Chapter 30 -- This is Your Romance on Drugs, Any Questions?

Next!

Eden watches Bramford cook his drugs... I mean boil up the herbal concoction "with dreamy eyes."  Maybe hoping he'll share his fix with her, I dunno, though I notice that Foyt has completely and conveniently dropped the fact that Eden is hooked on oxy.  Drug addiction is a serious business, and you can't just stop using a powerful drug you've gotten yourself dependent on without serious side effects that last a LOT longer than a few days.  Even cigarette addiction can have some nasty withdrawal symptoms.  The fact that Eden is showing no ill effects now, mere days after stopping oxy, is pretty unrealistic.

Anyhow, we get a paragraph describing the jungle and the wood smoke, then we get Eden thinking about life in the Combs.

Her old life in the tunnels with the ever-present voice in her head and the dark coating that fit like a second skin seemed nothing more than a bad dream.  Had it really happened?  Only the present felt real, and comforting.  Somehow, Eden believed she and Bramford always had been together in the jungle -- how had he put it -- as partners. -- p 210

Your life in the tunnels was only a few days ago, Eden.  And not too long ago you were freaking out about the jungle, hating Bramford, and wanting to get a World-Band and go home.  Ugh... I swear Eden has multiple personalities, she's not written consistently at ALL.

Bramford comes over to retie the ropes around her broken ribs, something he has to do one-handed since his other hand is wounded and quite possibly infected if the "angry red streaks... like just accusations of her stupidity" are anything to go by.  Does Eden help him at all?  Nope, she just is "happy for an excuse to lean against his warm, bare chest."  Seriously?

Ironhide's had enough of your slag...

"How's the pain?" he said.

She put on a brave face.  "It only hurts when I breathe."

"Take shallow breaths."

"I am."  Except when you look right through me. -- p. 211

"It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" by Shania Twain

"Look Right Through Me" by Revis

When your romantic dialogue can double as sappy love-song lyrics, maybe you need to rewrite it to be a bit more realistic.

Bramford purrs as he finishes tying the knots -- again, jaguars don't purr -- and Eden wonders why he can't always be like this.  Maybe if you stopped trying to deliberately tick him off, he'd be like this more often.  But then, he's at his most likable when he's ticked off at you, so please, by all means, keep antagonizing him...

Finally Bramford says the bejuco de oro is calling him and asks if Eden's ready.  She protests "do I look like I'm ready?" and he assures her she is even if she doesn't know it.  He also warns her that the herbs will "speak" through him and test both him and her.  Um... plants aren't sentient, and that's the hallucinogens making you hear things, not some jungle spirits.  When did this book decide to veer into straight-up fantasy?  (Aside, of course, from the fantasies of reversed racism and geneticists being able to turn humans into cat-people...)

Eden, who isn't taking the drug, protests that she's going to be tested.

"But I"m not part of this."

"You're here for a reason.  Try to understand."

"I'm only here because you kidnapped me."  It was a fact, though for once Eden presented it without malice.

"But you came along, didn't you?" he said, with equal matter-of-factness.

"I had no choice," she said softly.

He looked off into the distance as he spoke.  "In everything we do there's always a choice.  We can choose to see ourselves as victims of circumstance.  But when we act beyond our personal needs we become part of something greater.  The choice is ours." -- p. 211-212

Not a bad message... it's too bad it's buried deep within THIS book, far deeper than I'm sure most wise and sane people are willing to dig.  (Yes, I'm hinting that I might be neither wise nor sane...)  And it's too bad it's being used by a jaguar-furry to justify getting high in the middle of a dangerous jungle and leaving a girl with no survival skills or instinct whatsoever alone and defenseless.  So long, likable Bramford, you were nice while you lasted...

Eden thinks that Bramford's talk is "riddles... as mystifying as love."  Because of course love can't exist in a dystopia, right?

Bramford shook his head, as if to say, I tried.  -- p. 212

One last jab from likable Bramford before he goes on his "trip"... and then he takes the gourd of drug-stew and drinks up.  And then starts retching, shaking, and staggering like a drunk.  I've looked up this stuff (apparently it's also called boa vine, ayahuasca, or its Latin name of banisteriopsis caapi, which I'm surprised Eden hasn't used yet), and none of these side effects are listed.  My guess is Foyt just went for the most commonly-known effects of ingesting any potentially toxic substance and to heck with actually doing in-depth research...

Eden keeps shouting at Bramford, but he doesn't respond.  Well, he DID warn her that he'd be leaving her alone, so I'm not sure why she's surprised.  She takes a moment to gawk at "his magnificent, inert form" because of COURSE we have to ogle the jaguar-man while he's unconscious, then settles in to guard him and prays she'll make it to dawn.  Hey jungle, now would be a really good time for another anaconda or a REAL jaguar to come in...

