Review: Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa, with Laura L. Sullivan

What would you do to survive if your very existence were illegal?

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.

My rating:

★★

I’ve seen so many excellent review of this and was really looking forward to starting it. I have to say, I was really disappointed, I was still bored round the page 100 mark and it didn’t improve afterwards.

In Eden it is illegal to have more than one child in order to control population numbers so there is enough resources to ensure Eden thrives. The story follows Rowan, a second child who has been hidden away her whole life by her family. When Rowan finds out she will be getting the lense implants, (everyone except second children have them) and moving in with a foster family located wishing one of the outter rings she climbs over her garden wall to experience ‘Eden life’ firsthand. This sets in motion a string of events that not only turn her world upside down, but could possibly be the end of Eden itself.

For me, this was an overused concept that offered nothing new to make it stand out against others. At 278 pages this should have taken me a day to read, it took me nearly a week to get through it. The plot and pacing felt disjointed, characters felt bland and boring in a world full of bright colours and light. There’s not much more I can say about it. I really wanted to love it, I just felt disappointment and relief once I had finished. I thought about DNF’ing, I decided to stick with it hoping it would pick up.

Published by: Atria/Keyword Press

Publication Date: 01/10/16

Pages: 278

 

Have you read ‘Children of Eden’? Let me know what you thought in the comments!