Book Blurb:
Eve 2.0 by Winter Lawrence
YA Action Adventure Fantasy | Science Fiction | LitRPG
Publisher: Fire & Ice Young Adult Books
Date Published: August 27, 2019
Gwen Nielson is a gamer and she’s damn proud of it. Her mother may be a former beauty queen and her kid sister may participate in every pageant the state of Colorado has to offer, but Gwen is content to stay at home and play on her Xbox. To her, life isn’t about fashion and make-up; it’s about making a difference and keeping a low profile. And while most of the girls at her high school hang out at the local country club vying for the popular boys’ attention, Gwen is cool with having a boyfriend she’s never met. Pete is a fellow online gamer who lives in California. He’s funny and sweet, and his father owns a gaming company, which is an added bonus because Gwen gets to test out new games before they’re released to the public.
When Pete mails a new game for her to beta test, Gwen patiently awaits its arrival, but the package is never delivered. To make matters worse, when she calls to let Pete know, she discovers that he’s at the hospital after succumbing to a mysterious illness. Hours later, an ambulance arrives next door because her neighbor’s youngest son, Ben, suddenly becomes ill too. His parents and doctors aren’t sure why he has slipped into a coma, but when Gwen finds her opened package in Ben’s bedroom, she begins to suspect that the game is responsible for both of the boys’ eerily similar conditions.
Even to Gwen, the idea of a game making people sick sounds absurd, so she decides to test her theory before going to her parents. Unfortunately, her neighbor’s older brother, Ryan, insists on checking out the game with her. That’s when they discover that the disc isn’t a game at all—it’s actually a portal to a high-tech government simulator named Eve 2.0 who’s programmed to trap players until they can complete all of the timed objectives.
With her top-notched gaming skills, Gwen is a formidable opponent, but she quickly begins to realize that playing a game versus living it is a lot harder than she ever imagined. And as the objectives become more difficult and the four kids are forced to work as a team, Gwen concedes that she may not be as good as she needs to be, which just might end up costing her not only her own life, but Pete, Ryan, and Ben’s too.
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My Review:
5 Out Of 5 Stars
Genre: Another-World, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Survival, Suspense, Teen--
Teddy and her long distance boyfriend Pete are occasionally beta testers for Pete's dad's video game company, so when Pete tells Teddy that he sent her a new game she thinks nothing of it. But when her young neighbor falls terribly ill and then Pete does as well, Teddy feels like there might be a correlation- and the correlation is the new game, which her neighbor was delivered by mistake. Teddy realizes that she may have to play the game to understand what happened to the two boys...and hope that she can get out...
I had been wanting to read Eve 2.0 for a while now, since I spotted it months ago in my Goodreads feed but for some reason I just did not get around to it. Well, I am so sad that I did not read this sooner though since it was fantastic! I am a sucker for books about video games, either being stuck in them, creating them, loving them- all it I just enjoy. So the premise of a gamer girl who gets stuck in a virtual reality system that keeps putting her into so many random, pretty stressful games sounded just about perfect. This was like a mash-up of Tron meets Ready Player One meets the teen drama of Sixteen Candles, in the best of ways and I blew through the book in a single day because I could not put it down. As a side note, I am glad that I read this around Halloween since there was some incredibly spooky scenes (a la Silent Hill level of creepy for those who know games) that had me on the edge of my seat. Ok, let's be honest, most of the book had me on the edge of my seat since survival was not guaranteed. Be it the wacky kids games that felt like a mix of Shrek meets some sort of questing game, to the stressful realistic first person shooter, to the puzzle solving creepy RPG, I was there for it all and super stressed out for the characters. Each world was so cool and well thought out, with med packs and weapons and a goal all it's own. On top of the video gaming aspect, the plot was incredibly twisty so I could not predict where the characters were going to be sent next.
I loved watching Teddy evolve as a character through the story. We don't really know her until she is thrust into the game world and her true personality and emotions came out, usually under duress. I liked watching the relationship dynamics between Teddy, her boyfriend Pete who she never actually planned to meet in real life, Ben her cute young neighbor that she loved like a brother, and Ryan the nosy, annoying older brother to Ben who just might be Teddy's arch nemesis. Teddy hates Ryan when the book begins but the reader is not really certain of why- and as the saying goes, there is a fine line between love and hate, just saying.
As per Goodreads, the book is listed as the first in a series but based on the ending I feel like everything was wrapped up nicely and there were no loose ends. But, that being said, I am so there for another book in the series if there will be one! Eve 2.0 was just what I wanted it to be, full of adventure and virtual worlds, with interesting character development as well as a romance that I knew was coming but I still enjoying watching unfold. I would not change a single thing about this story and I recommend it to anyone who loves action, alternate realities, video games, and romance.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this title.
Winter lives in the moment and loves nothing more than being surrounded by her family, her fur-babies, and a ton of great reads! When she doesn't have her nose stuck in a book, she's usually thinking up far away, fantastical worlds or she's cooking up a storm in the kitchen!
Because of her love for all things literary, Winter pursued a Master of Arts degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. Professionally, she is a manuscript editor and, in her spare time, she enjoys hosting author spotlights, posting book reviews, and teaching creative writing workshops.
In her private time, she is an avid reader of science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal romances, and one day she hopes to inspire young readers in the same way her favorite authors continue to inspire her today.
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