Eve (Adapted for Young Adults): How the Female Body Shaped Human Evolution

Written by Cat Bohannon

Narrated by Cat Bohannon

The groundbreaking New York Times bestseller is now adapted for young adults!  This is the 200-million-year story of how the female body gave rise to the human species and forever shaped life on Earth and what that means for us in the future.

Why do women live longer than men? Why do girls score better at every academic subject than boys until puberty, when suddenly their scores plummet? Is the female brain "wired differently?" These questions and common debates around scientific claims are thoughtfully examined in this adaptation perfect for young people.

This brand-new adaptation is a friendly, funny, and engaging read. It explores teen related topics such as mental health and the biology behind it, including insights on how adolescent brains are going through all kinds of changes, and shifting hormones. Author Cat Bohannon explains the roots of sexism and shows how, though it may have even served some evolutionary purpose long ago, it no longer serves us today, and it’s high time we leave it in the past.

Filled with amazing stories of both past and present, Eve will delight any young reader looking to understand the body—its amazing history, its wondrous capability, its oddities and mysteries, and its relevance to so many issues captivating contemporary thought and discussion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 25, 2025
• ISBN: 9798217015146

[lilac_lily01 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Eve by Cat Bohannon is a bold and fascinating deep dive into how the female body has shaped human evolution over hundreds of millions of years. The book moves far beyond the usual male-centered lens of evolutionary science, exploring how pregnancy, menopause, menstruation, and other uniquely female adaptations influenced the survival of our species. Bohannon writes with humor, intelligence, and a keen sense of justice for the overlooked female half of the human story, making complex biology and anthropology feel fresh and engaging.

What stands out is how Bohannon connects rigorous science with cultural insight, showing that understanding female biology is key to understanding humanity itself. At times the book can feel dense because of the sheer volume of detail, but the payoff is worth it. It challenges long-held assumptions about evolution and gives readers a richer, more complete picture of how we became who we are. Eve is both an education and a revelation, blending science and storytelling in a way that changes how you see the human body forever.

[gbnarang · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Male : Female
Sapiens : Eve

Brilliant to have put forward so much info into such a succinct volume. It's a must-read page-turner that felt like a freshly squeezed orange dripping with juicy insights on every page. The fact that 437 pages of the book have 434 references says a lot about the background of this book; combining history, biology and to some extent the spiritual essence that binds humanity together - glad to have completed reading it in the days of Navratri, a festival celebrating the female Goddess!

[melissarochelle_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Everything I love in a nonfiction (audio)book: lots of clearly researched information with fun footnote asides scattered throughout

[jwhite101 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Not great, DNF. Book starts by highlighting how women are different, what the biological differences that have evolved are for, how female POV and analysis of the female condition are underrepresented in science historically. Does a few drive bys on old white men etc.

After rightly criticising historical figures for relying on assumptions or cultural biases in their science she then, in the same breath, regurgitates irrational cultural narratives about sex and gender without the same scrutiny. Then wonders what people in the future will discover is wrong about what we think now.

A book about the “how the female body drove evolution” that also thinks sex is a social construct, mad!

Some of the gender wang stuff is ludicrous, she contorts herself to comply with her peer group’s mad beliefs and completely undermines what I thought was the intent of her book.

[kalliegrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Firstly, this is an inclusive book, so that was pleasant. I really enjoyed this, the look back at evolutionarily history and how females have driven a lot of the changes in our biology. I do agree with the most critical review on goodreads, that there seems to be a lot of natural selection assumptions that just don't play out. Talking about evolution choosing such and such a trait for future use feels creationist coded and I don't love that. Overall if you take some of the language with a grain of salt this is a really interesting book.

[vive_livre · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is blowing my mind. One of my faves of the year. There's some repetitiveness here and there but still...I am learning new things on almost every page.

[zomgpwnbbq · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book for the most part but I was expecting it to be a bit more serious. Some of the author’s conclusions and generalizations were disappointingly western. The closing comments about India without mentioning the history of colonialism and imperialism were striking. Overall this book is full of fascinating knowledge but claims lacking nuance and thorough examination.

