Revealing Eden (Save the Pearls #1) by Victoria Foyt

Revealing Eden (Save the Pearls #1) by Victoria Foyt
Publisher: Sand Dollar Press
Publish Date:  January 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0983650324
Pages:  320



I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 So this story is set in a future where the heat and sun have gotten ridiculous and the darker your skin is, the safer you are.  Caucasians are now the minority due to their fragile skin and are called 'Pearls'.  African-Americans are the majority and everyone wants to be a 'Coal'. So much so that Pearls cover their hair and skin with a makeup of sorts in order to be more 'average' and pretty.  Also, in this world you must be marked to mate by age 18 or lose all resources on which to live.

Eden is a Pearl - she's whiny, self-centered and I kept hoping someone would off her...the sooner the better.  She's 17 years old, but most of the time came off as maybe 12 years old and then I was icked out by the sexual stuff.  Eden only seems to be concerned with mating and having children, yet she's described as being really smart.  Not that you can't be smart and married with children - look at me! ;)

Then there's the men:

1 - her boyfriend Jamal - he's a Coal, but no one can know about their relationship.  He seemed obnoxious right from the start.

2 - her boss Bramford - he's a Coal and acts distant with her, but at the same time he acts very sexual toward her.

No matter what, she seems to be fine with the domineering ways of the men toward her.

Spoilers:



Bramford is eventually genetically altered to be a jaguar/human hybrid.  Suddenly, whenever he's near, Eden is hot for him.  When he's not around, she seems to think he's a rotten person. Frankly, I'm weirded out by her being so hot over a part animal/part human...also by her letting men lead her around and not thinking.

The premise is a good one, but the characters were lackluster, the writing was stilted and the plot mechanics were awkward.