Chapter Two: Our Main Character Is a Racist, Entitled, Self-Centered, Whiny Brat

So as I was reading the first chapter of this book, I noticed that most of the quotes people like to throw out to show how terrible the book is come from that first chapter.  Does this mean most people who pick this travesty up never make it past the first chapter?  Wonder if that makes me very brave for continuing on, or very foolish.

You're welcome, fangirls.  You know

who you are...

When we last left our "heroine," she was about to be trampled and/or have the snot beat out of her by a roomful of Coals.  Dad calls out for her, calling her "daught" -- short for daughter apparently.  I guess like "bro" and "sis" being short for brother and sister, but it's weird under normal circumstances for a parent to refer to their child by a slang term and just bizarre in these circumstances.  Doesn't a life-or-death situation at least call for a first name?

Eden books it, and the Coals chase her, their angry voices "like laser blasts."  If this book actually has laser weapons it may have just slightly redeemed itself, but I'm not counting on it.

Then the angry mob comes to a halt, and Eden almost runs into the owner of the company she and her father work for -- Ronson Bramford.  Primus dammit, is there a black person in this book that has a halfway normal name?

Speechless, she stared up into his dark, gleaming eyes.  A glint of light shone down on his black, shaved head, adding to his magnetic effect.  (Kenya's note: Foyt still thinks all black people are jet-black apparently... you do realize that black people come in many different skin tones, just like white people, right?)  Then he jerked away, as if Eden really were poison, and turned his steely gaze on the crowd.

"Back to work," Bramford said in a calm but commanding voice.  Relieved, she began to leave when he added, "Not you, Eden."

She wasn't sure which was worse: being murdered by a mob or dealing with the arrogant bastard.  As usual, Bramford stared at a point on her shoulder as he addressed her, which made her feel small and dirty. -- p. 11-12

"Crikey, mates, we got ourselves a live one here!  Looks like a Cliche Love Interest!  It's a beauty, ain't it?  You can tell these things by their detailed physical descriptions an' how the female protagonist instantly hates his guts, though ya know she'll be all over 'im by the end of the novel!  Careful, these things are liable to take a big bite outta your heart if ya take yer eyes offa 'em for a second!  Let's see what happens when I poke 'im in the steely eye!"

Too soon?

Seriously, Mr. Bramford here might as well walk in with the words Designated Love Interest stamped on his forehead.  Gets the most time devoted to his physical description of any character so far?  Check.  Wealthy and powerful?  Check.  Completely different social/economic class from the female protagonist?  Check.  Female protagonist hates him right off the bat in order to set up a contrived "forced to spend time together so they can annoy each other until they give in to their hormones and have TWUE WUV FOREVER?"  Check, and I absolutely hate that cliche that countless romantic comedies have beaten to death, resurrected as a zombie, and inflicted time and again upon the hapless masses.  Shoot it in the head already.

Also Bramford's single, despite having an insanely high mate-rate of 98 percent and being 22 (males have to find a mate by age 24 or die), so obviously he's saving himself for a kind and sensitive girl like Eden is supposed to be.  *retches*

Oh, and for the next couple of pages we constantly get told how "magnificent" and "chiseled" Bramford is despite Eden hating him.  Because Foyt fails at subtlety as well...

In the next paragraph, apparently Bramford's skin is the color of storm clouds.  Last time I checked, that wasn't a healthy skin color, unless you happen to be an elephant.

Bramford asks what the problem is.  Ashina accuses Eden of attacking her, and Eden thinks that "a Coal's word outweighed a Pearl's.  Always."  Could we get this shown as an example before you start stating facts, Ms. Foyt?  Bramford asks why Eden would attack her when her father's work is at stake, and Ashina's only answer is that she can't control herself and "you know how they are."  She also states that she caught Eden in a lie, and with the Big Night, whatever it is, coming up, there's no room for mistakes.  Which is a good point, even if Eden thinks being right is more important than her father's experiment.

