3 Stars
Anna Carey
When you're being hunted, who can you trust? For
the first time since she escaped from her school many months ago, Eve
can sleep soundly. She's living in Califia, a haven for women, protected
from the terrifying fate that awaits orphaned girls in The New America. But
her safety came at a price: She was forced to abandon Caleb, the boy
she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve gets word that
Caleb is in trouble, she sets out into the wild again to rescue him,
only to be captured and brought to the City of Sand, the capital of The
New America. Trapped inside the City walls, Eve uncovers a
shocking secret about her past--and is forced to confront the harsh
reality of her future. When she discovers Caleb is alive, Eve attempts
to flee her prison so they can be together--but the consequences could
be deadly. She must make a desperate choice to save the ones she loves .
. . or risk losing Caleb forever.
I started this series out not liking the first book, because it didn't have any back story to it something that the author rectified in this book. Just when you think Eve could maybe finally be safe in Califia, along comes the hint of betrayal from the woman that she has been living and working with for the past few months. She isn't just another woman living in Califia she is considered a bargaining chip by the leaders something to guarantee protection from the King. Eve then gets news that Caleb is in trouble and she rushes off to try to help him leaving the safety of the colony. She finds out it is a ruse all too late and is captured by the very solider she spared the life of. She is taken to the capital of New America, but not before Arden is separated from her and placed in the very place that they were working so hard to escape. Eve grief stricken about her love and her friends that she can not save is then shown that she is not who she thought she was, she is much more important than she could have ever imagined. She just doesn't fit into this new life and dirty secrets about her parents are revealed. All she wants is Caleb and her old life back. When she receives word that Caleb is safe and in the city they meet up as dangerous as it is. She trades her happiness for a life and she has to play the new role she is given to make sure the one she loves can live. With the big reveal of who Moss is at the end really threw me for a loop, I was not expecting it. I was satisfied with information that was finally revealed and I feel like the story was much improved upon, I was actually looking forward to finishing the book. Needless to say that is book is a great work and I will be reading on the third and final book in the series.
2.5 Stars
Anna Carey
Where do you go when nowhere is safe?
Sixteen
years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth’s population, the
world is a perilous place. Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been beyond
the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred
other orphaned girls have been promised a future as the teachers and
artists of the New America. But the night before graduation, Eve learns
the shocking truth about her school’s real purpose—and the horrifying
fate that awaits her. Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve
sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can
survive. Along the way she encounters Arden, her former rival from
school, and Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated
from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb
slowly wins her trust... and her heart. He promises to protect her, but
when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and
her life.
I have to say that this book moved very slow in my opinion. It started off well enough describing the world Eve lives in, but from there it just seemed to drag on and on and never gave away many details. It describes her life and the school she is currently at the horrible secret she discovers about her society, but it never gives back story other than "the virus" wiped out most of the population. That's it? That's all you're going to give me, no back story about where the virus came from or anything? So in this society New America it is ruled by a King who is using the orphans of the virus to build a new empire. Girls are taught to fear men to not trust them; that men are the root of all evil that befalls a woman. Eve is the exemplary student in every way, which of course is what gets her in trouble. She runs away after seeing the future that is in store for her. She is found by who other than a Man the very thing she has been brainwashed not to trust. After Caleb finally gets her to trust him and makes her believe that maybe the lessons might be wrong, things go all down hill. It is actually her naivety for the world she is in that ends her up in all the trouble. She is wronged by many men and left to her own defenses transforming her from the naive girl she was to a hardened woman who has seen much hardship and tragedy. And to top this off after reading it to the end and hoping for a good ending, it turns out to be a trilogy. So maybe some of the points about the back story not being built will be resolved with the following books.
2.5 Stars
Dora Levy Mossanen
She was an orphan,
ushered into the royal palace on the prayers of her majesty. Yet,
decades later, her time spent in the embrace of the Romanovs haunts her
still. Is she responsible for those murderous events that changed
everything? If only she can find the heir, maybe she can put
together the broken pieces of her own past - maybe she can hold on to
the love she found.
Darya
Borodina is one hundred and four years old, living in the old Russian
Entertainment Palace among the ruins, haunted by her life and her time
with the Romanovs. Born
of royal parents who were close friends with the Tsar and Tsarina of
Russia, when Darya's parents are killed in a horrible accident she is brought to live in the household of the Tsar. There she became a companion to the royal children,
the four Duchesses and the Tsarevich. Darya had healing powers
which were important since the heir had hemophilia and could die at any
moment. We watch royal life through Darya's eyes. Drawn to the
arts, she and the Empress create an artistic salon to showcase the
talents of Russia's sculptors, artists and ballet masters. We see the issues that begin in revolutionary Russia and how they begin to tear at the aristocracy . Darya is torn
between these two worlds. She is loyal to the royal family, but madly
in love with one of the artists, a Jewish painter she knows she can
never acknowledge publicly. Through him, she starts to see the turmoil
that will soon tear the country apart. After the Revolution and
the assassination of the Royal Family, what keeps Darya alive is her
belief that the heir was not killed that horrible day with the rest of
the family. She spends decades
searching for him, and now she receives word that 'the last Romanov' has
been found. This starts her final journey to determine the truth once
and for all. It was a very slow building book and I feel like the author dragged it unnecessarily. I understand it is a work of Historical fiction and therefore does not need to adhere to all facts, but the fact that all the bodies of the Royal family are accounted for and therefore the events at the end of the story could not have possibly happen annoys me and makes me like the book just a little less.
