In this follow-up to Eve, in which girls learned to fear men in the New America--with the exception of the King--Eve will risk everything she holds dear to save the ones she loves, including Caleb, the boy she has grown to trust.
The sequel picks up where the last book ended, at Califia, the all-female settlement founded more than a decade ago as a refuge for women and girls in the wild, and where Eve was forced to leave Caleb at the entrance for her own safety. Three months later, the now strong Eve still resides in Califia, where she's safe only until the soldiers hunt her down. Eve was promised to the King as the future wife who would bear his heirs. After successfully dodging the city's soldiers in the first book, Eve is captured and taken to the City of Sand. The King comes to her and confides a secret that raises the stakes for the final installment of the trilogy.
Caleb returns, but a twist reveals his true motives. Anna Carey skillfully reveals inner motivations for all her primary characters, including the King. The monarch's prominence throughout the novel allows the author to build sympathy for him as his story unfolds.
Readers allured by the elegant settings and sisterhood of Lauren DeStefano's Wither and who craved the forbidden romance of Lauren Oliver's Delirium will revel in this sequel. --Adam Silvera, assistant, Books of Wonder