Eden's father shows up at that moment, and Eden takes a moment to mentally gripe about his glasses -- and of course, it's all about her.

Eden suspected that he wore his antiquated glasses just to irritate her, despite her repeated insistence that he get the simple fix.  It was just another way of standing out, another way of reminding them that he and his daughter existed.  -- p. 13

You know, Eden, people are not obligated to do whatever you tell them to do.  And your father could have other reasons for wearing glasses that have nothing to do with picking on you.  He could simply prefer the look and feel of glasses over this world's equivalent of LASIK.  Or it could be the "simple fix" is too expensive and he opted out of it.  Or he tried to get the "simple fix" and was turned down for being incompatible with the procedure or simply for being a Pearl -- oh wait, I forget, the racism against Pearls only exists when it's convenient for the plot, never mind.  My point is that there could be a dozen reasons for him preferring glasses over the "simple fix," not just to irritate you, girl.

Bramford sends her father off, saying the situation is under control, then calls for his bodyguard -- Shen, an Amber, which this book helpfully informs us is the racist term for people of Asian descent.  *sigh*  Seriously, if you want us to take these "racist" terms seriously, why are you using gemstone names for your "lesser" races?  You do realize that even in primitive societies, gemstones are prized, and there are plenty of uses gemstones can have in even a dystopian society (for example, diamonds make great cutting edges, especially for surgical instruments)?

Also we're informed that people of Hispanic or Latino descent are called Tiger's eyes, and that they rank above Ambers in the "race wars," while Ambers rank above Pearls.  Not helping your "anti-racism" cause with references to "race wars," Foyt...  And of course Eden trusts Shen because he's an Amber and not a Coal or Tiger's Eye -- which just makes her come across as even more racist.  Ugh.

Oh, and Shen has dragon tattoos up and down his arms.  Of course he does.  For being a book meant to discredit racism, Foyt sure loves her racial stereotypes.  Shen also has a "third eye," a white dot in the center of his forehead that means he has a mate.  Whatever happened to a wedding band?

Bramford has Shen call for his head of security, Jamal.  Finally, we get a black person with a name that doesn't sound utterly ridiculous!  Sure, it's a pretty stereotypical African-American name, but it's far closer to reality than Peach or Ashina.  And it's a name that doesn't make me want to go bang my head against the nearest vertical surface...

Eden gets all fluttery when Jamal shows up, thinking of him as her "Dark Prince."  Finally, a Coal she doesn't automatically hate on sight...  We're helpfully informed that Jamal is "colorblind," but not in the traditional sense of the word.  Apparently Foyt likes to use the term "colorblind" not to mean someone who can't tell certain colors apart, but someone who isn't racist or ignores what race people happen to be.  Other people have taken issue with the term "colorblind," but unless it crops up again in this book I'm going to let it slide, because there's just too much else to cover here.

Jamal has a warrior tattoo on one side of his face, which isn't explained.  Is he a soldier, is it the mark of their police force, what?  Also, Jamal is ebony-skinned -- because apparently brown African-Americans no longer exist in this world.  If I drank and made a drinking game of how many times black people were literally referred to as black-skinned, I'm sure I'd be passed out within a few chapters...

I'll settle for the "drunken Decepticon" GIF instead

We see holograms of the security footage showing the incident -- apparently the Life-Bands can access this footage.  Then Bramford shuts it off and asks why Jamal wasn't on top of the incident.  A reasonable enough request -- if Jamal's head of security, this type of situation's his responsibility -- but Eden acts like Bramford questioning Jamal about it is some kind of conspiracy against her and Bramford's a "cold bastard" for resisting Jamal's attempts to charm his way out of the situation.  It's called professionalism, you little brat.  Bramford's thinking about the company, and he's not evil for not automatically coddling your precious feelings.

