My review of Rise

Rise (Eve #3) by Anna Carey
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon | The Book Depository

How far will you go when you have nothing left to lose?

When she lost her soul mate, Caleb, Eve felt like her world had ended. Trapped in the palace, forced to play the part of the happy, patriotic princess of The New America—and the blushing bride of her father's top adviser—Eve's whole life is a lie. The only thing that keeps her going is Caleb's memory, and the revolution he started.


Now, Eve is taking over where Caleb left off. With the help of Moss, an undercover subversive in the King's court, she plots to take down The New America, beginning with the capital, the City of Sand. Will Eve be able to bring about a new, free world when she's called upon to perform the ultimate act of rebellion—killing her father?

*This review contains spoilers*

After losing Caleb, the boy who meant everything to her, Eve has to fill her position as Princess Genevieve and keep her appearance up alongside her husband, Charles. She can't trust anyone within the palace and daily plots with the rebels that plan to kill the King - her father. Eve has to decide what's best for her, the people, and the baby she now carries.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about the book right now, but one of the words I'd definitely use it: disappointed. I am very disappointed in this conclusion that Carey has given us. The trilogy has been an absolute wild roller-coaster. The first two books were great, but this one fell flat for me. 

The whole book dragged. I really loved the idea for the story line, but scenes seemed to be twice as long as they had to be. This book was not fast paced or unforgettable, unlike its successor Eve. There were some great action scenes that I must praise Carey for because I enjoyed them immensely.

Rise seems to introduce a lot of new characters, but also plenty of old ones. Now, in part of the book, Eve rescues girls from a School and decides to take them to Califia; a city with an aim to help runaway girls. The new characters? Well, I couldn't bring myself to care for any of them. We don't really get to know them at all, which made the journey to Califia seem pointless because what is the point of adding characters to the story if they have no purpose?

Eve is not one of the strongest or fiercest heroine out there, nor is she the most likable or easy to get along with. I felt that, in Caleb's absence, she just became a bit annoying. Sometimes I wanted to slap her for stupid decisions, and then others, I wanted to comfort her. Also, in this book, she is pregnant. And I felt like she was not thinking of the baby at all when she made life-threatening decisions. It's like she forgot that she was even having a baby...

One of the things that shocked me when I was reaching the end of the book was that everything was still in chaos and nothing really had been resolved nor explained, and there was only about 10 pages left. I had no idea how Carey would pull of everything in that amount of time. And guess what? She didn't. I'm left with endless questions about the characters and the society and the rebels and... everything.

I'm unsatisfied with the way the author has decided to end the trilogy. We have no clear answers, and I can't help but feel like Rise wasn't really the conclusion, like there will be another book that will settle everything. 

FORTUNATELY, Anna Carey has posted on her blog that there WILL be an epilogue in the paperback version of Rise that will be available in December. I am very much anxious to get my hands on that extra content.

Rise may not be the conclusion that we have all been waiting for, but I am thankful that I picked up the trilogy because it has been pretty good. Eve and Caleb are two wonderful characters and I have enjoyed my time with them. But for now, I will wait for the epilogue and hope that Carey will redeem herself by clearing everything. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to her future books!

My advice to those who have read Eve and Once: I don't think you should pick up Rise until December when you can read the version with the epilogue. I just think it'll be good not to be left in agony waiting to see how it really ends. 

Rating