Once - Book Review

Once (Eve #2)
by Anna Carey

What is it about:
When you're being hunted, who can you trust?

For the first time since she escaped from her school many months ago, Eve can sleep soundly. She's living in Califia, a haven for women, protected from the terrifying fate that awaits orphaned girls in The New America.

But her safety came at a price: She was forced to abandon Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve gets word that Caleb is in trouble, she sets out into the wild again to rescue him, only to be captured and brought to the City of Sand, the capital of The New America.

Trapped inside the City walls, Eve uncovers a shocking secret about her past--and is forced to confront the harsh reality of her future. When she discovers Caleb is alive, Eve attempts to flee her prison so they can be together--but the consequences could be deadly. She must make a desperate choice to save the ones she loves . . . or risk losing Caleb forever.

What did I think of it:
There's one thing that occurred to me when reading this book. In most Dystopian YA books there's horrible things happening to the women, but somehow those things never happen to the heroine. Somehow the heroine manages to escape the terrible things that happen to those around her. Not because she is strong or smart or something like that. No: she escapes those horrors because she's 'special'.

What's up with that?

Someone please give me the name of a Dystopian YA where the heroine is just as humiliated, tortured, etc.. as the others around her.

Now I have that off my chest, on to my further thoughts on Once.

I will confess I liked this book more than the first. The first was enjoyable, but full of plot holes and left me wondering about a lot. Most of all I couldn't understand why the king was so determined to get his hands on Eve.

Once did answer that question very nicely I must say.

The world building is still not making sense most of the time though, but overall this book felt more solid than Eve. I really liked some of the new characters Eve encounters in this book and Eve herself is growing up a bit, although she still acts rather unthinkingly at times and she's very gullible as well.

The setting is less interesting than in Eve. The city is just that: a city. I had hoped for it to have a bit more Dystopian feel to it, but alas. The story made up for it though.

So my grumblings on world building and setting aside this is a very enjoyable Dystopian YA read. It does end with quite a cliffhanger though and I will confess I already pre-ordered the last book in this trilogy because I have to know how this series will end.

Why should you read it:
It's a very enjoyable Dystopian YA read.