Revealing Eden by Victoria Foyt (Review)

Release date: January 10 2012

Publisher: Sand Dollar Press

Number of pages: 307

My rating: 1/5

This review contains a lot of swearing and anger. Consider yourself warned.

Note: I did not finish this book. This review and rating is based on the first 55% of the book ONLY.This is one of the worst books I've ever read. It generated a lot of buzz here on Goodreads because of the racist content. Not only is this book incredibly racist, it is also badly written, shallow, and stupid.

Revealing Eden is set in a post apocalyptic world where white people (pearls) are the minority and black people are the ruling class, because the sun got way too strong, and white people died from "The Heat." Black people (coals) lived on because they were immune to the harsh effects of the sun.

Firstly, if the sun was really that strong, the people with dark skin would not have survived. Just because they have darker skin and are less prone to burning and skin cancer does not mean they are immune to such conditions.

Eden, a pearl, lives in this world. Her father is a scientist who is trying to implant animal DNA into humans. When the test subjects go missing, Eden's boss, Bramford, takes over and volunteers. Everything goes wrong, and they have to leave their district.

Honestly, that's as far as I got into the plot. There wasn't much of one.

Okay, now on to the key issue here.

The racism in this book was unbelievable. Allow me to present you with the following quotes:

"I hate them." (Referring to the coals)

"She wore a polka-dot bikini-all that skin exposed! Nearby, other whites lounged on thick towels or badana chairs" (Eden's happy daydream about a beach filled with pearls)

"Eden flinched. One of them was touching here. White hot light exploded in her head. Before she knew it, she blurted out an incendiary racial slur. "Get your hands off me, you damn Coal!""

^WTF. And you want me to believe that this book is "turning the tables on racism?" SOMEONE HOLD ME BACK! *shakes fist*

"The angry mob lurched towards Eden, just like in her nightmares. The Coals were going to kill her."

SERIOUSLY. She has nightmares about Coals coming after her.

"She suspected that each and every Coal passerby wanted to hurt her"

Seriously. Do you want me to punch you?

"All of a sudden, she heard two men behind her. Coals, she figured by their careless, drunken laughter."

"Little Pearly whirly,
lost inside the mines;
tossed from Coal to Coal,
in fear, she whines,
"I'm sorry, Mother,
he said he only wanted
to see my white skin shine." (a little poem about Coals raping a Pearl)

The racism in this book is not limited to these quotes. The coals were constantly referred to as them, which is pretty racist.

Every single coal was depicted as a selfish, cruel, bitch. She would constantly refer to Ashina, her colleague as a bitch. Bramford was referred to as a bastard.

Even after Bramford saves her at a club, volunteers for her father's dangerous experiment, and saves her many, many times, including saving her from drowning, and bringing her food, she still refers to him as a selfish bastard.

Fuck you, Eden. Someone jumps into a river to save you, you don't call them a bastard in return.

Before Bramford transforms into a half jaguar half coal creature, she hates him. After he transforms, She constantly thinks about how hot he is, how muscular his legs are, and how strong he must be.

Only after he transforms does she even find him remotely appealing. yes, great. Find the genetically altered jaguar man hot, but be disgusted by every single Coal.

The book was not only racist, but the characters were shitty as well.

Eden is a shallow, judgemental, bitch. She only hung out with Jamal because she wanted to be mated. She is disgusted by every single Coal, and then falls head over heels for Bramford after he becomes a weird man jaguar beast.

Her father refers to Eden as "Daught," short for daughter. WTF?

Every single characters was a bland, boring shell. I didn't care for anyone at all. Bramford was stupid for helping Eden after she made it clear what she thought of him.

Every Pearl must wear a dark coating to protect them from the sun and to avoid aggravating the Coals. Eden actually spends time in the sun WITHOUT her coating. She didn't ever complain about her skin hurting, or any intense heat.

SERIOUSLY? You can't tell me that almost every single Pearl died from the heat, and then just have one stand out in the sun for hours without feeling anything.

Also, Pearls? Coals? WTF? A Pearl is a precious stone. A coal is a dirty thing which is dug out from the ground and produces greenhouse gases. Yet, being a Coal is a good thing.

Victoria Foyt claims that a Coal is useful in a post apocalyptic world, and a Pearl is too delicate and useless for such a harsh world. So, apparently a coal is a good thing.

It would have been easier to believe if not for this quote:

"Before she knew it, she blurted out an incendiary racial slur. "Get your hands off me, you damn Coal!""

So apparently, Victoria Foyt didn't even know what she was doing. Don't tell me that being a Coal is a good thing, and then tell me it's a racial slur.

While reading this book, it got worse and worse. My head threatened to explode from then shitty writing and all the anger. When the signs started pointing to an impending romance between Eden and Bramford, I gave up.

Fuck it, I'm not continuing this book just to read about shallow romance between some weakass judgemental bitch, and a mutated jaguar man.

This book was a pile of crap. A racist, boring, shallow, stupid, badly written piece of crap.

Also, some links on this book:

An article from The Guardian on Revealing Eden: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/books...

Tumblr stuff: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/save-the...

Victoria Foyt on racism (bwahahaha): http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...

Jamal's profile on the Save the Pearls website (this is disgusting): http://www.savethepearls.com/members/jamal/
A copy was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review