After who knows how long of Eden watching Bramford twitch and moan, he starts making sounds that Eden thinks might be "shamanistic language."  Or maybe they're just babbling from a brain that isn't functioning well enough to form proper speech?  For being skeptical of gods and shamanistic stuff, you're sure quick to believe in this stuff, girl...

Eden also wonders if Bramford will lose his fight against the great snake spirit (again called by the Aztec name because of COURSE everyone in Central and South American is/was Aztec, right?) and worries he'll be ressurected as an "ugly piggy tapir."  Even now Eden is obsessed with beauty and ugliness.  *sigh*  Our heroine, ladies and gentlemen...

Besides, tapirs can be cute...

Eden decides to call Bramford by his first name, Ronson, but gets no response either.  (Ronson?  Seriously?  At least it's not Peach or Ashina...)  So she decides to hold his hand until this whole thing blows over.  And of course she decides her hand belongs in his, "even if his was paw-like."  Why are you suddenly deciding that you're this guy's soulmate when you've spent much of the book hating his guts?

And of course, because TWU WUV, Bramford squeezes her hand back.  And finally starts talking lucidly.

"Please, don't go," he said, though Eden hardly recognized the angst-ridden voice.

"What?" she said.

"Promise me you won't leave."

Bewildered, Eden replied.  "Of course not."

"Say it."

"Okay.  I promise I won't leave."

"But you did," Bramford said, his face lined with pain.  "You deceived me." -- p. 214

Eden feels guilty for selling Bramford out to Jamal (took you long enough, girl) and says she only wanted to survive.  Bramford said he would have protected her, and she counters that he would have cut her and her father loose the moment Dr. Newman finished his work.  Bramford protests he would have given his life for her father, even going so far as to say "you don't understand how important he is to me," and wow, is Foyt trying to throw some Ho Yay at her readers or what?  It's like she's TRYING to bait readers into a shipping war, if this book had any legitimate fans.

"...you're still afraid... tell me why."

"Look at me.  I'm..."  Did she have to say it?  "I'm not strong like you."

"But I'm teaching you and you've made good progress."

"You can't understand what it's like for me or him."

"I realize that now," he said, regretfully.  "I've suffered, but I'm better for it.  I'm sorry I hurt you.  Both of you." -- p. 215

When has Bramford ever hurt Dr. Newman or Eden?  It seemed like he was a pretty freakin' good boss to both of them, even granting them privileges other white people didn't get and protecting them from harassment.  Bramford has nothing to be sorry about here -- he's just being forced to say it because Foyt wants to beat him into being the perfect love interest for her Mary Sue.

Bramford further reveals that he brought the two of them here because the FFP would have taken Dr. Newman, and he'd laid out a precise plan to save both of them -- a plan Eden screwed up by betraying them to Jamal.  Instead of being sorry, Eden just expresses wonder that Bramford actually has a heart.

"You did it all for us?"

"For who else?" Bramford said.

"Not for power?"

"What is power to me without love?"

Love?  The word exploded inside of Eden.  Was it possible that Bramford loved her? -- p. 216

*sigh*  Alas, poor decent character that was Bramford... I knew him.

The fact that I have the opportunity to use this meme in a 

Revealing Eden post and not for Hamlet's Father

is just criminal...

Bramford further reveals that he's loved Eden all this time and has been trying to protect her all along, even during the Moon Dance.  And here I thought it was just proof that Bramford was a decent human being.  Of COURSE there's no way a male protagonist can ever just be nice to a female protagonist -- it has to be LOVE, of course.  Bleh...

We get a random Emily Dickinson poem -- "Wild Nights, Wild Nights" -- and Eden falls into his arms with an overdramatic "Oh, Ronson!"  And then end chapter.

Welp... I can only hope one of two things at this point:

1. That the romance finally being set in stone means the constant bickering and insulting and "I hate you but you're hot" stuff will come to an end, or
2. That they both wake up in the morning and the whole love spiel was just the drugs talking and Bramford's instead going to just leave her in the woods because why not.

Knowing my luck, however, neither of the above is going to happen.  *sigh*  I need drugs -- I mean chocolate.

No birds were harmed in the making of

these images (seriously, look it up, it's from

a movie and it's CGI'd in...)

Chapter 29 -- What's New, Pussycat?

On we go...

Eden's still laying on the banana leaf, and she's guessed by the passing of the shadows that Bramford's been gone for about two hours.  I'm not certain that a girl who's lived in an underground city and relied on technology all her life is going to know how to tell time from watching shadows, but that could just be me sucking at telling time without a clock nearby talking...

Panic clawed at her, as she wondered if she'd misunderstood him.  A day, maybe two.  She only had assumed he would stay with her.  But what if he planned on leaving her alone?  Why couldn't the beast ever say what he meant? -- p. 202

Nice to know that Bramford's automatically a beast whenever he does something you don't like.  *eyeroll*

There's a splash in the river, and Eden gets to watch as a school of piranha (yes, Latin name, were you expecting anything different?) catch and eat a "pretty, little rainbow fish."  She proceeds to scour the forest around her for potential threats.  I guess we're supposed to take this little scene as a metaphor for how our "pretty little" protagonist is alone and threatened by a dangerous wild world, which is pretty stupid to me.  "White woman in danger" is such an overplayed trope any more that it gets eye-rolling when we're expected to take it dead seriously.

