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Tuesday 17 December 2013

AFTER EDEN by Helen Douglas

After Eden
When mysterious new boy Ryan Westland shows up at her school Eden Anfield is intrigued. On the face of it, he's a typical American teenager. So how come he doesn't recognise pizza and hasn't heard of Hitler? What puzzles Eden most, however, is the interest he's taking in her.

As Eden falls in love with Ryan, she stumbles across a book in Ryan's bedroom - a biography of her best friend - written fifty years in the future. Unravelling Ryan's secret, she discovers he has one unbelievably important purpose ... and she might just have destroyed his only chance of success.
 
 
Firstly, I just wanted to mention how much I love the cover for this book. Isn't it lovely?
 
Eden is an average teenager who hasn't thought much about the future. She lives with her aunt and doesn't particularly like her aunt's new boyfriend. She enjoys spending time with her friends, and like most of the girls in her grade is totally smitten with the mysterious new boy in school. Ryan's cute, but he's a little strange and no one can pinpoint his accent. What teenage guy doesn't know what pizza is? And he's also lacking in the historical figures department. Actually, he doesn't seem to know as much as he should about the twentieth century. But that's okay, because he's a really nice guy.
 
The more time Eden spends with Ryan, the more she likes him. But she soon realises that he's hiding a huge secret, one that involves one of her best friends, Connor. Ryan's on a secret mission--an unbelievable mission from the future. As soon as she accidentally stumbles on Connor's biography, which was published in the future, she becomes a part of the mission.
 
As Eden tries to help Ryan and his family change the future, she's also fighting not to lose her heart to this guy. And if that's not enough, by getting involved, she not only alienates her friends with her strange behaviour, but her life is in danger.
 
I knew nothing about this book when I received it, but the concept sounded interesting. So, I picked it up and started reading. Before I knew it, I was almost halfway through and was totally lost in Eden and Ryan's interesting story. The book starts out like a YA contemporary, but as the story slowly unfolds, the time travel element is revealed, and I was totally hooked!
 
After Eden is a contemporary story hiding a futuristic angle. No, it's a time travel romance that takes place in contemporary England. Either way, it's a wonderful story that strung me along until I got to the end. I enjoyed seeing Eden start out as an average teenager without any ideas about her future, and become an extraordinary person willing to sacrifice so much to save the future.
 
I hear there's a sequel coming out next year. I can't wait to see where Eden and Ryan end up next... 
 
After Eden, January 2014, ISBN  9781408828694, Bloomsbury Childrens
 

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