Step Into Fiction: Blog Tour: Escape from Eden by Elisa Nader

Escape from Eden by Elisa Nader
Release Date: August 18, 2013
Publisher: Merit Press; 272 pages

Since the age of ten, Mia has lived under the iron fist of the fundamentalist preacher who lured her mother away to join his fanatical family of followers. In Edenton, a supposed “Garden of Eden” deep in the South American jungle, everyone follows the Reverend’s strict but arbitrary rules—even the mandate of whom they can marry. Now sixteen, Mia dreams of slipping away from the armed guards who keep the faithful in, and the curious out. When the rebellious and sexy Gabriel, a new boy, arrives with his family, Mia sees a chance to escape.

But the scandalous secrets the two discover beyond the compound’s façade are more shocking than anything they ever imagined. While Gabriel has his own terrible secrets, he and Mia bond together, more than friends and freedom fighters. But is there time to think of each other as they race to stop the Reverend’s paranoid plan to free his flock from the corrupt world? Can two teenagers crush a criminal mastermind? And who will die in the fight to save the ones they love from a madman who’s only concerned about his own secrets?

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I really thought this book was going to be more religious base and I was a bit skeptical about it. I don't like reading books that have a heavy focus on religion, it's not my thing. But I'm glad to say that this wasn't one of those books; yeah, sure - there's religion in it but it's not done in a bad way.

Eden is this perfect place where everyone gets along, everyone treats each other with respect they deserve and it's a very peaceful environment. But you know that saying looks can be deceiving? Yeah, that saying fits perfectly for Eden. There are many dark, disturbing things that go on behind the scenes that the residents don't even know about or they're too afraid to talk about.

The most disturbing scene in this book is a lesson on greed. My heart broke while reading this scene, absolutely gutted me. How could someone be so cold and yet be admired by so many at the same time? It was making me sick just reading about it but it's one of those things where as horrid as it is, you can't look away. That was this book, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all.

Then I thought that was bad but then I had suspicions about this special invite only, Prayer Circle. My gut was telling me the worst but I wanted to believe it wasn't as bad as what I thought it was. I can't tell you whether my gut was right or not but believe me, it's not all about praying, that's for sure.

I really liked our main character, Mia. She's different from everyone who lives in Eden, all she wants is to get out of that place but it seems everyone there worships the Reverend. It's not until a troubled boy, Gabriel, comes to Eden with his parents that her world completely changes. Both of these characters are strong willed, braver than they even know, with their own family issues but both passionate. It seems like from the first time these two came face to face there was chemistry there and an attraction that was pretty apparent. Their relationship was very rocky for most of the book and yet, entertaining. Gabriel's personality included lots of snark and smart-ass comments, he's the type of character I love and can relate to. Mia is more innocent which made their conversations highly comical at times.

There's a ton of mystery to this book, most of which you can probably guess but yet some of the things surprise you. Even you assume what's going to happen, it doesn't help the sickness you might feel inside. I'm not sure if this book is a standalone or the first of a series - it is left open at the end where there could be more but I'm not sure. I hope there's more because I feel like there's one major factor of this story still left unresolved. Regardless, this is a book I would recommend to any who are looking for something disturbing yet fantastic to read. A book with fantastic characters, cringe-worthy scenes and a fantastic world to lose yourself in.

Thank you so much to Xpresso Reads for allowing me to be a part of this tour. I very much enjoyed reading this book!

Hi. I’m Elisa. I like cheese and reading and TV show marathons. Writing is scary, but not as scary as, say, Civil War amputations. I’m an Aquarius. Uh… let’s see… I’m not very good at writing my own biography. Or autobiography. I guess this is reading more like a slightly incoherent personal ad.

Author links:
http://elisanader.tumblr.com/
https://twitter.com/elisanader
https://www.facebook.com/ElisaNader.Author
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6891472.Elisa_Nader