Book Title/Author: Eve & Adam by Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate
Publisher/Year: Feiwel & Friends – October 2nd 2012
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Series: Not sure! I’ve heard yes and no!
Other Books From Author: The Gone series, The Magnificent 12 series, The Animorphs series
Amazon
I received this on NetGalley from the publisher. Though kind and much appreciated, this did not sway my opinions in any way.
After getting hit by a car and sustaining life threatening injuries, Eve thinks she is going to die and by all means she should have died based on her injuries. Before she even has been at the hospital for a full day, her mother — the powerful figure behind a bio/pharmaceutical/research corporation — has already demanded that she be released and transferred to her own facility to be taken care of. Eve thinks this is strange but even stranger is this boy Solo and the way she feels after the accident. While Eve is healing, her mother lets her play a simulation in which she is able to create a perfect person so naturally, like any girl would, she starts to build her dream guy from head to toe. As Eve works on her mom’s project, she starts to realize she has NO idea what idea secrets abound at her mom’s super secretive corporation….thanks to someone else who KNOWS the secrets and wants revenge.
Man, you guys. I was really excited about this one and was expecting this really fascinating science fiction book where morality and the “Frankenstein/Creator” notion would be really interestingly woven into this story. But, while entertaining and a fast paced read, I felt more frustrated by this one honestly. I really kept waiting to like it more than I did and it just never happened. I know it was supposed to be more lighthearted and not super serious (I read somewhere the authors said that) but I just thought I was getting something else from the summary. The premise failed to deliver, for me, what I thought was just going to be a really riveting science fiction novel.
I read this in pretty much a day so obviously there were some really great things about it that kept me reading! It was VERY fast paced which was a perk but, as I’ll mention below, also a drawback. There were some incredibly interesting aspects and I just couldn’t wait for Eve to finish creating Adam so I could see what would happen and I was just reading with bated breath until the moment when THINGS would be revealed to Eve or when Solo was in a sticky situation. Also, it was very unique and there was a lot of pretty funny parts in this…which I was not expecting in the least. I can’t say I’ve read anything like it really! I also really enjoyed some of the characters — Eve, Solo and surprisingly Eve’s mom even though she was pretty much the worst mom ever. She kind of reminded me of Mrs. Grayson from Revenge but more humorous.
While there were some really great characters, there were also some really flat characters and characters I felt were so overly cliched (Aislin). I mean, I was expecting Adam to play such a big part in this novel but he was so boring and all I gathered was that he was so super hot and people stared. I mean, I know he’s a “creation” but he just seemed flat to me. Maybe that was the point? I don’t know. My biggest thing, aside from my expectations of what I thought this book would be, was that there was just TOO MUCH GOING ON. I love a fast paced, page turning book but there was just too much. It was kind of like when you see somebody on What Not To Wear and they have an outfit with just TOO MUCH GOING ON especially too many accessories. And your eyes and your brain cannot process or take it all in. And if they just stripped a few of the gaudy necklaces, the arm’s length of bracelets and the crazy patterned separates and just stuck with one or two focal pieces it’d be a really cute outfit. That’s really how I felt. There was just so much going on that it distracted me and some things I felt were out of place and didn’t mean much to me (the whole thing with Eve’s bff’s dead beat boyfriend) and sometimes things were weirdly wrapped up or not wrapped up. I don’t know. There was just too much in a short space and it didn’t jive well with me.
Eve and Adam just wasn’t for me apparently. It might have been a case of my expectations of the book versus what I got. I was expecting some really crazy science fiction story with deep meaning and exploration of mortality and playing God and I just didn’t really get that at all. It was less serious and more funny — which is fine but just not at all what I was hoping for with an AMAZING premise like that. I don’t know..by the time I got to the end I just felt very unsatisfied. Like eating a salad when you really just want steak and potatoes.
While it wasn’t necessarily a win for me, others really loved it. Check out other reviews of Eve and Adam from Kindle Book Love Blog or Live To Read.
You May Also Like: Beta by Rachel Cohn, The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna, Origin by Jessica Khoury, Bumped by Megan McCafferty (like Eve & Adam, Bumped takes a lighter, more humorous approach to a subject that could be heavier — Bumped was very much satire).
Let’s Talky Talk: Have you read this one? Heard of it? What did you think if you have read it? Did you like it better than me? Did anyone else think it was going to be a lot more science fiction-y and maybe more ‘serious’? I was really surprised/taken aback by how light and funny it was.
DannyBookworm says
I hate it when a synopsis is misleading. It happens to often and it makes me a little angry.
