They were just redshirts: I assume it's not a spoiler to say that the Interlopers kill a f*ck-ton of people. But their deaths are only ever treated as plot-points. I'm not asking for the grieving families to get their own subplots, but some acknowledgement that these were real people who lost their lives would be nice. Especially in the case of Yet Eve's only reaction is "Ah-ha, so that's what's been going on!"
...and now for a bonus section....
"EVE THE AWAKENING" v "TWILIGHT:"
Believe it or not, I am not just doing the "Twilight" comparison to be a smartass. We all know by now that "Twilight" isn't the worst book ever. "50 Shades" has stolen that title, and I've made it clear that for me personally the Golden Turkey Award goes to Paolini. I thought Twilight was okay, and noticed enough similarities between it and this book to compile this very necessary list.
* Same generic, bland, cliche, but not-too-purple-prose-ridden-thank-god, writing style, that only occasionally has a laughable sentence ("You're like heroine to me," "His flawless chocolate skin")
* Both filled with needless filler
* Generic, self-insert, everygirl protagonist who doesn't fit in, and lands herself a buff rich hot popular guy whose posse are the saving grace of the story's cast; Eve is an infinitely better role model and more likable character than Bella, though. Point for "Eve."
* Female sidekick with a funky style and quirky personality (Alice, JJ)
* A race of superhumans feared by everyone else. Moreci's don't sparkle and aren't all "beautiful," so point to "Eve;" however, Meyer's vampires each have unique powers and backstories, have a unique secret society, and are overall vastly more interesting. Point to "Twilight."
* Fail completely at the book's main theme. "Twilight" is supposed to be about "true love," but tries to pass off shallow infatuation and arguably abusive relationships as "love;" "Eve the Awakening" is supposed to be about prejudice, but tries to pass off victimization-porn as 'prejudice" while encouraging the real thing against girls who like make-up and fashion.
* Plenty of people, young and old, enjoy it for entertainment, and accept that it's neither Shakespeare nor was trying to be.
To make a long story short....
(I know, "too late")
This book isn't truly horrible, but it isn't truly a book either. It's pretty obviously an un-edited draft hastily sent to a proof-reader for spelling and grammatical errors, marketed with methods that range from questionable to possibly illegal.
BUT plenty of young people and even some adults enjoy this book, for legitimate reasons. The young person I sold my copy to told me she was loving it so far, right within the first few chapters. By no means should the book's flaws or sketchy marketing deter you from reading it if you're curious (though I personally hesitate to give this author any more of my money, at least until a trio of ghosts pays her a visit some Christmas about those sock-puppet reviews).
One one final important note...
Chin Dimple definitely tried to rape Eve.
Chrome out.
I am truly at a loss for how to judge this book. The fact that the author is a public online figure has influenced my judgments both positive and negative. I don't think I'm the only one struggling to give an objective review.
With the author going out of her way to be known for her writing advice (her bio on this very site currently stating that she "dominates" the YouTube writing advice community--modesty, very nice), that makes for some very specific expectations. Having a popular writing channel where she frequently brings up her supposed experiences creates even more expectations. The book is marketed as "new adult," and described as "dark," adding to the pile of expectations.
Expectations are then blown to the next eon with all the ferocity of an Interloper's fart, with the actual book reading like an unfinished draft for a mediocre YA novel. And let it be known that I went into this book with low expectations; I'd read reviews, and had come to expect something between "meh" and "ugh, that was a bad book." So the fact that the first few chapters blew me away with their juvenile, cliched writing and repetitive gimmicks should be telling. And like so many others, I was just flabbergasted by all the five-star reviews, and disturbed by how phony so many of them came off as.
A visit to FakeSpot yielded some....interesting results.
But the fact is, this book was far from the worst I'd ever read, and I can give you a laundry-list of things I liked in it, and things I think this author does well. But these things are lifeboats floating erratically in a storming sea of bland filler and WTF.
THE GOOD:
Take-charge lead, good female role model: Bland self-insert protagonists are like bland everyman Earthling captains on "Star Trek," so I let that one slide. I was pleasantly surprised by how active Eve Kingston was, initiating the start of her own story. No wise old mage or rich billionaire poofs into her shitty life to tell her she's the Chosen One or her talents are just what he needs for his next mission. Eve plots her own escape from her crappy life, and enters the story's conflict on her own choice when she sees a problem and realizes she can do something about it. She is also the strong, independent, heroine with a healthy romantic relationship that is needed now more than ever in a post-"Twlight" and post-"50 Shades" world. I will never stop applauding the author for that, at least.
Writing style is easy on the brain ... if extremely bland and cliched. But Christopher Paolini very literally redefined "bad" writing for me. If I'm not being pummeled with purple prose every other sentence, then I tend to be very lenient on writing style. This author's is far from good--it's very bland and very cliched, and is very similar to "Twilight's," but the trauma of "Eragon" has long since desensitized me to this type of thing. This author's writing style slides easily off the brain for the most part, though there are a few jarringly funny lines that weren't meant to be ("flawless chocolate skin....")
Descriptions are there. They're not the best written, but I don't care. So many authors (usually adult authors) snobbishly refuse to describe anything, for fear of looking "flowery," and it gives me the sense that they just don't care. Jenna Moreci's descriptions were plentiful, if not fantastically written. She clearly cared about her characters. Or at least what they looked like.
Good use of "show don't tell." I recall being impressed in the first few chapters at how the author conveyed this was the future by working little bits of information in here and there, no opening crawl needed. That was well done.
Names: I really liked the names in this book. Madison, Hayden, JJ, Sancho, Interloper, they were all just stereotypical enough to remember but unique enough to be enjoyable. And not once in 500 pages did I lose track of who was who, which is VERY rare for me, even in my favorite books.
Page-turning action: None of the fight scenes left a mark on me, all were quite forgettable; but I will admit they were page-turners, and I read through them fast. The violence was messy and believably done, with one exception (mentioned later).
Some fun characters: All of the characters are cliches and stereotypes, but this doesn't stop some of them from being fun anyway. JJ the goth hacker, Percy the posh gun nut, Percy's zainy mother, and cute crazy little Sancho, were all favorites of mine. The Mean Girls could also be great fun when used for comedy.
Here's a bit of sloppy fan art I drew while reading, back when I was still following the YouTube channel:
Shares the spotlight: While Eve treads dangerously close to Mary Sue territory, the author does a good job and making sure Eve is not good at nor right about everything, and must rely on her friends for certain important things. The ending of the book also has a great moment for the supporting characters to shine.
Humor: While not laugh-out-loud hysterical, there were plenty of moments in this book that got an inner, and sometimes outer, chuckle from me. JJ's porn revenge, Percy's mother, and the lampshade to how phallic so many alien structures in movies tend to look.
Good scenes: There were also some well-rendered serious moments. Jason levitating glitter to create an artificial "starry night" for Eve, and the black-and-white ball were both enjoyable moments. And Eve's description of her abusive aunt, with just one sentence--"She would look at me like she was the victim"--was infinitely more powerful than all 500 pages of Nickelodeon bullying. (More on that later.)
Nifty cover art.
THE BAD:
Bland and cliche story, characters and writing: You probably noticed a pattern in the above section. Good or bad, this book's plot, characters, and writing style are overall quite bland and cliched. I tend to be rather forgiving of that sort of thing though, especially for a first book.
Chimeras are just better, and Eve's just the best Chimera. Chimeras all have super strength, speed and intelligence, with no drawbacks other than not being able to get drunk and being hated by everyone. I personally prefer when superpowers come with a price, and when individuals have different abilities. (One thing "Twilight" does noticeably better than this book.)
Oh, and Eve is the strongest Chimera in the world.
This is actually very limiting IMO, for a book set to have sequels. Why not leave it opened for Eve to meet a stronger Chimera for her to train with, or battle against? It also makes little sense. The excuse for her being the strongest Chimera is her powers awakening so early, with the trauma of her parents' death by a drunk driver; but what about all the small children in third-world countries, living in a living Hell from birth? There should be a lot of Chimeras whose powers awakened earlier than Eve's, unless this future is a "Star Trek"-esque utopia free of war and murder.
Victim complex? The prejudice and bullying Eve faces is so over-the-top, it reads like a parody at times. It ends up coming off like a Pureflix movie. In early chapters we kept meeting people who seemed like average, flawed college kids, only for them to abruptly morph into the most exaggerated evil caricatures, like something out of Doug Funny's paranoid fantasies, or a nightmare one of the Rugratz would have.
The characterization of the Mean Girls in particular makes this book come off like it was written by a middle schooler whose boyfriend had just dumped her for a blonde popular girl, and then sat down at her computer fuming, to write:
"There once was a plain looking but very speshul girl who everyone hated and was an outcast, because she was secretly way more powerful and speshul than the rest of them. And the blonde girl was a STUPID BIMBO and a SLUT and ann EVIL popular princess queen bee with an army of brainless minions who was really stupid and really evil and she was also a sluttly skant skank slut whore. But Jason saw right through her fake boobs and knew Eve was the girl with the better personality and brain. And the girl who kept asking Eve questions she didn't like was doing it because she was a NOSY GOSSPI BITCH who couldn't mind her own business, nad just wanted to spread rumors!! And that jerk in gym class is also pissing me off, so I think I'll make him a rapist and Eve kicks him to the moon!"
Oh, yeah. About that near-rape scene....
Big Lipped Attempted Alligator Rape!
Yes, I will bring this up every time. Yes, I need to get over it. No, I never will.
Because right in the middle of this book--right after a the touching and believable scene with Eve telling Jason about her cruel aunt, where the book was suddenly getting worlds better--"Dimple Chin," or whatever his name is, attempts to gang-rape Eve with his friends. This character was merely a dumb jock up until that point, making crude sexual jokes. (This is the most blatant example of a character going from a flawed individual to a warped evil caricature.) Eve kicks all their asses and escapes....
...and the attempted rape is never mentioned again. Even though she still sees Chin Dimple on a regular basis. Oh, it comes up that he injured her, and Jason is pissed; but the attempted sexual assault is not only never mentioned in dialogue, but Eve never even seems to think about it again. It's as if the author forgot she had that scene in there.
And yet she insisted this book had received a professional edit.
The Flashback Dream... ....was a cheap and cliched gimmick the first time it was used. When I saw it a second time I got confused, and backtracked several pages to see if I'd accidentally re-read a chapter I'd already been through. Eve dreams clear, coherent "flashbacks" of her traumatic childhood six full times within the first half of the book. All of them are unecessary, things we could easily have inferred from dialogue or shorter bursts of bad memories. "Poor Eve!" was forced down our throats very unnecessarily.
And as someone else pointed out, all of these flashbacks appeared in chronological order. This is meant to be a part of her PTSD. I am no expert on this disorder, but I've never heard of chronic biography dream mini-series plaguing the victim with a new episode of the chronological story over the course of a few months. I infer that this is simply a unique condition that occurs to female Chimeras when they're on their periods.
(Actually, this could work well into the plot; if Chimeras have super-intelligence, I'd buy that their brains somehow replay the most important aspects of their pasts at repeated cycles, as a survival trait. If this is revealed to be the case in the next book, I will forgive those flashbacks.)
Filler: Knowing that editors charge by the word, I'm stunned this book had so much needless filler. I'm personally trying to edit down my story as much as I can before looking for an editor, specifically for this reason. When you're paying a pro by the word, no word should be wasted. But if this author really felt the six dream flashbacks showing us that Eve was bullied, pages and pages of filler, and the Big Lipped Alligator Rape, were crucial to her story, then it's by all means her prerogative to fork over the cash to that editor. Fortunately, it seems the editor was a large hairy fellow named Harvey who likely requested his pay in carrots, so no great revenue was lost.
Did I mention the Big Lipped Alligator Rape?
Prejudice is when popular people with money are mean to poor misfits, right? This book's portrayal of "prejudice" is so flat and exaggerated it seems to have no clue what prejudice even is, and encourages it against the rich and people who like mainstream fashion. None of the bigots in the book have a reason for hating Chimeras; they seem to attack Eve purely for fun, "smiling in triumph" and such.
The one believable reason for people to fear Chimeras--their powers being deadly when out-of-control--isn't addressed. Eve accidentally kills a man when she's six years old, but conveniently he was a drunk driver who killed her parents and threatened to kill the six-year-old if she told anyone, so no need to feel bad for that guy. After that, Eve conveniently never has to live with having unintentionally hurt any innocents, and never has to face a bigot in tears over their little brother being killed by a Chiemra. And of course there are no Chiemra extremists out there giving the group a bad name.
In short, "Prejudice" just seems to be an excuse to supply emotional torture porn for poor, poor Eve.
The book also encourages prejudice against "preppy" girls (do kids still say "preppy?"). I write this as a scruffy artsy nerd who had an unlikely friendship with a "preppy" girl in high school. We became best friends. We just had dinner at Huhot yesterday. I would not have become friends with her if a family friend hadn't warned me, before I entered high school, not to let my bad experiences influence how I judged others, and not to assume someone would be a bitch just because she liked makeup and fashion. How many other youngsters miss out on friendships like mine and my high school BFFs, because no one is telling them to check their own prejudices?