Eden starts to freak out as she hears whistling and laughing in the forest... but it turns out to be something called a "laughing falcon" (yup, Latin name too, isn't our protagonist so smart?).  And of course Eden assumes that everything in the jungle is making fun of her.  Because it's all about her, don't you know...

Eden also thinks "please, protect me, Mother Earth."  Which seems a little weird since didn't this book establish that Eden considered religion to be dead and silly superstition?  Why would she suddenly be praying to "Mother Earth?"  Worship of the Earth has not been established up to this point, and I don't think using "Earth" as a curse word the whole book counts.

This Earth goddess is not amused by this book

Something approaches from upstream, and she panics... but it's just Bramford coming back.  And we get this winning bit:

Relief, and then anger washed over her.  He hadn't even bothered to call out to her.

Her shrill voice lit into him, as he approached.  "For Earth's sake, Bramford.  Why didn't you tell me you'd be back? Or did you enjoy scaring me?" -- p. 203

*sigh*  I'm getting sick and tired of Eden screaming at Bramford one moment and lusting after him the next.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who hates the Belligerent Sexual Tension trope, or its nasty implications.  Because fighting or insulting one another constantly, even if it's followed up by romantic or sexy moments, can't be a good basis for a healthy relationship...

Bramford doesn't respond to the yelling, just shows what he's carrying -- leaves, nuts, berries, and a length of vine.  He stares at Eden with "bruising eyes," and geez do I hate this book's attempts at description and metaphor.

Never gets old

Eden keeps ranting at him, though you think she would have learned by now not to tick off the jaguar man.  But self-preservation was never one of Eden's strong points, was it?

"I don't know why you bothered to save me in the first place, if you were going to leave me here to die.  There are things everywhere; things that want to kill me.  Just now, I heard someone."  She wagged a finger.  "Right there-"

Without warning Bramford pounced on her, scattering his pickings into the air.  Eden flattened her back against the leaf and screamed. -- p. 203-204

Yay, protagonist eaten by a jaguar furry, we can all go home now!

Nah, of course we can't be so lucky... we just get faux-sexy description out of it.

He knelt over her, his weight supported on one arm.  His loincloth brushed against the top of her thighs.  His irresistible scent shot like a hot arrow through her galloping heart.

Eden yearned to caress his savage face but feared he might hit her.  From a lifetime of habit she knew what to do.

"I'm sorry, sir," she began, speaking in the flat, unthreatening tones of a Pearl.  But she had to reach for the right note, as if it was packed away on a shelf.  She hung her head on her chest as she continued.  "I didn't mean to upset you.  I only wanted--"  -- p. 204

I dunno what's worse -- the weirdly written "sexy" bit there or the uncomfortable reverse racism bit immediately following it.  I get what Foyt's trying to do here -- put a white girl in the place that a lot of black people have found themselves in over the generations, having to be subservient to a white person for fear of repercussions -- but it just feels uncomfortable.  It reads less like a case of "see how it feels, white people?" and more like she's co-opting decades of pain and humiliation that people of color have experienced, just to get a little drama for her precious protagonist.

And any shred of good a scene like that could have done is destroyed when Bramford apologizes to EDEN for what happened.

"I left you here without explanation.  You have a right to complain.  Go ahead.  Attack, don't whimper." -- p. 204

Ugh... making your otherwise-likable black love interest suddenly subservient to the white girl is icky and uncomfortable, Foyt.  How did you go so, so wrong with this supposedly anti-racist book?

Bramford tells her she could learn a lesson in protecting herself, and she thinks "the bastard hadn't changed one bit" even though he's right.  She demands to know why he left her defenseless and he points out that nothing attacked her while he was gone.  And we get a rather uncomfortable explanation as to why.

"Why can't you understand?" he said.  "The jungle isn't chaotic.  Order exists here.  You just don't recognize it.  Don't you realize that I marked you with my scent when we laid together so that nothing would attack you?" -- p. 205

Wat.

Just... wat.

Okay, I get it.  This is totally a cat thing.  Cats do have scent glands on their chins that they use to mark their territory, including their humans.  So when you think your cat is being loving and friendly by rubbing his chin against you, more often than not he's just making it clear to other animals that "this human is MINE, back off."  And Bramford IS part cat at the moment, so...

I'm sorry, but even if Bramford is a cat-man now, this is still icky.  Eden has remarked before that Bramford likes to mark his territory "like a beast," and this is just giving her more ammo for the whole beast thing.  I don't care that we're supposed to see it as romantic and heroic on Bramford's part, that he did this to protect Eden.  It's still squicky and weird and... argh.  I need a shower.

