Reviews

Eve of Man by Giovanna Fletcher, Tom Fletcher

Only show reviews with written explanations

jen_the_librarian13's review

4.0

I think it had a slow start but I quickly got sucked into their world. I definitely enjoyed seeing both the utopia of the tower as well as the dystopia outside.

Fits nicely into the dystopia genre, a series-starter with a dual gender interest.

I like a good dystopia, a world just different enough to be possible, a gripping concept. And of course, a relatable protagonist to root for in a dangerous world. The concept here was definitely a gripping one, following a read of Naomi Alderman's 'The Power', a book about women taking control.

Here, it is the women who find themselves endangered... for fifty years, no baby girls are born. Then all of a sudden, one survives... Eve. Kept in an 'ivory tower' of sorts, like a Rapunzel, she is idolised and idealised by the now nearly-entirely male population, and now 16, has been raised to prepare her to save humanity and bring it back from the brink. A great prospect for a plot, plenty of scope for a grim world and a look at how a male world copes and interacts.

To keep Eve sane as well as pliable, a hologrammatic friend called Holly acts as companion, confidante and intermediary, but is controlled of course by men, one of who, Bram, has been working in the role since a child himself, and feels very close to her.

As the story begins, Eve is about to meet the first of three potential partners, with whom she is to attempt to repopulate. It definitely caught my imagination, and I enjoyed picturing the world of Eve in her tower, but also the outside world, what little we see of it.

A few negatives: It did feel a little 'by the numbers' in terms of plot points and what happens - conspiracy theories, power struggles, some scenes/moments that felt like The Truman Show, Hunger Games, but the one book I was hoping it would emulate and 'comment on', the already mentioned 'The Power', it didn't. I was surprised that the authors didn't once show us what men living with men really felt, how they coped without women, how the few women out there lived and survived among so many desperate and inflamed males, how education and culture has changed to account for the lack of females. This would have slowed the story down, of course.

I did like the main duo - Eve transforms in the usual way of dystopian characters, through realisation and emancipation, as Bram becomes more of a typical hero and action hero, on the run a lot and discovering leadership qualities. Both are realistically adolescents experiencing 'first love', both with issues relating to their parents, both unsure of key truths about their worlds.

There is enough of a description to feel the bleakness of the world and the perfection of Eve's Truman-like tower, and enough story left untold to whet appetites for the next installment. I didn't feel however, that this was an obvious collaboration. If each author took one character/narrator each, it didn't feel it, though I know little of the trademark style of either to spot personal touches. It flowed nicely from Eve to Bram and I wanted more from each every time we moved over to the other. I may look for part 2.

This will be a good crossover selection, both teenagers and adults will enjoy this. Hopefully in the next episode, the authors will add some psychological detail as to how the general population live in an almost-exclusively male society.

With thanks to Netgalley for the advance reading copy, provided for review purposes.