Book Review: Blackbird by Anna Carey

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Blackbird
Blackbird Duology #1
Author: Anna Carey
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery
Released: September 16th 2014
Review Source: HarperTeen

This twisty, breathless cat-and-mouse thrill ride, told in the second person, follows a girl with amnesia in present-day Los Angeles who is being pursued by mysterious and terrifying assailants.

A girl wakes up on the train tracks, a subway car barreling down on her. With only minutes to react, she hunches down and the train speeds over her. She doesn’t remember her name, where she is, or how she got there. She has a tattoo on the inside of her right wrist of a blackbird inside a box, letters and numbers printed just below: FNV02198. There is only one thing she knows for sure: people are trying to kill her.

On the run for her life, she tries to untangle who she is and what happened to the girl she used to be. Nothing and no one are what they appear to be. But the truth is more disturbing than she ever imagined.

The Maze Runner series meets Code Name Verity, Blackbird is relentless and action-packed, filled with surprising twists.

Blackbird was a very interesting read. From the very beginning of the book, you come to learn the main character, “Sunny”, has no clue of whom or what she is. As the pages are turned, the mystery boils up as she tries hard to learn from her past.

How scary would it be to wake up in the middle of the day on train tracks while the train hunks at you to move out of the way? Not the best wake up method in my opinion, but this is how our main character is introduced. This unknown girl is lying there, on the tracks, struggling to get up. Within few minutes of being rescued, “Sunny’ finds a note saying not to contact the police. But… why? What have she done? Why can she not remember the past? This is what Blackbird is all about. Becoming “Sunny” and trying to put the puzzle together.

I must admit I had a hard time getting into Blackbird, becoming Sunny was hard due to the writing style. I believe if it was Sunny’s point of view only, then maybe I would’ve enjoyed it more and becoming her would’ve been a lot easier? But once you get used to the style, Blackbird becomes interesting. It becomes like The Bourne Identity, only that Sunny is something else. Sunny’s identity is revealed at the very last pages of the book. Throughout the book, you keep thinking and putting things together.

Blackbird is fast paced, here and there you get some clues and if you put the puzzle correctly then at the end you would come up with the right picture. Another thing to keep in mind is that Blackbird is part of a duology series, thus, leaving you with a cliffhanger. So if you’re in search of a good thriller novel, then Blackbird is the go to novel.

Blog Tour: Conversation w/ Anna Carey - RISE: An Eve Novel

Welcome to our stop on the blog tour for Anna Carey's RISE. Rise is the 3rd novel in the Eve series. Today we get to chat a little bit with Anna, Eve and Caleb. The blog tour is hosted by Woven Myst.

Follow Anna Carey via: Web • Goodreads • Facebook • Twitter

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OUaT: Welcome Anna, Eve and Caleb to Once Upon a Twilight. So excited to have all 3 of you joining me today to talk about Rise. How does it feel knowing Rise is the last book in the story?
Anna: I always say, it feels like we’ve graduated and all gone our separate ways. I know Eve and Caleb’s story continues, but I still miss them. I think of them sometimes, always with love.
Eve: I like that answer. Yes, what Anna said! We miss you too.

OUaT: IF there is anything in Rise you can take back or wished you would have done?
Caleb: [Laughs] I can’t say much on this. The publicist just held up a sign that says SPOILER ALERT! Eve?
Eve: I have regrets about things in the past. I hate that I left Ruby and Pip at School, I hate them I left anyone there at all. I wish I had talked to Marjorie that night I sent the message, and I should’ve never let Caleb go. Ever.
Caleb: [laughs] Big mistake!
Eve: [Laughs] But seriously. I’m a different person than I was when I lived inside the school walls. I’d been completely indoctrinated, I can say that now. I was so certain of everything they told me and they had lied. That took me a long time to fully accept. But in terms of everything that’s happened in the last months…documented in Rise…no. I don’t regret anything. I couldn’t have done any better.

OUaT: Eve and Caleb, how has it been to work with Anna in getting your words and emotions on the pages of Rise?
Eve: It was—
Anna: Great. Amazing. Fantastic. Next question?
Eve: [Laughs] It was though! It really was. Anna can speak for me, and she has…for three books. She captured my voice.

OUaT: Eve and Caleb if you can choose a person from any book or movie to bring them into your story, who would you choose and why?
Eve: I read one of the Harry Potter books in school—the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was actually the only one of the series we had in the library. A guard had recovered the copy from an abandoned car outside the walls. I always loved Hermoine. She’s so smart and tough. And I think, more than anything, I just want to know more about her. I still haven’t read the other six books! When things slow down in the City, and the transition is complete, that’s what I’ll do.
Caleb: I still haven’t seen many movies, unfortunately. That’s definitely on my list of things to do. I read a vampire book once. I don’t remember the name of it, but I’d bring one of those vampires back so it could turn me into one.
Eve: Are you serious right now?
Caleb: Just listen! After I met you I spent so much time in the wild worrying that something would happen…that I would die and I’d never be able to see you again. It would’ve been good to have a vampire around, just in case. It would be nice to at least have the option to live forever.

