The Books of Eva are being marketed as teen reads, presumably because the main protagonist is a young woman, but even as a 42-year-old woman, I've been enjoying reading them ! You can read what I thought of the first tome by clicking through to my review of The Books of Eva : Relic.
In the first book, we discovered the arctic settlement of New North, which is made up of an enclosed city called The Aerie, ruled by Archons who are selected after a death-defying series of challenges called The Testing (apparently similar to The Hunger Games, which I have yet to read/watch), and The Boundary Lands, the arctic wastelands beyond, whose inhabitants are treated as second-class citizens. Eva becomes the first ever Maiden to become an Archon, as she replaces her twin brother Eamon in The Testing, following his untimely death (or murder ?).
In the second episode, Boundary, Eva is determined to uncover the identity of her brother's killer, along with the help of her (and formerly Eamon's) Boundary-dwelling friend Lukas. There is a lot of sexual tension between the two, even though their love would be totally outlawed by The Lex, the ultra-strict and medieval-like religious law that governs the whole of New North. Also, Eva is betrothed to Jasper, a well-placed young man from The Aerie who she also has feelings for. Oh come on, it wouldn't be young adult fiction without a complicated love triangle ! Just to make things more complicated, Lukas is convinced that Eva is the Angakkuq, a mystic being hailed by the Boundary men and women as the one who will bring about a new world order.
In Boundary, Eva and her assistants set back out beyond The Ring in a quest for the ultimate relic, the remains of The Genesis, the ship that brought the rare survivors of The Healing to their new home in New North, just like Noah's Ark after the Great Flood. Eva finds what she is searching for, plus a whole lot more, and her discoveries threaten to throw the whole basis of the Aerie foundation into chaos.
This is the middle book of a trilogy and, as is often the case, it sometimes seems to be treading water, holding back the big reveal that will come in the final book and slightly lacking the impact of the opening tome. It is still an enjoyable read though and has thrown out enough feelers and shock twists to make me want to come back and finish off the series.
star rating : 4/5
RRP : £13.99
- Hardcover: 1 pages
- Publisher: SOHO PRESS (4 Dec. 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1616951990
- ISBN-13: 978-1616951993
- Product Dimensions: 2.5 x 15.2 x 22.9 cm
Disclosure : I received the book in order to write an honest review.
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