Eden feels betrayed that their earlier snuggling was just Bramford marking her (and for once I don't blame her), and she decides Bramford'll never see "the Real Eden" again.  We'll see how long THAT lasts, her feelings toward Bramford have more flip-flops than a California beach.

She watches "the scribbled line of shade slide over the opposite embankment" (seriously Foyt, you're trying WAY too hard with your description here) and dreads the coming night.  And she wishes she were anywhere else in the world than stuck here with Bramford.  Don't whine, girl, it was your choice to go running into the jungle with no protection.

Bramford pulls up a lily pad, and Eden marvels how the white flowers are "huddled like Baby Pearls"... and then Bramford yanks the flower out of the lily pad and throws it away, and just uses the lily pad as a plate to put the nuts and berries on.  And of course Eden has to take offense to THIS too.

He probably wished he could be just as easily rid of her. -- p. 205

Don't we all, girl... don't we all.

What we all probably wish we could do to Eden

right about now...

Eden kicks the pad away, telling Bramford not to tell her what to do.  He grabs her by the leg, sending "hot, burning signals" up her legs and into her brain.  Your nerves are constantly sending signals from your legs to your brain, this is nothing special, girl.  And she thinks about how much she hates him, which is nothing new.

"Good, you're angry," Bramford said.  "You can't survive in the jungle without anger."  -- p. 206

Stop reminding me of things I'd rather be

reading/watching than this crappy book...

"I don't want to be in the jungle," Eden hissed.

"You want to survive, don't you?"

"That's a stupid question."

"Is it?  As far as I can tell you invite danger.  You don't eat, you walk alone in the jungle."  He narrowed his gaze at her and spoke pointedly.  "And you take up with dangerous men." -- p. 206

Nice to see that Bramford can still put Eden in her place.  Too bad this trait will probably be neutered out of him when these two finally stop bickering and settle down into forced romance.

Eden slaps him, and he warns her not to push him.  At least we don't get a "you won't like me when I'm angry" quote...  Eden protests that she didn't know anything about Jamal's plan to betray them, but then remembers his "wicked grin" and realizes she should have seen it all along.  But she's still going to be mad at Bramford because wah, someone's being mean to me, they have to suffer for it.

"When you get to where I am you'll understand a lot more than you could ever imagine."

"Why on Holy Earth would I want to be like you?"

Bramford's face went bank.  Eden saw that she had hurt him.  Well, he deserved it.  Still, she felt a lump in her chest. -- p. 206-207

Our heroine, ladies and gentlemen.

Bramford starts a fire, and Eden wonders why he's being so difficult.  Excuse me, he's not the one acting like a spoiled brat even after having someone save his life.  Her hating him doesn't stop her from ogling him as he's tending the fire, though, because the only thing more important than looking beautiful is hot guys, don't you know.  Our upstanding role model for girls, ladies and gentlemen...

Bramford tells Eden she'll have to tend to the fire while he's gone... because he's going to take some of that vine-drug and go on a "trip."

"Only the shaman drank the bejuco de oro in special ceremonies long ago.  It allowed him to see far ahead so he could protect the people.  They called him El Tigre because his spirit flew with the speed of a jaguar."  Already, Bramford sounded far away as he added, "It's the next step for me." -- p. 208

Um... these people already see him as a god.  Why does he need to get wasted and turn into a shaman as well?  This sudden turn to mysticism and shamanism doesn't seem in character for him, even with his sudden transformation into a furry.  Or is Foyt going to take this opportunity to toss in an anti-drug message as well?  Please no...

He tells her "in a cowboy drawl" that she'll have to hold the fort, and assures her he'll be back by dawn.  He also insists that he'll die if he doesn't do this, which is a bunch of bunk in my book, but it's pretty clear by this point that Foyt's making all this up as she goes along, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised by anything at this point.

"But, don't you see?  What if it's dangerous?"

Bramford looked her dead in the eye.  "Oh, it'll be dangerous, Eden.  You can count on that." -- p. 209

And on that note, we end the chapter -- with Bramford about to get spaced out on drugs deep in the jungle and leaving a wussy city-girl who's almost gotten herself killed umpteen times by now to protect him.  *sigh*  Well, likable and intelligent Bramford was nice while he lasted, I guess...

Chapter 28 -- Being a Cat Person Makes You Mystical

Pushing forward...

Bramford has just saved Eden from the Incredible Hulk of the snake world (why???), and now the two of them are cuddling on the riverbank.  Seems an odd place to cuddle, but whatever, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that Foyt wants these two to be an item and is going to insist on it no matter what.  *sigh*

Bramford asks if she's all right, and she thinks that she's never felt happier, though she aches all over.  Despite the fact that his hand got torn up by the snake, Bramford checks her over for injuries first, and points out that she's broken a few ribs but will be okay otherwise.  I don't really get why writers treat broken ribs as no big deal.  Sure, it's not as serious as a broken limb or neck, but these are still the shell that protect your innards from getting messed up on a daily basis.  Not to mention a severely broken rib can actually puncture or shred the very internal organs they're meant to protect, if one doesn't seek treatment.