We also get an aside about how Bramford took over the company after his father died during a "terrorist Pearl attack."  So... wouldn't the fact that he'll actually hire Pearls to work at his labs be a good thing?  It means that despite any personal feelings, he's willing to put the good of the company and their experiments ahead of his own anger towards Pearls, if he harbors any.  This could have been developed into an interesting plot point.  But Eden apparently doesn't care about it -- all she cares about is that she can't find any information on Bramford when she goes snooping, and that his mystery makes him powerful.  *sigh*  Another sign of the Designated Love Interest -- they're oh so mysterious.

Bramford's Life-Band is a gold ring with an onyx stone, which Eden finds pretentious.  Oh, shut up, brat.  Now you're just looking for excuses to hate your employer.

When [the Life-Band] stopped flashing, he spoke curtly to Ashina.  "I won't allow internal discord."

Had justice prevailed for once?  Eden could hardly believe it.

Then Bramford added, "Since you instigated the incident, Eden, you must suffer the consequences."

What did she expect?  Bramford hated her.  If he fired her and she couldn't produce, her Basic Resources would end.  Which meant death.  -- p. 16

Ugh... just because your boss decides to discipline you doesn't mean he hates you!  Besides, if anyone watched the security tapes, they'd pretty much see that Eden called Ashina by a racial slur, and in most workplaces that would make you the instigator.  I don't know many workplaces that would let someone get away with that.

What we see here is a classic instance of Protagonist-Centered Morality, and it's a sure sign of the main character being a Mary Sue.  When people are judged as good or evil based solely on how they treat or what they think of the main character, then Mary Sue-ism is imminent.  We already see that anyone whom Eden perceives to be on her side -- her father, Jamal, Peach, maybe Shen -- is portrayed in the best light, while anyone she sees as an enemy -- Ashina, Bramford, every other Coal -- is show to be completely unreasonable and evil.  Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle fell into this trap very early on, and it's just tiresome to see here.

Eden tries to get Jamal on her side, and he admits that someone could have sabotaged things so Eden's report never got through.  Ashina (helpfully referred to in the text as a "nosey bitch" because Eden can't let us forget that she's EVIL) demands to know why Jamal would say that, and Eden panics because apparently she's trying to seduce Jamal and "Coals often killed Pearls who seduced their kind."  Okay, I'm gonna guess Jamal's either going to die or disappear soon, because despite this Bramford still has Designated Love Interest written all over him...

Jamal and Bramford discuss the possibility of someone hacking their security, and the FFP is brought up -- the Federation of Free People, a militant group of Coals out to rid the planet of Pearls.  Obviously Foyt is trying to draw parallels to the KKK, which feels tasteless.

Ashina points out that none of this changes the fact that the fight was Eden's fault, and Bramford puts Eden on probation until further notice.  And of course, this is terrible and horrible and Bramford's doing it just to be mean, right?  Never mind that he's her employer and he has a right to discipline employees who break the rules or cause problems in the workplace -- no, it's obviously because he hates her.

And then we get this lovely gem.

The injustice of it burned in her gut.  Better to punish the Pearl than to upset the Coals.  If only Bramford knew what it was like to be an outcast. -- p. 17

...

...........

Yes, the irony that I'm using this GIF in a "Revealing Eden"

spork does not escape me...

Seriously, girl?  SERIOUSLY?  You don't think a black person knows what it's like to be an outcast?  African-Americans (and really, almost anyone of African descent, even those whose ancestors never left Africa) have spent CENTURIES being outcasts in a world where people of European descent exploited them and discriminated against them!  Assuming this book takes place in our future instead of an alternate universe (though there's been no hint of that so far), Bramford and every other Coal knows that their people were once discriminated against and treated as intruders and lesser beings all over the world.  And just because times have changed doesn't mean that the history is no longer there. 

Stop making everything about you, you little twat, and grow up and take some responsibility for your actions.  You may be seventeen in this book but you act like you're two.  Stop being an entitled princess and start acting like an actual protagonist.

...why am I talking to a fictional character?

Eden gets sent home until further notice, and Jamal calls her his Little Bunny and tells her he'll make it up to her after work.  End of chapter, and at least this one was a bit shorter...

