The Eve by Keary Taylor (The Eden Trilogy #3)

Genres: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance
My Rating: 5 out of 5

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A plan was laid out as the Evolution crushed mankind, a plan that was right under Eden’s nose all along. And Eve is the key to everything. New Eden—mankind—they have a small chance at fixing their dismembered planet.

But it will be a reckless sprint against time and the coming Bane to retrieve the final piece to the plot. New Eden’s worst fears have become reality. The Bane are back in the city and they’re smarter and more aggressive than ever. They know where the humans are and they’re coming to finish what they’ve nearly completed.

Eve has been content with the family she’s found—Avian, West, Gabriel, Royce. But she’s about to discover she may have the one family Eve never thought she would: blood. With every odd stacked against her, all the lies and all the secrets of her origins will be exposed.

The past and the future are about to come full circle.

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This had everything I could have wished for in an Eden finale. Absolutely everything!

It started right where The Human left off, with Dr. Evans explaining his plan to save the world to Eve. Then Eve, Dr. Evans, Avian, West, and Bill, head off to the NovaTor headquarters with three goals in mind. And they accomplish all three goals. When they head back to LA, pretty much all the characters get everything they have ever wanted, and then they save the world.

Although there were a few chapters there where we were tricked into thinking something had gone wrong. We were led to believe that Eve died in the process of saving the world. It was sad, and I cried, but after a

few chapters of seeing Avian and West cope, I came to terms with it. It seemed fitting, and a very Eve thing to do. She reminds me of Tris in that way. If she had thought she was going to die, she still would have gone through with it. But of course, she didn't stay dead.

I love how this book gave us several chapters once it was over, to see how everyone chose to live their lives after. I really love what became of Creed, the inclusion of Tristan and Lin, Royce, Tom, everything! I am so, so grateful that this series exists. It is definitely my #1 favourite post-apoc series. I love that it has so much action, I love the world and the science behind the TorBane, I love the characters, I love that Eve's relationship with Avian is steady and eternal and her relationship with West is so complicated and evolving. But most of all I love the HEA! Thank you Keary Taylor for expanding on Eden! I wish I could own these in paperback.

The Human by Keary Taylor (The Eden Trilogy #2)

Genres: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance
My Rating: 4 out of 5

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The city of New Eden is cleared, but it won’t stay that way forever. The Bane continue to advance in horrific ways that will wipe humanity from the face of the Earth. A storm is coming, one none of them could have dared imagine.

When a group of outsiders come to the city, everyone is on edge. They have too many questions and not enough answers about where they are from or what they want. Just because they are human doesn’t mean they can be trusted.

Eve made a choice–one that could have deadly repercussions. Desperate hearts bring about desperate actions. Now she must make another decision as her world continues to crumble: come to terms with who she really is, or risk her sanity. She thought she had unlocked all the secrets from her past, but there are truths still buried that leave her questioning what is real and what is not.

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I love Eve! She is an amazing YA heroine. One of my favourites. In book 1, The Bane, she kicked so much butt! But in this one, I love her for new reasons. She is incredibly selfless. She hates the city and almost always feels like she is on the brink of a panic attack. But she stays because she knows she is the last line of defense for her friends. She cant abandon anyone. Not even West, who had hurt her so many times. She is so strong. She handles everything she has gone through so well, with all the weight on her shoulders.

But she does have help with the emotion inhibitor chip. Which I am kind of confused about. Is there actually something wrong with her emotions that causes her to not be able to handle them? Or is she simply not used to having to handling them and the chip gives her an advantage that no one else gets?

I love the fact that Eve did not go back on her choice to be with Avian. Its too rare for love-triangles to be resolved, and to stay resolved, after the first book in a series. But I really like it. It gives the romance an interesting dynamic without dragging it down. Eve knows who she is enough to know what and who she

wants, and that is not going to change. She has too much respect for herself and Avian to ever go back on her word. And it is clear how much they belong together. She loves him so much that there was no need for lingering jealousy. On Avian's part, at least. Although Avian did totally flip on West at one point, it had nothing to do with his feelings for Eve, but the fact that he put her in danger. And I think Avian's reaction was understandable. Maybe a bit too much, but after what had been done to Eve, it was at least understandable. Seeing them still together after everything makes me extremely happy. And I hope they are still together in The Eve.

My only complaint in this book is the whole conflict. It was so unnecessary. When another group of survivors shows up in LA, they want to stay with New Eden for a while to see what they can offer. They ask a lot of questions but answer none. They were obvious about it too. They refused to answer questions and

were suspicious from the beginning. Why would they expect any cooperation when they gave none? They lie about where they are from for no apparent reason. And then, after a week, they kidnap Eve and West and leave. They implant a beacon to the Bane in Eve's brain and use West as leverage for her cooperation. Of course Eve doesn't know about the beacon, so when she escapes she goes back to LA, and calls all the Bane to her with a broken EM pulse. The new group of survivors wanted to force the New Eden group into using the pulse. Instead of just going to LA, being open and honest and telling them, "So we invented this beacon, and you have an EM pulse. So why don't we join up and rebuild the pulse, turn on the beacon and when the Bane come, fry them. Then set the beacon for a slightly higher radius, and fry them too, etc, etc." But no, because kidnapping and brain surgery is obviously the easier option.