Most baffling of all is that Jenna Moreci was a professional model, and looks glamorous in her videos. Why encourage a prejudice she herself must be on the receiving end of?
Minor nitpick here, but... ONE death looked like it had been written by my edgy Emo friend in high school. I'm talking about the guy nailed to the X-shaped cross with nails in his eyes. It felt like someone trying really hard to be "gruesome" without actually having the balls to split skulls or spill guts or do anything truly chilling. I must point out though that this was an isolated incident, and the rest of the violence in the book, if memory serves, was fittingly gritty and messy.
Where'd the Internet go? Another minor nitpick, since this plothole is only relevant at the very beginning. Eve gets cheated out of tons of money when pawning her stuff to survive, because she's a Chimera; but why can't she just anonymously sell her stuff online? Ebay? Amazon? What happened to those sites? Are Chimeras legally banned from using computers? Did the Internet collapse sometime before this story takes place? It's particularly odd that this plot hole would exist in a book that is sold primarily over the Internet, by an author whose entire author persona is Internet based. Like I said though, minor nitpick, as the pawning isn't exactly a major plotpoint.
They were just redshirts: I assume it's not a spoiler to say that the Interlopers kill a f*ck-ton of people. But their deaths are only ever treated as plot-points. I'm not asking for the grieving families to get their own subplots, but some acknowledgement that these were real people who lost their lives would be nice. Especially in the case of Yet Eve's only reaction is "Ah-ha, so that's what's been going on!"
...and now for a bonus section....
"EVE THE AWAKENING" v "TWILIGHT:"
Believe it or not, I am not just doing the "Twilight" comparison to be a smartass. We all know by now that "Twilight" isn't the worst book ever. "50 Shades" has stolen that title, and I've made it clear that for me personally the Golden Turkey Award goes to Paolini. I thought Twilight was okay, and noticed enough similarities between it and this book to compile this very necessary list.
* Same generic, bland, cliche, but not-too-purple-prose-ridden-thank-god, writing style, that only occasionally has a laughable sentence ("You're like heroine to me," "His flawless chocolate skin")
* Both filled with needless filler
* Generic, self-insert, everygirl protagonist who doesn't fit in, and lands herself a buff rich hot popular guy whose posse are the saving grace of the story's cast; Eve is an infinitely better role model and more likable character than Bella, though. Point for "Eve."
* Female sidekick with a funky style and quirky personality (Alice, JJ)
* A race of superhumans feared by everyone else. Moreci's don't sparkle and aren't all "beautiful," so point to "Eve;" however, Meyer's vampires each have unique powers and backstories, have a unique secret society, and are overall vastly more interesting. Point to "Twilight."
* Fail completely at the book's main theme. "Twilight" is supposed to be about "true love," but tries to pass off shallow infatuation and arguably abusive relationships as "love;" "Eve the Awakening" is supposed to be about prejudice, but tries to pass off victimization-porn as 'prejudice" while encouraging the real thing against girls who like make-up and fashion.
* Plenty of people, young and old, enjoy it for entertainment, and accept that it's neither Shakespeare nor was trying to be.
To make a long story short....
(I know, "too late")
This book isn't truly horrible, but it isn't truly a book either. It's pretty obviously an un-edited draft hastily sent to a proof-reader for spelling and grammatical errors, marketed with methods that range from questionable to possibly illegal.
BUT plenty of young people and even some adults enjoy this book, for legitimate reasons. The young person I sold my copy to told me she was loving it so far, right within the first few chapters. By no means should the book's flaws or sketchy marketing deter you from reading it if you're curious (though I personally hesitate to give this author any more of my money, at least until a trio of ghosts pays her a visit some Christmas about those sock-puppet reviews).
One one final important note...
Chin Dimple definitely tried to rape Eve.
Chrome out.
July 26, 2016
*incoming long post*
*yes, I did change my ratings after sitting on this review for a while*
Oh man...this is going to be a tricky one to review. I love Jenna Moreci. She is a fabulous woman and her personality is amazing. Her videos are both informative and hilarious so to show my support, I bought Eve: The Awakening. I promised myself that I would always enter a book with no expectations because I've been bit in the ass multiple times. What happened you ask? I didn't follow my golden rule. My expectations were too damn high. I don't want to say I was completely letdown by this book because it was a fun read but there were problems that I couldn't ignore.
Summary of thoughts:
Let's start off with the positives.
Characters:
Eve herself was an intriguing character. She went through a lot of hell over the years and seeing her go through it definitely pulled at my heartstrings. When it came to fighting, she fought hard and when she was thrown down, she picked herself back up and pushed forward. She cared about everyone around her even people who hated her and she was willing to sacrifice herself for them. I respected her for that. She at some points reminded me of one of my favorite quotes:
“We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.”
― Grant Morrison
Eve's friends were also interesting. They were hilarious, quirky, diverse, and willing to kick some serious ass. They were those friends who would go out of their way to help you hide a dead body.
Story:
The story was decent enough to keep me going. When Jenna spoke about the next evolutionary stage for humankind, I needed to know more. Would they look different? If they had any powers, what would they be? It was interesting learning about the Chimeras and how they awaken.
The twists were unexpected and caught me off guard multiple times. I would think I had the mystery figured out then it hits you with, "nope! You got it all wrong!"
This book also had a ton of action and the ending was "up in your face" action. It was glorious and I like books that have enough action yet it doesn't overwhelm the story.
Now, let's go on to the negatives.
First off, this book is marketed as a New Adult novel but reads like a YA novel. The only thing that makes it NA is that it takes place in college. Like, dats it.
Characters (negative):
Eve was strong and yes, she was a badass fighter but when it came to standing her ground, she wimped out. This made me angry. I kept yelling "do something! Do something!" at my poor kindle to no avail. She let people beat her, spit at her, call her names, and threaten her. They even went as far as trying to kill her yet she did nothing. She didn't fight back, she just stood there and took it. I guess the author was trying to show us how strong she really was which leads to the unbelievable factor of the story. Your entire city is against you, all of humanity is against you, your own family hates you, you watched your parents die, you were thrown in jail, harassed, treated like shit for years so how are you not broken? How did you not snap and give them a good reason to fear you? How did you not become the villain? She literally had nothing to keep her grounded yet I'm supposed to believe after all of the shit she went through, she came out sane? Batman had Alfred, superman had Lois Lane and his parents. If you look at these superhero comics, you can see they have something to keep them level-headed. Even though she's a Chimera, she's still human and humans can only take so much emotional pain. I didn't understand how she survived and the reason that's given is that "she's strong." None of it makes sense! I wanted to know the what, how and the why.
Even though I found her friends interesting, they were stereotyped. Actually, the entire book was filled with nothing but stereotypes. The Indian friend was a super-genius doctor and he was only 17. Of course the hacker has to be emo and since Eve went to a private school for rich kids, of course they all have to be spoiled rotten brats. I'm going to relate this to a real life occurrence and tell you why this is wrong. One of my friends currently attends a prestigious music university where most of the population has money. She made friends there and not once did she say they were snobbish, spoiled, mean and hateful. She even told me when she was tight on money and went out with them to eat, they offered to pay for her. Now, I'm not saying spoiled rich kids don't exist. Believe me they do, I've met a few but an entire college full of them is very hard to believe.
The Hate:
Everybody hates Chimeras. They think they're unintelligent animals and not human beings even though they're the next step in human evolution. They don't have any rights and normal humans think they should die out even though Chimeras are the next step in human evolution. According to humans, Chimeras shouldn't breathe the same air as human beings even though they're the next step in human evolution. Yep, I'm repeating myself because the hate doesn't make any god damn sense. We are never given a reason as to why the hate is so strong and why they should die. Why were they calling them animals when there's little to no difference compared to human DNA? Telekinesis, super strength, super healing, super speed are abilities that scientist today are looking into developing. At least once in our lives we were asked if we could choose one superpower, what would it be? Suddenly, humanity starts to develop those superpowers and people start to lose their shit. Government officials are telling people to treat them as if they were a lesser species even though they know Chimeras are the next step in human evolution. How did we go from 0 to 100? What triggered this mass hysteria?
The Romance:
The romance I didn't care for. I don't care for romance period but the fact that this was insta-love made me care less which is why this section is so short. All you have to know is insta-lust.
The Story:
I mentioned in the beginning that it was interesting finding out more about the Chimeras and the twists but that's where my interest stopped. The story read like a super cheesy YA novel and it was basically Mean Girls meets sci-fi. The amount of angst was absolutely ridiculous. I'm not saying angst should be tossed out the window but the entire story shouldn't be centered around it.
And good god was this book unnecessarily lengthy! She could have cut it down to 300 pages. I'm 99.9% sure each chapter was at least 40 pages long. There were so many things that didn't need to be there or events that could have just been touched on. I got so bored, I skimmed. At times, it felt like a chore to get through and when I reached the end, I was like:
The Antagonist:
The villain was the most villainous villain he ever did villain. Have you ever villain a villainous villain before? Point is, he was a villain in every villainous way. I guess this is a personal preference but I want my villains not to be villainous. I like intelligent villains, villains that keep you at the edge of your seat, villains that keep you guessing, villains that don't monologue about their evil plans, villains that don't fit in the villain mold.
To sum up my feelings, I was disappointed and I blame myself for going into it with high expectations but at the same time, I feel as though if I went into it with no expectations, this would be a 1 star review. I really wanted to like this book, I really did, I just couldn't get over the glaring issues I had.
Ratings: 2/5 stars
*yes, I did change my ratings after sitting on this review for a while*
Oh man...this is going to be a tricky one to review. I love Jenna Moreci. She is a fabulous woman and her personality is amazing. Her videos are both informative and hilarious so to show my support, I bought Eve: The Awakening. I promised myself that I would always enter a book with no expectations because I've been bit in the ass multiple times. What happened you ask? I didn't follow my golden rule. My expectations were too damn high. I don't want to say I was completely letdown by this book because it was a fun read but there were problems that I couldn't ignore.
Summary of thoughts:
Let's start off with the positives.
Characters:
Eve herself was an intriguing character. She went through a lot of hell over the years and seeing her go through it definitely pulled at my heartstrings. When it came to fighting, she fought hard and when she was thrown down, she picked herself back up and pushed forward. She cared about everyone around her even people who hated her and she was willing to sacrifice herself for them. I respected her for that. She at some points reminded me of one of my favorite quotes:
“We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.”
― Grant Morrison
Eve's friends were also interesting. They were hilarious, quirky, diverse, and willing to kick some serious ass. They were those friends who would go out of their way to help you hide a dead body.
Story:
The story was decent enough to keep me going. When Jenna spoke about the next evolutionary stage for humankind, I needed to know more. Would they look different? If they had any powers, what would they be? It was interesting learning about the Chimeras and how they awaken.
The twists were unexpected and caught me off guard multiple times. I would think I had the mystery figured out then it hits you with, "nope! You got it all wrong!"
This book also had a ton of action and the ending was "up in your face" action. It was glorious and I like books that have enough action yet it doesn't overwhelm the story.
Now, let's go on to the negatives.
First off, this book is marketed as a New Adult novel but reads like a YA novel. The only thing that makes it NA is that it takes place in college. Like, dats it.
Characters (negative):
Eve was strong and yes, she was a badass fighter but when it came to standing her ground, she wimped out. This made me angry. I kept yelling "do something! Do something!" at my poor kindle to no avail. She let people beat her, spit at her, call her names, and threaten her. They even went as far as trying to kill her yet she did nothing. She didn't fight back, she just stood there and took it. I guess the author was trying to show us how strong she really was which leads to the unbelievable factor of the story. Your entire city is against you, all of humanity is against you, your own family hates you, you watched your parents die, you were thrown in jail, harassed, treated like shit for years so how are you not broken? How did you not snap and give them a good reason to fear you? How did you not become the villain? She literally had nothing to keep her grounded yet I'm supposed to believe after all of the shit she went through, she came out sane? Batman had Alfred, superman had Lois Lane and his parents. If you look at these superhero comics, you can see they have something to keep them level-headed. Even though she's a Chimera, she's still human and humans can only take so much emotional pain. I didn't understand how she survived and the reason that's given is that "she's strong." None of it makes sense! I wanted to know the what, how and the why.
Even though I found her friends interesting, they were stereotyped. Actually, the entire book was filled with nothing but stereotypes. The Indian friend was a super-genius doctor and he was only 17. Of course the hacker has to be emo and since Eve went to a private school for rich kids, of course they all have to be spoiled rotten brats. I'm going to relate this to a real life occurrence and tell you why this is wrong. One of my friends currently attends a prestigious music university where most of the population has money. She made friends there and not once did she say they were snobbish, spoiled, mean and hateful. She even told me when she was tight on money and went out with them to eat, they offered to pay for her. Now, I'm not saying spoiled rich kids don't exist. Believe me they do, I've met a few but an entire college full of them is very hard to believe.