I'm still failing to see how Bramford's a heartless monster in this chapter.  So far he seems professional, level-headed, and is acting in the best interests of the company.  The only sign we have that he's a horrible monster is that he disciplined an employee for calling another employee by a racial slur, and if that's horrible, every decent boss ever must be a complete monster.

*sigh*  It's not a good sign when a book makes you want to slap the main character...

Chapter 1 - Foyt Fails Human Biology Forever

Why do I feel like I'm opening Pandora's box in cracking this book open?  Okay, here we go... I'll be commenting as I go and not reading ahead, so save what I've heard from Internet hearsay I have no idea what's going to happen in future chapters.  This could be interesting...

We get a title page first thing, then a dedication -- "For Christopher, beastly and true."  Given the bestiality undertones I've heard this book contains, this dedication comes off as slightly creepy... I sure hope Christopher is her husband or boyfriend, otherwise this could be trouble.

Next is the acknowledgements, which is surprisingly pretty free of crazy and actually has a quote I really like.

"They say it takes a village to raise a child.  The same analogy may apply to creating a novel, which is another kind of birth."

This may be the one favorable quote I take away from this, so I'm savoring the moment before it's gone.

"Ooooooh!"

Then we get a poem by Emily Dickinson, "Come Slowly Eden" (gee, wonder where the main character's name came from), and I'm going "Oh come on, start this dang book already!"  The poem is said to be a woman encouraging a shy and bashful lover to make his first move, which seems to be a weird choice for a novel that's supposed to be a post-apocalyptic dystopian critique on racism, but who am I to judge?

Then we get a second title page, just in case we forgot the title of the book already, and then FINALLY we get started on Chapter 1... which is simply called 1, with the number surrounded by leopard spots.  Okay...  

We start right off with our main character, Eden, hearing footsteps and ordering her "Life-Band" to hide her "Beauty Map."  No explanation for the former yet, but the latter is apparently a holographic image of "a blond girl playing on a sunlit beach" in front of her.  I fail to see how that's a map...

In comes our first black character... and I swear to Primus, her name is Peach.  Yes, like the Mario character.  I'd laugh but I have a sinking feeling that this isn't the last ridiculous name we'll see in the book...

Eden shot to her feet, her heart racing, as a plump, dark-skinned lab assistant appeared on the other side of the partition.  It was only Peach, who wasn't as cruel as the rest of them.

Eden's blank emotional mask slammed into place.  Never let them see how you feel. -- p. 3

Okay, if Eden was really being oppressed, I can see how she'd have this kind of attitude -- prejudice and oppression breeds this kind of hostility.  But we're barely four paragraphs into this book; why not show us some examples of her oppression before leaping right into this?  Just a thought.

Peach asks Eden about a report that apparently hasn't been delivered on schedule, and we get the following lovely exchange:

Had Peach forgotten that Eden's skin only had a dark coating?  Maybe she was passing, after all.  Wouldn't that be nice?  Eden almost enjoyed pointing out the truth.  "I'm not allowed to communicate on Priority One channels."

Peach grew flustered.  "I know that.  Why didn't you give the report to Ashina?"

In fact, Eden already had sent it to her supervisor, Ashina.  But she couldn't directly accuse a Coal, even if she was only late from her lunch break

"I sent it.  But, well, my lunch break started ten minutes ago," Eden said.  To further soften her words, she smiled politely.  -- p. 3-4

First of all, yes, we do have a character named Ashina.  I knew Peach wouldn't be the only ridiculous name in this book... 

Second, instead of telling us that Peach was flustered, why not show it with some change of expression or hand gestures or something?  Show, don't tell, is the first rule of writing, after all.  

And third, even if she's "softening the blow" with a smile, that last comment is sassy enough that if Eden really was as oppressed as the book lets on, I doubt she'd get away with it without at least a smack or a reprimand.  But it goes ignored, so... whee, I guess.

Also we get our first mention of the nickname for black people in this book -- Coal.  I'll discuss this in a bit more detail later.