[eavans-914612 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A comparative-lit PhD writes a science book: entertaining, but not very good science. Contains a lot of conjecture, a number topics the author obviously isn’t qualified to discuss, and has a weird chatty tone disguised as feminist (many eye-rolls). I had some fun and learned a lot, but I learned to take everything with a grain a salt until I looked at the study the author referenced (if there even was one). I’m happy she’s secured the bag but god damn, pop-nonfiction is poor.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story of human evolution, focused on female bodies and what their owners would have wanted. I didn’t love the flippant tone, but YMMV; there was a lot of interesting stuff there about, e.g., how breastfeeding developed, what fat is for, and how male and female human hearing differ (and why that might be). I also liked the point that the “prostitution narrative” for how monogamy developed—males would provide more regularly for babies they thought were surely theirs—had big downside risks for females and their babies; if males are sure who’s the daddy, then they predictably kill the infants that aren’t theirs whenever there is a power shake-up. Thus, monogamy only plausibly makes sense when females can be relatively sure that such tectonic events are unlikely.

[japaul22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a hard book to review, and part of the reason is that I'm still not sure what exactly it was. Was it a book about evolutionary biology focused on women? An anthropological study of female/male relations? A look at modern cultural norms and how they influence our lives? Pop science? Serious science? Comedy?

Did I almost throw it aside in contempt several times? Yes. Was it also true that by reading a few more lines I was hooked back in each time? Yes. So I'm confused.

Here's what I know. Bohannon organized her book into nine sections that are loosely organized by one evolutionary step that our bodies, minds, or culture took and focuses in each on how the womens' bodily or societal needs were really the driver for that evolutionary step. The first section looks at developing milk glands and the ability to breastfeed. The second is about the development of our womb and growing our babies inside instead of laying eggs. The third is about our senses - much of this seems to have evolved to raise our very needy young. The fourth is about strength vs. endurance. The fifth about our use of tools. The sixth about our intelligence. The seventh about the timbre of our voice. The eighth about why in the world it would make sense from an evolutionary standpoint for women to experience menopause and lose the ability to produce offspring for such a large portion of their lives. And the last about love - monogamy, rape, sexual constraints placed on women.

I bet just reading that brief description sounds a bit overwhelming. I don't usually do a ton of highlighting in my kindle books, but in this one I highlighted 88 passages! There is a ton of interesting information in this book and I think it will end up providing a lot of background context that I use in many other places. It's one of those books that I'd love to see read and reviewed by some other LTers. I'm just not sure it achieved a cohesive tone or synthesized all the fascinating information very well. But in the end, I think I'm glad I spent the time on reading it.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was extremely well-researched and contains a lot of knowledge. I learned something on nearly every page! It is also well written. The use of analogies and even a little humour make the science accessible to a general reader. The early chapters were jammed packed with facts and research results. The later chapters became increasingly speculative. As the author shows us facts we've missed or misinterpreted, I found myself wondering, at times, if her version was any more correct. But she is very clear about what she is surmising vs reporting so thsi isn't a major issue.

[pomo58 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Eve, by Cat Bohannon, is an extremely engaging look at what we have missed, or misinterpreted, in our ideas about the evolution of homo sapiens.

This is not really an academic book though it is probably more packed with facts and figures than most popular science books. It is because of Bohannon's almost conversational tone that the reader follows along quite well, even in the sections where academic-ish detail is necessary. While I hesitate to call it academic it isn't because the information isn't very well researched and annotated but because it can be read and understood by most readers with an interest. I think her extensive use of analogy, often with a touch of humor, also makes the learning seem easier.

Looking at key moments in our evolution, then shifting perspective to specifically include the female body, we find that a lot of what we have thought to be true is, at best, only partially true. Looking at systems that are specific to the female body offers alternative explanations for everything from who first used tools to who, and why, we first began walking upright.

While I would highly recommend this to readers who like to keep up with new ideas in science, I think this will also be a great book for those who might be thinking about what they want to do, whether as a career or, within academia, for their next research project. There are multiple opportunities to jump into a more specific area to further our knowledge and this is a book that, while not pretending to be a "social justice" book in the sense of emphasizing it, the information here can and should be incorporated into what we are fighting for. If you want a social justice book that simplifies everything and tells you what to do, this ain't it. If you're capable of taking information and using it within your movement, this will be a valuable addition.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.