The Hate:
Everybody hates Chimeras. They think they're unintelligent animals and not human beings even though they're the next step in human evolution. They don't have any rights and normal humans think they should die out even though Chimeras are the next step in human evolution. According to humans, Chimeras shouldn't breathe the same air as human beings even though they're the next step in human evolution. Yep, I'm repeating myself because the hate doesn't make any god damn sense. We are never given a reason as to why the hate is so strong and why they should die. Why were they calling them animals when there's little to no difference compared to human DNA? Telekinesis, super strength, super healing, super speed are abilities that scientist today are looking into developing. At least once in our lives we were asked if we could choose one superpower, what would it be? Suddenly, humanity starts to develop those superpowers and people start to lose their shit. Government officials are telling people to treat them as if they were a lesser species even though they know Chimeras are the next step in human evolution. How did we go from 0 to 100? What triggered this mass hysteria?
The Romance:
The romance I didn't care for. I don't care for romance period but the fact that this was insta-love made me care less which is why this section is so short. All you have to know is insta-lust.
The Story:
I mentioned in the beginning that it was interesting finding out more about the Chimeras and the twists but that's where my interest stopped. The story read like a super cheesy YA novel and it was basically Mean Girls meets sci-fi. The amount of angst was absolutely ridiculous. I'm not saying angst should be tossed out the window but the entire story shouldn't be centered around it.
And good god was this book unnecessarily lengthy! She could have cut it down to 300 pages. I'm 99.9% sure each chapter was at least 40 pages long. There were so many things that didn't need to be there or events that could have just been touched on. I got so bored, I skimmed. At times, it felt like a chore to get through and when I reached the end, I was like:
The Antagonist:
The villain was the most villainous villain he ever did villain. Have you ever villain a villainous villain before? Point is, he was a villain in every villainous way. I guess this is a personal preference but I want my villains not to be villainous. I like intelligent villains, villains that keep you at the edge of your seat, villains that keep you guessing, villains that don't monologue about their evil plans, villains that don't fit in the villain mold.
To sum up my feelings, I was disappointed and I blame myself for going into it with high expectations but at the same time, I feel as though if I went into it with no expectations, this would be a 1 star review. I really wanted to like this book, I really did, I just couldn't get over the glaring issues I had.
Ratings: 2/5 stars
October 8, 2017
This book was an utter disappointment. I picked it up last summer convinced I'd love it, but I had to admit to myself my feelings were far from positive in the end. It was like reading pages and pages worth of Jenna breaking each and every single piece of her writing advice, it even makes one wonder if she was doing it on purpose. DNF at chapter 12; too many cliches, the most frustratingly depressing Mary Sue of a MC, a bland love interest with no personality whatsoever, completely forgettable side characters who were all nothing more but one-dimensional stereotypes. The plot was all over the place, I didn't know if I was reading about YA X-men fighting an alien invasion or some futuristic Mean Girls copycat. The writing has no voice, it just goes on and on without ever being compelling or interesting to justify that much rambling; no wonder this book is 500+ pages long, and the insane amount of italics is an insult to the reader's intelligence. After giving it so many chances, I can't think of a single redeeming quality worth mentioning. I'd go on, but there are plenty of reviews that cover up my frustrations regarding this book already.
December 9, 2015
I had a lot of problems with this book.
First off, let me just say that I think the author, Jenna Moreci, is awesome. Her youtube vlogs on writing are hilarious, genuine, and helpful on so many levels. It was with this bias that I decided to read her novel, Eve. Personally, I read a lot of YA/NA Fantasy/Paranormal/SciFi. I also write stories in these genres. So I was honestly expecting to be blown away. Unfortunately, this book had the exact opposite effect for me. The overall reading experience was exhausting and disappointing to say the least.
To prevent excessive ranting, I'm just going to list my concerns:
1. There was too much emphasis on petty villains. I'm specifically talking about the bitch queens and the assholes. This book was full of them and they got way too much attention if you ask me.
2. The discrimination and prejudice that humans had for chimeras (or super humans). It was so exaggerated and really didn't make sense. All of that hatred and ignorance just victimized the protagonist for me. I felt like the author was constantly saying, "Look at all the shit Eve has to deal with every single day of her life. Isn't she strong and resilient?" It was so annoying. I eventually became desensitized to any violent crimes that were aimed at the protagonist.
3. Social hierarchies and exorbitant wealth. For real, though. I thought I was going to read a book about aliens, not rich kid drama. Nearly all the characters were unreasonably wealthy. I'm talking private jets, diamond empires, and expensive clothes. The glitzy-glam-glam took up about 50% of the storytelling. Not my thing.
4. Overuse of italics and all caps. I really think this was an amateur mistake. I can't take a writer seriously when they dump that many italics and all caps into their dialogue. It's distracting and goofy in my opinion.
5. Describing groups as twosomes/threesomes/foursomes. I'm sorry, but that always makes me think of orgies/group sex. Just say "the group".
6. Nearly each and every character was over exaggerated or cheesy (except for Eve).
7. I thought the dialogue dragged on a lot of the time. In fact, a lot of the scenes were just too long and some were even unnecessary. For example, the car ride to the hospital when Eve was unconscious. The author should have just cut that scene all together.
8. I wasn't drawn in or entertained by Eve and Jason's relationship. All the kissing scenes were boring and practically described the same way. Jason was literally the most boring character in the entire novel. Secretly, I wanted him to be the evil alien Fairon. That would have saved his character.
9. The use of the word "footballer." Seriously? I can't even.
10. Use of the word "wiggling nose". Please be honest. Who do you know in real life that actually wiggles their nose when they are angry or pissed? I don't know where the hell the author picked up that quirk, but it made me cringe every time I saw it.
Positives about Eve:
The aliens were cool.
The chimera concept was cool.
Eve was likable, but I got tired of her dealing with bullies all the time. That was the only thing about her character that turned me off.
First off, let me just say that I think the author, Jenna Moreci, is awesome. Her youtube vlogs on writing are hilarious, genuine, and helpful on so many levels. It was with this bias that I decided to read her novel, Eve. Personally, I read a lot of YA/NA Fantasy/Paranormal/SciFi. I also write stories in these genres. So I was honestly expecting to be blown away. Unfortunately, this book had the exact opposite effect for me. The overall reading experience was exhausting and disappointing to say the least.
To prevent excessive ranting, I'm just going to list my concerns:
1. There was too much emphasis on petty villains. I'm specifically talking about the bitch queens and the assholes. This book was full of them and they got way too much attention if you ask me.
2. The discrimination and prejudice that humans had for chimeras (or super humans). It was so exaggerated and really didn't make sense. All of that hatred and ignorance just victimized the protagonist for me. I felt like the author was constantly saying, "Look at all the shit Eve has to deal with every single day of her life. Isn't she strong and resilient?" It was so annoying. I eventually became desensitized to any violent crimes that were aimed at the protagonist.
3. Social hierarchies and exorbitant wealth. For real, though. I thought I was going to read a book about aliens, not rich kid drama. Nearly all the characters were unreasonably wealthy. I'm talking private jets, diamond empires, and expensive clothes. The glitzy-glam-glam took up about 50% of the storytelling. Not my thing.
4. Overuse of italics and all caps. I really think this was an amateur mistake. I can't take a writer seriously when they dump that many italics and all caps into their dialogue. It's distracting and goofy in my opinion.
5. Describing groups as twosomes/threesomes/foursomes. I'm sorry, but that always makes me think of orgies/group sex. Just say "the group".
6. Nearly each and every character was over exaggerated or cheesy (except for Eve).
7. I thought the dialogue dragged on a lot of the time. In fact, a lot of the scenes were just too long and some were even unnecessary. For example, the car ride to the hospital when Eve was unconscious. The author should have just cut that scene all together.
8. I wasn't drawn in or entertained by Eve and Jason's relationship. All the kissing scenes were boring and practically described the same way. Jason was literally the most boring character in the entire novel. Secretly, I wanted him to be the evil alien Fairon. That would have saved his character.
9. The use of the word "footballer." Seriously? I can't even.
10. Use of the word "wiggling nose". Please be honest. Who do you know in real life that actually wiggles their nose when they are angry or pissed? I don't know where the hell the author picked up that quirk, but it made me cringe every time I saw it.
Positives about Eve:
The aliens were cool.
The chimera concept was cool.
Eve was likable, but I got tired of her dealing with bullies all the time. That was the only thing about her character that turned me off.
August 8, 2015
There is a reason this book has so much hype. Not only does the author know exactly what they’re doing in terms of promotion, but the book speaks for itself. Eve is a story of kick-ass characters who take things into their own hands when it comes to aliens taking over their planet. The story plot keeps you wanting to read more and more, even with 500+ pages. I HATE reading ebooks, but the copy I had was in fact an ebook, yet I was still glued to the story and will most definitely be purchasing the paperback copy when it is released so I can add it to collection. I’m not going to the books plot justice, so I’m just going to leave that to other reviewers, but in terms of style I’d have to compare this book with the Mortal Instruments. It’s got the kickass characters, and bits of humor to lighten the novel that has a lot of ass-kicking. Of course this book is completely different! Most characters in the book are against the existence of Eve because she’s a chimera which means she gets a little extra pizzazz. I have to say, I have never been so emotionally involved when it came to fight scenes. There were many times I read the book and though of shouting “kick his ass!” to the character. And let’s not forget the romance! There’s enough in the story to keep you glued, but not too much that you’ll lose the point of the story because lovey-dovey romance get in the way.
Five stars all the way. My review has not given it justice so you’ll just have to read it yourself.
Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHe9T...
Five stars all the way. My review has not given it justice so you’ll just have to read it yourself.
Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHe9T...
January 22, 2018
DNF and WTF. Is this a joke? Like some kind of massive troll? I mean if this was just a random self-published author I'd say "okay, this guy or gal has potential" but this from the person giving all that writing advice? Was she breaking all her own rules on purpose? I like a prank a lot better when it doesn't cost me 15 bucks. I don't think I'll be looking for the sequel.
June 19, 2016
This book was disappointing and vapid. Jenna Moreci's rambles on and on, but does nothing much but summarize her story. I felt nothing for her one dimensional characters and the x-men-wanna-be story. I cringed through this book. I will give Jenna one thing: she is clearly an awesome marketer, but a really terrible writer.
October 8, 2023
This book makes about as much sense as that insult. The story opens with the main character Evelyn Kingston who is a chimera. Chimera’s are some sort of advanced version of humans with all of the typical powers you see in stories; super speed, strength and enhanced healing. They also have telekinesis. Anyway, Eve goes off to college at Billington to run away from her past where everyone knew she was a chimera because people hate chimeras in this universe. And then there are these aliens who came to earth and are kidnapping chimeras and doing live dissections on them to find out how to get their telekinesis.
Just looking at the synopsis on the back of the book, I thought this was going to be an amazing action-packed sci-fi. Boy, was I wrong.
Before I crack open the many (and I mean many plot holes of this book) lets analyse the characters.
Evelyn (Special Snowflake) Kingston: *Sigh* I swear, I’ve read some Mary Sue’s before, but this character may be the Mary Sue-est Mary Sue to ever Mary Sue. Eve is a chimera, who went through emergence (getting her powers) at age 8 when her parents died (hero cliche #1). She’s the youngest chimera to ever go through the emergence because everyone else is around 20 when they do. Now, you’d think that everyone would know her name, but I’ll get to that later.
Now, usually, chimera’s can’t telekinesis-lift things very large. We see later in the story when Eve is at a chimera club, they are usually only lifting things like pennies and beer bottles. What can Eve do? Well she ‘s our protagonist so obviously she should be able to LIFT DOZENS OF PEOPLE AT THE SAME TIME!!!!
I’m all for having a protagonist that can do amazing things, but overpowering them to the point where she’s literally over a 100x stronger than her own race? Lazy writing. And over specializing the special snowflake.
Jason (Edward Cullen) Valentine: I thought people had learned that creating a character who’s life revolves around the main character was a bad idea. I was wrong. Jason doesn’t do anything other than make sure Eve is okay. Love Eve. Kiss Eve (and every one of their kissing scenes is the same). Worship the ground Eve’s feet walk on. He has no personality. So much so that there’s not much to say about him.
Percy (so two-dimensional I don’t even remember his last name): This character is a human. The only thing he adds to the super-alien-fighting team is that he can shoot guns. Lots of people can shoot guns. I’m sure even Moreci thought that he was too flat of a character, so she decided to make him gay. It did not add to his character. It just made him feel forced into the plot.
Sanchez (even more pointless than Percy): This guy offers even less than the “amazing shot guy.” All he does is like explosions. And he does create a weapon for the group, but he calls it the Dirty Sanchez so I don’t even want to acknowledge it.
