Name: nina 's review of Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau
Item: Dividing Eden
Rating: 4
Author: nina

Joelle Charbonneau

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Testing trilogy comes a sweeping new fantasy series, perfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Sarah J. Maas. Twins Carys and Andreus were never destined to rule Eden. With their older brother next in line to inherit the throne, the future of the kingdom was secure. But appearances—and rivals—can be deceiving. When Eden’s king and crown prince are killed by assassins, Eden desperately needs a monarch, but the line of succession is no longer clear. With a ruling council scheming to gain power, Carys and Andreus are faced with only one option—to take part in a Trial of Succession that will determine which one of them is worthy of ruling the kingdom. As sister and brother, Carys and Andreus have always kept each other safe—from their secrets, from the court, and from the monsters lurking in the mountains beyond the kingdom’s wall. But the Trial of Succession will test the bonds of trust and family. With their country and their hearts divided, Carys and Andreus will discover exactly what each will do to win the crown. How long before suspicion takes hold and the thirst for power leads to the ultimate betrayal?

Dividing Eden

Sami D

nina 

** spoiler alert **
           (view spoiler)[
3.5 stars

Andreus needs a good slap up the head. 
He tried to make his sister weak, but that only ensured that she was strong. Get rekt, son (hide spoiler)]

Nicole Dykeman

Enjoyable, but not truly memorable. It didn’t make me feel things, ya know?

Lila Harrison

3.5 rounded to a 3.
Dividing Eden was a quick, fun, but ultimately somewhat forgettable read. I sped through the book, but just days after finishing it, I find myself struggling to remember exactly what happened in Dividing Eden. It felt a bit like it went by too fast.
[Review Continued at Hardcover Haven]

Caitlyn DeRouin

I wanted desperately to like this book, the premise sounded great and I love fantasy/adventure/fairytale stories, but it just fell so flat for me.

The world that was set up was cool, I liked the idea of the windmills keeping everything lit so that the monsters stayed away and the whole twins who have secrets and protect each other thing. But I was already bored by the 3rd chapter. This book isn't long, normally a book this length I would finish in a day or two so I could sleep, but once I set this book down I didn't really want to pick it up again. I kept hoping it would get more interesting, but it really didn't.

None of these characters were all that likable. Carys' whole aversion to anything feminine was annoying, and honestly something I find to just be lame writing. It's 2018, a strong woman can also be feminine, so really I need all authors to stop writing their 'strong female characters' like that. I will say though, as the story went on Carys grew on me a bit and by the end I at least didn't hate her. Andreus on the other hand was annoying, childish, whinny and just all around frustrating. At the beginning he basically just went around sleeping with anything wearing a skirt and then became an absolute jerk? I honestly wanted to punch him in the face for about 90% of the book. Also, Imogen was the absolute worst and was obviously manipulative and Andreus is an idiot for not seeing that.

Truthfully the one thing I actually really liked about this book is this quote "call to the winds and study the stars"

Tiffany Engler

I really enjoyed this book! I didn't think I was going to end up liking it. But I really did! It wasn't a five star read for me, though. If it were more fast paced, it would have been.

There are some other things that are making me rate this a four star instead of five. There were just so many things left unanswered. I'm sure they will be answered in the next book but I wanted to know them now.

I liked how the idea of this book was executed. I liked that there were actually trials for Carys and Andreus to see who will rule Eden. I loved all the betrayal in this book. I loved all the twists and turns. 

This book did have a slow start. But once it picked up, I didn't want to stop reading. This book gave me a mixture of characters from which I could love and hate. I loved the variety of good and bad that was included. It had me aggravated at some characters for being so blind. It had me hurting for some characters that did nothing but good and were punished anyway. 

I'm excited to see what happens in the next book, Eden Conquered. 

4/5 Stars

I wanted to love this book.

I really really liked the concept, while a little done-before/cliche, and I'll admit I was completely suckered in by the cover. I freaking adore this cover. 

But I honestly just found the book underwhelming.

The blurb for this book tells you that the MCs, Carys and Andreus, must participate in the Trial of Succession in order to gain the title to the throne. And yet it wasn't until 4 hours into the audiobook that story actually got to the Trials. 

Now if everything up until this point had been world-building and character developing I may have been okay with this. And yet it wasn't.

Despite all the time it took to get to the main plot line, at this point I knew two things. 

A) there was a war but who it really was with (there seemed to be more than a few names mentioned) and what the actual status of the war was (are they in mortal peril? are they winning?) wasn't really known. 

And B) the MC's were twins that stuck their necks out for each other, however this fell apart pretty quickly despite how much it was emphasized. Also, there was some vague dark, eerie stuff happening but not really elaborated on. And there was a youngun' slave boy who kept popping up.