Here, I agree the synopsis doesn’t get across what this book really will be about. Also, I found myself thinking it would be kind of a Dystopian novel? However, after initial confusion, I loved this book. too bad it wasn’t for you… ;(
Jamie says
Yes! I totally thought it would be more dystopian and also just MORE science fiction-y. I’m glad you ended up on the side that enjoyed it though! I guess it just wasn’t meant to be for me!
Rinn says
This one has had SUCH mixed reviews! It is certainly an interesting premise. I think I’ll still read it if I spot it at the library or something, but I won’t go out of my way to find it =)
Jamie says
Definitely check it out! I mean, if anything it’s a REALLY fast read so I didn’t feel like I wasted days and days slugging through it.
Jen says
Aw, man. I was really looking forward to this one. I loved the premise and all that, and it’s awesome to hear it was fast-paced. But if it’s overly cluttered, sometimes that doesn’t even matter. Like what the actual F is going on!? Awesome review!
Jamie says
Lots of people did really enjoy it! Just don’t go in expecting some crazy cool world or something really science fiction-y. It was more light and humorous than anything. And yeah..the overally cluttered issue really got to me. So much going on and yet I couldn’t get a clear grasp on what the point of the story was or what it was getting at. I finished and I was just like…OH…okkk? lol
Brittany @ The Book Addict's Guide says
That seems to be the general idea that I’m getting from people’s reviews! It was just not enough and too much all at once. I think I may still try it since the concept is still super interesting, but maybe borrow from the library 🙂
Great review! I love the honesty, as always.
Jamie says
“It was just not enough and too much all at one” — PERFECT way of putting it!
I definitely say go for it! I don’t think I regret the day I spent reading it because it went by so fast!
Thanks for the comment!
Nikki @ Foil the Plot says
It’s always nice to at least have your expectations met when you go into a book and I think it’s super frustrating when you come away feeling misled. It makes it so hard to critique the book fairly because you’re so caught up in wishing it was what you thought it was. I’m definitely down for the more sci-fi stuff so I’m not quite sure this book is for me. I appreciate the honesty, Jamie!
Jamie says
Agreed! I’m ok if it meets my expectations and obviously LOVE when a book exceeds them! “It’s hard to critique the book fairly because you are so caught up in wishing it was what you thought it was.” YES THIS. Exactly! I wonder what I would have thought about it had I known that it was more lighthearted and not so science fictiony. Maybe I wouldn’t have even picked it up! As always, great insights Nikki!
Laura Ashlee says
Thanks for the review! I was expecting something serious and intense from this one, as well. It’s nice to have a warning when that’s not what the book is. I’m not sure I’ll even read this one. I’ve been undecided for a while, but if it’s not super serious I’d rather not.
Jamie says
Yeah..just wasn’t for me and the expectations I had didn’t help! But tons of people really DID end up enjoying it..but I fell on that other side of not so much!
Nancy @ Tumbling Books says
Hey Jamie! I read this one too and reviewed it. Like you, I wasn’t impressed. I was expecting so much more out of it, especially since everyone was so excited about its release. I hate when that happens! Oh, and great review.
Jamie says
It makes me feel better that you felt similarly! I just felt so BAD because I wanted to love it so much! Thanks for your comment!
Midnyte Reader says
Yes, the synopsis should have been written differently…funnier, so you would get the gist of it. Too bad you were disappointed. Thanks for the heads up though!
Jamie says
Agreed! Something to give you a clue as to how it would be. I mean it didn’t even have to be SUPER differently in the description but a slight change of air to it. Who knows if that would have helped me anyways! I still probably would have wanted more out of a good premise like that.
Michelle says
Definitely not just you. I thought this one had so much potential and just did not live up to that potential at all. I agree that there was too much going on at the same time, and it was all very distracting. I had issues with the science of it all as well; if it was going to be a serious book, it needed to up the science a bit more. If it is a satire, then it failed miserably. It is a series, at least based on the back of my review copy. The next book is going to be about Adam.
Kelly says
Was totally thinking about reading this hoping it would be more science oriented and intellectual…I think I may pass now. Thanks for the great review!
Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books says
I am pretty interested in reading this one (especially after I saw who the authors were), but I’m almost certain that I’ll feel the same way as you did. I was kind of expecting that I’d be asking lots of questions while I read, but for the most part, it sounds like pretty light fare.
BarefootMedStudent says
I would have loved to read this, but a lot of people who like similar books to me haven’t enjoyed it. So I think I’ll give it a skip.
April Books & Wine says
The whole too much going on was exactly how I felt while reading Gone by Michael Grant. Like, lots of other people loved it, but I was like meh too much, not enough focus, which is what I like.
I’ll still read this because I have a review copy but because it’s from BEA, lol, my pressure level isn’t quite as strong.