Synopsis: When Ezra dies, she thinks that will be the end. What she does not expect is to wake up in the Battles, a twisted game where people must kill to earn blood points in order to escape. In the Battles you have unlimited lives, the only way to truly escape the game is death by suicide.
As she figures out to survive, Ezra must decide whether to trust those around her. Allies are lost and gained as time goes on but, as she begins to find her place in this brutal world, Ezra starts to lose herself. When it is kill or be killed morality and humanity seem to become less important and as Ezra gets stronger, the harder it is for her to keep control.
Review: This book is dark, it’s the Hunger Games meets Alice in Borderland with a real sense of hopelessness. Although it does have similarities with various survival game narratives, the plot does not feel too derivative, likely because of the acceptance that there is no escape. The chances of buying your way out of the Battles are so slim, that people need to find a new purpose.
I enjoyed the portrayal of Ezra’s grip on her humanity and her loss of control as she embraced her powers. However, it felt like she adjusted to the ‘new normal’ a bit too quickly to be realistic. I would have expected her to reject her situation and her deadly powers rather than simply accept them with no issues about killing people. This may be the result of the action-based writing though. Like many action-filled books, the writing is not always the most expressive which leaves little room for internal monologues or detailed descriptions about the characters and their motivations.
That being said, the story moves along rapidly with an interesting plot and debates about what makes a ‘good’ person. I found it exciting to read and thought the world-building was done really well. The idea of the Battles is expressed nice and clearly which allows more room to be given on what this deadly atmosphere means for the people that end up there. The way the story ends definitely makes me want to read the next one and hopefully find out more about the world of the Battles and how and why it was created.
Recommend: This will definitely appeal to those who like YA dystopian/survival stories and don’t mind some gore and violence
Pages of Eden 