Once by Anna Carey

GoodReads
368 pages, YA dystopian
Eve #2

Synopsis

When you're being hunted, who can you trust?

For the first time since she escaped from her school many months ago, Eve can sleep soundly. She's living in Califia, a haven for women, protected from the terrifying fate that awaits orphaned girls in The New America.

But her safety came at a price: She was forced to abandon Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve gets word that Caleb is in trouble, she sets out into the wild again to rescue him, only to be captured and brought to the City of Sand, the capital of The New America.

Trapped inside the City walls, Eve uncovers a shocking secret about her past--and is forced to confront the harsh reality of her future. When she discovers Caleb is alive, Eve attempts to flee her prison so they can be together--but the consequences could be deadly. She must make a desperate choice to save the ones she loves . . . or risk losing Caleb forever.

In this breathless sequel to "Eve," Anna Carey returns to her tale of romance, adventure, and sacrifice in a world that is both wonderfully strange and chillingly familiar.

My 2 cents
I liked this book much better than the first book, Eve.  There is a lot more suspense, if that is even possible, and more secrets of this scary new world come to light.  

Eve founds out more secrets of her past after she is captured by the King's Army.  These secrets are even worse than she thought!  So many things of this world scared me, and the entire world building was fully believable.  

There really isn't a lot of character development in this book, other than Eve herself.  My only complaint was at times, the book felt like a one-woman show! There were other characters, but other than just a few that we already knew, we didn't know and really understand any of them.  The development on the King was very good, and I really despised him by the end of the book!

The story was good, I was on the end of my seat and couldn't put the book down.  And BAM!  The story left us with a huge cliffhanger, so now I have to wait for the next book!  Which I will snap up as soon as its released, as I have to know what happens!  I give this book 4.5  stars, and it is definitely worth the read!