By Keary Taylor
Paperback, 408 pages
Published June 6th 2011
ISBN 1463525966 (ISBN13: 9781463525965)
Blurb
Eve knew the stories of the Fall, of a time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. She’s seen the aftermath of the technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter, able to grow new organs and limbs, how it evolved out of control. The machine took over and the soul vanished. A world quickly losing its humanity isn’t just a story to her though. At eighteen, this world is Eve’s reality.
In their Fallen world, love feels like a selfish luxury, but not understanding what it is makes it difficult to choose between West, who makes her feel alive but keeps too many secrets, and Avian, who has always been there for her, but is seven years her senior.
The technology wants to spread and it won’t stop until there is no new flesh to assimilate. With only two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction. While fighting to keep Eden alive, Eve will discover that being human is about what you will do for those you love, not what your insides may be made of. And even if it gets you killed, love is always what separates them from the Fallen.
The Good
- The technology. The cause of the apocalypse in Keary’s world is completely believable. Scientists create nanobots that generate tissues and organs—fantastic! Everyone has a donor now, people will live longer; everyone’s happy. Except the nanobots don’t stop once their job is done. They continue converting organic material into machinery. This to me was the absolute best part of the book. I haven’t read a dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel based on a premise that felt more probable than the one presented in Taylor’s novel.
- The discovery. The way in which Eve discovers her past didn’t feel forced. In a lot of novels the author needs some way to convey information to the readers so they insert random events/characters that make the reveal of that information convenient—sometimes a little too convenient.
The Bad
- Typographical/grammatical errors. As I was reading, I encountered a misuse of the word “then” in the place of “than” and I thought “Oh, people make mistakes in editing. It’s a 400 page book after all.” But then as I kept reading, things got worse and worse. This book, I now realize after finishing it, was self-published, and whoever Taylor had editing it did not remember their grammar lessons from elementary school. Here are a few of my favorite examples:
"With quick good-bye’s, we headed directly south."
"You’re companion, Avian, said you were still resting."
"What we can do is very limited," Br. Breeson said as he tore his eyes away from the screen before him.
And the list goes on and on. - Strange and repetitive love triangle. The love triangle Taylor attempts to construct doesn’t feel natural and the “intimate moments” often feel completely random. People will be standing around talking and then all of a sudden making out. When the love interests talked to one another, the dialog between characters didn’t make the romance feel real to me. Maybe I just didn’t get it, I don’t know.
Favorite Quote
"You know Morse Code?" Avian asked as we walked up.
"My grandpa thought it was a fun game when I was little," West said as he rubbed his eyes again. "That’s a scientist’s version of fun for you."
Overall Rating
