The Bane (The Eden Trilogy #1) by Keary Taylor

Title: The Bane

Author: Keary Taylor

Publish Date: March 5, 2013

Publisher: Keary Taylor Books

Pages: 352

Other Books in the Series: Rebirth (An Eden Prequel #1), The Raid (An Eden Prequel #2), Untitled Sequel - to be published in August of 2013

Buy the Book: Amazon

Rating: ★★★★

Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter. It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

The Bane is The Terminator meets The Walking Dead with a heart-twisting romance.

Previously published as Eden, due to reader demand it has been revamped and rereleased as The Bane: book one in The Eden Trilogy.

It's The Terminator but teen girl style. Instead of bulky men dominating the story, a girl is the main character and definitely beats out all the guys with her awesome skills. I have always loved The Terminator movies but was curious about where women came into play. This book met every sort of need I found in those movies and that made this book great.

The Bane by Keary Taylor tells the story of a magical cure meant to heal all ailments but suddenly becomes a deadly disease that is taking over the human race. People are becoming less human and more robot and their humanity seems to have gone with it. What little uninfected humans remain gather together in groups -- safety in numbers -- and try to protect themselves against the onslaught of these creatures, the Bane. This is the story of one of those groups called Eden and a girl named Eve. Eve cannot remember anything beyond being found by Avian and she does not know if she had a life prior to the one she is living now. Did she have a family? What even was her story? The only person with the answers to those questions is the new stranger to their camp, West. But he has secrets of his own that threaten to swallow the beautiful Eve whole. Can she survive learning about who she is while also clinging to the humanity that ties her to her friends? Will this deadly disease ravage all the uninfected camps until there are no humans left? Only time will tell and only Eve can save them.

Eve is the main character of this novel, in fact the whole story is told in her perspective. She is different from everyone else in the camp, she cannot tell what emotions are, she is hardly ever tired or needs to eat, and she does not feel pain. Everyone knows she is different but very few know why and even Eve is doesn't know why. Thrown into a world where she hardly understands anything, she must find her humanity and cling to it as the war only seems to get worse. Everywhere she turns she is losing friends. Everywhere she looks there is destruction and fear. I honestly didn't know what to think of Eve when she first was introduced to me because she seemed very disconnected from her emotions. Typically that is what draws you to a character in the first place. She was different though. I began to see her struggle to keep her head above water and her life as she once knew it was falling apart at the seams. Yet, I did not feel pity towards her. I felt love and friendship. Somehow along the way, she drew me to her and without even knowing it, I fell in love with the complicated character that is Eve.

Dear Keary Taylor,
You suck. You write this love triangle that rips my heart out. You made me doubt my beliefs on who was going to get the girl. But I love the two guys you introduced and they were both great. Why can't one guy be worse than the other? It would make my life easier....
Sincerely,
Bailee

.... Anyway, back to the review....

Avian is the type of guy who I would love to marry or date or something. There is something very compassionate about the way he treats other people. He doesn't seem people as soldiers or as leeches, he sees them as people who need him and who need him to be strong. A lot of the way he acts is because of that and he is more willing to give up his own happiness for someone else's if that was what they wanted. He was the person who first found Eve and her first memory is of him. He fell in love with the girl who struggled to feel anything for anyone and he openly admits that he is too shy to act on feelings for girls he likes. If he wasn't so wonderful, I would be saying that was his downfall but it's hard to ignore someone as great as Avian. He is the resident doctor of the people living in Eden despite the fact that he has no legitimate medical training outside of what the army gave him. He thinks on his feet and he is protective of the people in Eden. 

West was first introduced as a stranger who Eve finds while hunting but isn't actually a part of the story until he tries to rob food from the company and she catches him. From the very beginning, he is very secretive about who he is and where he is from. He seems to know Eve from the moment he saw her and acts very familiar around her which only seems to peeve Avian. She doesn't know what to think of this stranger who seems to make her feel things she's never felt before and yet makes her so mad that she wants to kill him all within the same breath. He steals Eve's first kiss which seems to prompt Avian to finally act like he feels something for her and the both of them only seem to confuse her more. He finally admits that he knew her prior to when she lost her memory and whenever they are alone, he seems to cause blackouts for her. He wasn't my favorite love interest for Eve and yet I could see why he was a worthwhile guy for her. Maybe I am just biased and love Avian.

I really liked this story. It was well developed and is a beautiful idea. So, go read it.