Review: Once - Anna Carey

Where I got it: ARC from publisher 
Rating: 4 stars  

Cover Rating: 3.5 stars (It's okay. It's nice that Eve looks the same.)
Genre: Young Adult

Publication Date: July 3, 2012

Publisher: Harper

Page Count: 354 p.

Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads
Sequel to Eve

Eve's made it to Califia, but at a great cost to her. She's lost everyone she cares about, but has escaped the King for now. When Arden shows up at  Califia, Eve is relieved to have a friend there. Talk of Caleb being spotted makes it's way into the camp though and the other women seem weary of the girls. Arden and Eve decide they need to escape before they won't be able to. Eve is also desperate to find Caleb. You can't always believe what you hear from strays though, and Eve once again lures Arden into a trap that sets the girls back by getting them captured yet again. This time though, Eve is sent to The Sand City, where she will learn the true purpose of why the King wanted her.

So this novel may have been even better than Eve. I loved that we finally got to see the City of Sand and the King. This is a tricky novel to talk about though, because I don't want to ruin anything. This one didn't end quite as nicely as Eve, but that's alright, because I was already going to be dying to read the sequel. Eve still did a lot of really stupid things in this novel. She's just very naive and trusting and it doesn't work out well in survival situations. I wished we had got to hear more about Califia. She was there for awhile, but it's only a few pages before she's off again. I guess it was just boring there. The King...I'm still not sure how I feel about him. On one hand it seems like he's not trying to be a terrible person there are just things expected of him, but on the other hand he seems like a terrible person. I'm torn. There were a couple characters that had big parts in the story but not in the novel, so it would have been nice to get to know them. The characters we do get to know all seem to have ulterior motives, so it's hard to like any of them. This novel salso had quite a few surprises in it, though by now you can never trust what you think is going to happen. This was another excellent novel by Anna Carey and I can not wait to read Rise.

First Line:
"I started over the rocks, clutching a knife in one hand."

Favorite Lines:
"Curtis held up his hands in surrender. He joined us shuffling awkwardly around the cramped room."