You're welcome for your daily nasty mental image

Speaking of nasty mental images, though...

His gaze traveled down her wet dress.  Plastered against her skin, it hid nothing.  She felt shy as his eyes devoured her, inch by inch.  He licked his lips and reached for the blue bow tied at her breast.  Eden held still, though a storm rocked inside of her.  His thick fingers brushed against her skin as he fumbled with the ribbon.  She titled [sic] toward him with a little shiver. -- p. 195-196

Please not a sex scene, please not a sex scene, please not a sex scene... I really don't want to read a sex scene written by Victoria Foyt, please not a sex scene...

By some miracle, we don't get a sex scene.  Instead Bramford demands to know where Eden got the dress.  And for some reason Eden doesn't say Maria gave it to her, just tells him "don't you recognize it?  It's Rebecca's."  Is she just trying to tick Bramford off at this point?  Despite the fact that she clearly has feelings for him and he just saved her life?

[Bramford] shot to his feet.  She had a worm's-eye view of his towering figure.  The wet loincloth molded to his hips.  Tousled hair fell down his shoulders.  Fits of sand clung to the dark skin.  Bramford was a wild, angry beast. -- p. 196

"Fits" of sand?

Bramford orders her to take off the dress.  Eden wonders what caused his sudden change of mood and criticizes herself for thinking Rebecca's dress would please such an insensitive brute."  Oh great, despite the fact that she's in love with the guy, she's still going to insult him and think of him as a brute.  And she wonders if she's just not as pretty as Rebecca and that's what's got him upset.  Never change, Eden... never change.

Eden retorts that if she finds Rebecca, she'll give the dress back.  This opens a perfect window of opportunity for these characters to just TALK about who Rebecca is and what happened to her, but nope, why let everyone talk about it when you can just milk the mystery for another ten chapters or so, amirite?

His jaw muscles pulsated.  Flinty hardness armored the eyes. -- p. 196

Foyt, no more metaphors, they're not your strong point.  Actually, writing itself isn't your strong point.  Maybe take up knitting or something as a hobby...

Bramford stalks back to the river, over the "tessellated ground."  Um... "tessellated" means "arranged in or having the appearance of a mosaic" or "checkered," according to Dictionary.com.  Or it could also mean "covered in the same geometric shape in a repeating pattern."  I'm not sure how this applies to the floor of a jungle...

This again...

Bramford picks up an anaconda tooth and hands it to Eden.  She says it's horrible, but he argues that it's one of nature's greatest creations and he's sorry he had to kill it.  Of course Eden gripes that "naturally, Bramford took a contrary position."  What, is no one allowed to disagree with you, Eden?  People are allowed to have different opinions...

Eden argues that the snake would have killed both of them had he let it live, and he replies "is that so terrible?"  He takes that to mean he doesn't care about her -- yay, self-centered to the last, girl -- but I took it to mean that he's depressed enough about being stuck as a furry that he's become self-destructive.  That'd be an interesting interpretation of what's happened to him and why he's gone off on all these hunts, come to think of it -- who WOULDN'T be a bit depressed and self-destructive about being transformed against one's will into a cat-man, learning there's no reversing it, and getting saddled with an egotistical racist brat in the process?

Okay, I'm analyzing this crappy book too much, moving on...

Me trying to salvage some kind of redeeming quality in this

book via over-analyzing it

Eden decides he must be talking about the Coatlicue myth (yes, I know it's a real Huaorani belief, but don't force an Aztec goddess into the belief system of an entirely different people, yeesh), and insists it's just a silly superstition.  Bramford replies "is it?" and sets off to gather vines.  

"We're all connected," he said over his shoulder.  "If I'd lost the fight I would have provided fuel for the anaconda.  Instead, its tooth becomes my tool.  Does it matter?"  He snapped the vines with the tooth, as if to prove his point.

"Of course it matters," Eden said.  "We have to survive."

He cast a withering glance over his shoulder.  "You only think so because you're human." -- p. 198

Eden ignores any of Bramford's imparted wisdom to mope that he sees her as different and thus can't love her.  Bramford doesn't seem to realize he's talking to a brick wall and keeps going:

"Man thinks he's above nature when in fact he's its slave," he said, pulling down two huge leaves from a giant banana tree.  "Look at you, Eden.  Without walls to enclose you you're afraid of everything.  Don't you see?  Your fear invited the anaconda to attack.  Try to think of yourself on the same plane as the animals in the forest.  No better.  No worse." -- p. 198

Oh great... turning into a jaguar furry has turned Bramford into the Magical Native American or Noble Savage trope -- essentially Hollywood's way of overcompensating for racism against Native Americans in media.  Instead of portraying Native Americans or other ethnicities as backwards savages, they overshoot in the other direction and give them mystical abilities and insights that they gain by being "close to nature" or "more spiritual" or whatever.  I'm not sure whether portraying Native Americans or any other minority as magically gifted or morally superior specifically because of their ethnicity is still considered racist or not, but somehow it still has a whiff of "unfortunate implications" to me.  

