Title: Children of Eden
Author: Joey Graceffa
Genre: Dystopia YA
Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Series: Children of Eden#1
Publisher: Keywords Press
Publication Date: 1st October 2016
My Rating: ★★ (2 stars)
Goodreads | Storygraph
Synopsis:
Rowan is a Second Child in a world where population control measures make her an outlaw, marked for death. She can never go to school, make friends, or get the eye implants that will mark her as a true member of Eden. Her kaleidoscope eyes will give her away to the ruthless Center government.
Outside of Eden, Earth is poisoned and dead. All animals and most plants have been destroyed by a man-made catastrophe. Long ago, the brilliant scientist Aaron al Baz saved a pocket of civilization by designing the EcoPanopticon, a massive computer program that hijacked all global technology and put it to use preserving the last vestiges of mankind. Humans will wait for thousands of years in Eden until the EcoPan heals the world.
As an illegal Second Child, Rowan has been hidden away in her family’s compound for sixteen years. Now, restless and desperate to see the world, she recklessly escapes for what she swears will be only one night of adventure. Though she finds an exotic world, and even a friend, the night leads to tragedy. Soon Rowan becomes a renegade on the run – unleashing a chain of events that could change the world of Eden forever.
My Review:
For those of you who’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know I love dystopia. It may have died out a while back during The Hunger Games hype, but I remain a solid fan of it. So, when I came across this book, it sounded right up my street, so I decided to buy it…
And I was disappointed.
I like the concept of the story; forbidden second children isn’t a new idea in dystopia but I like the world that Graceffa had created. Forbidden second children and a world that strips its citizens of their privacy, governed by a “maternal” technological entity “EcoPan”; what wouldn’t I enjoy about that?
Here is where my problem lies. I was not a fan of the writing style or the characters.
Rowan is the main character of this novel, and I did not connect with her at all. She was hidden from society her entire life but had great knowledge and social skills. She gets injured, but it only slowed her down when the story needed suspense, otherwise, it was forgotten about. I found that I didn’t really care what happened to her, or any of the characters. They were all a bit meh.
There’s a love triangle thrown in where it didn’t need to be. Love triangles are a pet peeve of mine anyway; add to that, the case of insta-love made me cringe. I didn’t understand why there was a need to put it in and if you’re going to insist on a love triangle why put it in the first novel of the series.
The language used in the novel was a minor issue that I had. If you’re using modern-day English to tell a story, it doesn’t make any sense to then have made up swear words that you don’t know what that words are. I could probably hazard a guess, but I didn’t understand why the swear words were the only new words in this future society. The plot didn’t flow as well as I would’ve liked. This world didn’t pull me in, I remained on the outside and it affected my enjoyment of the novel. I want to believe in the world that I’m reading about and I didn’t connect. Another issue with the writing for me was a conversation between two characters with a lot of exposition. I felt that it had basically told me the entire plot of the story and I didn’t need to read on.
I did keep reading because I did like the concept and I was curious to see where it was going but it isn’t a book that I would pick up again and it isn’t a series I’m interested in finishing.
