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A review by lmelden
Eve by Wm. Paul Young
4.0
This book was so interesting!! I would've never even picked it up if it hadn't been for a recommendation from my MIL & I was hesitant bc of my assumptions about the author - I attempted the shack but quit partway through 1) bc it's really hard for me to read/watch violence against children 2) I remember not liking the dialogue. After finishing Eve and really enjoying it I am probably going to have to give the shack another try!
I will start with what I didn't like about the book - but first, there are two main storylines. 1) A girl named Lily is washed up on the shores of a futuristic, non-earth world where she is cared for by humans (and non-human spirit beings) as she tries to remember her traumatic past & discern her purpose in this new world 2) Lily travels by dreams & visions to the Beginnings of the universe and is a Witness to the creation of the mankind (the garden of Eden, etc).
I didn't particularly like the story line #1. It was pseudo sci-fi but sort of vague and hard to follow and the characters (mostly the peripheral ones) were not very convincing or compelling. I liked the allusions to biblical characters and the spirit beings were interesting (reminded me of Philip Pullmans trilogy!) but the dialogue was really rough at times - cheesy or just hard to follow.
With that said, I reallllly liked the #2 story line! Lily's story was so interesting and her visions of creation and the mythology were beautifully written. The descriptions reminded me of a mix of C. S. Lewis & Philip Pullman (in other words, wonderful). His take on the trinity was also fantastic - creator, energy & spirit, with plenty of feminine/maternal qualities. The narrative of the fall was also a very creative and thought-provoking take on the original myth and I really enjoyed all of it - without spoilers the dialogue, motives, and even the consequences of the Turning are not what you'd expect. Although the sci-fi story was a little hard to get through at times, the story of creation was enough to keep me turning pages (late into the night) and it gave me very beautiful imagery for not only God but creation, humanity and myself.
I will start with what I didn't like about the book - but first, there are two main storylines. 1) A girl named Lily is washed up on the shores of a futuristic, non-earth world where she is cared for by humans (and non-human spirit beings) as she tries to remember her traumatic past & discern her purpose in this new world 2) Lily travels by dreams & visions to the Beginnings of the universe and is a Witness to the creation of the mankind (the garden of Eden, etc).
I didn't particularly like the story line #1. It was pseudo sci-fi but sort of vague and hard to follow and the characters (mostly the peripheral ones) were not very convincing or compelling. I liked the allusions to biblical characters and the spirit beings were interesting (reminded me of Philip Pullmans trilogy!) but the dialogue was really rough at times - cheesy or just hard to follow.
With that said, I reallllly liked the #2 story line! Lily's story was so interesting and her visions of creation and the mythology were beautifully written. The descriptions reminded me of a mix of C. S. Lewis & Philip Pullman (in other words, wonderful). His take on the trinity was also fantastic - creator, energy & spirit, with plenty of feminine/maternal qualities. The narrative of the fall was also a very creative and thought-provoking take on the original myth and I really enjoyed all of it - without spoilers the dialogue, motives, and even the consequences of the Turning are not what you'd expect. Although the sci-fi story was a little hard to get through at times, the story of creation was enough to keep me turning pages (late into the night) and it gave me very beautiful imagery for not only God but creation, humanity and myself.