Review: Fall of Eden by Michele Poague

Fall of Eden

Author: Michele Poague
Series: The Healing Crystal #2
Publisher: iUniverse.com
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Format: Ebook
Release Date: July 8, 2012
Source: Gifted to me from BetteRose Ryan
Rating: 4 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Myths are but shadows of a greater truth.

What is the Healing Crystal and who is the rightful heir? Is it a religious object or a powerful weapon? Does it belong to a fallen line of kings or to the colonists of Survin? Should its fate be left in the hands of the young and inexperienced Kairma or to Narvin, the last descendent of a line of kings?

Kairma holds the Crystal and believes she will become the next leader of Survin, while her younger sister Kinter, believes she, not Kairma, is the rightful heir. Narvin believes the Healing Crystal is the Star of Genesis, a powerful relic his ancestors have been seeking for centuries.
Determined to possess the object that will return him to his glory, Narvin is unwavering in his quest to possess it, and Kairma is caught in a fierce race across barren deserts and rugged mountains to a shattering finish where the winner must decide the fate of the world.

My Review:

This book isn’t going to be for everyone. There’s a lot of characters and a lot of information. To put it simply, there’s a lot going on. But if you're patient and in the mood for a really awesome scifi novel, then you're not going to want to miss this series. 

This book picked up pretty much right where Heir to Power left off. Everyone is safely back in Survin and preparing for the Harvest Festival. But then their town is invaded by Madics and Kairma is forced to go on the run to protect the Crystal. She is accompanied by Zedic, Collin, Naturi, Kinter, and Trep. The book switches between the perspectives of Kairma's group, The Survinees back home, and Narvin (the evil Overseer that is hunting down the Crystal). There's a lot of tension in this book as Kairma's group runs for their lives and I felt bad because they could never seem to catch a break. There are a lot of cool survival techniques in this book that I really enjoyed reading about. There’s a lot of talk of herbs and different plants you can eat. These people can pretty much do everything. They can hunt, collect the proper herbs, and tan hides. They are ready for the wilderness. I on the other hand, would die in the first five minutes.

I wish I could talk about all the characters, but we would be here for days if I did so I'll just mention my favorites. Kairma: obviously. She's really strong even though she doesn't think she is. Kairma struggles throughout this book to make the right decisions and she's constantly trying to please everybody (which of course never works out). I was proud of Kairma for holding her ground on certain issues though. It took courage to make some of her decisions and she did a great job. She does anger quickly and I felt bad for Kinter, her younger sister, who tended to take the brunt of her anger. At the same time though, Kinter did some pretty freaking stupid things in this book. I wanted to strangle her at times. 

Collin: I love this boy! He is so protective and so loyal to Kairma. But I want him to believe more in himself. He thinks that Naturi would make a better Comad (leader) than he would, but I disagree. I think Collin would be great for the job, he just needs to have more confidence. The romance between him and Kairma was so sweet. I "awwwed" several times throughout the book and got all the warm fuzzies.

Ris: He is a White One who ends up helping Kairma's group. I loved Ris. He was so insightful and so helpful. He is hated by most of the Survinees, but it didn't harden him or make him cold. He was cheerful, helpful, and never complained once, even when the hot sun was burning his skin. Great character addition by the author!

There was a lot of death in this book; Michele Poague was not afraid to kill her characters off, something I appreciated and admired. There are also a lot of dark things that happen including rape. I think that it was handled well, but just be prepared for it as you're reading. I did find that some of the emotions didn't translate well. I had a hard time connecting with certain characters. But this wasn't always the case. I was able to feel Kairma's inner turmoil very well and Kinter's whirlwind emotions.  My biggest complaint is that some parts felt a bit anticlimactic to me. We would get all this build up and then the resolution just fell kind of flat. 

There's lots of mystery in this book. You're constantly going to be wondering what is going on and how the world got to be the way it is. Well don't worry, we finally get some answers at the end of this book! And the answers are crazy and awesome. I'm so happy we got some more info and now I can't wait to dive into the last book, Ransom, which I'll be reviewing next week for the blog tour. I need to figure out what Kairma is going to do next! Happy reading all!

Have you read this book? Heard of this series? What did you think? How do you feel about complex science fiction novels? Let me know in the comments below!