[Review] Escaping Eleven by Jerri Chisholm
My name is Eve Hamilton, and on my floor, we fight.
Which at least is better than the bottom floor, where they toil away in misery. Only the top floor has any ease in this harsh world; they rule from their gilded offices.
Because four generations ago, Earth was rendered uninhabitable—the sun too hot, the land too barren. Those who remained were forced underground. While not a perfect life down here, I’ve learned to survive as a fighter.
Except my latest match is different. Instead of someone from the circuit, my opponent is a mysterious boy from the top floor. And the look in his eyes tells me he’s different…maybe even kind.
Right before he kicks my ass.
Still, there’s something about him—something that says he could be my salvation...or my undoing. Because I’m no longer content to just survive in Eleven. Today, I'm ready to fight for more than my next meal: I'm fighting for my freedom. And this boy may just be the edge I've been waiting on.
My thoughts: What an absolute thrill ride of a throw back to my YA dystopian phase! Escaping Eleven brought back so many memories of all those times I devoured the latest dystopian to hit the shelves, and even all these years later, I'm so glad this series came across my radar.
Eve starts the story already toughened up; she's long been the fighter that her living arrangements have demanded. Instead of a blank slate heroine who is molded as the story progresses, Eve has already had the worst thrown at her - or so she thinks.
I think - as an adult reading dystopian YA - it's obvious that the adults, particularly the adults in charge, are hiding many important facts from the main characters. To that effect, the ending of Escaping Eleven wasn't all that surprising and was basically what I expected. But instead of feeling let down, I thought the ending was the perfect lead in to the next book.
Inside Compound Eleven, we see an often-ruthless society that has fought for generations to survive. The compound itself was an almost perfect blend of The Hunger Games' districts and Divergent's factions. Again, the fact that the powers that be in both of those series are misusing their power and keeping many secrets is a perfect comparison to those in power on Compound Eleven's fifth floor.
I loved the relationship between Eve and Wren. She was so tough at the start that it was great to see her letting someone like Wren in, even when her instincts were pulling her in another direction. I found Wren intriguing from the very first time we saw him, and I loved that he ended up being even more dimensional than I thought he would be.
Overall, Escaping Eleven combined all the things I love about dystopian YA while simultaneously giving readers a new world with a whole new set of rules to follow. Eve is one tough heroine, but Wren proves she has the capacity to lean on - and trust - somebody else. And after that ending, I can't wait to see what comes next for these two main characters. With as much action as Chisholm packed into this first book, I know the rest of the series will be a must-read for me.
A huge thank you to Entangled Teen for providing a review copy of Escaping Eleven!
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Release date: 12/8/20
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: direct from publisher/NetGalley widget
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