Also, seeing as Bramford is black (or at least started off the story as black, not sure if getting turned into a furry changes that in the author's mind or not), does that mean he falls under both the Magical Native American and the Magical Negro tropes now?  Wow, you pulled a twofer, Foyt...

Bramford starts to braid the vines into a rope.  Eden daydreams.  What a friggin' useless protagonist...

Pinpoints of light flickered like fireflies on the opposite shore.  Their fickleness reminded her of Bramford's changing moods.  Was there some clue in nature that would help her decipher his strange meanings?  Maybe then she could calm this impossible, hammering need for him. -- p. 199

Nice to know that all our protagonist cares about is looking beautiful and lusting after a guy.  How is this supposed to be a strong female character?

For Earth's sake, he was a beast who could offer her nothing.  And yet, her body seemed to have a will of its own.  Logic failed in the face of uncontrollable, ridiculous emotions and lusty desires. -- p. 199

Yeesh... falling into the All Women Are Lustful trope, I see... can your protagonist NOT think with her hormones for once?

Also apparently Bramford is a terrible person for only caring about "the dying earth and fairy tales and animals."  So a guy is an awful person for wanting to save what's left of the world instead of making you happy.  Good to know, girl.

"The more man ruins the planet, the sicker he becomes," he went on.  "He doesn't even know why he's heartbroken.  It's solastalgia -- homesickness for the loss of one's habitat.  Like the Huaronai."  He looked up at her with a soulful expression.  "You suffer from solastalgia, Eden, whether you know it or not." -- p. 199

Foyt, you've already botched up your anti-racism message.  Don't try to go for a Green Aesop at the same time.  Why do so many of these books think that to be "meaningful" they have to tackle five messages at once?  It just clutters up the story and makes it hard to focus on any one thing.  Look at Janine Cross' Touched By Venom -- it tries to tackle issues of racism, sexism, class warfare, religion taking over the government, environmentalism, female genital mutilation, and who knows what else and just ends up being crushed under the weight of the countless issues it tries to tackle.

Of course, having too many "messages" in one story is one of the lesser problems of Touched By Venom... but that's another tale for another time.

Hmmm, another possible book to spork someday?

We will see...

Eden mopes that it's not solastalgia (I looked it up, yes, it's a real word and means a change of mood brought on by environmental changes) that's got her down but the fact that Bramford won't acknowledge that she has the hots for him.  Ugh... this little brat has learned nothing and is still just as selfish as ever.  Grow up, girl.

Also she can't believe this is the same man who used to waste precious resources and who belittled the death of her dog.  Given that you didn't show much affection for your dog in the first place, why should he be upset about that?

Bramford uses the rope to bind her ribs, "thrilling to the touch of his hands."  Then he picks her up.

She put her arms around his neck and pulled close.  He stood still, his sizzling green eyes on her.  A deep, primal groan came out of him that made her heart spin. -- p. 200

Yeesh, people groan and moan a lot in this book... did this thing start life as erotica before Foyt got the bright idea to revamp it into a YA dystopian anti-racism creed?

Bramford sets her down on the banana leaves and says she has to rest for a day or two to heal.  Well, at least someone's showing some common sense in this book.  Eden says she can't sleep in the jungle, and Bramford says "nothing is impossible."  Eden thinks if only that were true, and I'm wondering why she doesn't just talk to him about what she feels.  Communication is a two-way street, girl.

Bramford walks off, and lilies (miracle of miracles, we DON'T get the Latin name for them!) brush against his torso "like vibrant women luring him into the forest."  Add "take a shot every time there's a terrible metaphor" to the Revealing Eden Drinking Game...

Soon the only trace of Bramford was the coarse scent that clung to her skin and filled her with deep longing.  -- p. 201

I will never apologize for this screencap

Sorry in advance for all the TV Tropes links.  This book hits a lot of common tropes, and not necessarily GOOD ones.  Tropes are not a bad thing in the least -- Tropes Are Tools, after all, and there's no possible way for any story to avoid at least some of the countless cliches, tropes, and themes of fiction.  But when a story consistently falls back on some of the bad, old and tired, or just plain icky tropes, then it gets maddening.

Roughly a hundred pages to go... stay strong, we can do this!

Chapter 27 -- The Incredible Hulk of Snakes

Next!

