#Review - Ending Eleven by Jerri Chisholm #YA #Dystopian

Series: Eleven Trilogy (#3)
Format: Paperback, 400 pages
Release Date: March 6, 2023
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian

My name is Eve Hamilton.
Everyone in Compound Eleven thinks I was killed. But they’re dead wrong…

I spent my entire life in Compound Eleven as a fighter. Surviving in an underground city filled with violence, oppression, and tyranny. We were told the world above was scorched, an immediate death sentence. I should have died never knowing the truth. Instead, when I fought Wren—a boy from the top floor, a Preme—I fell for him. And eventually learned that my reality was an insidious lie.

Escaping Compound Eleven nearly killed me and Wren. Now we’re aboveground, where the world is anything but a toxic, burning wasteland. It’s green and lush, filled with sunshine, fresh water…and hope. All of which tastes bitter when I see what it’s cost me. Because something in Wren has changed. He’s broken—along with whatever it was between us.

Now the tides of violence in Compound Eleven are rising, threatening to spill out and shatter this peaceful place with brutality, corruption, and death.

But do I stop them…or join them? 

Ending Eleven, by author Jerri Chisholm, is the 3rd and final installment in the authors Eleven Trilogy. Four generations ago, Earth was rendered uninhabitable, the sun too hot, the land too barren. Those who survived were forced underground, where civilization divided into compounds. In Compound Eleven, only the cruel survive. Fighting is entertainment, violence is a way of life, and hierarchy is everything. For the Primes who inhabit the fifth floor, life is comfortable. For the Lower and High Means and the Denominators who live on the floors below, it is anything but.  

This story picks up right where Unraveling Eleven ended with Eve Hamilton and an injured Wren Edelman fleeing the Eleven compound to the world above that they discovered in the previous installment. What was supposed to be a massive hot zone, has since made a comeback, as nature tends to do when it is left alone, and now humans are able to live and thrive thanks to those like Michael. Her only error was leaving her mother behind. A mother who has never been the same since the Preme found out that she had an illegal son named Jack. 

But with her mother left behind, and Wren hanging on by a thread, Eve has to make some choices. One of those choices is to return to Eleven and see if she can make her mother leave with her. One things turns to another and suddenly Eve discovers that there is a rebellion growing within Eleven. A rebellion that includes friends of her she also left behind hoping to return for them. Unfortunately for Eve, she also senses something is wrong with the group that she discovered, and now Wren seems to be a totally different person thanks to people who hate Michael. 

Besides the fact that others are treating her with scorn because of her closeness with Michael, Eve is still hopeful that she was find her brother outside and save her mother. She also finds that she's willing to help the rebellion arm themselves which means going against Michael's determination to keep all weapons locked up while also searching the abandoned city which is now a mass graveyard. If you are a reader who loved the Hunger Games, or The 100, or even Divergent, you should read this series. 

Eve is a character who has been through so much. From being taught by her father to fight when she was a young girl, to becoming a circuit fighter, to learning that everything she was told about the outside is a lie, to becoming the face of a rebellion, she never forgets that there are those who tried to take everything from her family, and did take her brother away. Eve struggled to reconcile the part of her that longs for a peaceful and quiet life. Eve's conflict with Wren was, in my opinion, unnecessary, but perhaps it is a sign of her growth that she doesn't totally fall to pieces when everything things to be changing.

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#Review - Unraveling Eleven (Eleven Trilogy #2) by Jerri Chisholm #YA #Dystopian

Series: Eleven Trilogy # 2
Format: Paperback, 384 pages
Release Date: November 16, 2021
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian

If Eve Hamilton cannot contain the monster inside, she’ll lose everyone who is important to her in this thrilling follow-up to the 2020 dystopian Escaping Eleven.

At long last, Eve Hamilton has realized true freedom. It is electrifying, intoxicating, divine. But much too quickly, it is wrenched from her grasp. And this time, the awaiting corridors of Compound Eleven are even less friendly than before. This time her list of enemies has grown exponentially, and her survival is far from a given—even with Wren Edelman by her side.

Yet her brief taste of freedom has left her with something useful, something powerful, something that terrifies the leaders of Compound Eleven: knowledge. Together Eve and Wren use it to uncover secret after secret, ones so twisted that everything they have ever known is thrown into doubt. Secrets that are so dangerous to wield that mere awareness can spell certain death.

But Eve soon discovers that despite a long list of enemies, despite uncovering secrets worth killing for, her greatest adversary lies deep within. And if she can't contain the monster inside, if she can't stop committing unspeakable acts of cruelty—ones she never thought she was capable of—she will lose everything that is important to her and everyone she holds dear.

 

Unraveling Eleven is the second installment in author Jerri Chisholm's Eleven Trilogy. This story begins right where Escaping Eleven finished. 16-year-old Eve Hamilton (Lower Level Mean) and 18-year-old Wren Edelman (Prime) have done what nobody else has without being expelled. They've escaped Eleven and discovered that the world isn't what they've been told their entire lives. Instead of a world where people burn up as soon as they step outside, it is a world that is exciting, and terrifying all at the same time.

Eve hoped to find out if her brother Jack, who was disposed of when he was three for being an extra body, is still alive, or gone. Him being forcibly removed from Eleven has weighed on her conscious for 9 years. But without a food source, or water, and a dangerous encounter with an unknown beast, Eve and Wren return to Eleven where Eve will find that she doesn't have just a few enemies, she has made powerful enemies than she could ever imagine. Now, Eve has to deal with a verification trial, as well as choosing her future. 

