I wanted to like this book. Obviously, I do not read books that I know I am going to hate. Unfortunately, I struggled with this one. I didn't hate it, but I didn't necessarily like it either. It was definitely an interesting read, but probably not one I'd repeat.
THE HEROINE
EVE
I really didn't like Eve. She's somewhat of a brat and incredibly annoying. more than once I felt the urge to smack her across the face. What was her problem? I seriously do not understand how someone can be so ridiculous and improbably irritating. There wasn't much to like about her and she was one of the most disconnected heroines I've ever read about. There was pretty much nothing to admire about her and I really really disliked her. Strongly. Unfortunately, with a complete attitude makeover and a whole new set of values and such, I probably would have enjoyed this book immensely more.
THE LOVE INTEREST
CALEB
Caleb was probably even more boring than Eve. I couldn't have given less of a damn what happened to him. He had pretty much no personality. I really kept hoping that he would just vanish of the face of the earth, but no such luck. I thought he was the most boring person in the universe. If I'm repeating myself, I don't care. He really was boring and that's why there's not much else to say.
THE FRIEND
ARDEN
I actually liked Arden. She's plucky and has something of a personality. Of course, she ended up being kind of a liar, which is inexcusable. Still, I guess it's kind of understandable. Well, anyway, she was probably the only semi-interesting character in this entire novel. Still, she could have done with some further development, although I admit that she is vastly more developed than Eve herself, which is poor characterization on Anna's part.
THE PLOT
Yikes. They call this thing a plot.
The plot of this book was pretty nonexistent.
It involves Eve on the run. Constantly. Which would be cool if there was anything interesting going on, except that there is nothing interesting going on.
Instead, it's really boring.
There were so many times where I was tempted to throw my ereader and be like, "Something happen already, dammit!"
Unfortunately, nothing ever happened.
It was also pretty predictable and even repetitive. The same things seemed to happen over and over and I was tempted to roll my eyes more than once.
THE ROMANCE
Oh my goodness. Instalove from a chick who knows absolutely nothing about love. Jeez, there is no romantic development whatsoever. Eve goes from hating Caleb to loving him in what seems to me to be a week at most, give or take a day or two. It's absolutely terrifying. I understand that she doesn't really seem to understand what love is, but that's still no excuse for the ridiculousness of the speedy romantic development. No one goes from suspicion to love tat quickly. Okay, no one. Case in point: I felt similar to the way that Eve feels about Caleb when I first met my boyfriend, but it took me two and a half years for me to admit I loved him. Not two and a half weeks. Nothing develops that quickly.
THE WRITING
Oooh. Anna's writing isn't my favorite. For one, Eve's voice is incredibly annoying and it kind of ruined the book for me. I mean, it might have been better in third person, but it's hard to look past Eve's voice. The description is sadly lacking and the dialogue is far from sparkling. I was so angry about that. Also, it's just not very good. Still, I think that there is definitely room to improve. I do see potential.
THE ENDING
Super predictable and boring. Probably bound to happen at some point, but not the best place to end a novel because it was too predictable. Still, I guess the ending could have been worse. I mean, it wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a tragedy or anything.
WRAPUP
All in all, Eve was good enough, and I have higher hopes for Once. I think that Anna really has potential and that if the story develops more then it could really be good and I love that. I feel that Anna really can grow as an author. This book wasn't my favorite, but debut novels are tough.
FINE.
**FINAL RATING: 1.75 STARS**
