Thursday, September 27, 2012

Review: Eve and Adam

EVE AND ADAM
Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate
Young Adult
304 pages
Feiwel & Friends
Available October 2nd
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Amazon)
In the beginning, there was an apple –

And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker's head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.
Just when Eve thinks she will die – not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect . . . won’t he?

MY THOUGHTS
Quick and entertaining, Eve and Adam is one of those stories that doesn’t try to be deep and poignant; Mr. Grant and Ms. Applegate clearly preferring our lips to be curled in amusement rather than brows furrowed in concentration, making it extraordinarily easy to fly through Eve’s story in a single sitting. Those picking this book up hoping for an intense character study aren’t going to find it, as Eve, Solo, and finally Adam himself remain characters who don’t necessarily have us spellbound with their complexity, but though we remain in shallow waters with them, we find ourselves invested in their lives nonetheless. Despite some darker elements, Eve and Adam has a desirable lightness to it, the dialogue witty and easy-flowing as we’re carried from page to page with the assistance of smooth transitions from Eve’s point of view to Solo’s and finally Adam’s, and we reach the last page before we’re quite ready for our time with each of them to be over.

Eve has our attention from the very first line of the very first chapter, musing over her choice of less-than profound thoughts as she hurtles through the air after being hit by a car, showing us instantly that this is going to be a story that has the potential to be dark with the characters brooding and introspective, but chooses to have a little fun instead. She and Solo have enough tension and attraction sparking between them to give us the butterflies any lover of romance craves, their interactions sweet without being overly saccharine as they work their way toward coupledom without much drama or fanfare. Solo does come to the conclusion that his affection for Eve is in fact love perhaps a bit quicker than is believable, but given his relative isolation growing up in Spiker Biopharm it’s fairly easy to beat back the desire to scoff at his love-laced revelations and continue to allow ourselves to be simply entertained.

The story progresses at an even pace until the end, shocking us slightly when a few impressively unexpected things come to light for Eve and Solo only to have events wrap up a few short pages later. Despite a somewhat abrupt and underdeveloped ending, Eve and Adam is the perfect book to pick up when you want a reminder of how much fun reading can be, and when one prefers that reminder to come without a lot of emotional grittiness. I believe this book has a sequel in the works, and it’s certainly one I’m going to pick up with the hope we’ll dig a little deeper under the skin of Eve, Solo and Adam while keeping the same fluid style that made this first book so easy to get lost in.

Rating: 4/5

66 comments:

  1. I love how you describe these characters and plot as having the potential to be dark but having a little fun instead. Definitely makes me more interested.

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    1. It's one of those books that if you pick it up looking for something epic and profound, you'll be disappointed, but if you go in just wanting to enjoy a book, then I think you'll really like it:)

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  2. I really didn't like Solo, which made this kind of hard to read. As their romance took up more page-time, I got even less excited. I kind of wanted more about the concepts behind their genetic ideas instead of their budding relationship.

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    1. Awww sorry he didn't work for you! This definitely won't be a book for everyone:)

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  3. Wonderful review, Jenny! I have to agree that this story was SO much fun to read, moving along at a quick pace, and despite my reservations about the rapidness of the romance, I did enjoy reading about it. Where this book went wrong for me was the world-building as I wanted more details, but I'm so glad it worked out for you, dear! I can't wait to see what you think of the sequel now! :D

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    1. I wanted more details as well, but it didn't bother me in this one as much for some reason. Normally I'm all "HOW DID WE GET TO THIS PLACE" but this time I was content to just leave things as they were:)

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  4. This one isn't top of my reading list, but I have to admit I am kind of intrigued by the whole thing. I'm not a fan of abrupt endings, though. I've read a couple books where I'm turning the page expecting more, but it's just done!

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    1. The ending was definitely underdeveloped for me, but I'm pretty sure there's a sequel which is why this one got a 4 instead of a 3.5. Things just wrapped up really quickly and I was left going "wait! I have questions!" :)

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  5. This does sound like a fun story! From what you describe it puts me in mind (in terms of tone) of Bad Taste in Boys. I'd like to create the perfect boy...well man. He'd look like James Marsters.

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    1. Ooooo James Marsters! Love him. And I could listen to him talk all day:)

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  6. YAY! So glad you loved the story. And OMG! The mom, she is cray cray! She made snort, a lot! HA!