Not much else. 

The actual grisly bits of the story all seemed pretty flat and dull. Again, I was underwhelmed. 

And the ending seemed a bit out of nowhere. I felt as though there was next to nothing as far as foreshadowing. Or perhaps I was bored by this point and had missed something important. 

A lot of people seem to have enjoyed this book, but it just didn't give me anything that I haven't read in a much better and more engaging style elsewhere.

Celia Adams

Okay so as a part of an extremely dysfunctional triplet dynamic, I'm gonna be honest- I adore twin stories! I have been so excited to read this book since I first saw it, because I am obsessed with finding stories depicting two people connected since birth in healthy and loving relationships.

This. . . was not that book. 

I should have realized how problematic Andreus and Carys' relationship was earlier on, but it took a lot for me to see how they basically had a parasitic dynamic with Carys constantly sacrificing everything for Andreus' sake and Andreus not only taking it without question, but believing he deserved it (He literally at on point thinks, and I quote "Everything was supposed to have been his"). So yeah, this did not make for a great sibling relationship.

Made for one hell of a story though. 

So the set up definitely wasn't what I expected, but it was still great! The world created was pretty cool and unique. There were some parts that were pretty predictable- the 'misunderstanding' about the curse for example.

I definitely think the strength of the books as in it's characters. Carys is an addict who puts herself through unnecessary torture to protect her brother's secret, often at the cost of her own pride and self. But she's still compassionate, selfless, and brave. Andreus, besides being a colossal brat, is a whore who doesn't understand not he can't just have anything he wants, but he's still kind and dutiful. Imogen- okay let's be real I should have seen Imogen coming earlier, but her character was really well done. I liked how they ended it with her, she would have been a boring villain if they drew it out. everyone else was cool too.

So I thought this was gonna be a trilogy, but now I guess it'll be a duology, which is fine with me, though I would have read a trilogy. I've said before I'm tired of the hero-turning-into-a-villain trope, but this is a rare exception, because this face-heel turn was actually really well set up and developed. That being said, I hope Andreus can be saved. I'm not sure how Carys can knock sense into him, but her speech towards the end makes me think they're setting it up for her to save him somehow. Guess I'll have to see.

Charlot van Dijk

Ik heb dit boek gelezen voor The Awesome Bookclub. Het eerste deel van het boek was ronduit saai. Er gebeurde vrij weinig en het leek erop alsof alle karakters teveel uitgewerkt moesten worden, terwijl je nog steeds geen idee hebt wie bepaalde karakters zijn. De tweede helft van het boek werd spannender en toen kon ik wel mijn aandacht erbij houden. Als ze nou de eerste helft eraf had gehaald, dan was het een super leuk boek geweest. De schrijfstijl is apart te noemen, maar het leest niet vervelend. Al met al zou ik dit boek niet zo snel aanraden, al denk ik dat ik deel 2 ook wel wil lezen, puur om te weten hoe het afloopt.

Jeri

Actual Rating: 3.5 for my girl Carys.

OKAY. So I had different expectations for this book, particularly with the characters and the Trials, but I can't say I didn't feel some emotions while reading this.

Honestly, I expected more challenge and intensity from the Trials. It sort of lacked the type of excitement I'm looking for when I hear "Trials," you feel? The way each challenge was described, as if they were extremely difficult and life-threatening, felt kind of trying-too-hard for me. I would have enjoyed the book more if I were catching my breath with every new challenge, but I merely found myself flipping to the next page without even batting an eyelash. That was such a big let down for me because I was looking forward to some intense twin-on-twin battles.

As for the characters, WELL. I particularly loved Carys, but ANDREUS. BOY, OH BOY, ANDREUS. I expected an intimidating, quick-witted, somewhat cold-hearted guy, but what I got was a hopeless little ass. I cannot believe how easy it was to manipulate him, and how stupid he can be during the most dire circumstances! He was so easily blinded by temptation and pride and greed, his morals were so weak I just couldn't handle his POV! He is everything his sister is not, which is why I sided so much with Carys the entire time.

There are some parts, I believe, that left me a bit confused. I'm not sure if it's because of the wording - it felt like the author was trying too hard to make the sentence complex even if it was irrelevant to the main thought - or because the world-building was a bit rushed and/or lacking. I did find myself tearing up during Carys's speech because of how nicely it flowed, like it was truly from the heart. Other than that, though, most of the emotions I felt was frustration and indifference.

I'm not sure if I would still read the sequel. I guess if I want to pass some time while waiting for more awaited book releases, I would, but I wouldn't consider it as my priority right now.

Sami D &
Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau

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Sami D &Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau

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Sami D &
Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau