Book Review: Revealing Eden by Victoria Foyt

Goodreads Summary: Eden Newman must mate before her 18th birthday in six months or she'll be left outside to die in a burning world. But who will pick up her mate-option when she's cursed with white skin and a tragically low mate-rate of 15%? In a post-apocalyptic, totalitarian, underground world where class and beauty are defined by resistance to an overheated environment, Eden's coloring brands her as a member of the lowest class, a weak and ugly Pearl. If only she can mate with a dark-skinned Coal from the ruling class, she'll be safe. Just maybe one Coal sees the Real Eden and will be her salvation her co-worker Jamal has begun secretly dating her. But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father's secret biological experiment, she finds herself in the eye of a storm and thrown into the last area of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land. Eden must fight to save her father, who may be humanity's last hope, while standing up to a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction. Eden must change to survive but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty and of love, along with a little help from her "adopted aunt" Emily Dickinson.

Title: Revealing Eden
Series: Save the Pearls #1
Author: Victoria Foyt
Publisher: Sand Dollar Press Inc
Release Date: First published 6th October 2011
Format: e-galley
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Wow, this is an amazing fantasy novel. I have seen a lot of mixed reviews regarding this book, generally because of the racism that some believe this book is about. I have read and am reviewing the book for the whole story and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  This is a unique and riveting book that I couldn’t put down; I read it in one day and found the page turner storyline and characters fascinating.

Eden Newman is seventeen and a half years old, in six months she will be eighteen and if she doesn’t find a mate, she will be left outside in the heat to die. In a world where procreation is limited to one child per couple, her meals consist of pills and water is rationed to a cup a day; Eden is starting to panic that she will die of The Heat and never find her mate. Civilisation has been all but wiped out and the survivors are living in tunnels underground away from the blazing sun. Eden’s Father is a scientist and a very good one; he is trying to adapt humans DNA with an animal’s DNA in order to help humans survive on the surface.

It is unusual for Eden and her Father to have such highly ranked jobs; their social standing is classed as low because they are Pearls. Pearls have light coloured skin and Eden in particular has a very low mate-rate of only 15%. Eden works in her Father’s lab assisting with the test subjects and on this particular day trouble starts. Eden and her Supervisor have an altercation; Eden tries to run away and is caught by the guy that runs the place, Bramford. Eden sees Bramford as arrogant and a self-righteous man that is only out for power and glory.

The test subjects go missing and as a last resort Bramford requests that he become the new experiment. There is an explosion in the lab during the procedure and all hell breaks loose. Bramford takes Eden and her Father on his jet to escape. Eden feels she is kidnapped and doesn’t know what will happen to her life or her Father.

Arriving in the Jungle, Bramford is adapting to his new DNA and is unpredictable. Eden doesn’t know why he helps them or where they are going.  Arriving in a small village they have to adapt to their new surrounding and the food available. There is something very mysterious going on, the children are calling Eden Rebecca and nobody will tell her why.

Will Eden ever find out why Bramford is really helping them? Does she have feelings for Bramford or does she like just ticking him off? Will they ever get back to civilisation? Can Eden really survive out on the surface? Can Eden find out the mystery behind Bramford and who Rebecca is?

I cannot wait for book 2, Adapting Eden to be released next year; Goodreads says it is due for release in January, but I found somewhere else that it isn’t until March. Anyway, I will be looking out for it and can’t wait to see what happens to Eden, Bramford and her Father next. I really loved the story behind this book, the world building could have been a little more detailed as to what and how everything happened, but the characters and Eden in particular are intriguing. Eden is struggling through her life and trying to work out what it all means. Being an emotional 17 year old is difficult at the best of times, but put in the mix of trying to live in a jungle with a strange man that she has always had to fear, well what more could you want. Betrayal, love, mystery, family relationships and adventure all mixed into one. I recommend this to those that enjoy a fantasy.

5 AWESOME STARS

About the Author

Victoria Foyt's debut novel, The Virtual Life of Lexie Diamond, a young adult fantasy 
mystery thriller (HarperCollins) was Recommended by The Center for Children's Books, and received a five-star, must read rating from Teens Read Too: “Foyt has created a compelling character and an electrifying story that will hold readers until the last page.”

Victoria co-wrote and starred in several acclaimed feature films, including "Going Shopping" with Rob Morrow, "Déjà Vu" with Vanessa Redgrave, "Last Summer in the Hamptons" with Melissa Leo, and "Babyfever" with Eric Roberts.

