Way back in February I was asked if I’d be willing to review H.B. Moore’s new book, “Eve: In the Beginning.” It has taken me such a long time to get around to it that I sort of feel bad, but I figure that it is better late than never. I think it took me such a long time to read it because they sent me an ebook version of the story and I really don’t like reading ebooks… at all. In fact, I’ve decided that I probably shouldn’t agree to do book reviews unless they send me a hard copy, or it will take me nearly six months to get it done!
Okay with that out of the way… on to the review.
Moore’s book is a retelling of the Adam and Eve story, alternating between both of their viewpoints. It follows them from the Garden of Eden into the Fallen World up until they have their first son Cain. I enjoyed how Moore portrayed Eve and thought she did a good job of helping readers understand the struggles that Adam and Eve would have gone through, especially after their fall from the Garden of Eden. In fact, I think that I liked the second half of the book, the part after they leave the Garden of Eden, best. Mostly because I think it if fun to think about how life would have been for Adam and Eve as the first people on the earth, and how they would have had to figure things out for themselves. I also enjoyed Moore’s depiction of Satan and especially with Eve’s struggle with Him, I think Moore really did a good job on that part.
In the preface of the book Moore states that she drew from several different religious traditions to write the story, and that it doesn’t profess the beliefs of any one faith. I could see that in her book because a lot of what she writes is speculation, myth, or personal ideas about our First Parents. But I also felt like her perspective was overwhelmingly an LDS perspective on Eve, the Garden and the Fall. In fact, there were times when reading the book felt like watching parts of the temple videos. She didn’t share anything inappropriate but I felt the whole time I was reading it that everything was pretty familiar, and that I’d already heard the same story, told the same way before.
Even so, I think that the LDS perspective on Eve is one of the greatest strengths of the book and is what could make it AWESOME for people who are not LDS to read. In fact, I think that this book would be a great gift to give to someone from a different religious background because it presents Eve in such a different, positive light, than how most religions usually portray her, and does it in a fun engaging way.
Overall I enjoyed the book and really liked Moore’s insights and thoughts about Adam and Eve and the Fall. I think she did a good job and really made them come alive. It did take me a long time to read which I think was one, because the books moved a bit slow (at least for me) and because I was reading it as an ebook, which I don’t enjoy. But this would make a good summer read, and a good gift for someone in your life who needs a new, and in my opinion, better perspective on Eve and the Fall.
You can read more reviews and purchase “Eve: In the Beginning” on Amazon.
