I love it when a Dystopian novel manages to be familiar and yet fresh as the dew at dawn.

This book manages to tap into the zeitgeist that is the core of this kind of YA fiction, utilises it's most useful devices but then goes on to creates a story that sweeps you along, more than happy to buy into the idea that no female children have been born for fifty years and the hopes and needs (and machinations and schemes) have been placed squarely on the young shoulders of Eve, the only girl born since the anomaly that left the globe fearing for the survival of Humanity.

She is Plan A and B and C as well, so she has been kept "safe" by a group of older maternal types to protect her (and her fecundity) from taint both physical and emotional in a literal tower.

Her days are filled to the brim, there is learning of every kind, physical pursuits and of course socialisation with Holographic best-friend Holly. Her only young company this fashion plate girl , a confidant designed for gentle emotional manipulation in readiness for the event Humanity has been salivating for, a genetically researched union with one of three chosen young men, picked for their optimal potential to bring Eve to bear more female fruit.

Holly is a construct "piloted" by our Hero, Bram, who like his charge has been a prisoner of sorts from a tender age and that the two fall in love was never to be in dispute. He is part of an elite unit who in pairs become "Holly" the only men on the planet ever in even holographic proximity with Eve.

When Eve and Bram's accidental and wholly forbidden real life interaction starts a chain of events , the story elevates above teen romance and builds to a satisfying implosion of the status quo that provides for much potential for this story of the proverbial star crossed lovers.

Both become more than actors in a story predetermined by ruthless power hungry adults and start rebellions from within, revealing the dark and twisted underbelly of a regime that hides truths from those within and without the Dome, The only home Eve has ever known, it soon becomes a place of ominous oppression and fear that protects the living doll/incubator that Eve finds she has become to all but her most loyal friends.

I was much gratified that there is not a single whiff of a love triangle here, that the Fletchers play on the fears of their readers about the way humanity is destroying the planet, examine gender roles and the concept of fertility as a commodity. the comparisons with The Handmaids Tale with Mothers /Aunts being jailers with velvet gloves, will be unavoidable, but this was not a copy, but more a loving nod to the brilliance of the parts of that seminal story that made it so powerful as a inspiration. This all wrapped up in a rollicking good yarn with enough twists and turns in a solidly crafted potential future BRITAIN to keep even this jaded reader intrigued.

oh and yes you read that correctly it is set in BRITAIN that tips this one over to being my favourite of the genre since the Mockingjay series.

I have to admit, I was very pleasantly surprised by this book! The two voices come together wonderfully and the concept felt very fresh and original. I was caught up in all the action and will look forward to the next book in the series. I will definitely recommend this to my friends who like sci-fi light.

Initially I liked the concept of this book, I was interested to find out what events had created this dystopian world without women. However, once I started reading, the book really did not grab my attention like I thought it would.

The writing style wasn’t very engaging and I didn’t feel like the characters were particularly memorable and I wasn’t really invested in what was going to become of them.

All-in-all, I think this had a good concept but wasn’t really excecuted in the best way it could be.

Wow this was a really good read. It’s the first book I’ve given 5 stars to! The story is set in the future. No baby girls have been born for fifty years, then Eve is born. An organisation called Epo takes care of Eve unsuring she is safe and ready to start conceiving at the tender age of 16.

The main character Bram was full of depth and passion and I was willing him to succeed in his mission to free Eve. This is part one of a trilogy and I cannot wait to read what happens next. The story was original and even though it bears no resemblance to what’s going on in our near future it is believable. Well worth a read.

Tom and Gi Fletcher have managed to combine talents and create something truly great in 'Eve of Man'. Knowing before I went into this book that they'd planned it as a trilogy, by the end I can definitely say that this world has a whole lot more to give, and I'm excited to dive further into the world outside of Eve and Bram's bubble. With such an intriguing premise and an interesting execution, this feels like a new series ready to join the ranks of Scott Westerfeld's 'Uglies' as a mover-and-shaker in the dystopian world.

The YA tone of the novel is spot on, seeing as neither author has had much experience in that genre. They've definitely combined strengths! Romance, sci-fi and thrill, 'Eve of Man' ticks a lot of boxes!