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  7. With a cover and a description like that I would have never expected this story to be light. I'm glad to know that ahead of time. I was anticipating it to be a dark, thrilling sci fi/dystopian stry, but I can take a lighter story too! I do kind of wish the world building was a bit more fleshed out but I think I can recommend this one to people who don't like scifi but not hardcore sci fi.

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    1. I didn't expect it to be quite so light either, but I really liked that about it. It was something I was in the perfect mood for:)

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  8. The ending was not what I wanted, but all in all, the book was good. I think my favorite scenes were when she was creating Adam. I loved the attention to detail, and how it made us think about our own version of Perfection. It might not have tried to be deep, but it brought about many thoughts for me.

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    1. I wanted a bit more from the ending too, I'm hoping the next book delves a little deeper into everything:)

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  9. Between your review and Smash's, I am really rather interested in this book. :)

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  10. Well, I am usually the one whining about detail,but I liked that you mentioned that your mouth was curved up in a smile throughout. I haven't read a quick entertaining read in awhile so that is a nice change, I also like that everything wraps and it refrains from a cliffhanger, despite the ending being a bit underdeveloped,

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    1. I was definitely smiling a lot through this one, it definitely makes you think at times, but never gets too heavy which I really liked:)

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  11. I'm actually surprised it was as dark as you describe. I do like what you have said about it being fun to read. Right there sold me. :) I passed on trying for this one and now I'm sad that I did that! It's on my wishlist!

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    1. It has the potential to be really dark if you fully think through all the implications of creating Adam, but it takes a lighter approach which I thought worked well.

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  12. Now why do I in the end read so few books like this one?...I blame my inability to buy YA books ;)

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    1. Well, if you don't buy YA books, it would be hard to read books like this one I think:):)

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  13. I love brain candy books. Yes, I'm a simple creature, preferring light and humourous to deep and thought-provoking. Not looking forward to the abrupt ending though...

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    1. Yes! It was just a really entertaining book, not one of those stories where I continually looked at the page number to see how many pages I had to go before I got to be done:)

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  14. I really can't get over how beautiful that cover is... *sigh* Marvelous review, Jenny! This sounds like a wonderful sci-fic book and I find bioethics to be fascinating so I can't wait to read it. :) I'm so delighted that you liked this book. :)

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    1. Isn't it pretty? It's one of my favorites of the year I think:)

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  15. I have read a lot of reviews for this one, good and bad, and none described it as being light like you did. Honestly I think you may have convinced me to give this one a shot in the future. Fantastic review!

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    1. There's definitely darkness in this book, but I felt like they approached a lot of the situations with humor, and I just laughed out loud in many a place:)

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  16. I wasn't planning to pick up a copy of this book but I'm definitely dying to now !! I love when we get 2 POVs and I can't wait to meet Eve and Solo !!! Thanks for the wonderful review ;)

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  17. This just came into the store yesterday, and I will say that I adore the cover. Beautiful review, thank you!

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  18. I have this ebook and I cannot wait to start it now!

    Krazyyme @ Young Readers

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  19. This book was so easy to fly right through in one sitting - not a deep book with deep characters, but definitely fun and slightly surprising.

    Fabulous review :)

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  20. I've read a few mixed reviews for this one and I think I, and a lot of others, expected it to be something deep and thought-provoking. The negative reviews kind of turned me off this one but I'm going to give it a try, Jenny, when I'm in the mood for something light. Thanks for the advanced warning about the characters not being really complex.

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  21. You know what, maybe this will work for me. I've been so unsure about it, especially with all the mixed reviews, but I really like the way you have described it Jenny. Sometimes I just want a fun read, nothing too complicated. :)

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  22. I especially like it when books progress fast and dont take time to get to the point! and the synopsis sounds intriguing! Great review!
    - Farah @ MajiBookshelf

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  23. Oh yay oh yay oh yay! :D I can't even wait for this - it's sitting on my shelf right now, staring, waiting, very patiently I might add. Need to get on that...soon! Your review has definitely convinced me I'm going to love it! :D

    <3

    Sierra @ Yearning to Read

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  24. See, I read a negative review of this book and then I read your review and I'm convinced to pick it up right away! Great review Jenny! A lot of people stated that it wasn't dark enough but I'm glad it wasn't. Sometimes you just need a light book to read! Oh, and I'm glad that the characters weren't disappointing; characters can make or break the book for me!

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