LitPick Review
I thought that Dark Eden, by Patrick Carmen, was a most enjoyable read. The plot line features a group of seven children who are struck with completely debilitating fears. These seven children are all the same age, and are all seeing the same therapist, Dr. Stevens. Dr. Stevens recommends a place called Fort Eden to help them with their terror. The story follows one of the children, Will, a fifteen year old teenager who already knows everything about the other people- and Fort Eden. The reason behind this is that he has hacked Dr. Stevenss computer and borrowed the files on it. He knows that something is amiss about the place, so he hides and refuses to enter. His hiding place is a place just outside the fort called The Bunker. In his race to find out what is wrong with Fort Eden, Will tries to save the girl he has been secretly watching for a long time, ever since the sessions with Dr. Stevens before Fort Eden. But will Will be able to save her, and deny her the cure, or will he even be able to save anyone? It will be impossible to stop reading once you get going.
Opinion:
I enjoyed reading Dark Eden, but it had large draw backs as well that made it hard to read in some places. Even though it had problems it was a very easy story to get swept away in. It had a good story line, fantastic characters that are really very easy to relate to, and a most puzzling dilemma. One of the draw backs I thought held the book up was that it seemed to be pushing hard for a creepy, slightly scary theme, but never really achieved it. Whenever it got a little bit scary, it always killed the suspense by adding good or happy elements to the book. The angle in which the story is written is through the observers eyes. I enjoyed this because I have never read a book like that, it was rather interesting. The other major drawback in the book was the explanation. The story seemed to branch out into a completely different story when it finally explained everything. The explanation never even seemed like it was trying to flow with the rest of the story. It almost seemed like the author took the easy way out. It was such a good book, and the story was so well written, however, that it I could not stop reading this book once I picked it up. This book may have flaws, but if you focus on them, you can never enjoy this book as what it is, a good read.