We get a random paragraph about a holographic projection of mallard ducks flying over a lake on the other side of the lab where these characters are working and talking.  It seems out of place here, why the hologram would be there isn't explained, and it seems to only be there so Eden (and Foyt) can show off that they know the Latin name for mallard ducks.  I get it, you're trying to show your main character is smart and educated despite being a lesser class in her society, but presented in this way breaks the flow of the story.  Especially since it's dropped right in the middle of a conversation here.

Anyhow, Peach finishes up the conversation and leaves, and Eden's Life-Band tells her (via a voice in her mind) to "experience something pleasant" because her heart rate's elevated.  So Eden meditates and imagines herself as a stone in a cave.  Whatever relaxes you, I guess, but that seems a weird choice.

The relaxation must not have done much good, because Eden's thoughts immediately go to how much she hates them, but at the same time wishes she were one of them.  (Yes, them is italicized every time it shows up.)  We're also told that even at seventeen Eden's considered middle-aged, that she'll be lucky to live to her forties, and that she and everyone else lives in underground tunnels called the Combs to escape The Heat.  Why any civilization would name their home after "catacombs" is anyone's guess.

We get told that most of the population only goes outside at night, when radiation is lowest, and we get a flashback to when Eden's mother, who's conveniently dead of Disney Mom Syndrome, took her to a special viewing window to see the sunlight once.

They had ridden several underground hovercrafts until they reached a special set of stairs.  The guard on duty had inspected them before letting them climb to the upper level.  There, they stood at a special viewing window that was tinted and sealed.  The sight of the steaming rocks and an endless sea of pale, tired dirt had saddened Eden even though she'd never known a green Earth.  Her mother had pointed to a pile of bleached bones. 

- We must be careful, daughter.

The message had been clear: this is where you'll end up if you don't obey.  All Pearls, the racist term for whites, feared the light. -- p. 5

The wooden writing aside (though seriously, this is pretty bad Beige Prose), I'm failing to see how the word Pearl can be racist.  A pearl is a gemstone, and a pretty darn valuable one at that -- up to $5000 to $10,000 for high-quality ones.  Even putting aside the "gemstone" thing, Dictionary.com gives another definition of "pearl" as "something precious or choice; the final example of anything."  Not the kind of name anyone is going to be using as a racial slur.

If "Pearl" was the term Eden and others like her were using to describe themselves, I could see it... but for it to be a racist term is pretty ridiculous.  But moving on...

The Life-Band gets explained a little more -- it's a copper hoop earring she wears in her right ear, and it apparently gives her "the freedom to travel in her mind anywhere in the past."  She also regards it as valuable as her heart and lungs. and every citizen gets one from the "Uni-Gov."  Not sure why the government is giving everyone devices to let them have random flashbacks, unless that's not the only thing they do, but we'll see if this gets revisited at all in future chapters.  (Ten bucks says it doesn't.)

There's also a bit about how everyone gets a Life-Band, but most sew it into a pocket or wear it as a hidden locket, but Eden needs to have hers within easy reach and highly visible... so she can believe it'll never be taken away?  Um... yay, who needs logic?

Oh, okay, the Life-Band and some convenient sensors planted in her head let her access any and all holographic images stored on the World-Band, so she immediately goes back to watching the hologram of the girl on the beach.  Is this an image from her childhood?  Of happier times?  Nope!  It's a random (and illegal) image of a random white girl playing.

A familiar rush of pleasure, mixed with fear, coursed through her at the sight of the white girl.  Images of Pearls in natural coloring were forbidden.  If they caught Eden looking, she would be punished.

And yet, she couldn't resist watching the pale, slim girl bounce a multi-colored ball over to a young man who was also white-skinned.  She wore a polka-dot bikini -- all that skin exposed!...

Ms. Polka-Dot Bikini was Eden's kind, right down to her long blond hair and big blue eyes.  And yet, according to the antique Beauty Map, she had been prized for her beauty -- which meant, if Eden had been born in an earlier time, she too might have been beautiful.