Eve of Man by Tom Fletcher and Giovnna Fletcher captured my interest with its fascinating premise. And then I started reading and all the fascination was gone. The problem is that, once again, the YA dystopian novel relies on all the typical YA tropes, including the-more-than-beautiful-female main character. Furthermore, the writing style with its short sentences bored me. I couldn't really get into it, However, what bothered me the most, was the fact that the futuristic setting is based on "traditional" ideal; meaning the book bothers only with a representation of cis people. Additionally, all the male characters are mainly driven by their hormones so that they nearly explode when they see a girl, be it a real one or a simple hologram, It's so outdated.
All in all, I didn't enjoy the book.
--
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 STARS
This really appealed to me the idea of a dystopian landscape where female births have decimated to the point where the last XX Birth in fifty years is the honour of one young girl aptly name Eve.
Unsurprisingly she is one hot commodity; kept segregated from the common masses in the tower with the Mothers; Aged woman who have made it there lives vocation to raise her.
Eve is raised with the ideals that she alone is the last hope for humanity; a heavy responsibility for any young girl.
Her only companion aside from the mothers is Holly a kind of ready-made best-friend; she's a sort of hologram run by three drivers one of whom is Bram.
Bram and Eve, though they have never touched in person have sort of grown to adulthood side by side.
Despite only interacting through Holly; these two have learned to recognise each other.
And it's not long before the deep feelings these two inspire in each other spill over into real time.
So I did find this slightly disappointing sigh.
Not much really happens in the first two-thirds of this story, it's all Eve meeting the potentials and a whole lot of inner turmoil from both Bram and Eve and I did find things to be quite slow and plodding in nature a kind of slow build.
This didn't work for me really and I found my attention at times drifting somewhat.
Also, there's no real explanation for why things are the way they are which I found a rather perplexing fact.
I felt this was a missed opportunity to further expand on this unique backdrop.
So For me, this was all gearing up to be a 2.5 review then luckily things did kick up a notch going from snail pace to 100 MPH in ten seconds flat.
What a relief, With this then upbeat in the storyline, things really did improve for me rescuing "Eve Of Man" and reinvesting me in the storyline.
Eve herself finally becomes less of a victim and more proactive in her own life; her eyes are finally opened to what is actually occurring around her when she endeavours to break out of her bubble and take back some control of her own life.
Bram also came into his own eventually as well, though I do feel that he took the scenic route rather than the main road but never mind the point is he gets there eventually.
This is told in dual POV from Both Eve and Brams perspective and though there was a budding romance here this is a completely clean YA and the romance is more of a secondary concern the main focus being on the underlying greater purpose and the breakdown in society.
I also found this to be a very imaginative read, though I do think we are not giving the XY gene enough credit in regards to society's breakdown without the female input.
Ultimately I will read book two as I do want to know where this is going but I'm not sure how invested I am yet. watch this space.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC of "Eve of Man (Eve of Man Trilogy #1)" of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions are entirely my own.

The premise of this book was very interesting reminding me of The Handmaid's Tale of Margaret Atwood. I love dystopian novels, but it's hard to find really good ones. I think this falls in the mediocre group. It was an enjoyable read, but also was flawed in some ways.
It's told from dual perspective, the main characters being Eve and Bram. I liked their voices and that they were different. It made the story richer.

I love dystopias, but I really like when we get the hand of all the history, and the reasons behind that set up. I don't like loose ends. Although this world was very interesting, the details and reasons were missing. Why weren't there any females born, etc, the basic questions that come to your mind. I also found the writing a bit simple.
Yet, I think there will be a young adult audience who would enjoy this style together with the gender story. There's also romance element, that I'm sure they'd enjoy.

So, although I thought a bit more energy, motion and complexity would make the novel better, I'm sure it will be enjoyed by a lot of people as it is.

It took me a long time to get through this book. I started reading it before the release date and it took me until today to finish it, so 1-2 months. In the end, I will say I did quite like it though and it did leave me wanting to read the sequel -- just getting that out of the way now because the review will probably be more negative than positive.

There were parts of the book I really enjoyed and loved reading and for the most part, I did really like the main characters. I loved Eve's relationship with the mothers and the version of London in the story was pretty fun to imagine. The concept was intriguing and elements of the world really interested me, but then there was quite a lot of it that dragged. Bit's that were boring and too slow paced, bits that felt rushed (the contrast between the slow/rushed bits made it worse).

There were some things I wish they had explored or acknowledged more -- like Eve's sexuality. The book strongly hints that she's pansexual (or bisexual but the way it was presented in the book seemed like pansexuality) and I loved that, but it was never really acknowledged. As it is, I don't even know if the Fletcher's intended to write Eve as pansexual or not or if it was an accident of plot convenience.

Suspension of disbelief was difficult too, especially when it came to the fertility stuff (more the way they went about dealing with it and that fact that it was never really acknowledged that it's the genes of the sperm that determines the sex of a child, not the egg from the women, and all the testing seemed to be done on women and there wasn't really any talk of deliberately implanting only female embryos via IVF or anything in the 50 or so years that the story takes place in).

On one hand, I get that to an extent it's an unreliable narration, in the sense that the characters only know what they've been told, but it was still frustrating.

I wasn't fond of the sort of preachy aspect of Eve's narration in the latter part of the book, it seemed weirdly out of place in the story and for that character given the world she was raised in. And Bram's part of the story was a bit too effortless, everything would fall into place a little too easily.

