Title: Revealing Eden
Series: Save the Pearls, #1
Author: Victoria Foyt
Publisher: Sand Dollar Press
ISBN: 9780983593119
Tags: Young Adult, Dystopia, Romance
Source: Netgalley
Hearts: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Eden Newman must mate by age 18—or die! But who wants a lowly, white-skinned Pearl, worthless in a world ruled by dark-skinned Coals? In a post-apocalyptic world where resistance to solar heat defines class and beauty, Eden is at the bottom of the heap. All she has to offer is the secret to save the dying human race, a secret that may just get her killed. She hopes one Coal sees the real Eden and will save her—she is secretly dating her handsome co-worker. But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father’s biological experiment, she is thrust into the last remaining patch of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land, and into the arms of a beastly man who she believes in her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction. Eden must fight to survive, but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty—and of true love.
Review
Eden is a Pearl, a member of the lowest caste, which means her prospects for a mate are slim. Very slim. However she’ll need to find someone before her 18th birthday in 6th months. Otherwise she’ll be thrown outside. With no food, water or oxygen and she’ll fall prey to the Heat. A deathly and horrible disease…
Fortunately she has a potential mate. He’s even a couple of castes higher than she is. Which means that it will be easier for her children to get a mate. Jamal seems to like her too. Eden is waiting patiently till he asks her. Maybe tonight at the party? Which she isn’t allowed to attend because of some mistake from someone else. Her boss, Bramford, grounded her!
Eden ignores his orders and sneaks away to go to the party. On her way she’s followed by some shady people who continue to bother her at the party. Fortunately she’s rescued by no less a person than Bramford! *gasp* He takes her to the lab where Eden and her father work on a secret experiment. An experiment that would change their world. It was supposed to take place tonight, but something went wrong. The FFP have entered the building and are trying to prevent the experiment from happening. They even prepared an attack!
That night Eden’s whole live changes. She’s just not sure if this change is for the better or for the worse…..
What an amazing story! Victoria Foyt has a very engaging writing style. I was easily sucked into the story and only with the greatest effort did I manage to let it go afterwards. Foyt describes a fascinating and at the same time frightening world after an apocalypse. A world were your skin color determines your caste, your chance of finding a mate and the jobs you’re allowed to do. It felt like we’re back to the times of slave traders and such, but with a twist. This time people with a darker skin are superior to the “pearls”. It was very intriguing to read about this kind of future. I was surprised with myself that I found this book this interesting, since I’m usually not so fond of everything dystopia. But not this one!
The Jaguar Man was also quite appealing. It was not a real shapeshifter or werewolf, but something in between. And with a scientific background! Not something I encounter often and very refreshing! It gave a whole new perspective on my favorite genre. I quite liked this vision of a beastly man with well proportioned… everything ^^ And of course beastly behavior. Jummy! I really liked the growling and sometimes cave men behavior 😉
That said it’s quite obvious I like, even loved, Ronson Bramford. He’s a beastly handsome, bad guy, hunk with a lot of emotional baggage, always there to rescue Eden from her next escapade gone wrong *rolls eyes at Eden*. Aka the dream of every woman, or at least mine 😉 And the commitment he has! For her and everyone else he considers part of his family. That made him rise to the top of my list with most dreamy men ^^
And then there was Eden. As you noticed with my eye roll I wasn’t that happy with her. For the first part of the story at least. During that time she was a naïve, egoistic, fickle, distrustful person, who refused to really “open” her eyes and see the world in a new light. The results are quite annoying and too predictable for words. I had to put the book away, repeatedly, cause I just couldn’t stand her behavior anymore. The compelling writing style and the HUNK, however, managed to bring me back every time. And I’m glad for it. Cause she had her HALLELUJAH moment. Thank god. And afterwards she became a more likable person. Someone who doesn’t only think of herself, is able to see what the consequences are and has opened her mind to new things. I finally grew to like her!
Conclusion
4 HEARTS. It’s a very compelling book, with an engaging world and interesting story. It features one of the most dream worthy hunks I’ve ever come across in a book. Only drawback was Eden’s behavior. Fortunately she sees the light halfway and from then on I grew to love her and is this book a joy to read.
Site note:Before I start my review I usually check what other readers thought of it, this time too. And I was surprised: there were a lot of one star reviews on Goodreads. The reason? The racism: black people are superior to white people in this book. Before I continue let me get this straight: I condemn racism. For me everyone is equal, regardless of their skin color or whatnot. But I didn’t get why everyone gave the story one star just because of this. If it was because the story was boring or you didn’t like the main character, I would have understood, but just because racism is used in this story? I was baffled. And wondered: what if this was a history roman and the roles were reversed. Everyone wanted to be white. Cause back in the days there WAS racism, you were inferior if you had a darker skin. Not everyone acted like that, but still. Would reviewers still give it just one star because there is racism in a historical roman? I don’t think so, cause it’s a fact that there was racism back in the days. That’s also how I viewed this book. In the future that Victoria Foyt in this fictional story created there will be racism. It’s just a fact in this book. There’s also a different beauty standard. The darker the skin, the more beautiful you are. I didn’t think further than that, I just accepted that it was part of the world she built and continued reading this terrific story.
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What did you think of it? Please leave a comment 😉
Save the Pearls
- Revealing Eden
- Adapting Eden
Witchmag's Boekenplank 
I recently finished Revealing Eden and I must say that you explained Eden’s character perfectly. She forced me to put away the book again and again because she acted so blindly. Thanks for the honest review!
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Thanks for the compliment! Yeah, she was annoying at first wasn’t she? And what did you think of her after her halelujah moment?
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