EVE OF MAN

Fifty years have passed since the birth of a girl on Earth—until Eve, that is.

Sequestered in the Dome atop the all-pervasive Tower, Eve represents humanity’s last hope to slow humankind’s descent into irrelevance. Now 16 years old, she must choose a mate to procreate with under the watchful, stern eye of lead Mother, Vivian Silva. When meetings with the first two potential mates have disastrous results, the Revival program spirals into a state of utmost urgency. Complicating matters is 18-year-old Bram, a hologram pilot in the Extinction Prevention Organization. In defiance of threats from his abusive father, the brilliant Dr. Isaac Wells, Bram forms a bond with Eve, which disrupts the EPO’s plans. Slowly, Eve questions the reality shaped around her and begins to rebel. Meanwhile, Bram uncovers the Tower’s secrets and falls into the climate-ravaged world below, joining a rebel group of Freevers who wish to reclaim Eve as a symbol. Part meditation on reproductive rights, part dystopian thriller, the novel casts a wide web of intrigue, deception, and hope. Chapters alternate between Eve’s and Bram’s perspectives, fruitfully intertwining into a heady page-turner. Though Eve and Bram don’t rise above character archetypes, and the authors adopt a fairly rigid framework for gender roles and sexuality nearly devoid of queerness, there’s plenty here for fans of tales of humanity gone wrong. A white default is assumed.

An enthralling start to a trilogy.