The premise of this book immediately intrigued me, however I didn't love its execution. The writing style was lovely, and you could feel the environment around them and the atmosphere Chisholm intended. However, I couldn't fully immerse myself in this novel because I found the main characters unlikeable. I didn't care for their journey or their backstory, which led me to being disengaged with the plot and uninterested to see where the story went next.

This book ultimately just wasn't for me, which is ok! But if you're a fan of a classic dystopian novel, this one is probably for you.

Escaping Eleven was simply THAT book. It had no business being that amazing. Reading it brought me back to a time when dystopian books were big in YA and reminded me how much I love the genre.

The first chapter alone gave us such a tease. We got introduced to mysteries, secrets, and tense family dynamics. I laughed so so much reading this book. Most of my notes from the first few chapters is just me typing "lololol." The content itself isn't outright hilarious, but the author does a good job of bringing lightness to the grim situation of being stuck living underground through Eve's personality and interactions with other characters.

Let's talk about the romance though! I am very much into forbidden/ taboo love that goes against tradition, so I was all in for Wren. But the author couldn't just give us one sweet protector character. She had to give us a childhood best friend too, another one of my favorites. I was a little conflicted about what team I was on, but Wren is just everything. I loved Eve and Wren's banter, and this book truly had the best tropes in it. At the same time, I think there's some element of danger as there's more to him than meets the eye, and Eve overlooked a good number of things about him.

Now onto the characters. Eve is an emotionally stunted caterpillar who learned to be a butterfly over the course of this story. The story of her brother Jack gave me actual chills reading it, and that incident really impacts a lot of the decisions she makes in the book. Also her giving advice to her friends that she doesn't even follow herself is peak me behavior. I loved Eve and her compassion for and protectiveness over her friends. She's fierce and existential and dramatic all wrapped up in one. The side characters really brought flavor to the story and had such strong personalities and motivations. I enjoy seeing conflicts between people who love each other but also don't always approve of each other's decisions.

The setting of this book was also so well written. It felt like reading about psychology on how to break people down because the way the leaders of the compound treated everyone below them was terrible, especially when we learn about the tattoos. There are just so many added layers that compound Eve's life because they're underground.

There was a scene at the end of the book that made me cry. Like did I expect to go into this book and feel so much? Absolutely not. That is the power of Jerri Chisholm's writing.

Overall, I absolutely recommend this story if you love dystopian novels, enemies to lovers, and a strong female protagonist. This book hasn't even come out yet, and I'm already desperate for book 2.

Humanity has screwed the planet and now is forced to live underground in compounds that run on a socioeconomic caste structure. Eve lives on level 2 deep underground, which means she doesn't have many options. Life is brutal and violent. She is determined to escape Compound Eleven one way or another. Then she meets a boy from the top level...

This book carries you along right from the start and is pretty easy to rip through. The world created is vivid and fleshed out. It can be brutal at times, with physical violence, torture, death and attempted r*pe all featuring. If I had to give it one of those silly "X meets Y" billings, I'd call it Divergent meets WWE 😂 I can't quite put my finger on why it gave me Divergent vibes, it was nothing specific, just the overall feel.

I didn't warm to Eve straight away, but she grew on me. Wren I didn't really like until right at the end and even then... The book describes him quite a few times as "kind" but... he's not?? He's quite often an asshole and has a propensity for violence that is never fully explored or explained. Can we please PLEASE stop putting violent possessiveness/protectiveness in our YA heros and calling it romantic?? It's not romantic, it's toxic, and I'm SO so sick of it being sold to impressionable young people as desirable. "Oh he's so violent but never with me, cos I'm special and he loves me" - no girl, a violent man is a violent man, get the hell away.

I saw an aspect of the ending coming a mile away, but I'd still definitely pick up the second book and see what happens to Eve next.

It's hard for me to rate this because I did enjoy the read and the worldbuilding, but the toxic masculinity aspect did bother me. It's probably a 3.5 for that reason... I think I'll err on the side of rounding up.

This was such a great book! I found myself drawn to this dystopian world and intrigued by the way of life. I would definitely recommend this one! Thank you to netgalley for this e arc!

This book was an exciting read, even though I had a few problems with how it was written.

It follows Eve, a resident of Compound Eleven, the haven people fled to when the Earth overheated. Over time, the haven became worse and worse, and now, Eve is confined to a place where she fights to make a living, and lacks freedom. After a particularly vicious fight, she decides that escape is her only option.

My main problem with Escaping Eleven was the speed of the plot. I had such high hopes based off of the beginning, but I was a bit disappointed by where it continued from. As soon as I started the book, I was sucked in, I couldn't wait to read more about Eve and Wren. As the book continued, I lost interest though. Pretty much the entire middle lacked action, and while I still loved the characters, I got a bit bored.

Eve, our main character, was fairly compelling. I appreciated the way she was written, her thoughts on fighting, and relationships felt realistic. I do wish that her relationship with her family had been explored a bit more, because while it's mentioned, it's glossed over most of the time.

Wren was our other main character, and while I liked him, I had a few problems with him. I think part of it stems from the fact that the first time we saw him, he was refusing to fight Eve because she was a girl. I get that this is considered chivalrous, but as their world's cruelty is revealed, it felt a bit weird. I also wish that his violent side had been explored a bit more, along with Eve's feelings toward it.

Despite my struggle with Wrens character, I did like his and Eves relationship. While it happened fairly fast, I didn't have a huge problem with it. I really liked seeing all of their friends interact, it gave us a few more romances to root for.

I do feel like the concept of this book has been done several times before, but this was still a super interesting book. I'll be looking to read the next book in the series, and see where Eve and Wrens journey continues to!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I really loved this book. I was approved last night for this and have already finished it. I could not put it down. A great dystopian tale that left me on the edge of my seat, biting my nails like crazy, wondering how it ends. Than to top it all off, a cliffhanger (ish) ending?? I need to know what happens next!

The main character Eve is such an amazing hardcore girl. I absolutely loved her character. Wren?? Do not get me started .. that whole manly I’ll take care of you but still supportive enough to realize that not all girls are damsels in distress who need to be saved. Some of them like to do the saving.

All in all I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys dis too Ian novels. This was so good and I am super anxious to have the next chapter to it