JJ (emo hacker): She’s a cliche emo hacker. Why are all of your characters stereotypes Moreci? Seriously if there is one more-
Armaan (young Indian doctor): *face-palm* who allowed this book to get published?
Could the story get even worse after all of those characters? Yes. Yes, it does. In fact, the amount of plot holes and lazy writing in this story is astounding.
First off, how do people not know who Eve is? She went through emergence at age 8 and went on trial for first-degree murder (because she squished the guy who car crashed into her parents with a truck). So, how is it that when she moves to a city only a few hours away from her home that people suddenly have no idea? And don’t give me that maybe-she-wasn’t-that-famous crap. When she was selling her skateboard in the first chapter the guy wouldn’t give her that much money for it because her name would drag down the interest.
What was the point of the first chapter? I understand that the author wanted us to see that Eve’s life sucks, but the whole selling-the-skateboard scene was unnecessary. And then we get to see the first alien attack and it does nothing. Because apparently these aliens aren’t killing people and they’ve been here for forty years. I would appreciate the author’s changing of the usual cliche way that aliens are perceived in stories nowadays, if she didn’t totally contradict that in the next chapter.
Why does everyone say “dynamic” and “hammer”? Whenever someone is describing something as awesome, they say dynamic. I would understand if this was one character and that was their sort of “catchphrase” but it’s every character. And dynamic isn’t even that popular of a word. And whenever someone is describing someone as an asshole, they call them a hammer. I don’t even know what that means. And the author used these about twenty times in the book.
What was the point of the first half of the book? This book is over five hundred pages. And in the first half, it was slow moving and nothing even happened. So, what was the point? Why couldn’t you have started when that interloper (the name of the aliens) attacked the poker party? That would’ve been a great start!
If this is set in the future, why is it exactly the same as right now? This book is supposed to be set about seventy years in the future or so, and yet the only thing that has changed, is that we now have holograms instead of TVs and video games. People still dress the same, talk the same and pretty much everything in the word is the same. That’s just extremely lazy writing to not develop the world that your story is taking place in. The author didn’t have to go full Tolkien, but a little something would’ve been nice.
Does Eve not know how to formal? This is more of a little nitpick of mine, but it was such a stupid scene that I couldn’t help but include this. When Eve is getting ready for Jason’s 21st birthday, she gets her hair and makeup done, and then proceeds to unzip her hoodie and for some reason PULLS IT OVER HER HEAD! Congratulations. You now have a million frizzies. She then takes her dress (which has a zipper and is strapless) and PULLS IT OVER HER HEAD! Congratulations, you now have two million frizzies and smudged lipstick. And then, she takes her gun and straps it to her thigh. I’m sorry, you just described how you were in nothing but your bra and panties earlier. Where did you get a thigh holster for your gun?
Why are there so many unrealistic killings of Interlopers? The first time Eve and the Scooby-Doo gang kill off an alien, they almost die and it takes everything out of them. The second time, well, all they had to do was smash it against the floor. Simple right? WRONG! Because they smashed the first interloper against the floor and the wall the first time, and did kept fighting. And then there is the unrealistic, most bullshit scene I’ve ever laid eyes on since watching Transformers. On pages 340 to 344, the Scooby-Do gang are fighting off an army of aliens (around a hundred). And they are only armed with handguns and the dreaded, horribly named Dirty Sanchez. Somehow, they are able to kill off all of these aliens and everyone survives. And then they’re able to walk home afterward!!!!
I stopped reading after they were able to keep some probe thing from being confiscated by the government. It was just getting too ridiculous.
I really wanted to like this book because I love Jenna’s videos on YouTube. But, apparently knowing and doing are two different things. Jenna is very intelligent on how to write your characters and plan out the story, but she has problems executing it.
The reason I gave this book two stars is because it had potential, but fell pretty flat for the first half of the book.
I recommend this book for people who don’t understand what a plot hole is.
Good day.
August 13, 2015
Review coming soon!
July 29, 2015
I want to thank Jenna Moreci for letting me read her book for exchange of an honest review. There is so much I want to say about this book, because it’s a wonderful dystopian/ science fiction book. Before you go any further you are probably thinking Cheyenne you don’t give bad reviews to books that often you like everything you read. My lovely followers you are right I don’t give bad reviews out that much because I know what I like and what I don’t like when it comes to a book. Anyways I’m getting off topic this was one of the best book I have read this year. It’s up there with top books I read of all time. Honestly this book has everything that an amazing book needs.
A plot is a crucial part of any book the plot can be amazing, but the what the writer does with it is the future of the it. Some books hit the spot of the plot and this book is one of them. So going into the book you already know that books is centered around Chimeras and Interlopers and basically you have the one girl Eve who has to save the world. I’m not spoiling anything for you because its simple you see that in a lot of dystopian books. Sure that is part of the plot, but its not like other books out there trust me. Everything is developed and detail it is very well balanced with everything. There is just the right amount of character, dialogue, world building, romance, and comedy. Jenna did a fantastic job doing this. Not only this she made the reader feel like they are part of the story. I honestly felt like I was watching it as a movie in my head. I love when author can do this to me and make me feel entertained. I can’t explain how well the plot was done. This book was one giant roller coaster ride it will have you on your seats begging for more.
Without loveable characters a story will be boring and not entertaining. This book has those characters that you get attached to. I was so afraid that the character that I really liked was going to die, but he didn’t. This book had that awesome crew of people that all eyes on. Eve is the main character and her life is sucky really bad. It’s like Ruby from The Darkest Minds they should go have a cup tea together sometime and discuss how bad their lives are no joke its really bad. Just like Ruby she goes through a lot of character development if not more then Ruby. You can see her interactions change slowly. I love how she doesn’t change too much at once, but gradually over time. Oh and by the way she is a Chimera.Neighborhood hottie Jason is not a douche. That is so nice for change. He is very protective over Eve and their relationship becomes more in the end of the book. Can we just be thankful that this isn’t a instant love neither does it take a whole book for them to kiss. Another cool fact is the plot isn’t overcome by the romance, basically they aren’t kissing each other the whole book and surprising they can live without each other for a more than a few hours. This romance is realistic and that is different. Next in the crew is the goofball, Sancho he likes to make things explode. To be honest I wouldn’t want him near anything explosive. His favorite two favorite words are “Holy Balls” He brings the comic relief to the group. After that we have Percy he is kind, cute and funny. There is one scene that is so funny with him in it. I was laughing, my butt off. Then we have the brains JJ she is a hacker a really good one. There we have the ban of misfits who make the story good.
Expectations for the next book would be more relationship development between Eve and Jason. Maybe a partnership with Maddison she is the mean girl of the story, I don’t really think this happen, but I’m not sure. I want a villain one that is so bad they dare not say his name or hers. Maybe one you love to hate? I don’t know honestly. I swear she can keep doing what she is doing because if her first book is good her other books can only get better. I’m really excited to read more books by her.
A plot is a crucial part of any book the plot can be amazing, but the what the writer does with it is the future of the it. Some books hit the spot of the plot and this book is one of them. So going into the book you already know that books is centered around Chimeras and Interlopers and basically you have the one girl Eve who has to save the world. I’m not spoiling anything for you because its simple you see that in a lot of dystopian books. Sure that is part of the plot, but its not like other books out there trust me. Everything is developed and detail it is very well balanced with everything. There is just the right amount of character, dialogue, world building, romance, and comedy. Jenna did a fantastic job doing this. Not only this she made the reader feel like they are part of the story. I honestly felt like I was watching it as a movie in my head. I love when author can do this to me and make me feel entertained. I can’t explain how well the plot was done. This book was one giant roller coaster ride it will have you on your seats begging for more.
Without loveable characters a story will be boring and not entertaining. This book has those characters that you get attached to. I was so afraid that the character that I really liked was going to die, but he didn’t. This book had that awesome crew of people that all eyes on. Eve is the main character and her life is sucky really bad. It’s like Ruby from The Darkest Minds they should go have a cup tea together sometime and discuss how bad their lives are no joke its really bad. Just like Ruby she goes through a lot of character development if not more then Ruby. You can see her interactions change slowly. I love how she doesn’t change too much at once, but gradually over time. Oh and by the way she is a Chimera.Neighborhood hottie Jason is not a douche. That is so nice for change. He is very protective over Eve and their relationship becomes more in the end of the book. Can we just be thankful that this isn’t a instant love neither does it take a whole book for them to kiss. Another cool fact is the plot isn’t overcome by the romance, basically they aren’t kissing each other the whole book and surprising they can live without each other for a more than a few hours. This romance is realistic and that is different. Next in the crew is the goofball, Sancho he likes to make things explode. To be honest I wouldn’t want him near anything explosive. His favorite two favorite words are “Holy Balls” He brings the comic relief to the group. After that we have Percy he is kind, cute and funny. There is one scene that is so funny with him in it. I was laughing, my butt off. Then we have the brains JJ she is a hacker a really good one. There we have the ban of misfits who make the story good.
Expectations for the next book would be more relationship development between Eve and Jason. Maybe a partnership with Maddison she is the mean girl of the story, I don’t really think this happen, but I’m not sure. I want a villain one that is so bad they dare not say his name or hers. Maybe one you love to hate? I don’t know honestly. I swear she can keep doing what she is doing because if her first book is good her other books can only get better. I’m really excited to read more books by her.
October 25, 2017
DNF at 41%
This is my first time writing a review. I was actually complaining to my friend as I was reading this so these will contain some spoilers for someone who hasn't read. I'm mostly taking from those thoughts I sent over to them
-Dr.Richards threw something at a female student and her eye swelled up. At a very prestigious college, you would be fired for injuring a student.
-Eve is the most OP chimera to ever live!!! OOOOhhh! Let's make her far more powerful than the rest of her race. Jason has power but not as much as her. And being able to toss a truck high into the sky with your mind should fend off most people from messing with you.
- Eve's romantic relationship with Jason truly starts around 1/3 way through the book. It was a quick romance, that said happened over a couple of weeks of tutoring him.
-If you have seen the anime, Elfen Lead, you would remember the scene where these children killed a dog so the young main character would feel bad. She ends up killing them. There is a scene of children trying to kill Eve when she was younger and it only reminded me of that.
-Oh, look, we got a mini-boss and it's one of the annoying girls introduced at the beginning. And her big plan was to reveal that Eve was a chimera...?
-Which walking through protesters would be soo much easier if Eve just moved them out of the way. She has telekinesis, she could make a path for herself instead of letting people grab at her. Wouldn't need to hurt anyone.
-Also during this hell of a day, students she had beaten in hand to hand combat class went to fight her in a 4 vs 1. So the first beating wasn't enough? She has telekinesis that was shown when she was fighting the footballer. Why do you guys think you could win? To prove that point, she broke the footballer's hand by just squeezing it.
-Right after we got debate class, about Chimera relations....oh look, Eve was chosen for the pro side. Even though it was random, it wasn't random. But we are in futuristic America, what say do humans really have with classifying others with human intelligence? Slaves weren't fully classified as such in America in the colonial times.
-I forgot. Jason can't hear correctly when Eve is talking. She got a black eye from that footballer in combat class, but she already beat him for it. No, he's mad that he laid his hands on you. It's full contact sparring, Jason! What do you expect???
-The whole day was emotional torture porn.
-The leading into this fight scene was so obvious I had no interest in actually reading it. An abandoned place where Jason was going to take you to play poker? Hmm...perfect place for a fight that shouldn't be interrupted. A creepy guy that doesn't say much? Wow, wonder if an Interloper can look like a human? Oh, I was right, shocker.
-What is the point of Eve shooting Interlopers with guns when she can do more damage by throwing a crowbar with her mind?
-And this is where I stopped, I even forgot the girl who loves to gossip's name....uhh...she is still a mini-villain? Why? And Eve should be scared of her roommate? Even can throw trucks into the sky! Why is this a threat at all???
I wanted to read this because I know Moreci's videos are great. I feel like its just what happens with an author's first book. Other authors that I now really enjoy had the same issues with their first book or series. If she just takes her own advice in her next work, she would be so much better.
This is my first time writing a review. I was actually complaining to my friend as I was reading this so these will contain some spoilers for someone who hasn't read. I'm mostly taking from those thoughts I sent over to them
-Dr.Richards threw something at a female student and her eye swelled up. At a very prestigious college, you would be fired for injuring a student.
-Eve is the most OP chimera to ever live!!! OOOOhhh! Let's make her far more powerful than the rest of her race. Jason has power but not as much as her. And being able to toss a truck high into the sky with your mind should fend off most people from messing with you.
- Eve's romantic relationship with Jason truly starts around 1/3 way through the book. It was a quick romance, that said happened over a couple of weeks of tutoring him.
-If you have seen the anime, Elfen Lead, you would remember the scene where these children killed a dog so the young main character would feel bad. She ends up killing them. There is a scene of children trying to kill Eve when she was younger and it only reminded me of that.
