Title: Children of Eden, Elites of Eden, & Rebels of Eden
Author: Joey Graceffa
Series: Children of Eden
Dates Read: 08 – 09/07/2024 (Children of Eden), 10 – 12/07/2024 (Elites of Eden), & 15 – 16/07/2024 (Rebels of Eden)
Published Date: 04 October 2016 (Children), 03 October 2017 (Elites), & 02 October 2018 (Rebels)
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 278 (Children), 288 (Elites), & 384 (Rebels)
Pace: Medium, for all 3
Content Warnings (May contain spoilers)
Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Forced institutionalisation, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Violence.
Who is this for? Teenagers, Young Adult, Adult
This book covers:
- A dystopian world where couples are only permitted to have 1 child
- A love triangle, including LGBTQIA+ representation
- Escaping the world you know
- Heroism/Saving your family & friends from certain death/torture
Format/Disclosure: Owned, paperback; Library, eBook.
Rating: 3.5⭐ (Children), 3.25 ⭐ (Elites), & 2.5 ⭐ (Rebels)
Review:
This trilogy opens with a bang with Children of Eden – I first read this book when it was newly released back in 2016 (When I was much younger and hadn’t yet found my groove with what books I enjoy reading), but even in 2024 it feels like it still holds up. It’s definitely not the best book, and as the series progress, the typos/errors just seem to get worse and worse, but the plot of the first book still stands strong. Although it’s clearly the type of book that is set up to be a series, I really wish it had just been left as a stand-alone book (Obviously with a different ending to make that possible), because the actual ending of the series? … Yeah, we’ll get to that in a bit.
The inclusion of a love triangle felt like they had a list of usual tropes and were just ticking them off as they went down the list, and the fact that it’s never resolved by the third book is frustrating. In a series that’s intended for young adults (Or teenagers, really), I don’t think it’s bad to wish for a conclusion to that. I think both Lachlan and Lark had their strengths, and although I enjoyed them both equally, there was something about Lachlan that had me rooting for him the entire time. Maybe it was because of all the mind-control/personality changing of Lark that swayed my decision – especially since I still don’t really know whose side she’s on by the end of the series.
The middle book seemed to be mostly filler. It feels as though the series could’ve easily just been a duology with some tweaking to the first and third books, and just removing the second book as a whole. Although there was obviously a lot that was revealed in the book, it also felt like nothing actually HAPPENED in the book. The introduction of mind control/alteration was obviously essential to the series, as well as the reveal of life outside of Eden, but it still seems like there was a lot of filler in there.
Now.. The third book… I honestly enjoyed majority of this book. I really enjoyed some of the new characters (& utterly despised others), but the ending? I honestly have no words. Of all the ways I expected the book to end… Yeah, that ending wouldn’t even be in my top 10 endings. Part of me wishes I could go back to a world where I had never read the third book and continue living in blissful ignorance. I just think the ending was silly. It was a non-ending sort of ending, where sure, Rowan makes a massive sacrifice and wow look how lovely she is, but also.. Nothing is actually concluded. The book ends with so many loose ends that will never be resolved, and there’s no good reason for that. I need closure!