OUaT: Anna is Rise really the end? You don't think Eve will have more to tell? or possibly someone else from your book?
Anna: It’s the end…for now. Their story goes on though, and so does Arden’s, who’s sad she couldn’t be here to talk. I’ve always said I could write about these characters indefinitely. I’ve loved spending time with them.
Caleb: Awwwwww. [laughs]

OUaT: One more question before we all go. Anna who was your favorite to write?
Anna: Ack! I can’t answer that. I’ve loved writing all these characters, even the smaller ones who are only in the books for a few chapters. Benny and Silas, Marjorie and Otis, Charles and Clara and Beatrice. Even the King was an interesting character to write. I enjoyed them all.

Thank you Anna, Eve and Caleb for being here today and answering these questions - Yara

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Rise

An Eve Novel #3

How far will you go when you have nothing left to lose?

When she lost her soul mate, Caleb, Eve felt like her world had ended. Trapped in the palace, forced to play the part of the happy, patriotic princess of The New America—and the blushing bride of her father's top adviser—Eve's whole life is a lie. The only thing that keeps her going is Caleb's memory, and the revolution he started.

Now, Eve is taking over where Caleb left off. With the help of Moss, an undercover subversive in the King's court, she plots to take down The New America, beginning with the capital, the City of Sand. Will Eve be able to bring about a new, free world when she's called upon to perform the ultimate act of rebellion—killing her father?

In Rise, Eve must choose who to leave behind, who to save, and who to fight as Anna Carey's epic tale of romance and sacrifice in the chilling dystopia of The New America comes to a stunning conclusion.

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Book Review: Once by Anna Carey

Once
Eve Novel #2
Author: Anna Carey
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Dystopian
Released: July 3rd 2012
Review Source: Harper Teen
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) When you're being hunted, who can you trust?

For the first time since she escaped from her school many months ago, Eve can sleep soundly. She's living in Califia, a haven for women, protected from the terrifying fate that awaits orphaned girls in The New America.

But her safety came at a price: She was forced to abandon Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve gets word that Caleb is in trouble, she sets out into the wild again to rescue him, only to be captured and brought to the City of Sand, the capital of The New America.

Trapped inside the City walls, Eve uncovers a shocking secret about her past--and is forced to confront the harsh reality of her future. When she discovers Caleb is alive, Eve attempts to flee her prison so they can be together--but the consequences could be deadly. She must make a desperate choice to save the ones she loves . . . or risk losing Caleb forever.

In this breathless sequel to "Eve," Anna Carey returns to her tale of romance, adventure, and sacrifice in a world that is both wonderfully strange and chillingly familiar.

Once begins 3 months into Eve’s life in Califia. There is a brief retelling of the events from the prequel, Eve. If you haven’t read it, you probably wouldn’t need to in order to follow, but I would greatly recommend not missing a moment of this story. The flow between these first two books in the series is wonderful.

In the beginning of Once, a character returns that I wasn’t quite expecting to find in the story again. It was a character I loved and thought contributed to making Eve a much tougher girl, so I was pleased to see that person back. They leave Califia together and end up captured and separated again, which broke my heart. Just as quickly, Eve is taken to the City of Sand in New America and straight to the King. The secrets that unravel from that moment on left me spellbound. There were so many unexpected turns in the storyline. Not to mention the setting was brilliant. The City of Sand is actually what used to be Las Vegas, Nevada. The use of the buildings and locations within the city were amazing. I could clearly picture that New America beginning in the city of Vegas and taking shape.

Reviewing this book was difficult for me because I just didn’t want to give anything away! So many things about the story unraveled and took shape in Once that it left me gripping its pages as I read. The end was exactly what I was hoping it wouldn’t be - a torture-some cliffhanger. I cannot wait for Anna Carey’s last book in the series. Rise is scheduled for publication in 2013 and it will be on the top of my TBR list!

Book Review: Eve by Anna Carey

Eve
Eve #1
Author: Anna Carey
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Dystopian
Released: October 4th 2011
Review Source: Purchased
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her. 

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

(3.5 Trees)

The year of 2023 brings a deadly virus to humanity and wipes out most of mankind on Earth. As a small child, Eve loses her mother to the virus and her life is never the same. She is taken to an orphanage and quickly placed in a School for young women. The story begins on the day before she is to graduate as valedictorian at 18 years old. From School and on to the New America, the girls are promised great jobs doing what they love and a freedom they can only imagine. On that day, Eve find out what their future truly holds beyond the walls of the School. She decides that there is no way she will be a guinea pig for the King of New America.

Managing to escape, she’s alone and afraid in the wild. Until she comes across a fellow classmate who has also escaped the fate the King has planned for them. Although they’re an unlikely pair at first, Eve and Arden form a touching connection in the experiences they share. Arden is the tough one, but her walls eventually come down and I felt she developed a soft spot for Eve.

In the wild, they’re saved by a young man named Caleb. He quickly sets his sights on protecting the girls and takes them to safety. They’ve never even seen a boy or man while in the School, as they were taught to fear them. So, even though Caleb is kind enough, they are cautious of him. Eve is the first to let down her guard with Caleb. The sparks flying between them are easy to pick up on and it was nice to see love so innocently through Eve’s eyes.

The story of Eve and the path she chose was one that kept me hooked. I couldn’t have been happier to receive the ARC from Yara for the second part of the series. Getting to dive straight into Once by Anna Carey was amazing, especially for readers like me who have a hard time letting go of characters they love.