Scratch that. Most of his books are amazing.
I've been waiting for EVE AND ADAM for ages, and I was really psyched when I finally got my hands on it. I was expecting an incredible book, with a breathtaking story and fantastic characters. I was sorely mistaken.
This isn't a bad book, far from it. But the thing is, I expect only the best from someone of Michael Grant's calibre (I don't know about Katherine Applegate, because I haven't read any of her books before), and so a book that is mediocre just doesn't cut it. I'd probably give this book like a six out of ten, which means it's far from terrible, but when you're expecting an eleven it's quite sad. *le sigh*
Anyway, here goes the synospsis and stuff:
In the beginning, there was an apple—
And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.
Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.
Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect... won’t he?
Okay, I hate writing a negative review about one of my favourite writers, so let's just make it quick and painless. This is the kind of book that you forget about in a week. It's all right to kill some time, but it's not something you're going to buy in hardback and keep on your shelf or wherever it is you keep your books (unlike the Grant's GONE series, which is freaking incrredible). If you have nothing to do one evening, go ahead and read it, but it's really not worth much more than that.
Right, how about I hit you with the list of stuff I didn't like? Here goes:
The writing style just didn't work for me. I'm the first to admit that long, drawn out descriptions suck, but leaving everything to imagination doesn't work either, which is exactly what Grant did. Just not enough description.
There are like a bajillion two-word sentences in this book, which makes me nervous. I think that the objective was to make it a quicker read, which it did, but the fact tha you have to stop and start every handful of words is just downright annoying.
The misplaced sexualisation. I mean, come on, is it really necessary to have a kidnapper saying that he would "do" the girl who he's kidnapping who, incidentally, is young enough to be his daughter? Just... Euch. It kills the tension and creeps me out.
Noah falls in love after having a grand total of, like, three conversation with Eve. Need I say why this is negative point? It's unrealistic and the reader simply can't find it believable.
The characters don't have enough depth to them, they're one-dimensional, which is a flaw that I, for one, can't overlook. Exceptional characters are necessary to make an exceptional story and, since the characters in this aren't exceptional, the story isn't either.
This pretty much wraps up the review. I'd just like to say, in the unlikely event that Mr. Grant reads this, that I'm not questioning his ability as an author. I know he's an exceptionally talented author, which is why I find the fact that this story is so heavily flawed unacceptable. Anyway, pick it up if you want to kill some time, but you might as well watch a movie, to be honest.
I will be back some time this week with a review of Zom-B, by Darren Shan, which is interesting to say the very least. But I'm going to have to say goodbye for now.
Happy reading,
JRD.
PS: I HATE Adam, I don't know why, I just do. Some people may think I'm jealous of his perfect looks, but NO. OKAY MAYBE.
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