-Oh, look, we got a mini-boss and it's one of the annoying girls introduced at the beginning. And her big plan was to reveal that Eve was a chimera...?
-Which walking through protesters would be soo much easier if Eve just moved them out of the way. She has telekinesis, she could make a path for herself instead of letting people grab at her. Wouldn't need to hurt anyone.
-Also during this hell of a day, students she had beaten in hand to hand combat class went to fight her in a 4 vs 1. So the first beating wasn't enough? She has telekinesis that was shown when she was fighting the footballer. Why do you guys think you could win? To prove that point, she broke the footballer's hand by just squeezing it.
-Right after we got debate class, about Chimera relations....oh look, Eve was chosen for the pro side. Even though it was random, it wasn't random. But we are in futuristic America, what say do humans really have with classifying others with human intelligence? Slaves weren't fully classified as such in America in the colonial times.
-I forgot. Jason can't hear correctly when Eve is talking. She got a black eye from that footballer in combat class, but she already beat him for it. No, he's mad that he laid his hands on you. It's full contact sparring, Jason! What do you expect???
-The whole day was emotional torture porn.
-The leading into this fight scene was so obvious I had no interest in actually reading it. An abandoned place where Jason was going to take you to play poker? Hmm...perfect place for a fight that shouldn't be interrupted. A creepy guy that doesn't say much? Wow, wonder if an Interloper can look like a human? Oh, I was right, shocker.
-What is the point of Eve shooting Interlopers with guns when she can do more damage by throwing a crowbar with her mind?
-And this is where I stopped, I even forgot the girl who loves to gossip's name....uhh...she is still a mini-villain? Why? And Eve should be scared of her roommate? Even can throw trucks into the sky! Why is this a threat at all???
I wanted to read this because I know Moreci's videos are great. I feel like its just what happens with an author's first book. Other authors that I now really enjoy had the same issues with their first book or series. If she just takes her own advice in her next work, she would be so much better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2015
AMAZING FIGHT SCENES AND AWESOMENESS!!
Jenna Moreci's novel Eve:The Awakening was so amazing. This book I would consider a scfi-fantasy action adventures with a hint of romance. There are many things I loved about this book. The first is the female heroine is great. The one thing I liked about her was that she wasn't perfect. The had her strengths and her weakness, which made her a realistic character. Another great thing about this book is that Jenna has a way of describing scenes which stick in your mind. When I wasn't reading the book, such as when eating a meal I was still thinking about the book. I had to remind myself that they weren't real people, but they were fiction characters. Even though Eve: The Awakening is in the scfi genre and it takes place way into the future, I still felt very connected to the book. Jenna also described the inter workings of the world all while not making things to scientific and boring. I highly recommend you pick up this book because it is great. There is cursing and graphic fight scenes, so I wanted to let you know of that if you are sensitive to that. This book is so amazing and thank you Jenna for allowing me to have an arc copy In which I gave an honest review.
Jenna Moreci's novel Eve:The Awakening was so amazing. This book I would consider a scfi-fantasy action adventures with a hint of romance. There are many things I loved about this book. The first is the female heroine is great. The one thing I liked about her was that she wasn't perfect. The had her strengths and her weakness, which made her a realistic character. Another great thing about this book is that Jenna has a way of describing scenes which stick in your mind. When I wasn't reading the book, such as when eating a meal I was still thinking about the book. I had to remind myself that they weren't real people, but they were fiction characters. Even though Eve: The Awakening is in the scfi genre and it takes place way into the future, I still felt very connected to the book. Jenna also described the inter workings of the world all while not making things to scientific and boring. I highly recommend you pick up this book because it is great. There is cursing and graphic fight scenes, so I wanted to let you know of that if you are sensitive to that. This book is so amazing and thank you Jenna for allowing me to have an arc copy In which I gave an honest review.
October 17, 2016
I wanted more than anything to like this book. I pushed through to nearly 60% of the way through before I completely lost interest... and when I say pushed, I PUSHED. It wasn't easy going- it wasn't bad, it was just boring. I couldn't get into the plot, the characters were super two dimensional, and it was very predictable. I applaud the author for self publishing and for getting her book out there! It's just not the right fit for me.
However, 10-14 year old me might have felt differently! Idk!
However, 10-14 year old me might have felt differently! Idk!
December 10, 2020
I was a fan of Jenna's Youtube channel when I read this, and it had disappointed me. Originally, I thought I was just being too critical and that it wasn't quite fair for me to expect her to be a writing master. Then I read the reviews, and I realized I wasn't alone.
Cliches
So, what especially stood out to me was how there were many cliches there were. And Like, waking up at the start of a book and using a mirror for character description, as well as describing things like "jet-black hair." And I'm not one to normally complain about cliches or tropes, as they are used for a reason, but in this case I felt a little cheated. Like a respected teacher telling you what not to do in an appreciated-ly condescending tone - but then doing it herself in front of you.
Character and dialogue
I didn't particularly like any of her characters , but I did enjoy Percy's mom. They were pretty two dimensional. For example, Sancho really only talks about explosions and his love for JJ. Percy is a bit of a gay-best-friend stereotype with some deus ex machina thrown in. Also, much of the dialogue and slang they used sounded strange to me, like 'suckgasm' which is mostly said by Madison Palmer, but Percy says a variant of that at times as well. I had to remind myself that this was set in the future and slang changes so quickly, that could be why they talk that way.
The fight scenes were fun though. Although, I think they may have been too drawn out. Fight scenes in books are fine, but they don't pack as much of a punch as a movie does, and it felt like Jenna was picturing a movie as she wrote.
Edit: I removed my former complaint about the world-building. I do remember her being quite honest that she doesn't like world-building, so I can't really fault her for not incorporating it into this book.
Tldr; It is an interesting story. I was disappointed in the book, as I really hoped her writing would be better. It is better in The Savior's Champion though, and you can check out my review if you're interested.
Cliches
So, what especially stood out to me was how there were many cliches there were. And Like, waking up at the start of a book and using a mirror for character description, as well as describing things like "jet-black hair." And I'm not one to normally complain about cliches or tropes, as they are used for a reason, but in this case I felt a little cheated. Like a respected teacher telling you what not to do in an appreciated-ly condescending tone - but then doing it herself in front of you.
Character and dialogue
I didn't particularly like any of her characters , but I did enjoy Percy's mom. They were pretty two dimensional. For example, Sancho really only talks about explosions and his love for JJ. Percy is a bit of a gay-best-friend stereotype with some deus ex machina thrown in. Also, much of the dialogue and slang they used sounded strange to me, like 'suckgasm' which is mostly said by Madison Palmer, but Percy says a variant of that at times as well. I had to remind myself that this was set in the future and slang changes so quickly, that could be why they talk that way.
The fight scenes were fun though. Although, I think they may have been too drawn out. Fight scenes in books are fine, but they don't pack as much of a punch as a movie does, and it felt like Jenna was picturing a movie as she wrote.
Edit: I removed my former complaint about the world-building. I do remember her being quite honest that she doesn't like world-building, so I can't really fault her for not incorporating it into this book.
Tldr; It is an interesting story. I was disappointed in the book, as I really hoped her writing would be better. It is better in The Savior's Champion though, and you can check out my review if you're interested.
August 12, 2015
“HOLY BALLS!” As Sancho would say.
Where to even begin? So. Much. Goodness. Stuffed. Into. One. Book. EVE: The Awakening is one hell of a debut by Jenna Moreci. Moreci has brought a fresh take to a new genre that has picked up speed in popularity and demand. The NewAdult genre is mostly saturated with contemporary romance at the moment. There are few sub-genres floating around, and the ones that are, most have not heard of. I believe Jenna is breaking into the market, presenting us a fresh look at the genre and she’s done it very well. It’s brilliant. Her attention to plot, the creative detailed nuggets that wrap up beautifully as the story unfolds, the genuine, relatable dialogue, wonderful humor, deep emotional tragedy, characters you won’t soon forget, and skilled writing; Jenna has put together a masterpiece and tied it in a new shiny bow; NewAdult Sci-Fi.
What’s not to love?
1. Scary, creeptastic aliens that can fly with sharp teeth the length of your entire frame. Holy shnickies, people!
Bastards mock the human race! *shakes fist*
2. Humans that have evolved into stronger, faster, better and gifted versions of their former selves, bruising the egos of the rest of humanity; ergo, outcast Chimeras.
3. Swoon-worthy male lead, giving us a much needed break from the NA alpha male, pounding his chest and demanding. Still protective and ever understanding Jason A. Valentine is exactly what Eve needs. *starry eyes* Chapter eight, yall. Happy hearts all over the place.
4. Girls you love to hate! The tri-bitch-fecta! I don’t need to name them. Once you meet them, you’ll know. I love comparing them to Mean Girls meets Heathers.
5. The plot twists, oh, the plot twists!
6. Humor meets Tragedy. Jenna has a gift of imparting the perfectly timed comedic relief in the most heinous of horrific situations, and you aint even mad about it. If anything, that chuckle that escapes you unexpectedly while you’re in the midst of biting your nails, is just what you needed to help calm the pulse pumping rate of your frantic heart.
What I loved? (in addition to all mentioned above)
I love college setting books—more specifically, in the NewAdult genre—and reading a down to earth—I think there might be an unintended pun there—collegiate setting, with all the out-of-place freshman outcast woes and then toss ALIENS; it was just something I was not expecting and I absolutely loved it.
Eve is a strong, badass heroine who has reason to feel ostracized, hence she’s learned to be an independent lone wolf. Society didn’t really give her a choice. So, what’s left to do other than learn to survive and refuse to be knocked down? Something strong and deadly lies within Eve and she fights it tooth and nail. She wants a fresh start and believes this elite university that actually accepted her poor ass will be the place to do it. As long as she can keep what she is a secret, all should be smooth sailing, right? Wrong. The very things she’s running away from, find her.
We attend classes with Eve and as the semester progresses, the tension and threats grow. Each new band of characters presented in Eve’s life add such fullness to the overall story and environment. You feel as though you yourself have been walking those very halls and gossiped in hushed tones about these characters while leaving the Dining Hall—east of campus—all the way to the Business building—west campus—rushing to get to Dr. Dick *clears throat* I mean, Professor Richard’s “Business Math” class because the man has no qualms about embarrassing you in front of the entire freaking class.
After, you release a sigh of relief while continuing down the hall, glaring at Chin Dimple being a Neanderthal as you head to your favorite class of the day; Professor Clarke’s “Leadership Principles”. Today, he shares about Billington’s history and how, “Necessity Breeds Innovation,” which is why the government built Billington; a place where young minds can be molded into visionaries and pioneers.
Are you still feeling sore from the last “Hand to Hand Combat” class with Captain Ramsey? Well, enjoy the fresh air while you walk further south west towards the Gymnasium/Athletic Center because if tensions are high on campus due to mysterious Interloper attacks, you better believe Ramsey’s gonna up the training, starting off with a nice, long run around that damn, huge football field track. That’s what I get for wanting to be a bad-ass like my favorite book heroines. Perhaps I’ll check out the writing center next semester instead.
Speaking of badass book heroines, move aside Katniss, Eve is freaking kick-ass, snarky, and takes no bullshit. You like bloody, buildings-blowing-up type of action? Eve’s got that too. Plenty of it. Edge of your seat fight scenes and plot twists galore, friends!
You’re getting a full on experience and adventure here. What’s best, though this debut is the first to an 8-part series, you’re not left with the “cliffhanger” feel. All the arcs in part one are neatly tied in a bow, yet masterfully left open for SO. MUCH. MORE. TO. COME!
I CAN NOT gush enough about this read. You can even go ahead and read the first three chapters right now, for FREE! www.JennaMoreci.com
Where to even begin? So. Much. Goodness. Stuffed. Into. One. Book. EVE: The Awakening is one hell of a debut by Jenna Moreci. Moreci has brought a fresh take to a new genre that has picked up speed in popularity and demand. The NewAdult genre is mostly saturated with contemporary romance at the moment. There are few sub-genres floating around, and the ones that are, most have not heard of. I believe Jenna is breaking into the market, presenting us a fresh look at the genre and she’s done it very well. It’s brilliant. Her attention to plot, the creative detailed nuggets that wrap up beautifully as the story unfolds, the genuine, relatable dialogue, wonderful humor, deep emotional tragedy, characters you won’t soon forget, and skilled writing; Jenna has put together a masterpiece and tied it in a new shiny bow; NewAdult Sci-Fi.
What’s not to love?
1. Scary, creeptastic aliens that can fly with sharp teeth the length of your entire frame. Holy shnickies, people!
Bastards mock the human race! *shakes fist*
2. Humans that have evolved into stronger, faster, better and gifted versions of their former selves, bruising the egos of the rest of humanity; ergo, outcast Chimeras.