Victoria has appeared on news outlets such as Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, E! Entertainment, HBO, CNN-TV, Showbiz Today, ABC Radio, Turner TV Entertainment Report, TNT Rough Cuts, and Westwood One Radio, and has received extensive coverage on Siskel & Ebert. 

She also has been featured in Vogue Magazine, O at Home, Elle Magazine, Movieline, Venice Magazine, Avenue Magazine, Night Magazine, Moviemaker Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, La Opinion, Miami New Times, Dramalogue, and Backstage West, among others. 

Born and raised in Coral Gables, Florida, Victoria attended the University of Miami, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in French and Spanish and German. She currently resides in Santa Monica, California. She loves reading--at least two or three books a month--movies, tennis, swimming, hiking, and lots of dark chocolate.

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Book Review: Slave Girl by Alexa Moses

Goodreads Summary: Thirteen-year-old exchange student Jenna has nabbed an appointment in New York's coolest hair salon, but when her teacher insists she stay with the group at the boring Metropolitan Museum, she storms off and stumbles into what she thinks is a fancy-dress party. And it is a party. In ancient Egypt. 3500 years ago. Once Jenna accepts she's really travelled back in time, she realises she has to work out a way home - with only her big mouth, a smart phone and a pair of second-hand Marc Jacobs sandals to get her out alive. Jenna's attempts to bluff her way out of her precarious situation are often brave, sometimes ingenious and guaranteeably funny.

Title: Slave Girl
Series: 1st in Jenna Bookallil-Brown
Author: Alexa Moses
Publisher: Harper Collins Australia
Release Date: 1st August 2012
Source: Publisher via NetGalley ~ thank you!

I always love discovering Australian Author’s; they are always interesting and diverse. Alexa Moses is no exception to this rule and Slave Girl was a great read directed at Middle Grade-Young Adult. The easy flow of the writing style was fabulous and the characters were fun.

Jenna Bookallil-Brown is a 13 year old on an exchange program, currently visiting museums in New York. Jenna is very excited to be in New York staying with her Great Aunt and trying to become the sophisticated, fashion conscious teen that every girl wants to be. Jenna is visiting the Metropolitan Museum and has an appointment that she must get to. Her chaperone will not allow her to leave and Jenna is torn whether to disobey or just suck it up.

Jenna notices a strange cat under the bench she is contemplating on and the cat watches Jenna in return; how strange. The cat jumps onto the bench and steals the envelope with all Jenna’s money for her appointment. OMG – a cat stealing an envelope full of money, haha. Jenna takes off after the cat to rescue her treasured envelope.

One second Jenna was in the Museum and the next in a strange room with a party themed with people in Egyptian costumes. Huh, Jenna has no idea what is going on, why would there be a party at the Museum like this? Jenna is still chasing the cat, spots it behind a group of dancers. Trying to stay inconspicuous, she crouches and waddles over towards the cat; the cat takes off, Jenna gets caught and is taken into a room with a bunch of other girls.

Jenna still doesn’t know what is going on and everybody doesn’t seem to know what she is talking about or understanding her way of talking. Before long Jenna is taken to the kitchen to start her daily duties, she is now a slave.

Will Jenna find that dastardly cat? Can she find her way home to New York in her current era? Will she be able to survive being a slave and all it entails?

Follow along on a fun adventure with Jenna, trying to search for the cat while not being captured or imprisoned or even sentenced to death. This was a fantastic quick read that I recommend to all Middle Grade readers and above for something fun. Plus hello, Australian authors are fantastic. This is the first in a series of adventures for Jenna and I look forward to reading the next.

4 STARS OF FUN

~ Amazon ~ Bookworld ~

About the Author:
Alexa Moses graduated from a masters degree in screenwriting at the Australian Film Television and Radio school in 2001, thinking she wanted to write comedy, but got a job as a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald instead and discovered she loved journalism.

Over her six years at the Herald, she worked as an arts and features writer and entertainment reporter, along the way stalking Nicole Kidman, writing about the Asian tsunami she survived, panthering her way through the deportment course Princess Mary took before becoming royalty, and receiving hate mail during her time as a film critic. In 2007, she won the VarunaHarperCollins fellowship for her first manuscript. More recently, she’s been working as a novelist and screenwriter for children’s television including The Woodlies, Gasp the Goldfish andThe Davincibles.

When she’s not reading and writing, Alexa spends her time knitting, cooking, watching sitcoms and musicals, and listening to maudlin pop music.

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