.Xpresso Reads.: Eve and Adam Review, Interview & Giveaway

Today, as part of the Eve and Adam blog tour, I have the hilarious Michael and Katherine over for a fantastic interview that I promise will amuse you! There's also a giveaway for you, and my review! Have a look:

Eve and Adam
Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate
Publication date: October 2nd 2012
by Feiwel & Friends

Sixteen-year-old Evening Spiker lives an affluent life in San Francisco with her mother, EmmaRose, a successful geneticist and owner of Spiker Biotech. Sure, Evening misses her father who died mysteriously, but she’s never really questioned it. Much like how she’s never stopped to think how off it is that she’s never been sick. That is, until she’s struck by a car and is exposed to extensive injuries. Injuries that seem to be healing faster than physically possible.

While recuperating in Spiker Biotech’s lush facilities, she meets Solo Plissken, a very attractive, if off-putting boy her age who spent his life at Spiker Biotech. Like Evening, he’s never questioned anything... until now. Solo drops hints to Evening that something isn’t right, and Emma-Rose may be behind it. Evening puts this out of her mind and begins her summer internship project: To simulate the creation of the perfect boy. With the help of Solo, Evening uncovers secrets so big they could change the world completely.

*A copy was provided by Macmillan for review purposes*

I don't know if it's the cover, or the latest craze of dystopians, but I was sure I was getting into a futuristic sci-fi novel when I started Eve and Adam. After only a few chapters though - confused about the lack of world building - did I suddenly realize that this is actually set in current day. This is not a bad thing at all, but my expectations did a complete 360 to which I ended up pleasantly surprised to have stumbled upon an intriguing sci-fi novel touching on genetics, and full of horrifying secrets.

While Goodreads says 300 pages, this novel felt even shorter as the chapters are small and plentiful. The downfall of this is nothing is very profound or examined deeply; the characters and plot are not incredibly developed. However, you can breeze through it in the blink of an eye which makes it a quick ride where you simply sit back and enjoy. It's a guilty pleasure read.

The fast pace keeps it entertaining and the twists holds your rapt attention. If you're wary of the sci-fi aspect, don't be. It's in no way confusing or overwhelming. Evening (Eve) is put on a simulation project to create the perfect human. Even though we don't get into it in great depths, it's still fascinating with vivid imagery; the eyes, the hands, the face - floating in mid-air - it's all being created and perfected by our protagonist. It's also incredible how you never really think of every little details that goes into individuality; every element counteracts another. Do you make him so smart he won't easily fit in a social crowd, or do you make him average but then he'll need to try harder academically? Do you make him muscled? If so 1) you can't give him too big an appetite or he'll simply get fat (nor too small or he'll get scrawny), and 2) you also need to make him enjoy working out to keep said muscles. This is just an example of specifics you have you consider. It's all very interesting and thought provoking. Plus, can any human really be perfect? Endless details go into to create a human to our liking. With our current scientific advancements, picking and choosing characteristics in our future babies is not implausible; the believability of this whole plot makes it even more engrossing.

Solo is the main male character we get to know in this book. He's got quite the brisk personality and I kind of liked his and Evening's snippy exchanges. Since he's been living inside the Biotech facility for years, he has thus acquired a lot of its secrets and inside knowledge. He's now discovering secrets; frighteningly disturbing secrets. The plot twists are fun even though they aren't exactly surprising. There's also a hint of romance in the book, but it's not abundant by any means. Aislin is another character we see a lot of - Evening's best friend. She's a fun addition, but I felt her storyline - drug dealing boyfriend constantly getting in trouble - felt irrelevant. It doesn't really add anything to the story. With the book being so short, we don't get into this side story with any kind of depth, making it seem mostly random without any emotional attachment towards their situation.

Original and intriguing, Adam and Eve is a fantastically quick read that I think would suit those looking for a light and breezy sci fi novel. I haven't found many true sci-fi (without being a dystopian) in YA, but I find them especially engaging and thought provoking, Eve and Adam is no exception.

4 Hot Espressos

Interview with Michael & Katherine

K is for Katherine, M is for Michael.

Q. What inspired the plot of Eve and Adam?

K: The book of Genesis.
M: Yes, it was inspired by the Bible. In fact, we consider Moses to be our co-author.
K: Just unpaid. He can't share in the royalties because he's, you know, dead.
M: And possibly fictional. But we do, basically, consider EVE AND ADAM to be the word of God, and people should know that if they don't buy the book they may be making a very powerful enemy. Just putting that out there.
K: We thought it would be fun to create the world's first and only Biblical Sci-Fi Rom-Com Thriller.
M: Pretty soon Barnes and Noble will have an entire aisle devoted to nothing but Biblical Sci-Fi Rom-Com Thrillers.

Q. How was it, writing this book with your spouse?

K: Oh, we've co-authored a lot of stuff, most notably the ANIMORPHS series.
M: But this time it was more peaceful, don't you think?
K: Much less yelling, yes.
M: We've mellowed with age. So much age. So much mellowing. Of course the tag line is "And girl created boy," so we had to think about just what we would do with that power. Katherine decided in the end, if she had that kind of technology, she would have created someone exactly like me.
K: Uh huh.

Q. How different do you think the book would be if either of you had taken it on as a solo project?

K: If Michael had written it there'd be much more death. Killing, pain, a very complicated plot with lots of violence.
M: If Katherine had written it it would be a literary masterpiece like THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN.
K: Okay, what is it you want? What are you after?

Q. Do you plan to write more books as a team in the future?

M: Actually, we are planning a sequel to EVE AND ADAM. We haven't decided what to call it yet. Abel and Caina?
K: Matthew, Mark, Luke and Joanna.

Q. Genetics is a very fascinating subject, in my opinion at least, did you have to do a lot of research for Eve and Adam?

K: Of course. If by research you mean that we read a couple of Wikipedia articles.
M: Well, that, and we created a mutant devil child using stem cells and the ingredients in our kitchen. Mostly Nutella.
K: I'd say we are both fascinated by genetics, by the opportunities, and the possibilities of therapies, and by the complex moral and ethical issues around it.
M: We are? Yes. Yes, we are.

KATHERINE APPLEGATE is the author of many books for children and young adults, include the award-winning Home of the Brave. Her husband, MICHAEL GRANT, is the author of the BZRK series and the bestselling Gone series. Together they wrote the popular Animorphs series. They live in Northern California with their two children and numerous unmanageable pets.