Revealing Eden by Victoria Foyt

Description: Eden Newman must mate before her 18th birthday in six months or she'll be left outside to die in a burning world. But who will pick up her mate-option when she's cursed with white skin and a tragically low mate-rate of 15%? In a post-apocalyptic, totalitarian, underground world where class and beauty are defined by resistance to an overheated environment, Eden's coloring brands her as a member of the lowest class, a weak and ugly Pearl. If only she can mate with a dark-skinned Coal from the ruling class, she'll be safe. Just maybe one Coal sees the Real Eden and will be her salvation her co-worker Jamal has begun secretly dating her. But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father's secret biological experiment, she finds herself in the eye of a storm and thrown into the last area of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land. Eden must fight to save her father, who may be humanity's last hope, while standing up to a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction. Eden must change to survive but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty and of love, along with a little help from her "adopted aunt" Emily Dickinson.

Epic Wins:

• Eden- She is a surprisingly strong main character head strong, self sufficient, and smart. 
• The concept- A future where because of extreme heat. it genetically deficient to be white. This creates an interesting scenario, pearls vs coals.
• The science- This includes gizmos/gadgets and all the other awesome technology they had. The science to change a persons very DNA was very thought out and intriguing. 
• This novel was like Beauty and the Beast meets Avatar in a blissful blender. Themes from both stories wind into this novel in unexpected way. 
• Bramford- There connection was more physical* but only because he was so dang mysterious. I rooted for him from the start but I wish you saw more of his personality. (*by physical I don't mean sex I just mean the flutter/shock when they touch.) 
• Eden's father- He was SUCH a nerd, a science geek to his very core. He always had wise things to say and a way of looking at things from a distance. 
• Adopted Aunt Emily- aka Emily Dickinson. Dickinson's words are quoted all over the book. Eden's mother quotes/read/loved Emily Dickinson's words so it's no surprise that in times of great need Eden summons these words.
• Message 1- Wait and see. This is the authors translation of don't judge a book by it's cover. Eden's father continually reminds her of this. Wait and see, don't jump to conclusions about people or situations. Wait it out and develop your own opinion. 
• Message 2- Take care of our earth, use it's resources wisely because they might just run out. 
• Message 3- For crying out lout if you like someone tell them this. It reduces mis-communication and the whiplash effect**

Epic Fails:

• **The whiplash effect- The Chemistry between Eden and Bramford was like fire, very hot. The only thing that bugged me was that with in the very same paragraph they would go from about-to-make-out to let-me-strangle-him. These happened all the time, there seemed to be no middle ground they were either in love or in hate. 
• Sometimes it seems like Eden's character was older than seventeen, maybe twenty-something. But then again a different society may force you to seem older than you are...who knows.  

Overall: Such a stunning novel based in a lively world. I truly loved getting to know Eden and her world.

just sayin,

-Kare