Children of Eden: A Novel

By Joey Graceffa

Rowan is a second child in a world where population control measures make her an outlaw, marked for death. She can never go to school, make friends, or get the eye implants that will mark her as a true member of Eden. Indeed, her kaleidoscopic eyes may very well give her away to the ruthless Center government.

Outside of Eden, Earth is poisoned and dead. All animals and most plants have been destroyed by a man-made catastrophe. Long ago, the brilliant scientist Aaron Al-Baz saved a pocket of civilization by designing the EcoPanopticon, a massive computer program that hijacked all global technology and put it to use preserving the last vestiges of mankind. Humans will wait for thousands of years in Eden until the EcoPan heals the world.

As an illegal second child, Rowan has been hidden away in her family's compound for sixteen years. Now, desperate to see the world, she recklessly escapes for what she swears will be only one night of adventure. Though she finds an exotic world, and even a friend, the night leads to tragedy. Soon Rowan becomes a renegade on the run.

The first novel from YouTube superstar Joey Graceffa, Children of Eden is a thrilling and completely absorbing new book from one of social media’s brightest young storytellers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia
• Release date: Oct 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781925456295

Joey Graceffa

Joey Graceffa is a leading digital creator, actor, and producer, best known for his scripted and vlog work with YouTube. He is the author of the instant New York Times bestselling memoir In Real Life: My Journey to a Pixelated World and the bestselling novels Children of Eden and its sequel Elites of Eden. In 2013, he produced and starred in his own Kickstarter–funded supernatural series, Storytellers, for which he won a Streamy Award. In 2016, he debuted Escape the Night, a “surreality” competition series for YouTube Red that returned for a third season in the summer of 2018. Joey’s other interests include a proprietary accessories/home décor line called Crystal Wolf and supporting various nonprofit organizations for literacy, children’s health and wellness, and animal welfare. To learn more about the author, visit JoeyGraceffa.com.

Reviews for Children of Eden

[mjspear_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Set in a future world, where the one-child policy is strictly enforced, Rowan is the "2nd" child. Her very existence must be kept secret. Of course, she is uncovered and, on the lam, encounters a secret society of other outcast "seconds." Interior dialog is well rendered. Everything else, including the plot, setting, and the characters seem cliched, to this reader. Nothing objectionable, just meh.

[Gabi Summerfield · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A really interesting and gripping story. 'Children Of Eden' captures and comments on a post-global-warming world, and really challenges ideas of what makes us human. It's not always the best written at times, but the plot makes up for any lack of depth from the writing. This book creates such a clear image of a new and exciting world (at a first glance), and allows the reader to imagine themselves in the position of the characters, and what their lives may be like in Eden. All in all, a very fun book to read.

[mishker-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Earth and its ecosystems have been destroyed by humans. The humans that have survived now live in Eden, an oasis designed by Aaron Al-Baz, regarded as the savior of humankind. Everything in Eden is efficient, reused, recycled and highly regulated, even its citizens. At birth, everyone receives eye implants that track you as a citizen of Eden. However, with population control strictly enforced as one child per couple, Rowan, a younger twin, the second child, is hidden away inside her house. With no eye implants, she is unable to go out of her house for 16 years. Now, just as Rowan’s mother has found a way to integrate her into Eden, Rowan escapes the confines of her home and finds friends, adventure, a hidden world and a lot of danger.I am always intrigued by books with an environmental collapse since it is a very real possibility in our future. In this version, the Earth was slowly destroyed by humans, just as we are doing now. The hero in the story is shrouded in mystery, but Eden is working well and keeping people alive, unless you are a second child. I felt for Rowan’s plight and the unfairness of it all. There are some good parallels in here for strict population control measures that have taken place in the real world. I was very disappointed when Rowan almost loses it when she makes a stupid decision; however, this is when the action began to pick up. I enjoyed seeing Eden through her eyes and exploring the world that she had so far only heard about. Just when it seems that Rowan might be able to come out of hiding, everything seems to go wrong. Excitement, mystery and a daring thrill ride follow Rowan to the end where I was left on a ridiculous cliff hanger. A young adult dystopian that is different enough from others to stand out and deliver.This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

