Stacey O'Neale

This book was not at all what I expected it to be. I thought it was well written and the story was interesting, but it had some parts that I thought were confusing. It was the world after a deadly virus killed most of the population. We meet Eve (POV) the day before graduation. She catches a girl she never really liked right before she escapes the school. Before she leaves, the girl tells Eve that everything she's ever been told is a lie. Eve decides to test what she says and swim over the lake only to discover that girls who had graduated years before her were now tied down to beds and all pregnant. Turns out that the orphaned girls are being forced to help re-populate the planet and have multiple births one after another. With the help of a teacher, Eve escapes and ends up finding her frenemy. She eventually meets Caleb who is also an escaped orphan. We discover that the orphaned boys are all sent to camps to work in dire situations rebuilding the City of Sand. I don't want to reveal too much about this book so I'll just say what I liked and the issues I had with it. What I liked is the world building. It's very unique and creative. All the little details from the clothing, food, environment, etc. tied together which I really appreciated. Also, the characters. Each was well-rounded and likeable. I was rooting for Eve and Caleb. I also liked how slow the romance was. It wouldn't have made sense to rush in and it flowed well with the rest of the story.Having said that, I don't understand why the orphans were treated so badly. The girls were helping to populate the planet, yet all these orphan kids were basically thrown away by society. It just makes no sense. Why weren't these kids considered part of the growing population? My other problem in the story came at the end when Caleb finds her. She is taken far away (in a truck so it had to be miles and miles), she escapes and is taken in, and then again runs. Well, she's hiding in an abandoned B&A bank and Caleb just comes strolling in. Come on! How would he find her? That to me is a major plot hole.I have already added the sequel titled ONCE to my TBR. Even though I see the holes, I still really want to know what happens. The story is just too interesting to pass up.