Me?  Eden Newman, beautiful?  No matter how often she studied the precious map she couldn't imagine it.  She was a lowly Pearl, worth nothing in a world ruled by dark-skinned Coals.  -- p. 6-7

Argh, stop calling it a map!  It's a video or the holographic equivalent of a GIF, not a map!  I know, the meaning of words can change over time, but a map indicates that it's a representation of an area of land, not a GIF of people frolicking on a beach.  Using the wrong words just confuses people!

Also, if images of white people... excuse me, Pearls are banned, how is Eden able to access one on the World-Band?  Why would they even keep things like that on the World-Band where anyone could get at them?  That's like banning people from buying beer but still keeping it on store shelves.

We get some more musing on "that bitch Ashina" and that "haughty Coal," a bit more description of the lab and the stem cells growing there, and a glimpse of Eden's father, described as "a brain on a stick."  Apparently his IQ is high enough that he gets to work in the labs despite being a Pearl, and his high position lets Eden work there too.  Yeah, we can really see how grateful Eden is for the job...

Apparently tomorrow an experiment is to take place that could possibly save the world, and Eden's all smug about being one of the few people to know about it.  But we don't get to hear what the experiment is about -- instead we get to hear Eden gloat about how a lowly Pearl gets to know a secret that all the "gorgeous, dark-skinned Coals" don't get to know about.

Oh, and we get our first glimpse of blackface... I mean Midnight Luster.

As he turned his head, Eden winced at the sight of pale skin peeking through his worn, dark coating.  For Earth's sake, how was she supposed to pass when her father didn't maintain standards? -- p. 8

Yes, "Earth" is the stand-in for "God" or any other deity-based curse word.  And while I appreciate a book not taking God's name in vain (one of the reasons I use "Primus" instead), it just feels weird.  Do the inhabitants suddenly worship the Earth?  Or is it just a convenient stand-in?  

Moving on...

She smoothed a hand over her long black hair to reassure herself.  Like her skin, the layers of dark coating -- Midnight Luster -- she'd worn since birth had turned it dry and crackly.  A small price to pay for beauty and for protection.  She had to cover her white skin or risk antagonizing the Coals.  -- p. 8

whut

Yeah, you read that right.  This novel not only contains blackface, it makes it a freaking plot point.

...

Why?  Just... why?  Blackface has a long and not-so-grand history of being used to mock African-Americans, and to say it's a controversial practice today is an understatement of gargantuan proportions.  Tropic Thunder was able to (barely) get away with a blackface scene, but otherwise it's seen in incredibly poor taste.  So why would anyone think it's a good idea to include it in a book that's supposed to be about how terrible racism is?  

And yes, I know "passing" is a thing.  In the book Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi (worth a read if you actually want something about race and racism), there are African-American characters trying to pass as white, but they're already naturally light-skinned and accomplish their "passing" by ostracizing any family members that happen to be born dark.  It's presented as controversial and problematic in the book, whereas Revealing Eden seems to be promoting it as a good thing.

Foyt apparently sees nothing wrong with taking a controversial practice and not only making it a plot point in her novel, but using it in her book's advertising and even encouraging fans of the book to wear blackface in public to promote the book.  You know, there's a big difference between Sharpie-ing a lightning bolt on your forehead to proclaim your love for Harry Potter and participating in a practice that's long been used to mock African-Americans...

Finally we get a good look at Ashina, Eden's nemesis.  She's described as thus:

Voluptuous, with raisin-colored skin, everything about Ashina screamed ruling class. -- p. 9

Notice that so far, all the black people have been described as "plump" or otherwise heavy, while all the white people are thin?  Also, Foyt does know that few black people are actually black, right?  (Are raisins even black?  I always thought they were dark purple...)