Basically, the story was pretty good overall. It was entertaining but lagged in certain parts. If you like stories where the science is very sound and believable and makes sense, maybe give this one a miss, but if you're just in it for a fun dystopian read with similar themes to The Handmaid's Tale without all the darkness, then this is a good choice.

For the sequels, I'm hoping for a bit more to the scientific side of things and a bit more of Eve figuring out who she is and her sexuality. I'm pretty sure I know what one of the big plot twists of the next book will be too, so I'm excited to find out if I'm right or not.

I'd rate the book 3 out of 5 stars.

I read an extract of this book before finding out it was written by Gi and Tom, once I realised I just had to give it a go.
The genre isn't my usual thing, but it was great to read something out of my comfort zone.
I was pleased it was written from 2 points of view, I do tend to get sucked into a story more when this happens.
Eve and Bram are both brilliant characters and I'm looking forward to the next installment of the trilogy!
Thank you for the advanced reading opportunity.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have to confess I actually did not enjoy this book at all found it all so strange and weird, hence low review as I did not finish it. Sorry

Eve is the first female to be born in 50 years. In an ageing world destroyed by man, she’s raised away from the conflict in the ‘dome’ - a paradise of school lessons, dancing and talking to her AI ‘friend’ Holly. But there’s more to Holly than meets the eyes. As Eve approaches her 16th birthday, can she accept her inevitable fate as the saviour of her race, or will a forbidden love force secrets out into the open?

I tried to like this, I really did. On paper it should be right up my street. Dystopian YA, female lead, ideas of gender suppression - but I just found it incredibly simplistic and uninspiring. It all just feels a little bit ‘been there, done that’ with a rather unsophisticated take on The Handmaid’s Tale, and this idea that women have been oppressed and controlled, which seems to be a recurrent theme in dystopian fiction at the moment. The writing style is very overly descriptive in terms of feelings, which I don’t think really works here, as nothing is left for the reader to interpret and develop their own opinions. It’s all telling, with no subtleties, which I think hold have helped elevate the text.

The world building is also rather limited. Other than an overview at the beginning, which gives an outline into the current state of the planet and humanities apparent lack of respect for the environment due to no future generations to pass it to, there’s little explanation as to why the world is how it is. Why are no female being born? What exactly happened? Would a world full of mainly men really result in global catastrophes? I find this slightly condescending to believe. Perhaps this will be expanded on in future literature, but I really think more time should have been spent trying to flesh out the world that I was suppose to care about. The glimpses we see of life outside the dome were some of my favourite segments, and I found the hints of environmental destruction and how the ‘Freevers’ live far more interesting than any character in the dome.

Eve and Bram, as the two narrators, have very distinct voices and it was easy to differentiate when each of them is in control of the narrative which helped with the flow of the story. However, they do unfortunately suffer from what comes across as instalove, and I found quite a lot of their scenes together quite cringy - especially the gushy declarations of love. We’re given a background to suggest that Eve and Bram have ‘grown up’ together and know each other well, but they’ve never so much as touched. It’s a very ‘clean’ romance, which is rather childish and simple but to me it also feels more like infatuation, and the love of the unknown rather than romantic love - which makes the second half of the book and the motives behind it even harder to understand.

A major issue that I found in the book is this very clear divide in the story into two distinctive parts. The first half is very Eve focused, and centres around her life in the dome relationships with Bram and the ‘Mothers’, or ageing women, who care for her. The second half is very much more of a revolutionary fast paced action story. I found it quite jarring, although I did enjoy the second half more. However, again I found Bram’s story a little too ‘easy’ for him. Everything falls into place with very little struggle and strife, and his character goes from beaten down son of high powered genius to revolutionary leader without any real believable development of character. In comparison, Eve comes across as a damsel in distress as the story progresses, with little ability to really fight for herself without the help of others.

This could have been a good story about gender dynamics and the distribution of power in a world devoid of females and the continuing struggle to preserve the female race. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t enjoy it was much as I wanted, but I genuinely hope this finds an audience with younger readers as an introduction into dystopian fiction with an innocent romance.

The storyline was a great idea and the book delivered it well. I found my interest was kept all the way through and an really looking forward to the next one!

The concept is something that has been done before but I had really high hopes. The story was addictive but also a pretty uncomfortable read. Not sure the point being made against babies born "unnaturally" and overall found the whole thing a little cliched.

This book starts pretty slowly, I found for the first third or so I had to encourage myself to just keep going. It picks up, by the end of the book it has really started to find its feet but because it's the first book of a trilogy it feels like it then stops pretty abruptly and with so much story to come so it never feels like an entirely satisfying read. I'm interested enough by the main characters of Eve and Bram that I will keep reading, but I'm a little disappointed that as the opening part of a trilogy this book did not do more.