3. Swoon-worthy male lead, giving us a much needed break from the NA alpha male, pounding his chest and demanding. Still protective and ever understanding Jason A. Valentine is exactly what Eve needs. *starry eyes* Chapter eight, yall. Happy hearts all over the place.
4. Girls you love to hate! The tri-bitch-fecta! I don’t need to name them. Once you meet them, you’ll know. I love comparing them to Mean Girls meets Heathers.
5. The plot twists, oh, the plot twists!
6. Humor meets Tragedy. Jenna has a gift of imparting the perfectly timed comedic relief in the most heinous of horrific situations, and you aint even mad about it. If anything, that chuckle that escapes you unexpectedly while you’re in the midst of biting your nails, is just what you needed to help calm the pulse pumping rate of your frantic heart.
What I loved? (in addition to all mentioned above)
I love college setting books—more specifically, in the NewAdult genre—and reading a down to earth—I think there might be an unintended pun there—collegiate setting, with all the out-of-place freshman outcast woes and then toss ALIENS; it was just something I was not expecting and I absolutely loved it.
Eve is a strong, badass heroine who has reason to feel ostracized, hence she’s learned to be an independent lone wolf. Society didn’t really give her a choice. So, what’s left to do other than learn to survive and refuse to be knocked down? Something strong and deadly lies within Eve and she fights it tooth and nail. She wants a fresh start and believes this elite university that actually accepted her poor ass will be the place to do it. As long as she can keep what she is a secret, all should be smooth sailing, right? Wrong. The very things she’s running away from, find her.
We attend classes with Eve and as the semester progresses, the tension and threats grow. Each new band of characters presented in Eve’s life add such fullness to the overall story and environment. You feel as though you yourself have been walking those very halls and gossiped in hushed tones about these characters while leaving the Dining Hall—east of campus—all the way to the Business building—west campus—rushing to get to Dr. Dick *clears throat* I mean, Professor Richard’s “Business Math” class because the man has no qualms about embarrassing you in front of the entire freaking class.
After, you release a sigh of relief while continuing down the hall, glaring at Chin Dimple being a Neanderthal as you head to your favorite class of the day; Professor Clarke’s “Leadership Principles”. Today, he shares about Billington’s history and how, “Necessity Breeds Innovation,” which is why the government built Billington; a place where young minds can be molded into visionaries and pioneers.
Are you still feeling sore from the last “Hand to Hand Combat” class with Captain Ramsey? Well, enjoy the fresh air while you walk further south west towards the Gymnasium/Athletic Center because if tensions are high on campus due to mysterious Interloper attacks, you better believe Ramsey’s gonna up the training, starting off with a nice, long run around that damn, huge football field track. That’s what I get for wanting to be a bad-ass like my favorite book heroines. Perhaps I’ll check out the writing center next semester instead.
Speaking of badass book heroines, move aside Katniss, Eve is freaking kick-ass, snarky, and takes no bullshit. You like bloody, buildings-blowing-up type of action? Eve’s got that too. Plenty of it. Edge of your seat fight scenes and plot twists galore, friends!
You’re getting a full on experience and adventure here. What’s best, though this debut is the first to an 8-part series, you’re not left with the “cliffhanger” feel. All the arcs in part one are neatly tied in a bow, yet masterfully left open for SO. MUCH. MORE. TO. COME!
I CAN NOT gush enough about this read. You can even go ahead and read the first three chapters right now, for FREE! www.JennaMoreci.com
July 25, 2015
Jenna Moreci is a mastermind of plot and the delicate chemistry of human (and chimera)relations.
I've never encountered such a balance of craftsmanship between the intense action sequences and the blossoming of relationships in a new author, she is for sure a lady to watch!
There are so many layers and juicy little tid bits to this story, and it's expansive characters... my head exploded, my funny bone was tickled, and yeah-- at times so was my gag reflex-- but only pertaining to alien intestines. Her voice rings clear and strong-- this writer is special. I felt an instant trust and direction as I read her story, I felt as though getting invested in her characters and their plight was going to reap large dividends on a crazy and heart stopping journey-- and I was right. In prose, plot, arc, development, and delivery Jenna will have you eating out of the palm of EVE's hand. Put this book at the top of your shelf... it's not every day a star is born!
I've never encountered such a balance of craftsmanship between the intense action sequences and the blossoming of relationships in a new author, she is for sure a lady to watch!
There are so many layers and juicy little tid bits to this story, and it's expansive characters... my head exploded, my funny bone was tickled, and yeah-- at times so was my gag reflex-- but only pertaining to alien intestines. Her voice rings clear and strong-- this writer is special. I felt an instant trust and direction as I read her story, I felt as though getting invested in her characters and their plight was going to reap large dividends on a crazy and heart stopping journey-- and I was right. In prose, plot, arc, development, and delivery Jenna will have you eating out of the palm of EVE's hand. Put this book at the top of your shelf... it's not every day a star is born!
August 1, 2015
I had a lot of faith that Eve: The Awakening was going to be great, but HOLLY BALLS (*wink, wink*)! It was even better then I expected. Eve, the protagonist, is a chimera who has had a rough life due to her "special" condition and a cycle of tragic events she keeps finding herself in. She starts attending Billington college in hopes she can turn her life around for the better, but when her new safe haven becomes threatened by Interlopers (aka nasty, evil aliens), she is forced out of her comfort zone and her talent was put to the test.
I knew I would like Eve from the very beginning because of all her sarcasm and spunk. She is a very admirable character in the way she still stays put together even after all the hardship she has been through and continues to go through. Her love interest was not a stalker, (Thank God!) but a genuine, likable, and not over-controlling character. These traits are actually hard to come by in books, especially if you read YA novels. Thank you Jenna for not making your characters bland. I liked the inclusion of Asians and people with different sexualities.
I found myself becoming so emotionally invested in many of the characters. Jenna created so many lovable and hateable (I don't even think that's a word) characters. Eve creates her own little interloper fighting crew in the novel and I adored them all! The relationships they had with each other and their teamwork against the interlopers was all just perfect. I also loved the concept of being a chimera and wielding the power to move objects with your mind (so basically telekinesis). It is so sad how chimera are treated like evil creatures in this futuristic society when really, chimeras hold this amazing power that can be so helpful. Low key, I kinda wish I was a chimera now, but....only for their talent.
The pacing was spot-on in this book! The action just kept on coming and I was NEVER bored of the plot. It had me hooked until the very end. It was hard to yank my eyes off the page because I was so eager to see what was coming next. On top of all this, I very much enjoyed the writing style in the book. It was descriptive enough for me a to paint a picture in my mind, but not overly descriptive and it gave the book a nice tone.
See Original Review Here
Thank you to Jenna Moreci for sending me a review copy.
I knew I would like Eve from the very beginning because of all her sarcasm and spunk. She is a very admirable character in the way she still stays put together even after all the hardship she has been through and continues to go through. Her love interest was not a stalker, (Thank God!) but a genuine, likable, and not over-controlling character. These traits are actually hard to come by in books, especially if you read YA novels. Thank you Jenna for not making your characters bland. I liked the inclusion of Asians and people with different sexualities.
I found myself becoming so emotionally invested in many of the characters. Jenna created so many lovable and hateable (I don't even think that's a word) characters. Eve creates her own little interloper fighting crew in the novel and I adored them all! The relationships they had with each other and their teamwork against the interlopers was all just perfect. I also loved the concept of being a chimera and wielding the power to move objects with your mind (so basically telekinesis). It is so sad how chimera are treated like evil creatures in this futuristic society when really, chimeras hold this amazing power that can be so helpful. Low key, I kinda wish I was a chimera now, but....only for their talent.
The pacing was spot-on in this book! The action just kept on coming and I was NEVER bored of the plot. It had me hooked until the very end. It was hard to yank my eyes off the page because I was so eager to see what was coming next. On top of all this, I very much enjoyed the writing style in the book. It was descriptive enough for me a to paint a picture in my mind, but not overly descriptive and it gave the book a nice tone.
See Original Review Here
Thank you to Jenna Moreci for sending me a review copy.
August 10, 2015
When I started this book at 8 o'clock at night, I had no idea I would be up until 5 o'clock in the morning reading it. This book drew me in immediately, and I was lost in Eve's world. This was of those rare and beautiful times when you forget where you are, and what you're doing. You're transported to a new world.
From the time I read the first three chapters on Jenna's site I was hooked. I couldn't get Eve off my mind, and I was mentally counting down the days until the book would be released. Thank goodness I got the chance to get it to review earlier; I may have gone mad waiting!
"Eve: The Awakening" is set in 2087, when Chimeras and humans live side by side. Chimeras are a new species they look like humans, they have the same DNA as humans, and many of them think they are humans. The only difference is that Chimeras have advances abilities they are smarter, can run faster, have higher stamina levels, and stronger immune systems. The biggest difference is that Chimeras are telekinetic they can move things with their mind. Humans opinions on the Chimeras are split- some think they are the next step of evolution, and others think they are monsters. Along with the Chimeras, aliens called Interlopers are terrorizing the world as they try to capture as many Chimeras as possible.
This book was everything I hoped it would be. I loved the characters, and how they were portrayed. It wasn't like some other books, where the author tries to make you sympathize with the bad guys; the bad guys were just bad guys. I was falling in love with the 'good' characters. They were all so diverse, and each of them was really special. I'm honestly tearing up just thinking about them!
Overall, I'd give this book a 9/10. It's one of those books where you feel so many emotions reading it, that it's hard to describe how it makes you feel. It makes you feel that feeling when you talk about it, or think about it. That feeling when your heart is filling up with love for that book. That has only ever happened to me two times before now- reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" and reading the "Harry Potter" series. That feeling doesn't come very often, so that alone is a reason you should definitely read this book. I recommend this book to absolutely everyone!
Just a quick warning to anyone planning on reading this book- don't start it the evening before a day when you need to do something. I did it, and it's definitely not a good idea!
From the time I read the first three chapters on Jenna's site I was hooked. I couldn't get Eve off my mind, and I was mentally counting down the days until the book would be released. Thank goodness I got the chance to get it to review earlier; I may have gone mad waiting!
"Eve: The Awakening" is set in 2087, when Chimeras and humans live side by side. Chimeras are a new species they look like humans, they have the same DNA as humans, and many of them think they are humans. The only difference is that Chimeras have advances abilities they are smarter, can run faster, have higher stamina levels, and stronger immune systems. The biggest difference is that Chimeras are telekinetic they can move things with their mind. Humans opinions on the Chimeras are split- some think they are the next step of evolution, and others think they are monsters. Along with the Chimeras, aliens called Interlopers are terrorizing the world as they try to capture as many Chimeras as possible.
This book was everything I hoped it would be. I loved the characters, and how they were portrayed. It wasn't like some other books, where the author tries to make you sympathize with the bad guys; the bad guys were just bad guys. I was falling in love with the 'good' characters. They were all so diverse, and each of them was really special. I'm honestly tearing up just thinking about them!
Overall, I'd give this book a 9/10. It's one of those books where you feel so many emotions reading it, that it's hard to describe how it makes you feel. It makes you feel that feeling when you talk about it, or think about it. That feeling when your heart is filling up with love for that book. That has only ever happened to me two times before now- reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" and reading the "Harry Potter" series. That feeling doesn't come very often, so that alone is a reason you should definitely read this book. I recommend this book to absolutely everyone!
Just a quick warning to anyone planning on reading this book- don't start it the evening before a day when you need to do something. I did it, and it's definitely not a good idea!
July 16, 2016
this book was very one-dimensional. I felt like every character in this book was a huge stereotype and I wish they would have had more depth into them. There's also the fact that chimeras are hated for no good genuine reason other than that person be a chimera.
From the awesome advice that Jenna gives I expected a more Kick-Ass book, especially for it being a new Adult Book. I'm hoping Jenna's next book is better.
From the awesome advice that Jenna gives I expected a more Kick-Ass book, especially for it being a new Adult Book. I'm hoping Jenna's next book is better.
August 12, 2016
4.5/5 stars bc it had a pretty slow pace, but I finally finished this and LOVED it!!!! Great characters, awesome plot, and an author whose videos help inspire and develop my own writing as well...I need book two!!
December 17, 2017
First of all, I like Jenna's vlogs. Her advices are really good and that's why I bought the book... Unfortunately, those vlogs also raised my expectations too high, so when i read the book my expectations were completely shattered.
This has been the WORST book I had ever read. I read it some time ago now, so I don't have a fresh memory about it, but since then I can't take Jenna's advice seriously. I purchased it on amazon for $14.39 back in september, 2016. Those $14.39 were the only thing that kept me reading the book until the end. I swear, if the book would had been a gift, or free, i doubt i would had continued after she arrived the "college"... I think that happens in the first 2 or 3 chapters, idk.
The setting:
It's supposed to be sometime in the future, but the only futuristic thing was that scratchpad thing, which wasn't too important.
