REVIEW: Once by Anna Carey

Once (Eve #2)  by Anna Carey
Publication Date: July 3, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Book Purchased by Reviewer
Buy it at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, IndieBound

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

In the second book of this thrilling dystopian adventure, Eve will come face to face with the King who has been ruthlessly hunting her and learn the shocking truth about who she really is.

Having managed to evade the soldiers hunting her, Eve finally reached Califia, a haven for women determined to live outside the oppressive rule of the King of New America. However, Eve's freedom came at a price: she was forced to leave Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve learns that Califia may not be as safe as it seems she sets out once again in the hopes of being with Caleb only to fall into a trap that sends her to the City of Sand and directly into the hands of the King.

Once at the stronghold of the King, Eve will uncover the real reason he was so intent on her capture, and the unbelievable role he intends her to fill. When she is finally reunited with Caleb inside the city wall, Eve will risk everything to be with him.

For some crazy reason, the first book in this series, Eve, gave me a severe case of The Feels. So you can imagine my disappointment when I pick up Once, and find that I am just a tad bit unimpressed with the outcome.  I mean come on, there should be a rule written in a place that only authors can find telling them that filling a book with tons of cliché’s is a mega “no-no.”

That being said, I still love the idea of the story and all the possibilities of what can happen next, in Rise, that I'm still fangirling over it a just little bit…does that make sense??? Yea I know, I'm weird like that lol

In Once, I think that Eve’s character has lost some fire. She seemed so strong willed in Eve, that I have to wonder what happened. I understand that she’s on the run, I understand that she’s being hunted, and I understand that she’s worn out…but I cannot, for the life of me, understand why she’s weakened over time. Until she hears news of Caleb, she is completely worn down and sad and depressed and everything else that someone would feel in her situation…but she SHOULDN’T be feeling it…it sounds like the only thing to give her inspiration is when she hears about Caleb. I don’t think that any woman should only be inspired when a man is involved. I think this book was the perfect opportunity for Anna Carey to really make Eve grow as a person. Instead she made her seem weak, needy, and totally dependent.

Getting that off my chest, I do have to admit that I really did enjoy the love scenes between Eve and Caleb. The love between those two is so beautiful and strong to me that I have to believe that something great will come of it, of them. With all the drama that’s happening there has to be some sort of happy ending for those two seemingly star-crossed lovers (::spoiler:: because they ARE lovers now! ::spoiler::)

And that ending…………….. I literally died. Dropped dead right there on the floor. OHMYGAW!! That ending was so perfect…perfectly wicked, perfectly cruel, and perfectly heartbreaking. I mean of course I knew things would take a turn for the worst at some point but I never imagined that things would end JUST.LIKE.THAT!!! I can’t  believe she did this to me, to Eve, TO CALEB…looks like after all that junk in the middle there just might be hope for the finale of the series, Rise…

And dare I say… I CANT WAIT!!!