Eden's lost in the jungle and has just fallen onto an anaconda.  Now I'm no snake expert, but I'm thinking if you've just fallen onto a giant, snake, the first thing to do is to RUN THE H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS AWAY.  I love snakes, but that would be my first reaction -- get up and get the heck out of striking range.  And I'm betting that in most cases in the wild, the snake is going to be doing the exact same thing -- okay, maybe not running, but at least trying to get away from this freakish hairless ape that's landed in its turf.

And in preparation for sporking this chapter, I've even looked up information on how to survive snake attacks!  Naturally there's not a whole lot out there -- giant snake attacks aren't exactly a common threat in most areas of the world -- but I did find this handy-dandy article on how to avoid and survive anaconda attacks.  For those who don't feel like clicking on the link, the tips are:

1.  Avoid areas where they like to hang out (such as rivers)
2.  If you see an anaconda, walk/run away
3.  If an anaconda does manage to wrap around you, fight back with a rock, your hands, anything you can get your hands on, and try not to exhale
4.  Carry a knife when you're in the jungle, it's handy

It also points out that anacondas aren't exactly swift, so unless you've broken a limb or the snake happens to catch you asleep you should be able to get away without incident.  So this scene should be over in, like, two sentences, right?  Sure, Eden has no knife and has already broken the first two rules by wandering into the jungle and falling right on the poor snake, but from here she should just get up and run away, right?

Eden quickly ticked off the cold, horrible facts about Eunectes murinus.  The anaconda was at least eight feet long and weighed around two hundred pounds -- probably a male.  A female would have been twice as long and heavier.  Not that it mattered.  The male would kill her just as well.

Um... get up and run away, girl?

Inch by inch, the water snake, as the name anaconda translated, would constrict its muscular body round her... [blah blah blah insert two more paragraphs of Eden describing an anaconda killing and eating its prey step by step]

Run away instead of laying there listing off facts?

Eden lay on her back, one leg caught in the anaconda's tail.  Snatches of forest, then a patch of sky whirled overhead, as the snake flipped her over.  Just as she feared, it began to roll its long body around her. -- p. 189

Kick it off and run away?  Also is an eight-foot snake really strong enough to flip a person over?  I have no idea...

Seriously, Eden lands on this snake, and she JUST FREAKING LAYS THERE as it wraps around her and starts to constrict her!  How stupid IS our protagonist?  Who in their right mind just LAYS there while a snake slowly wraps around them?  It's not like she landed on a jaguar, it's going to take at least a few minutes for this snake to wrap around you...

Wait, why am I complaining about this?  Please, just lay there and get eaten, Eden, put yourself and your readers out of our misery!

To her credit, Eden does start to fight back -- clawing and kicking sand at the snake.  I don't think kicking sand into a snake's face is going to do much good, especially since they have clear scales over their eyes instead of eyelids, but whatever... She starts to pity herself even as the snake's wrapping around her, thinking that no one will ever know what happened to her and "her death would be as invisible as her life had been."  Wah wah wah...

The seconds slid in seeming slow motion towards a final count like bright colored balls on an ancient abacus banging together with a loud click! -- p. 190

Yeesh, someone needs to teach Foyt when metaphors are appropriate and when they just get in the way of the writing.  Not only is this a bad place for a metaphor, but it's just a bad metaphor period.

Eden thinks her father would be fascinated to see a live anaconda, but then realizes that he'd miss her and be horrified by her being eaten.  And if she misjudged her father, maybe she's misjudged Bramford too?  Um... this sudden reversal is weird.  People don't just turn their attitudes around on a dime like this, it takes time for them to change their minds about things.  This sudden change of heart about Bramford feels forced and unnatural, and way too sudden.

Eden didn't know which hurt worse, the searing pain that spread through her body or the deep feelings of regret.  The memory of Bramford's open gaze flashed in her mind.  Why had she ruined their connection by calling for Rebecca?  Now she would never have the chance to show him what was in her heart.

At least she would leave this earth knowing she had experienced one true thing in her life. -- p. 190

Ugh, even in the middle of a life-or-death scene we get this bad romantic writing.  Shouldn't she be, I don't know, focusing on trying to save her freaking self instead of pining for Bramford?

The snake starts to drag her toward the water... and I repeat, is an eight-foot-long snake really strong enough to drag a person?  Green anacondas are some of the heaviest snakes in the world, with the really big ones getting up to 550 pounds, but an eight-foot-long snake is probably only going to weigh about sixty pounds.  And while I'm sure a sixty-pound creature could drag something bigger than it for awhile, I'm seriously doubting a snake can drag a nearly-adult human woman very far.

But eh, who needs logic in a book where being black makes you immune to the depletion of the ozone layer and scientists can turn humans into cat-people, am I right?

Black inkiness dripped behind her eyes.  She couldn't fight the paralyzing slide into darkness any longer.

Sleep, Eden. -- p. 191

I'm just here to watch our unlikable main character

kick the bucket...

Just as things look bleakest for our protagonist (and happiest for the exasperated reader), the snake stops moving.  Wait, what?

