Starts off a bit disorientating but brings it home in the end.
Genre: Y/A, Science Fiction, GLBT
No. of pages: 289
From Goodreads:
Two girls, one destiny.
Yarrow is an elite: rich, regal, destined for greatness. She’s the daughter of one of the most powerful women in Eden. At the exclusive Oaks boarding school, she makes life miserable for anyone foolish enough to cross her. Her life is one wild party after another…until she meets a fascinating, lilac-haired girl named Lark.
Meanwhile, there is Rowan, who has been either hiding or running all her life. As an illegal second child in a strictly regulated world, her very existence is a threat to society, punishable by death…or worse. After her father betrayed his family, and after her mother was killed by the government, Rowan discovered a whole city of people like herself. Safe in an underground sanctuary that also protected the last living tree on Earth, Rowan found friendship, and maybe more, in a fearless hero named Lachlan. But when she was captured by the government, her fate was uncertain.
When these two girls discover the thread that binds them together, the collision of memories means that their lives may change drastically—and that Eden may never be the same..
This book was disorientating at the start and it took 100 pages to figure out what the heck was going on. There was no connection to the prequel ‘Children of Eden’ at all. But when the story got going it was a doozy. I really enjoyed the second half of this book.
I feel character development and relationships were sacrificed for action. While I was totally engrossed with all the goings-on, there were many missed opportunities to build attachments to the main cast.
Yarrow/Rowan still possess that adventurous spirit, a dash of naivety, and a whole lot of spunk, but I wanted a bit more from her in this instalment. She doesn’t really get a chance to do much for herself, she’s caught up in a whirlwind of colour, action, and espionage that it felt like she was treading water in a rough sea.
I loved Lark’s role in ‘Elites of Eden,’ but felt like the story changed gears as soon as things started to get interesting. Lachlan wasn’t so prevalent and felt more like a prop to the storyline. With both of these characters as potential love interest for Yarrow/Rowan it added tension and a strained group dynamic. But we don’t delve too much beyond attraction and measuring a person’s worth – there’s none of that real world politics and social pressure leaving the interactions in their purest form.
There are some banger twists and turns, none of which I predicted. It ends on a note that had me saying ‘What tha!’ out loud, and both excited to read what comes next. The story is not done yet. And now with the finale to this trilogy ‘Rebels of Eden’ already released, I’ve got it in my shopping cart for my next book haul.
The writing style possesses a charm all of its own, an innocence, but overall the narrative felt choppy because of the departure from the first novel, and then lots of action after re-establishing itself. I loved all the plot points and am invested and intrigued, but this was a harder book to get into.
On a personal note I wish there was a little more hype and hint about this series – a year with nothing and then a release with little to no fanfare… I was eager for more and surprised that with such a prolific author in the social media scene that Keywords did not market the novel more thoroughly. Maybe they thought his notoriety would sell it for them?
Overall feeling: intrigued but underwhelmed
© Casey Carlisle 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Casey Carlisle 
I’ll have to start with book 1 to understand the importance of the book. I don’t want to be lost. Sounds good though