Book Review: Escaping Eleven (Eleven Trilogy #1)

by Jerri Chisholm

Rating: ⭐3.5/5⭐

Freedom at all costs.

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 between the floors is everything.

Sixteen-year-old Eve Hamilton may have been born on the second floor, but she was born to survive, and freedom means everything if it means protecting someone she cares about most.

There’s a rumor not all who go above die, but there is only one way to escape Compound Eleven—and it is not for the faint of heart. The only one standing in her way? The privileged Wren Edelman: mysterious, infuriating, persistent, and shockingly handsome. Except relationships between floors aren’t just nonexistent—they’re dangerous.

And there’s plenty more to fear in Eleven. Because suddenly, falling for the wrong boy is the least of her concerns. If she doesn’t make it to the surface soon, everyone she cares about could die.

Review

A society forced to flee the Earth’s surface after it grows uninhabitable, and seek refuge elsewhere.
Population divided into different social hierarchies, where the powerful class rule the less fortunate with an iron fist. Self-indulgence and opulence for some; oppression, violence and poverty for others.
Welcome to Compound Eleven.

Hello! I’m back with another review of a visually stunning book! Anto, did you once again pick a book based on its cover? And right after falling into that same unassuming trap just a few days ago?

BUT WAIT! This time around the actual story lived up to the gorgeous cover! Yay!

If The 100 and The Hunger Games were to have a baby, this book is probably what would come out. Turn the Capitol and Districts into the different floors, couple it with the strict rules of life on The Arc (from The 100’s first season) or the forced underground living conditions like on season 5, and Escaping Eleven is pretty much what you’ll get. Luckily for me, I’m a bit THG and The 100’s fan, so I was quite happy with this story too!

It definitely started out with a bang. Eve and Wren’s first interaction was as far from a “meet-cute” as you could humanly get. And it was a wonderful way to introduce them as characters and hook the reader right away.

If I were to oversimplify Eve and Wren’s relationship, it would pretty much be a gender-swapped rich-girl-falling-in-love-with-the-guy-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks trope. But in reality, they were so much more nuanced. She was extremely prickly. Very prejudiced and untrusting. Full of both justified and unjustified resentment for the ruling class (AKA the Premes). At times, quite unlikable. But also full of fire, passion and an insatiable child-like wonder for everything related to the outside world. Indomitably reckless and a rule breaker. The epitome of “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission”.

Meanwhile, Wren was just top quality book boyfriend material. He was so sweet. Patient in the face of Eve’s obliviousness, disdain and scorn. So noble and selfless. I went “aw, he’s so nice” out loud more than once. But he, too, had his own inner demons and personal issues. He very much had a dark streak to him that I’ll be curious to explore further in future books.

I liked that neither of them quite fit into any of my preconceived notions.

Plus, I loved the paced development of their relationship. Her cluelessness drove me crazy, yes. But it was fitting to the story how the author took her time to get them there (after all, you don’t get over a lifetime of hang-ups from one day to the next). On that same note, I found the writing style to be captivating. It had this directness to it. A blunt, dry, straight-forward, utilitarian quality that was so interesting and intriguing. It matched the world weaved by those words so perfectly. I couldn’t imagine it being written any other way.

But I did find the plot to get boring at times. This was very much a character driven book, since nothing much happened plot wise, except for the main character looking for a way out of the compound. Understandable, when the lead is trapped underground, but still. Eve’s inner monologues and plans to find a way to escape Compound Eleven got a bit repetitive and slowed the plot down. And there wasn’t enough danger and a true sense of urgency to offset it, which was what ultimately brought my initial rating down from 4 stars to 3.5. It gave me the feels a few times, but I would have liked a bit higher stakes. Something to create more of an adrenaline rush and make my heart beat faster. But I’m rooting for Eve and Wren, and very much invested, so I look forward to continuing this trilogy and seeing what new trials and tribulations they’ll have to face.