What do readers think of Eve by Elissa Elliott? Write your own review.

The concept of writing the story of Adam and Eve as fiction based on the biblical account is what intrigued me to read this book. However, it didn't meet my expectations. I feel it wasn't well written and could have been done better. I'm sure many readers would enjoy the book in spite of my observations.

Eve is a wonderful and lovely story. Elissa Elliott has written about Eve in a way never imagined before.

Eve and her life burst from the pages, and I was "hooked" immediately. I flew through the pages, and the story ended much too soon. Now I'm beginning a second read -- this time much more slowly as I savor Elissa Elliott's beautiful language and storytelling.

I'm sure Book Groups will love this book. There is much to discuss, debate and imagine!

I've longed to know more about Eden myself. What was it like to be cast out? What was the garden? How did they survive afterward? Elissa Elliott's book tells you what might have been. I found it mesmerizing and once I picked it up, could not put it down. Each character was finely drawn and the plot, that of a early family surviving on their own and then thrown into a world of strange and exotic practices, practically leaped off the page.

Highly recommend. You won't walk away the same.

From the first paragraph of the prologue, Elissa Elliott’s novel Eve grabbed me and did not let me go until the end. Even then the story and the world of Eve, Adam, Cain, Abel, Naava, Aya, Dara, and Jarden haunted me for days to come. This is a beautiful and powerful first novel. Elliott’s choice of words and language are unique and gripping. This is the story we have always wondered about, and Elissa Elliott’s imagination has filled in the blanks and created an Eve who is a many sided woman, often loving and generous and often whiny and full of blame for others. It is Aya, the second daughter, who, because of her position in the family, is able to show us all of the other characters clearly.



I was reminded of The Poisonwood Bible with the multiple women’s viewpoint while reading this story. Elliott is a talented new novelist and I will watch for other novels from her in the future. In the meantime I will hold on to this novel to reread at my leisure.

After Eden -- what? Congratulations to Elissa Elliott for her imaginative fleshing out of the Expulsion story. My book club would relish the characters of Eve and her daughters -- each speaking from her own unique perspective, age and ability.

There were three main themes in Eve. First, it was a timeless story about a very dysfunctional family, with an emphasis on motherhood. The author’s telling of the complexities and emotions of motherhood I found touching. Second, while it was a story about struggling with faith emphasized not only by Eve’s desire to understand her expulsion from the Garden but also through the addition of the Mesopotamian’s and their worship of other and multiple Gods, I felt the story really spoke more to consequences. And third, accepting and making the best of one’s fate vs. living in the past, the latter of which cripples Eve.

The story was interesting and easy to read. However, I do not think the author painted Eve in a positive light. I suppose as a woman I expected to be inspired by Eve. Instead she annoyed me with her selfishness, naiveté, whininess and inability to move forward with her life until losing her most favorite child. I also struggled with the arrogance and selfishness of Naava. She felt more like a plot device to add drama and tension to the story than a person with any redeeming value. I loved the independence and spirit of Aya, her middle daughter, but still could not believe that she too could be as mean as the others (and in doing so set off a whole chain of events). In fact, except for Abel and Jacan, they were all fairly selfish and mean to each other and that grew tedious after awhile.

I was really excited to receive this book and jumped right in. I was disappointed though by the writing. I think this could have been a wonderful book but, like another reviewer mentioned, the characters did seem very much the same. I was also turned off by the "messages" in the book. I gave the book 3 stars because it isn't a bad book and I am sure that there will be many people that will really enjoy the story. I, however, did not.

I was quite intrigued by the premise of this book and was not disappointed. It’s a beautifully written story from the perspective of the women in Adam and Eve’s family. Even though you know the outcome of what happened to them and their male children, it was still a fascinating journey to get to the end. Ms. Elliott certainly did provide some good food for thought if nothing else.