If you haven't read this series, Four generations ago, Earth was rendered uninhabitable, the sun too hot, the land too barren. Those who survived were forced underground, where civilization divided into compounds. In Compound Eleven, only the cruel survive. Fighting is entertainment, violence is a way of life, and hierarchy is everything. For the Primes who inhabit the fifth floor, life is comfortable. For the Lower and High Means and the Denominators who live on the floors below, it is anything but. 

Residents are literally trapped in a box underground under the leadership of Preme's who rule the compound while those like Eve are expected to fall in line, or be cast off. When Eve returns to Eleven, she's a changed person. One could say that she becomes even more angrier than before. She hasn't forgiven her former best friend Hunter for his betrayal. She's having issues with choosing what she wants to do, and then decides to try to be a Guard which would give her access to certain places in the compound. 

In a major twist, Eve discovers a new possibility; a life outside the compound along with others who have survived other compounds as well as living outside. Can you imagine Eve's reaction? She's tried hard to gain access to the Oracle where she's watched the sun rise and she didn't want to remain any longer. She has parents who are either out of touch with reality, or demanding that she fight for a living. She's hounded by powerful Primes who want to silence her. She's hounded by guards who have pushed, and pushed, and pushed until she can't take it any longer. 

When guards begin to become targets, those in charge take a hard look in Eve's direction. Those in charge know that she's more dangerous than anyone they've encountered in a long time. Eve wants freedom, she wants revenge, she wants her alleged boyfriend to stop playing games and either stand with her or get out of the way. When push comes to shove, Eve has to make a choice. Stay and fight, or leave and begin a new life among new friends who aren't judgy. This story ends with so many twists, and turns that I can't wait to see what happens next. 

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#Review - Escaping Eleven by Jerri Chisholm #YA #Dystopian

Series: Eleven Trilogy (#1)
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: December 8, 2020
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian

Two teens must work together to fight a tyrannical government that has divided society into classes living underground, in a heart-pounding apocalyptic novel perfect for fans of Divergent.

Four generations ago, Earth was rendered uninhabitable, the sun too hot, the land too barren. Those who survived were forced underground, where civilization divided into compounds. In Compound Eleven, only the cruel survive. Fighting is entertainment, violence is a way of life, and hierarchy is everything. For the Primes who inhabit the fifth floor, life is comfortable. For the Means and Grounders on the floors below, it is anything but. Sixteen-year-old hobby fighter Else Hamilton may have been born on the second floor, but she was born to survive.

Except she doesn’t want to survive compound life. She wants to be released above ground, to feel fresh air against her skin, to taste true freedom, even if the price is certain death. But the government has a stranglehold over who is even allowed to view the outside world. One Prime, Wren Edelman, is as unhappy in Compound Eleven as Else, despite his privileged status. Yet as determined as Else is to taste freedom, he is determined to make her stay—because despite the fact that romances between upper and lower floors are all but nonexistent, Wren and Else are proving the first of their kind in more ways than one.

Escaping Eleven is the first installment in author Jerri Chisholm's Eleven trilogy. Four generations ago, Earth was rendered uninhabitable, the sun too hot, the land too barren. Those who survived were forced underground, where civilization divided into compounds. In Compound Eleven, only the cruel survive. Fighting is entertainment, violence is a way of life, and hierarchy is everything. For the Primes who inhabit the fifth floor, life is comfortable. For the Lower and High Means and the Denominators who live on the floors below, it is anything but.

16-year-old Eve Hamilton is a hobby fighter who was born on the second floor. After 9 years, Eve is still holding a huge grudge against the upper level Preme’s who shoved her younger brother out of the compound and into the supposed desolate world due to a violation of the compound’s population controls. Think forced abortion and forced sterilization. As the story opens, Eve is in a bad place emotionally. She’s been trained to fight by her father and that’s all she knows.

Eve knows that in 6 weeks, she must finally choose a career which she will likely work until the day she days, but she doesn’t bother going on any career day visits. One of those career’s could be a fighter on the Blue Circuit since she’s rather good at it. In the meantime, she picks up fights against any comers, including 18-year-old Wren who beats her to a bloody pulp. Sorry, but that’s the fact! Wren is an upstairs Preme who has everything that Eve doesn’t. But Wren is as unhappy in Compound Eleven as Eve.

Despite his privileged status, he wants something else; Eve. Eve has an agenda. She wants to be released above ground, to feel fresh air against her skin, to taste true freedom, even if the price is certain death. But the government has a stranglehold over who is even allowed to view the outside world. She desperately tries to access a place called Oracle which she believes will lead her to the outside. I am just going to say this; the most interesting parts of this story was watching from Eve’s eyes take in the wonder that she sees when she finally breaks the combination to get into the Oracle.

This also gives her hope that maybe her brother could still be alive, if there are any survivors outside the Compound. She also knows that there are other Compounds within close distance to Eleven. Wren is determined to make Eve stay—because despite the fact that romances between upper and lower floors are all but nonexistent and frowned upon. Wren and Else are proving the first of their kind in more ways than one. The book spends a whole lot of time between Eve and Wren’s romance and her struggles.

Eve is lucky in that she has supportive friends like Maggie, Emerald and Hunter. She also made some Denominator friends like Jules, Monica, and Avery. She has a bunch of antagonist males who want to make her life a living hell as well, and they do. The most curious part of this story is watching the intermingling between those who are supposed to want nothing to do with each other. The book ends on a cliffhanger ending which leads to all sorts of questions as to what will happen next.

Escaping Eleven is a combination of The City of Ember, The 100, Hunger Games, and Divergent.  

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