The Bane (Eden) by Keary Taylor

NOTE: I received the eARC from Netgalley.

When I was about 7% into the book, I wrote this in my review notebook:

"Wow! I didn't expect this one to pull me in as completely as it did! It so much reminds me of Maria V. Snyder's writing style and the main character, Eve, reminds me so much of Avry!"

Well, after this wonderful beginning, things got a bit sloppy. I really enjoyed the story - it was entertaining, exciting and had its unique elements. It had action and very good world building. The writing style was pretty nice too, although it could do with some editing.

The characters however... I was disappointed by them. How unrealistic they acted at times. it really bothered me.

Like Eve for example. She was just perfect in the first couple of chapters. She was lively, protective and caring. She was taken with her duties, she had set her own boundaries.. that sort of thing. Enter West. He's new to the group of survivors who live in Eden. And Eve doesn't trust him. But her reactions don't follow her thoughts at all. I mean, you can't distrust and dislike a person one minute, and then let him kiss you the very next one. For goodness' sake, she should've at least slapped him or something. But no.

West continued his advances and I got to dislike him even more. Not only because he was doing it so he could make it hard on Eve to make a choice, but also because he hadn't been invited to do it in the first place. Not even once. Eve didn't initiate a single kiss with West, a single intimate moment, but he still kept pushing himself on her! I call this abuse. Especially since she didn't know how to properly react in the first place!

And finally I want to talk about Avian. I LOVED him from the beginning. He was quiet, mature and brave. He had his eyes wide open and he wasn't afraid to put his heart out there for Eve to decide its future. In my opinion, he was and will always be the right choice, because he was trustworthy and passionate and I couldn't help but admire his strength of character. Also, he was no boy, unlike West. Oh no. Avian was a man. He wasn't manipulative with hidden agenda. I just wish there was at least one intimate scene between Eve and him. It would've made a great escape from all the darkness of the world.

My actual rating is 3.5 stars, but I decided to round it up to

Only because of Avian.