I liked when she was in the city (first chapter). As I have never visited a big city before (costa rica is a small country with small cities), i had a nice mental image of the city. I don't remember which city was it, as Eve was there only one chapter, but well... Even if I liked that mental image, there was nothing futuristic on it. So dissapointing.
Then Eve moved to college and the chaos began.
Billington I think was the name. It gave me the impression that Jenna have no idea how colleges work, but I'll discuss that later. It was just a normal college from these days, just as the rest of the world presented in the novel... Dissapointing again...
The characters:
HOLY FUCK, with all her advice, I never thought I would come across such one dimentional clicheish characters. They ALL were like that. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. After Jenna introduces Madison, Heather, and Madeline (I think those were their names, I really don't want to remember nor care about it) I knew how bad this book would be. I mean, if you had read the book you know what I mean. If you haven't, here's the thing:
Think about a high school character cliche. Done? Okay, you have one of Eve's characters. Now think about another cliche. Ready? Okay, you have another one. :D
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD AND UNTIL THE END OF THE REVIEW.
The Plot:
Here's a summary of the main character motivation:
Everyone hates Eve. Eve wants to go somewhere to make a new life where nobody knows who she is.
By the way, before i forget it: WHY CHIMERA???? Seriously, chimera reminds me of the fusion of a human beign and something else. Not a fucking telekinetic person... Couldn't you think a better word, jenna?????
Anyway, Eve is a chimera, a person with telekinesis and some super human stuff like speed, strenght, intelligence, reflexes, and so on... Chimeras are hated by normal humans because... I don't know. Between the first chimera apeared in the world, and Eve's times, it passed 30something years. YET HUMANS STILL HATE THEM? WTF? It's not like they are dangerous or anything, they are just telekinetic motherfuckers! DAMN IT JENNA! At least in the X-Men, humans have a reason to hate and fesr mutants, and maybe the first time a chimera appeared could had caused some fear, but after more than 30years they still make protests against them? Ridkculous.
SO, beacuse all of this non-sensical hate, Eve wants to go somewhere where nobody knows here. So she goes to college.
Again, here is where all the bullshit begins.
First of all. Is it college or high school? Serious question, because nothing seems to me like a college, where adults go to learn and become professionals. Every single moment Eve was in that "college" seemed like some high school parody. Since the beginning introducing the cliches, i mean, the other characters, it really makes you wonder if Jenna ever attended to a college or university. Because I've been in 3 different colleges and trust me, it's not like that... Or maybe in costa rica they are different, who knows...
Anyway, [Heavy spoiler ahead] after some time, one character, Jason, gets attacked by the intertloopers (i'll talk about them later) and Eve is called by the college's director to tutor him about chimera things. Yeah, they know Eve is a chimera, but hold on to your seats because that's not what matters. What matters os that Jenna takes a shovel and digs it through out mouth to tell us that Eve is the "most powerful chimera of the world". I wish i had recorded my face when i read this becasue WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? It's not that that is bad, i mean, it could be ok, if it wasnt because Jenna tried to force-feed it to us telling us that she "is the most powerful chimera of the world" like a thousand times. It was like "do you get it reader? the most powerful chimera of the world. not only a chimera, the most powerful one. of the whole world. the most powerful chimera of the world." FOR FUCKS SAKE SOMEONE STOP HER!!!! The reason for her being the most powerful is also ridiculous.
THEN, we meet Jason, the love interest... The only one besides eve that seemed to be worked out a little bit, but both are still one dimentional cliches. They fall in love very weird, and their fist kiss was supposed to be romantic but it wasn't, not for me at least.
At some point near here I lost my interest in the book definetely, but those $14.39 didn't come from heaven so i kept reading.
Eve meets some other characters that aren't even worth mentioning, and when she mets with them they find an interlooper.
I'll make a pause here to talk about them.
The antagonist:
The interloopers are aliens. The first time they appear in the book (in the city) they are pretty cool to be honest. Some weird looking monsters, tall, thin, with teeth... I think they have wings... Nomal humans with their 2000's weapons can't hurt them. That's cool. Then we go to college. *sighs*
The interloopers invaded the college. And they attack chimeras for something. They say they want to find what makes a chimera different from other humans, so they rip their chest appart and do alien things to them...
Okay...
They kill people, yet authorities havent done too much about them... They are too powerful and nobody can damage them. I think, but I don't remember, that they have regenerative powers...
The Plot (Contd.):
So, nobody had ever killed an interlooper ever, yet Eve, the most powerful chimera of the world, manages to kill one. Wow. What a surprise. Anyway, thankfully Eve knows a guy that is studying chimera medicine or something like that, and she calls him to examine the dead monster. They find their weak spot in their mouth, and they feel like they can kill them all. So guess what?
Eve and her friends decide to make an interloopers fighting group. Yay!
After some bullshit they need diamonds. This was so ridiculous I have to mention it. Madison (i think it was her)'s father has a diamond company. They have this everlasting diamond that can't be destroyed. So, someone's idea was to use those diamonds as bullets to kill interloopers. So, this gay guy whose name I forgot (so sad cuz the character was funny, even if just as clicheish as the rest) has to pretend to be straight to make Madison give them some diamonds. Which he accomplishes. Cool. What is ridiculous is that i think Jenna never thought about it, and they have seemingly infinite diamonds to use as bullets during their fights.
One thing that I have to recognize is that some of the actions scenes, if we forget about logic, common sense, and realism, are pretty good.
With endless diamonds they decide after some time, and some information obtained, that they will find the interlooper hideout and kill them all. And they go and fight. They are four characters. Eve, Jason, the gay guy, and the other one, the comic relief, sancho i think... Anyway, as they are getting deeper into the lair, each of them have to be left behind until there is only Eve. By the way, they have to put some alien dildo (not kidding) into a machine to implant a virus and kill them. Yeah, i thought the same. Eve does it, and when she's heading out she finds Madeline (i think), being held by the interloopers, so Eve killes the interloopers and free Madeline (lets suppose it was madeline, i really got frustrated with those characters so I didn't want to remember their names) WARNING. MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD. It turns out that Madeline is actually Fairon, the Interloopers boss. In this part everything was set up to make Heather the real enemy. I mean, she hates chimeras, she knows Eve was a chimera, she REALLY seems to hate Eve for no reason at all, but nope, i guess we can call it plot twist because all that foreshadowing was for nothing because it was madison. That insignificant character that had no relevance at all, until now, cuz she's actually the bad guy. Yay!
The interloopers have some thing that is put into the chimeras forehead or something and nullifies their telekinesis, and Fairon puts it in Eve's head so she can't stop him from killing her. Fair, i guess...
BUT VOILÁ!!!!!!!! THE FUCKING EVIL GUY HAS TO MONOLGUE AND EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO EVE SO SHE CAN GET TIME, WAIT FOR JASON TO COMEZ FREE HER, AND THEN SHE KILLS FAIRONNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!
And the Eve dies.
Seriously, she dies.
They get to the college's hospital, they find the doctor student friend. He has a machine. Eve is dead. They use the machine. Eve revives. She tells Jason she loves him too. The end.
The writing:
It was the first book in english i read. I normally read in spanish, my native language, so...
But the writing wasnt that bad. It had some stuff that was completely unnecessary and felt like filler text to me, but it wasn't THAT bad compared with the rest of shit i had to read....
Some descriptions were weird and hard to follow. Interloopers were hard to picture, and so... As the characters, the book was filled with cliches.
Jenna decided to skip logic in some places, and for me that's an unforgivable sin. Also, dialogue felt unnatural.
The good things:
As I mentioned, some action scene, ignoring the lack of logic, were good... Aaaannnnndddd I think that's it
Final thoughts:
I'm not a hater. I REALLY wanted to like the book. For fucks sake, I finished it. That tells something, doesn't it?
I had very high expectations and Jenna destroyed them. What's worse is that I don't trust her anymore. Since i finished the book i don't take her advice seriously. I will never read the next book of the series, cuz yep, there will be more Eve. I will never read the Savior's champion. With one jenna moreci's book i had more than enough.
It also makes me doubt about her writing friends that say the book was good. Are their standards so low? Is their writing this bad too? I think, for precaution, I will never read theirs either.
I mean, yeah, I'm a writer. I might not be the best writer in the world. But my standards for good quality are thousands of miles above this book. And as a reader, I expect much more.
Sorry Jenna, you can only dissapoint me once.
This has been the WORST book I had ever read. I read it some time ago now, so I don't have a fresh memory about it, but since then I can't take Jenna's advice seriously. I purchased it on amazon for $14.39 back in september, 2016. Those $14.39 were the only thing that kept me reading the book until the end. I swear, if the book would had been a gift, or free, i doubt i would had continued after she arrived the "college"... I think that happens in the first 2 or 3 chapters, idk.
The setting:
It's supposed to be sometime in the future, but the only futuristic thing was that scratchpad thing, which wasn't too important.
I liked when she was in the city (first chapter). As I have never visited a big city before (costa rica is a small country with small cities), i had a nice mental image of the city. I don't remember which city was it, as Eve was there only one chapter, but well... Even if I liked that mental image, there was nothing futuristic on it. So dissapointing.
Then Eve moved to college and the chaos began.
Billington I think was the name. It gave me the impression that Jenna have no idea how colleges work, but I'll discuss that later. It was just a normal college from these days, just as the rest of the world presented in the novel... Dissapointing again...
The characters:
HOLY FUCK, with all her advice, I never thought I would come across such one dimentional clicheish characters. They ALL were like that. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. After Jenna introduces Madison, Heather, and Madeline (I think those were their names, I really don't want to remember nor care about it) I knew how bad this book would be. I mean, if you had read the book you know what I mean. If you haven't, here's the thing:
Think about a high school character cliche. Done? Okay, you have one of Eve's characters. Now think about another cliche. Ready? Okay, you have another one. :D
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD AND UNTIL THE END OF THE REVIEW.
The Plot:
Here's a summary of the main character motivation:
Everyone hates Eve. Eve wants to go somewhere to make a new life where nobody knows who she is.
By the way, before i forget it: WHY CHIMERA???? Seriously, chimera reminds me of the fusion of a human beign and something else. Not a fucking telekinetic person... Couldn't you think a better word, jenna?????
Anyway, Eve is a chimera, a person with telekinesis and some super human stuff like speed, strenght, intelligence, reflexes, and so on... Chimeras are hated by normal humans because... I don't know. Between the first chimera apeared in the world, and Eve's times, it passed 30something years. YET HUMANS STILL HATE THEM? WTF? It's not like they are dangerous or anything, they are just telekinetic motherfuckers! DAMN IT JENNA! At least in the X-Men, humans have a reason to hate and fesr mutants, and maybe the first time a chimera appeared could had caused some fear, but after more than 30years they still make protests against them? Ridkculous.
SO, beacuse all of this non-sensical hate, Eve wants to go somewhere where nobody knows here. So she goes to college.
Again, here is where all the bullshit begins.
First of all. Is it college or high school? Serious question, because nothing seems to me like a college, where adults go to learn and become professionals. Every single moment Eve was in that "college" seemed like some high school parody. Since the beginning introducing the cliches, i mean, the other characters, it really makes you wonder if Jenna ever attended to a college or university. Because I've been in 3 different colleges and trust me, it's not like that... Or maybe in costa rica they are different, who knows...
Anyway, [Heavy spoiler ahead] after some time, one character, Jason, gets attacked by the intertloopers (i'll talk about them later) and Eve is called by the college's director to tutor him about chimera things. Yeah, they know Eve is a chimera, but hold on to your seats because that's not what matters. What matters os that Jenna takes a shovel and digs it through out mouth to tell us that Eve is the "most powerful chimera of the world". I wish i had recorded my face when i read this becasue WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? It's not that that is bad, i mean, it could be ok, if it wasnt because Jenna tried to force-feed it to us telling us that she "is the most powerful chimera of the world" like a thousand times. It was like "do you get it reader? the most powerful chimera of the world. not only a chimera, the most powerful one. of the whole world. the most powerful chimera of the world." FOR FUCKS SAKE SOMEONE STOP HER!!!! The reason for her being the most powerful is also ridiculous.
THEN, we meet Jason, the love interest... The only one besides eve that seemed to be worked out a little bit, but both are still one dimentional cliches. They fall in love very weird, and their fist kiss was supposed to be romantic but it wasn't, not for me at least.
At some point near here I lost my interest in the book definetely, but those $14.39 didn't come from heaven so i kept reading.
Eve meets some other characters that aren't even worth mentioning, and when she mets with them they find an interlooper.
I'll make a pause here to talk about them.
The antagonist:
The interloopers are aliens. The first time they appear in the book (in the city) they are pretty cool to be honest. Some weird looking monsters, tall, thin, with teeth... I think they have wings... Nomal humans with their 2000's weapons can't hurt them. That's cool. Then we go to college. *sighs*
The interloopers invaded the college. And they attack chimeras for something. They say they want to find what makes a chimera different from other humans, so they rip their chest appart and do alien things to them...
Okay...
