ALA Booklist

Class valedictorian Eve hasn't left the School's compound since being brought there during the plague. Now, 12 years later, she is planning on becoming an artist in New America's capital. The night before graduation, she is tipped off by a classmate to the terrifying truth about her postgraduation fate. She escapes into an unfamiliar world, facing dangers from feral animals to men, whom she has been taught to distrust. Then she meets Caleb, who becomes an unexpected friend, and eventually more. The king's army continues to pursue her, lending immediacy to her survival struggle. Although this title covers familiar dystopian terrain, Eve is an appealing protagonist who, in searching for a safe haven, finds courage, determination, and the meaning of love. Her descriptive first-person narrative grounds the futuristic elements with references to real life, including geography, history, and literature. Interweaving romance and suspense, this hefty, absorbing first title in a planned trilogy leaves plenty unresolved and is sure to have readers anticipating the next title.

Horn Book

Sixteen years after a plague wiped out most of the population, Eve discovers she and her friends will be forced to repeatedly give birth to help repopulation efforts. Fleeing toward a safe haven called Califia, Eve encounters various friendly--and nefarious--characters along the way. While the writing is engaging, there are some plot holes (perhaps to be addressed in future installments?).

Kirkus Reviews

Category romance meets YA dystopia in this poorly executed trilogy opener specializing in juvenile romance and adult violence. Twelve years after a plague kills off 98 percent of the population, the United States is a monarchy. Girls are educated in boarding schools, reading literary novels and learning to paint and play the piano. Graduates, they're told, move on to learn a trade or profession. When the eponymous heroine discovers that the only trade they're headed for is broodmare (imprisoned in Spartan dorms, forcibly and repeatedly impregnated, bearing children in a royal repopulation scheme), she flees west, seeking the safe community of Califia. Finding assorted allies and villains along the way, Eve falls for manly, protective Caleb. (Gender roles are deeply regressive—next to Eve, Bella Swan is a radical feminist.) Conceptually childish, the plot never achieves credibility, in part because the style veers between awful and unintentionally funny. Unanswered questions abound: Why provide future broodmares with an elaborate great-books education? How can jeeps and trucks drive for days across deserts and up mountains without refueling or recharging? Isn't 12 years a short window for even the most efficient and dedicated evildoers to turn the U.S. into a full-blown dystopia? Count this calculated effort to surf the wave of popular dystopian romance a wipeout. (Dystopian romance. 12 & up)  

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Dubious gender politics and questionable character choices hinder this dystopian romance from Carey (the Sloane Sisters series). A generation after a plague wiped out 98% of humanity, orphaned girls like Eve are raised in secluded schools, conditioned to fear the outside, distrust men, and look forward to a comfortable life in the City of Sand. When Eve discovers what-s actually intended for her, she flees the school. Teaming up with another refugee classmate, Eve meets Caleb, a teenage boy who alternately attracts and repels her. Together and separately, the three struggle through numerous dangers in the postapocalyptic landscape, while Eve and Caleb fall for one another. First in a trilogy, the book squanders most of its potential on a premise involving repopulation through forced breeding, a -Wendy and the Lost Boys- scenario, and the protagonist-s naïveté and ill-considered actions. With rare exceptions, men are portrayed either as brutes to be feared or feral children in need of a mother figure. Similarly, women who aren-t complicit in maintaining the status quo are all but reduced to broodmares or objects of lust. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-This stunning debut novel in verse chronicles the teenage years of Lupita, a character drawn largely from the author's own childhood. Poised to enter her freshman year in high school, Lupita comfortably straddles the country of her birth, Mexico, and that of her family's adoptive country, the United States. She and her seven siblings live with their Mami, a gifted gardener and tender of her brood, and Papi, a hardworking construction worker. When her mother is diagnosed with cancer, the disease begins to sap the family's lives both emotionally and financially. The simplicity of the story line belies the deep richness of McCall's writing. Lupita, a budding actress and poet, describes the new English words she learned as a child to be "like lemon drops, tart and sweet at the same time" and ears of corn as "sweating butter and painted with chili-powdered lime juice." Each phrase captures the essence of a moment or the depth of her pain. The power of Lupita's story lies also in the authenticity of her struggles both large and small, from dealing with her mother's illness to arguments with friends about acculturation. This book will appeal to many teens for different reasons, whether they have dealt with the loss of a loved one, aspire to write and act, are growing up Mexican American, or seeking their own identity amid a large family. Bravo to McCall for a beautiful first effort. Jill Heritage Maza, Montclair Kimberley Academy, Montclair, NJ