Review of The Books of Eva: Relic by Heather Terrell

Review of Heather Terrell's The Books of Eva: Relic

Release Date: October 29th, 2013

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

The truth will test you...

For fans of Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games: high fantasy and dystopia meet in this high-stakes tale of a civilization built on lies and the girl who single-handedly brings it down.

When Eva’s twin brother, Eamon, falls to his death just a few months before he is due to participate in The Testing, no one expects Eva to take his place. She’s a Maiden, slated for embroidery classes, curtseys, and soon a prestigious marriage befitting the daughter of an Aerie ruler. But Eva insists on honoring her brother by becoming a Testor. After all, she wouldn’t be the first Maiden to Test, just the first in 150 years.

Eva knows the Testing is no dance class. Gallant Testors train for their entire lives to search icy wastelands for Relics: artifacts of the corrupt civilization that existed before The Healing drowned the world. Out in the Boundary Lands, Eva must rely on every moment of the lightning-quick training she received from Lukas—her servant, a Boundary native, and her closest friend now that Eamon is gone.

But there are threats in The Testing beyond what Lukas could have prepared her for. And no one could have imagined the danger Eva unleashes when she discovers a Relic that shakes the Aerie to its core.

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So when reading the synopsis, I got really excited about this book... everytime I have read a book lately that said "For fans of the Hunger Games", I have actually enjoyed the book a great deal. And it is not as if I did not enjoy this book, but it was not as incredible as I was hoping. I actually only decided to read this book next, even though I have a slew of new books that have just come out that I am DYING to read, because I just received the ARC for the sequel, Boundary.

I was hoping for an epic battle, a la The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau or The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and when the Test began in Relic, it seemed as if there would be some form of conflict, but alas, the conflict was minor. In almost all of the dystopian tales I have read (And I've read a lot of them!), there is a major antagonist, but there really wasn't in this story. Because of that, I feel it was really lacking.

I am not saying Relic was bad, because I liked the back story. It is a tale about a colony in the "New North" 200 years after the polar ice caps have melted, flooding most of the Earth's land mass. This colony has an edict they follow called the Lex. It is a future version of the Bible, but much more strict in the ways that humans are supposed to act.

So the story had/has potential, I just think the author didn't round it out very well... but there is always the sequel, right? I guess I will see where she takes it next.