So it's explained that because of The Heat, people of color have a higher survival rate than white people because of their high melanin levels.  Um... that's not how it works?  A high melanin content can keep you from getting sunburned as easily, but it doesn't protect from UV rays, which are the main cause of skin cancer... and it's no protection whatsoever against heatstroke.  Did Foyt do ANY research going into this?

There's also stuff about "mate options," and how having good genetics means it's more likely that you'll get chosen by a suitor, and Pearls and Cottons ("the derogatory term for albinos") are the least likely to get picked because of bad genetics.  It's also mentioned that albinos are extinct, which makes no sense because albino isn't a race.  

Ashina promptly demands the reports from Eden, and when Eden insists she did Ashina tells her to sit down and she's not going to be responsible for her screw-ups.  Eden thinks that she's heard multiple times that "white people were lazy good-for-nothings with weak genetics," but this would have meant more coming from Ashina instead of Eden, personally.

Then we get the prize-winning moment -- after some back-and-forth between Eden and Ashina, Ashina makes a grab for Eden and Eden blurts out what's explicity called "an incendiary racial slur."

"Get your hands off of me, you damn dirty Coal!"  -- p. 10

So... ever since this book gained notoriety on the Internet, Foyt has been defending the terms "Coal" and "Pearl" in blog posts and news articles, claiming that in this futuristic world coal is more valuable than pearls and so calling the ruling class "Coals" is a good thing.  Her words are as follows:

"Why are the whites called Pearls, while blacks are called Coals?  Imagine a gritty, post-apocalyptic world where all that matters is survival.  What good will a pearl do you when luxury items have no use?  Coal has energy, fire, and real value.  It is durable and strong, not easily crushed like a pearl.  Pearl is a pejorative term here.  Coals are admired.  Coals oppress Pearls because they fear that those with light skin will add to a population unable to survive "The Heat," and drain meager resources."

I already explained why it's ridiculous to use the word "Pearl" as a derogatory slur, but the number one problem with this explanation is that it isn't included in the book itself.  Just like J. K. Rowling's revelation that Dumbledore was gay ultimately means very little when it isn't included in any of the Harry Potter books, this nugget of information means nothing when a reader has to hunt it down after the fact.  A work of fiction needs to be able to stand on its own, without requiring an outside source to explain plot points or provide valuable information.  Some supplementary material that accompanies and fleshes out the original is nice, such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for Harry Potter or The Silmarillion to Lord of the Rings, but when you leave a vital chunk of information out of the work itself, the work fails.

But all her explanation falls flat on its face with this simple passage on page 10.  Because despite her insistence otherwise, Eden and every other character introduced thus far treats the word "Coal" as an offensive term.  So much for trying to prove it otherwise after the fact...

Ashina reacts the way you'd expect someone to react to being called by a racial slur -- she slaps Eden.  Eden jumps back, Ashina falls, and immediately all the other workers in the lab start to stampede toward her.

The angry mob lurched toward Eden, just like in her nightmares.  The Coals were going to kill her.  They would drag her outside and leave her to cook in the sun.  -- p. 10

Main character dies, the end, we're done, yay!  ...Wait, I mean the chapter ends there, so I guess we have to wait until the next chapter to see what happens. 

So thus far it's been established that Eden's not as badly oppressed as she likes to think, our main character comes across as a racist whiner, Foyt stinks at naming characters and knows squat about how etymology and melanin work, and I already want to throw this book at the wall.  Oy...

One chapter down... forty-two to go.  This is going to hurt...

Revealing Eden Cover: Off To a Questionable Start

Okay, let's get right to it, shall we? Our first subject for this blog is Save The Pearls Book I: Revealing Eden by Victoria Foyt, published in 2012 by Sand Dollar Press.

This book apparently caused a lot of controversy when it was first released -- Victoria claimed that it was meant to help people of Caucasian descent understand what it was like to suffer the cruelties of racism, by creating a world where white people were the oppressed minority.  Readers disagreed, claiming that Victoria, as a Caucasian, has no idea what actual minorities go through and that her book reads as a racist rant itself.  Yikes... sounds like she missed her mark by a mile.