They kill people, yet authorities havent done too much about them... They are too powerful and nobody can damage them. I think, but I don't remember, that they have regenerative powers...
The Plot (Contd.):
So, nobody had ever killed an interlooper ever, yet Eve, the most powerful chimera of the world, manages to kill one. Wow. What a surprise. Anyway, thankfully Eve knows a guy that is studying chimera medicine or something like that, and she calls him to examine the dead monster. They find their weak spot in their mouth, and they feel like they can kill them all. So guess what?
Eve and her friends decide to make an interloopers fighting group. Yay!
After some bullshit they need diamonds. This was so ridiculous I have to mention it. Madison (i think it was her)'s father has a diamond company. They have this everlasting diamond that can't be destroyed. So, someone's idea was to use those diamonds as bullets to kill interloopers. So, this gay guy whose name I forgot (so sad cuz the character was funny, even if just as clicheish as the rest) has to pretend to be straight to make Madison give them some diamonds. Which he accomplishes. Cool. What is ridiculous is that i think Jenna never thought about it, and they have seemingly infinite diamonds to use as bullets during their fights.
One thing that I have to recognize is that some of the actions scenes, if we forget about logic, common sense, and realism, are pretty good.
With endless diamonds they decide after some time, and some information obtained, that they will find the interlooper hideout and kill them all. And they go and fight. They are four characters. Eve, Jason, the gay guy, and the other one, the comic relief, sancho i think... Anyway, as they are getting deeper into the lair, each of them have to be left behind until there is only Eve. By the way, they have to put some alien dildo (not kidding) into a machine to implant a virus and kill them. Yeah, i thought the same. Eve does it, and when she's heading out she finds Madeline (i think), being held by the interloopers, so Eve killes the interloopers and free Madeline (lets suppose it was madeline, i really got frustrated with those characters so I didn't want to remember their names) WARNING. MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD. It turns out that Madeline is actually Fairon, the Interloopers boss. In this part everything was set up to make Heather the real enemy. I mean, she hates chimeras, she knows Eve was a chimera, she REALLY seems to hate Eve for no reason at all, but nope, i guess we can call it plot twist because all that foreshadowing was for nothing because it was madison. That insignificant character that had no relevance at all, until now, cuz she's actually the bad guy. Yay!
The interloopers have some thing that is put into the chimeras forehead or something and nullifies their telekinesis, and Fairon puts it in Eve's head so she can't stop him from killing her. Fair, i guess...
BUT VOILÁ!!!!!!!! THE FUCKING EVIL GUY HAS TO MONOLGUE AND EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO EVE SO SHE CAN GET TIME, WAIT FOR JASON TO COMEZ FREE HER, AND THEN SHE KILLS FAIRONNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!
And the Eve dies.
Seriously, she dies.
They get to the college's hospital, they find the doctor student friend. He has a machine. Eve is dead. They use the machine. Eve revives. She tells Jason she loves him too. The end.
The writing:
It was the first book in english i read. I normally read in spanish, my native language, so...
But the writing wasnt that bad. It had some stuff that was completely unnecessary and felt like filler text to me, but it wasn't THAT bad compared with the rest of shit i had to read....
Some descriptions were weird and hard to follow. Interloopers were hard to picture, and so... As the characters, the book was filled with cliches.
Jenna decided to skip logic in some places, and for me that's an unforgivable sin. Also, dialogue felt unnatural.
The good things:
As I mentioned, some action scene, ignoring the lack of logic, were good... Aaaannnnndddd I think that's it
Final thoughts:
I'm not a hater. I REALLY wanted to like the book. For fucks sake, I finished it. That tells something, doesn't it?
I had very high expectations and Jenna destroyed them. What's worse is that I don't trust her anymore. Since i finished the book i don't take her advice seriously. I will never read the next book of the series, cuz yep, there will be more Eve. I will never read the Savior's champion. With one jenna moreci's book i had more than enough.
It also makes me doubt about her writing friends that say the book was good. Are their standards so low? Is their writing this bad too? I think, for precaution, I will never read theirs either.
I mean, yeah, I'm a writer. I might not be the best writer in the world. But my standards for good quality are thousands of miles above this book. And as a reader, I expect much more.
Sorry Jenna, you can only dissapoint me once.
July 24, 2015
I have just finished EVE and I feel like I have been on an emotional roller-coaster involving waterfalls of tears and huge vertical drops of pain, interspersed with crazy loops of happiness. I am not really sure where I stand right now apart from to say I LOVED THIS BOOK. This review might get updated a few times as I continue to think about the plot and characters, meaning it might end up quite long so I have split it into two parts.
The Short
Five Stars- it was amazing, mind-blowing, let me live in this story world for ever and ever and never leave!
The Long
Here we go. I am going for a no-spoiler review here, so bear with my rambling! I ought to say here that I received a free ARC from the Author and this has in no way affected my review.
Things I loved about EVE: The Awakening
Eve- It is so rare these days for a reader to be given a strong female character who can still depend on others, make mistakes and actually be believable. Eve is a tough girl, but she has reason to be. She has been abused at every stage of her life, shunned by society and beaten up by her peers. So she learnt to fight back, she learnt to control her talent and she learnt to keep people away. She is a leader, but is not perfect.
Jason Valentine- Finally, a love interest who doesn't treat the main character like dirt. He is kind, sweet and sexy. You won't find any Christian Greys in Jenna's story worlds, this guy is sweet, you could probably introduce him to your parents, (as long as they weren't chimera hating asshats), he is sexy, and he cares for Eve and really shows it.
Percy- I adored Percy. I was so glad Jason has a friend who was loyal, and then when you meet Percy's Mother...well, I feel I might be getting into spoiler territory here, but let me say- yay for loveable characters! If an author can make me squirm with happiness for the main character, then that author has won. Also Percy really made me feel that Jason was an alright guy early on in the book as he was so obviously nice, no way could Jason be an asshat and be friends with him.
The plot- all the way through this book, I really couldn't see what was coming. And things kept coming! It is so action packed, and you honestly couldn't guess what the gang were going to do next, but at the same time, because I feel like I know Jenna's writing style from her youtube videos, I felt this inexplicable trust. You see, Jenna Moreci is a planner, she has the whole plot set out, so I knew (or at least, really really hoped) that the ending was going to be just as awesome as the rest of the book, so I could just settle in and enjoy the ride. This might be a personal thing, but lately I have been bitten by a lot of books that had good beginnings, great middles and then just went flop at the end. EVE is not one of these books, in fact, the ending might be the BEST part!
The fight scenes- surprisingly, as I don't really like action films and although I enjoy fight scenes in comic books, in novels I tend to just gloss over them a bit. But in EVE, I got really caught up in them, and now I want to be as bad ass as Eve!
Things I didn't like
Ummmm, let me get back to you on that one! No, seriously, I can't actually think of anything I would change about this book. It has given me weird dreams all week where I am fighting interlopers, that were actually the sort of scary nightmare that you are a little disappointed to wake up from? Anyone else get those? Nope, just me? Oh well!
This review was originally posted on Eclectic Bookshelf
The Short
Five Stars- it was amazing, mind-blowing, let me live in this story world for ever and ever and never leave!
The Long
Here we go. I am going for a no-spoiler review here, so bear with my rambling! I ought to say here that I received a free ARC from the Author and this has in no way affected my review.
Things I loved about EVE: The Awakening
Eve- It is so rare these days for a reader to be given a strong female character who can still depend on others, make mistakes and actually be believable. Eve is a tough girl, but she has reason to be. She has been abused at every stage of her life, shunned by society and beaten up by her peers. So she learnt to fight back, she learnt to control her talent and she learnt to keep people away. She is a leader, but is not perfect.
Jason Valentine- Finally, a love interest who doesn't treat the main character like dirt. He is kind, sweet and sexy. You won't find any Christian Greys in Jenna's story worlds, this guy is sweet, you could probably introduce him to your parents, (as long as they weren't chimera hating asshats), he is sexy, and he cares for Eve and really shows it.
Percy- I adored Percy. I was so glad Jason has a friend who was loyal, and then when you meet Percy's Mother...well, I feel I might be getting into spoiler territory here, but let me say- yay for loveable characters! If an author can make me squirm with happiness for the main character, then that author has won. Also Percy really made me feel that Jason was an alright guy early on in the book as he was so obviously nice, no way could Jason be an asshat and be friends with him.
The plot- all the way through this book, I really couldn't see what was coming. And things kept coming! It is so action packed, and you honestly couldn't guess what the gang were going to do next, but at the same time, because I feel like I know Jenna's writing style from her youtube videos, I felt this inexplicable trust. You see, Jenna Moreci is a planner, she has the whole plot set out, so I knew (or at least, really really hoped) that the ending was going to be just as awesome as the rest of the book, so I could just settle in and enjoy the ride. This might be a personal thing, but lately I have been bitten by a lot of books that had good beginnings, great middles and then just went flop at the end. EVE is not one of these books, in fact, the ending might be the BEST part!
The fight scenes- surprisingly, as I don't really like action films and although I enjoy fight scenes in comic books, in novels I tend to just gloss over them a bit. But in EVE, I got really caught up in them, and now I want to be as bad ass as Eve!
Things I didn't like
Ummmm, let me get back to you on that one! No, seriously, I can't actually think of anything I would change about this book. It has given me weird dreams all week where I am fighting interlopers, that were actually the sort of scary nightmare that you are a little disappointed to wake up from? Anyone else get those? Nope, just me? Oh well!
This review was originally posted on Eclectic Bookshelf
September 13, 2015
Ok, I like this book but did not love it. It felt immature for being based around collage life. At 19 I was not saying barftastic or slopholes. I think the word dynamic and hammer appeared about 100 times. These are words I used 2x s year maybe. Heather, God I wanted to eliminate her from this book all together. Just a pain in the ass always. It seemed like all the fights were the same. It could have been a better book, and I was left confused and unfulfilled. Jason and Eve are cute, but again this is collage and the relationship seemed immature. I maybe would read the next book because it was interesting mostly, but everyone needs to grow up before the next book. They are adults in collage who have had some of the best education, and money is unlimited, please try to use more age appropriate sayings and lifestyles.
November 27, 2017
I simply did not like it. I'm sorry. I had high expectations and they weren't met.
I'm also kind of angry at the author who seems like a clever and levelheaded person in her vlogs for writing her characters the way she did.
Here's what I learned reading this book:
1) Pretty girls who like pink, glittery stuff are either stupid or evil and cunning, they care only about handsome guys and money, have no concept of kindness and are acting mean ALWAYS.
2) Guys playing football are rapists and dumb. Guys interested in combat sports are haughty and if thwarted will want to murder you in the ring.
3) Math teacher extorts to methods which can only be described as psychological torture (on one case even physical abuse), because he's good at math and hates all students, obviously. His being hired in university for the richest, most elite kids in the entire country and their parents putting up with his behaviour absolutely makes sense. Not.
4) Gay dudes are always flirty and super stylish and want to be BFFs with the protagonist.
5) Asian looking girls are 'good with computers' and have overbearing parents.
....And I could go on with this list endlessly. EVERYONE in this book felt like a shitty pile of stereotypes and it annoyes the hell out of me.
I'm going to end this review right there, because I don't want to waste another second thinking about this book anymore.
I'm also kind of angry at the author who seems like a clever and levelheaded person in her vlogs for writing her characters the way she did.
Here's what I learned reading this book:
1) Pretty girls who like pink, glittery stuff are either stupid or evil and cunning, they care only about handsome guys and money, have no concept of kindness and are acting mean ALWAYS.
2) Guys playing football are rapists and dumb. Guys interested in combat sports are haughty and if thwarted will want to murder you in the ring.
3) Math teacher extorts to methods which can only be described as psychological torture (on one case even physical abuse), because he's good at math and hates all students, obviously. His being hired in university for the richest, most elite kids in the entire country and their parents putting up with his behaviour absolutely makes sense. Not.
4) Gay dudes are always flirty and super stylish and want to be BFFs with the protagonist.
5) Asian looking girls are 'good with computers' and have overbearing parents.
....And I could go on with this list endlessly. EVERYONE in this book felt like a shitty pile of stereotypes and it annoyes the hell out of me.
I'm going to end this review right there, because I don't want to waste another second thinking about this book anymore.
July 26, 2015
Excellent book, similar to other popular books now like Hunger Games, Twilight, etc. Similar to the Hunger Games, this book's protagonist is a strong female (unlike Twilight). It contains a lot of action (also like the Hunger Games), and romance (like Twilight). It's smart, fun, funny, entertaining, thrilling... a real page turner and excellent for a reader who is looking for a sci-fi action/adventure novel featuring believable characters of different ethnic backgrounds. Also give it props for taking place in good ol' California. I read it quickly and thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't wait to see what's next to come from this budding author. You go girl. Book by the pool? Book for the plane? Book to use as an excuse to procrastinate? Book to say "I read that before it was a movie!"?" This is the book for you.
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