Wow, this had me hooked from the first page! Giovanna and Tom have created a well drawn out, complex society with a rich history. While I have read other books with a similar idea of girls no longer being born in the world, the authors have brought a fresh spin to the idea in a gripping and enjoyable read.

Eve is a likeable character, strong-willed but thoughtful and caring about those she knows and loves. She has been brought up in a very sheltered existence and is naive in many ways, but is always curious about the world. I loved seeing her character develop throughout the story and I look forward to seeing how she develops further in the rest of the trilogy.

The other key protagonist is Bram, who Eve has had a connection to all her life, although she's never known his name. I really enjoyed reading the story from his point of view. It helped me realise just how much Eve doesn't know about her world and just how many secrets are being kept.

The story is fast paced and there is an aura of mystery and secrets. I did find it a little cheesy at times when some of the characters talk about mother nature and what 'she' would want, but it did work in the context of the book.

The book ends on a major cliffhanger and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. 5 out of 5 from me.

I want to say up front i had no clue who either of these people were when i took an arc of this review to read. I took it because i love scifi and fantasy and it sounded very interesting.

This is based in a future world where women have lost the ability to give birth to daughters and only give birth to sons. The ability to further the human race has been eliminated and men destroy the planet after war after war after war. Fifty years after the last girl was born a older couple find out they are having a girl and all of a sudden they are thrust into the spotlight as saviours of the human race. A girl is Born Eve, but she is taken off her parents and kept in isolation in a 2.5 mile high tower to keep her safe until a time comes when she is of age and can start having her own children.

This wa a very interesting and philosophical book. It was very well written, it flowed very well. The premise was very original, ive never read anything like it before. I am almost 50 and was captivated by the story, i was unable to put it down. The book ends on a whopping cliffhanger and it was only when coming to this page to write the review that i saw it was the 1st book in a trilogy. I think that is exceptionally clever because this is absolutely crying out for movie adaptation, i am genuinely surprised the rights havent been bought already frankly, this could have the ability to be as big as the Hunger Games if not more so, because everyone will be rooting for Eve and Bram. I also love the fact that the euthors have based this in London which is great as places were familiar to me, and i could picture the whole thing happening as i was reading it.

Thank you to the authors and the publishers who gave me a copy of this book to read and review. I am going to keep an eye on these 2 authors as i think they are going places with this.

I wanted to like this book because I think Tom and Gi are fantastic people and I expected to like it because Gi is a talented adult writer. However, I could not click with this book.

The first half was okay. From the first page, I was nervous it wasn’t quite my taste. The writing is very simplistic and abrupt but in a way that doesn’t engage me. The story is very much told to you so there’s not a lot of clues you need to pay attention to and sadly, that left me bored. At this point, though, it was a ⅗.

The second half changed things. The story became fast paced but I felt unmoved by everything that was going on. I didn’t care about any of the side characters like Frost and I was waiting for Eve to become the badass I wanted her to be, but she never did.

The characters were stereotypical, the writing was boring and I ended up not caring about any of it at all.

I understand that for the sake of the story, gender was going to have quite a narrow view. It still made me sad that Eve is a damsel trapped in a tower and Bram is the macho guy on a mission to save her. There’s no thought to sexuality either, like, what if Eve was a lesbian? No thought was put into the fact that LGBT characters could exist. A sentence somewhere to acknowledge this would’ve been nice. The narrow worldview made me uncomfortable and added to the boring/predictable elements that left me extremely disappointed with this story,

This is a wonderfully absorbing book. It is written with a cinematographic feel - I could see the film scenes and characters being brought to life. There are some great twists and turns and some striking challenges to concepts of freedom, control, AI, deceit and existence. All in all a page-turner and I look forward to the next instalment,

I really struggled with this book and found it hard to get into. I put it down on several occasions for long periods of time.
Eve is the first girl born for 50 years. Now she has reached 16 the time has come to match her with a chosen young man. Eve has been closeted and spoilled as well as educated since the day she was born. She knows very little about the world around and matching her is not as easy as it should be with plenty of young men to choose from!
I have read a great number of young adult books and find the style tends to be very like an adult book. Authors don't generally talk down to the reader. However I felt that this book was very juvenille in its style. The readers aren't told so many things - the details of how the world got to the stage that it is at & why there should be total world collapse. On the other hand there is far too much explanation of silly minute details of Eve's hair, clothes and lifestyle. I found it tedious. The characters were quite bland and shallow and I struggled to find any connection with Eve. Bram, one of the other main characters was slightly better but still lacked depth.
The book was very slow at the begining with very little to get your teeth into for quite a considerable while. I only read to the end as I felt obliged to for the review. Under other circumstances I wouldn't have bothered. I certainly won't be seeking out other books by these authors.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.