There's also a few choice tidbits online about her insane articles in the Huffington Post, her marketing campaign using women in blackface and even encouraging fans of the book to wear blackface in public (because that can NEVER go wrong, can it?), and her claims that "an African-American community of readers" may not even exist.  (Is your blood boiling yet?)  The book currently has a 1.8-star rating on Amazon and a 2.04 rating on Goodreads, with plenty of evidence that the few 4 and 5 star ratings are either sock puppets or friends of the author.

All controversy and reviews aside, let's dive into this thing, shall we?  Call it train-wreck curiosity, but I want to see how bad this thing really is for myself.  And you do too, otherwise you wouldn't be here, right?

For the record -- yes, I did purchase this book.  Our library doesn't carry it, and I wanted to be able to make notes in the margins if I had to.  Rest assured that I got it used, however, so I didn't give the author or publisher a dime of my money.

We'll start by looking over the cover of the book.  Nothing particularly inspiring -- except for the half-and-half look of the girl on the cover, like she's one of those aliens from the "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" Star Trek episode, it looks like your bog-standard paranormal fantasy novel.  My copy of the book also bears a gold sticker declaring this book has won the "Eric Hoffer Award," which as far as I can tell isn't an actual award and can be acquired by any self-published author who pays a fee.  At least they're up-front about bribing your way to victory, unlike some awards...

Summary from the dust jacket:

WOULD YOU BETRAY YOUR LOVED ONES -- AND MAYBE YOUR ENTIRE RACE -- TO AVOID A HORRIBLE DEATH? 

 In a post-apocalyptic world where resistance to an overheated environment defines class and beauty, Eden Newman's white skin brands her as a member of the lowest class, a weak and ugly Pearl. The clock is ticking: if Eden doesn't mate before her eighteenth birthday, she'll be left outside to die. 

If only a dark-skinned Coal from the ruling class will pick up her mate option, she'll be safe.  But no matter how much Eden darkens her skin and hair, she's still a Pearl, still ugly -- cursed with a tragically low mate-rate of 15%.

Just maybe one Coal sees the real Eden and will save her -- she has begun secretly dating her handsome co-worker Jamal.  But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father's secret biological experiment, she is thrown into the eye of the storm -- and the remaining patch of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land.

Eden must fight to save her father, who may be humanity's last hope, while standing up to a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction.  To survive, Eden must change -- but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty -- and of true love.

Acclaimed writer VICTORIA FOYT blends equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this captivating novel set in a terrifying future, which is all too easy to imagine

I already have a LOT of questions -- why is the "weak and ugly" race called Pearls while the ones with power are called Coals, what's a mate-rate and why is hers so low, how is this author "acclaimed" when no one had heard of her before this book came out, why does this thing read like a bad crossover of Twilight and Divergent -- but I'm going to hold off on those until I've actually started reading.  Presumably the author will (attempt to) answer some of these questions in the book itself.

I do find the "terrifying future" and "all too easy to imagine" remarks a bit disconcerting, however.  Protip, Victoria: using these remarks when your book is about a future/alternate universe where Caucasians are the oppressed minority makes you look less like the "colorblind" individual you claim to be and more like a paranoid white supremecist.

The back cover has another mini-blurb about the book that's essentially an abbreviated re-hash of the dust jacket commentary, as well as three glowing reviews from three people I've never heard of, including the CEO of a major comic book convention.  Because when you think of book reviews, you think of comic book convention CEOs, I'm sure...

They do say not to judge a book by its cover... but I must say I'm not terribly reassured by what I've seen on THIS book's cover.  And if Internet hearsay is accurate, the cover is probably the LEAST offensive and repellent aspect of the book.  But I paid for this thing and started this blog to rip it apart, so I'm dedicated to reading every last page and sharing my commentary of it on the Internet.

...Primus help me.

Yes, this sporking will include some reaction pics and GIFs.  Because sometimes the only way to convey your emotions accurately is with a giant robot facepalm...