Eve of Man by Tom and Giovanna Fletcher: a review

Sometimes when I get my monthly credit for an audiobook, I have no idea what to get. I don’t always feel like anything in my Wishlist, and the recommendations don’t catch my eye. It’s in times like these, I’ll turn to a friend and ask them to recommend a book that they’ve read to me. I look for it on Audible, and give it a go. Last year, I listened to Phillip Reeve’s Railhead thanks to a friend’s recommendation. That book made it to number 6 in my top 10 last year, too.

            I am a little annoyed at myself for not taking notes with this book. I’m really good at taking notes with physical and e-books, but I always seem to forget with audiobooks. I’ll try to improve this, but it isn’t quite as easy taking notes on audiobooks. I often listen to audiobooks on the move. I listen when I’m walking around, doing my shopping, etc. so I can’t really just stop in the middle of Tesco to start writing down a whole paragraph about my feelings on what’s just happened in the book. I’ve just started another audiobook, and I’ll try to take more notes with that.

            Eve of Man by Tom and Giovanna Fletcher follows Eve and Bram. Eve is the first girl born after 50 years of only male babies being born. She’s labelled as the saviour of humanity. The book follows her as a young adult, as she is at the point of life where she can have children herself. Bram plays a version of Holly who is a hologram there to keep Eve company. He is not the only one to play Holly, but he was the first, and is her favourite. Everything changes when they meet in person for the first time.

            This book had me so emotional. I’m not ashamed to say it had me in tears more than once. I don’t want to do spoilers in this review. No bear stealing a jet-ski this time. However, just before Bram and Eve meet for the first time, there is a truly shocking and heart-breaking moment. I remember trying and failing to hold myself together. I also remember messaging the person who recommended this book because I needed to get my feelings out to someone.

            I absolutely adored the audiobook narrators: Charlotte Ritchie and Josh Dylan. The chapters are first person perspective from Eve and Bram’s point of view. Personally, I found that I preferred Charlotte Ritchie’s narration. I felt more emotion coming from her, but Josh Dylan’s narration was still fantastic.

            I definitely recommend this book. It’s especially good for those of you who love Y.A fiction. I know a lot of people that I know read a lot of Y.A books, so they should definitely give this a go. I’m really looking forward to the sequel that’s coming out next year.