[strider66_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pros: engaging story, feisty protagonistCons: fairly predictable, created swear words are more distracting than usefulFor Parents: non-graphic gun and knife violence, torture scenes, some kissing, fake swearingEden is a closed world created when humanity was on the brink of destruction to save at least a few people until the ruined world was again fit for habitation. Rowan is a second child, illegal in Eden. Hidden by her family, she’s finally going to get a new identity and eye implants that will let her become a part of society. But she’ll also have to leave her family - and never return or see them again. In a fit of anger, she climbs the walls of her family home and escapes to the outside world, for a few hours of freedom. What happens during those hours creates rippling consequences that haunt the days that follow.If you’ve read a lot of dystopian YA none of this will be particularly new to you. The story runs in fairly predictable ways. The characters are generally what makes these books different and Rowan is a wonderful protagonist. She’s willful and determined, scared when out of her depth but able to push past her fear. She causes a few of her own problems, so it’s a good thing she’s resilient. Making her bi, or at least uncertain about her sexuality (without making a big deal out of it) was wonderfully refreshing. I liked both Lark and Lachlan as supporting characters, though Lark’s got my vote if the story develops more of a romance in later books.The story is quick and engaging. The world is well constructed. I thought it clever that there’s a fair amount of pre-Eden history but no Eden history. It gives the author options for the following books and I’m curious what he’ll do.I found the created swear words rather distracting and unnecessary. Instead of coming off as expletives, they confused me and bumped me out of the narrative.There’s a fair bit of violence including two torture scenes. Nothing is particularly graphic, and most of the violence has either a detached sense to it or is accompanied by the protagonist questioning the need for it and how the world should be better than this. There are a few kisses, but no other sexual content.While this isn’t highly original, it is a fun, quick read that will have you turning pages. It’s set-up for a series, and leaves you interested in the world and what’s going to happen next to the characters.

[jamestomasino · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This started out pretty interesting. I enjoyed the main character's relationship to her family and the new emerging friendship. When the action got started, though, everything quickly fell apart. Motivations were strained or forgotten completely, action became haphazard.

[james_patrick_joyce · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

First, I read this because my niece asked me to. She wanted to get my feeling about the book. Okay. Luckily, she wasn't ecstatic about the book, herself. And I'll admit that I'm not a big fan of a lot of things that are standard, in YA writing. So take my comments as you will.

Second, the only (minor) spoiler is hidden in a "spoiler" link. And it only spoils something from the first bit of the book.

Graceffa has potential. I say that because I didn't just give up on the book, even though it was continually annoying. There's a... likability to his writing style. I can't quite identify what it is, but it wasn't enough to make me want to follow his career.

In a nutshell, this story is about Rowan, a teen girl and second child, in a post-apocalyptic society that terminates second children. She "shouldn't exist". She is illegal, kept hidden. Of course, the society is secretly dystopian and she somehow ends up in the middle of the whole rebellion thing.

Wait... did I say "middle"? No, she's on the coattails/head of it all. As in, she does stupid things which thrust her into the limelight, storywise, then just gets dragged through most of it... or runs through (she really likes to run) most of it. And she really doesn't understand what's going on, pretty much ever.

Some issues I had:

Characters have no set personality/skillset.They're just whatever the story needs them to be, at that moment. Rowan has spent her entire life with only her father, mother, and brother, yet she has major social skills... when the story needs her to. And she has an amazing ability to parse social cues, without any experience in social settings. Like noticing slight pauses and precisely identifying what they mean.

Rowan's understanding of things seems impossible without a greater knowledge of prefail (contemporary) Earth than she has.

She gets injured, at one point. A sprain bad enough to cause noticeable swelling around the ankle. And it hurts and slows her down, as it should. Except when the story needs her to start running again and the sprain isn't mentioned, until later. Suddenly it's such a bad sprain that she has to hold back a scream. Then it's no big deal, again. In all such instances, it was only mentioned when the author needed to slow her down or rig up some tension/suspense.

Manufactured Suspense:

The Backpack. Just before Rowan goes on the run, for her life, her mother packs her backpack, so Rowan has no idea what's been packed. And her mother tells her that she's packed a secret, too. Mom dies. Anyway... Rowan runs, hides, has this experience and that, has a nap or two... basically, she spends a lot of downtime and otherwise kicks around without looking into the backpack. She thinks about it.(suspense) The author mentions it.(oooh, suspense) And the reader is left to wonder what important thing is in the backpack. I won't tell you, but it makes no frigging sense. That it exists makes sense, but that her mother gave it as a surprise doesn't. And this whole rigamarole is used to manufacture suspense when there isn't any, mainly because the story has no real goal.

EcoPan and Eyeballs. The EcoPan (an all-seeing AI computer system that runs everything) has data based on implanted retinas that all citizens have. Yet there's a whole bunch of nonsense suspense built around a pass card that shouldn't exist. When your eyeballs contain everything from your physical description to your banking details, you don't need no stinking pass cards.

It probably comes as no surprise that my final comment is that the world, itself, makes no sense. It's just various bit and pieces, stuck together and given Frankenstein life. Yick.

Sorry, Joey.You need a serious mentor or editor. Maybe a bunch of Alpha Readers. And, hopefully, the humility to take their advice. I gave it 2 stars, instead of 1, because there's something likeable about it. Like a fugly kid sister, or something.