My Pre-Reading
Paul's Review
Dark Eden 2 was very much like Dark Eden - same characters, similar set up, and same villain. However, I enjoyed this one better than the first one. I thought the whole battling death to defeat am immortal being was interesting, and I kind of liked how Will was forced to watch everything from afar - like he had chosen to do in the first book.
The only thing I was kind of concerned about was that the kids trusted Mrs. Goring in any capacity. She had done nothing in Dark Eden to earn their trust, and Will should have known that she would force him to tell everyone what he knew. And that Marissa would be angry with him. Also, shouldn't he have known who Mrs. Goring had trapped in the underground silo? I mean, how did he really plan on catching him anyway?
Ok, so Will wasn't exactly my favorite character. But he is a 15 year old boy, and I think all of his flaws and annoying tendencies made his character seem more real.
I thought Carman did a great job with the suspense throughout the novel. As soon as you get comfortable with what's happening, he throws another wrench into the mix and everything gets all screwed up again. And eventually, the kids have to get out of it on their own.
I think my favorite part was the play on words with the title, Eve of Destruction. I really liked how he fit it into the book, and I thought it was clever how he kind of just dropped it without making it too obvious.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who read Dark Eden, and to anyone who like middle-grade psychological thrillers. I thought both were an easy read, and if you're looking for something you can finish in a day and still be intrigued, I would suggest this duology. I give this book a pretty solid 3/5.
--Ashley