Gah, these people piss me off. And as much as I wanted to give this another 5-stars, as I did its predecessor, its going to have to be 4/5 because of them. But I love all the main characters, and I love the world of the TorBane. I cant wait to read the finale, and I hope everyone gets their HEA. Is it too much to hope that West can get an HEA too? Please?

“It took a man capable of an immeasurable amount of understanding to strip away the insecurities I'd felt after learning what I was. It took a man capable of loving me until the end of the world to make me accept myself. 

And I would move heaven and hell to keep him. 

Always.” 

The Bane by Keary Taylor (The Eden Trilogy #1)

I read Keary Taylor's Eden before she rewrote it as a series, and then re-read it as The Bane once it was republished. I reviewed them separately. 

Genres: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance
My Rating: 5 out of 5

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Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter. It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

The Bane is The Terminator meets The Walking Dead with a heart-twisting romance.

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This was great! It reminded me a lot of The Immortal Rules. I didnt like The Immortal Rules as much as most people. It was still good, but I prefer Eden. There was a band of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world. The main girl, Eve, is different from the rest of the survivors. They travel to a safe haven for humans, which was called Eden in The Immortal Rules. Although in this Eden is the name of their group, not their destination. And there is even a young guy in the group, West, who reminds me a lot of Zeke.

The main difference, besides this being about cyborgs instead of zombies and vampires, is that this has a love-triangle. An equilateral love-triangle. I have never seen such an equally matched love-triangle before. There were absolutely no hints to who Eve was going to choose for the whole book until I was 92% done. She never even leaned to one or the other. She was split 50/50 for the whole book up to 92%! After she had a particularly tender moment with Avian, I wondered if she was finally leaning towards one of them. But the next thing it says is, "That night I dreamed of West." And I was like, "OMG! This is hopeless!" It was ridiculous but enthralling!

I preferred one of the guys but I wasn't convinced he was necessarily best for her. So even though she didn't pick him in the end, her reasoning was good and I wasn't upset. I was actually pleased that this took a different route from most YA romances. It was extremely romantic either way, and after reading all her ridiculous helplessness in everything guy related for most of the book, I was so happy when she finally made a choice that I cried. I don't mean to sound negative when I call her ridiculous. I have never seen a love-triangle that was drawn out like this before, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I was absolutely captivated! I couldn't put it down! I had to find out what would happen next. Who she would pick. It made the pay-off all the more exciting. And it even managed to make me happy when she didn't pick the guy I liked better, because its about Eve, not me. But I don't get why some people were making a big deal out of the age difference between Eve and Avian. I didn't think it was that bad. Eve was 18, West was 19, and Avian was 25.

  

I also really loved learning about the robots or cyborgs, and the infection, and Eve's history. It was all very interesting. And Eve was amazing. A seriously kick-ass heroine! I love that scene right after Eve had her epiphany. She found out that the guys went on a dangerous mission without her and she runs after them doing robot head shots. That would be an awesome scene to see on screen! And a movie is planned, which is very exciting.

Keary Taylor made this fake poster herself. I had seen it on her blog before I started the book and I pictured Gillian Zinser as Eve the whole book, and Wentworth Miller as Avian. Matt Lanter isnt really how I pictured West but he is not a bad choice. Since it is Keary Taylor's choice I have no right to complain. This will be an amazing movie! I cant wait!

I am pretty sure this is a standalone. There is no sign of any more books being planned. The story was mostly tied up. There were a few things we could have had more information on. Namely the fate of a particular character, and what the future of the world will hold. But over-all the ending tied up all the more immediate issues and I cant help but be excited for Eve's future, even though I dont get to see it.

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Genres: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance
My Rating: 5 out of 5

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I loved this just as much the second time around, having already read Eden, if not more. At first I wasnt enjoying it as much because it was focusing mostly on the love-triangle, and I know how that turns out. But as it went on the story picked up and dragged me back in, plus there were subtle differences that had me feeling like I did the first time.

The backstory about how the Bane came to be was more thorough (the name the Bane is also new), as well as Eve's history. I don't remember her having flashbacks in Eden, but I may be wrong. The balance of the love-triangle was also changed. Its hard to explain without spoiling, but in Eden one of my favourite things about the book was the fact that I had no idea who Eve would choose until she made her choice. She didn't lean towards one guy or the other. It was completely even before she had her epiphany. 

In this one the balance was changed. Some scenes were taken out, and the guy that Eve eventually chooses was given more focus. I guess that can be a good thing too, so readers don't get too attached to the other guy and become disappointed. It happens a lot, of course. There are lots of fans of Gale, Puck, and Jacob out there. But at least in The Bane, readers are not misled. I really enjoyed these changes and I loved the fleshing out of Eve's love interest. In The Bane, he is the obvious choice for her. They belong together, they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. There's really no contest anymore. The changes were a definite improvement.

I didn't notice much of a difference in Eve as a character, or the story. There were no improvements needed. Eve still kicks ass, and the story is a great post-apoc world with heavy sci-fi, action, and romance elements. I am so glad that this time around I have a sequel to look forward to and I cannot wait to read The Human!

“In that moment I finally knew.

I knew which one I would grieve over. A piece of me would be missing forever if he was gone. A part of me would break. But I would make it through.

And I knew which one of them I couldn't live without, couldn't take another single breath if he were to be taken away from me.

In that moment I finally understood what love meant.”