Eden heard feverish birdcalls in the distance.  They bounced closer and closer, as if the birds passed a baton of terror down the jungle route. -- p. 191

Yeesh, these are awful metaphors.  Also, snakes are deaf, this anaconda shouldn't be able to hear the birds making noise.  But I digress...

Because we can't be so lucky and we've still got a little over a hundred pages to go, Bramford jumps in to save the day.  How convenient.

yay

Bramford sprang forward, snarling.  His feral eyes flared.  His brow pressed in fierce concentration.  [His brow... pressed?  What?]  His muscles rippled, as he attacked the anaconda faster than her dulled senses could follow.

Oh, he was magnificent. -- p. 191

The snake responds by... using its tail to throw Eden into the river?  Is this the Incredible Hulk of the reptilian world or something?  Somehow Foyt seems to think that an eight-foot anaconda -- which, while too big for comfort for most of the snake-fearing world, is still modestly sized for a boa constrictor -- is going to have the strength of a T-Rex.  Did all her research on anacondas come from that terrible movie about the giant snake?  And she DOES realize that an eight-foot snake isn't going to be as strong as a larger reptile, right?  Right?

Pictured -- Not a freaking documentary!

Eden's struggling not to drown in the river, but still manages to catch glimpses of a "gruesome battle" to the death, which mostly consists of Bramford grabbing the snake and beating its head while the snake tries to bite him in the heart.  Um... I highly doubt a snake is going to go for the heart.  Usually anacondas and other constrictors just grab whatever part they can reach (though they do like to try for the head first thing) and wrap their body around their prey.  It's not like this thing is venomous...

Eden screams "No!" and distracts Bramford, and the snake bites his hand.  Bramford roars, and Eden decides to FINALLY do something proactive and grabs the snake's tail.  It starts to swing her around, and seriously, Foyt, this is the most laughable fight scene I've ever read and I plowed my way through the entire Inheritance Cycle. *rimshot!*

Too briefly, she locked eyes with Bramford and felt the thrill of a powerful connection.  She wasn't imagining it.  They were allies, if only in their fight to survive. -- p. 192

I'm still not buying this instant turnaround in her thoughts toward Bramford here.  You can't spend almost two-thirds of a book hating the man's guts and then suddenly turn around into being friendly to him.  Show some character development, for crying out loud -- and no, thinking he's hot while hating his guts doesn't count.

Bramford shocks Eden by shoving his hand deeper into the snake's throat... which, shocker of shockers, is actually the proper way to respond to a boa constrictor bite, as it makes them lose their grip and forces them to let go to get their fangs back into you.  Then he... headbutts the snake to death?  Okay, moment of smartness gone...

The dead snake slides into the water on top of Eden, and she's pinned beneath it.  Um... push it off of you and get to the surface?  An eight-foot snake isn't going to be exceptionally heavy, and surely you can push sixty pounds off you?  Especially since you're in the water and that helps displace some of the weight?  But no, our precious protagonist can't rescue herself from a situation and she drifts downstream, helpless and drowning, until Bramford hauls her out of the water.

Her Jaguar Man had saved her once again.  Contentment filled her as she pillowed her head against his heaving chest.  She breathed in his musky scent and felt a lovely lift, as if a bird were trilling inside the top of her head.

What else did she need in life besides the warmth of his body next to hers?  She was done with regrets.  From now on, she would follow her heart.  In fact, she would forgive the past and start fresh with Ronson Bramford.

Eden licked tiny beads of water that clung to the hairs on his chest with the tip of her tongue.  His full-throated rumbling sounded full of yearning.  She threw her arms around his neck with a little cry.  Pulling her tight against his body, he groaned heavily. -- p. 193-194

Yeugh... I can't be the only one squicked out by this, right?

Eden says "I'm sorry for everything," and because we can't have anything getting in the way of our precious beauty-and-the-beast romance, Bramford forgives her instantly.  Given that this girl has been responsible for everything terrible that's happened to you up to this point, Bramford, I would NOT be so quick to forgive.  Besides, she hasn't exactly proven she's no longer a threat to your safety...

Eden thinks that "the Real Eden" feels truly seen now (I still don't get the whole "Real Eden" thing going on here...), and "why had she ever wanted to leave this wonderful creature in the first place?"  Yay, forced romance, end chapter...

Can I go bang my head against a wall now?  Because now that Foyt has chosen to strangle her characters with the Red String, I'm sure Bramford's going to no longer be the most likable character in the book and we're going to be subjected to even more lovey-dovey talk and badly-written romantic bits.  Ick...

Stay cool, Kenya, we only have a hundred pages or so to go... you can do this...

Chapter 26 -- Lost in the Jungle

Twenty-five chapters down, eighteen to go... we can do this!  And apologies if this is a short post -- this is a short-ish chapter and doesn't seem to have much to discuss at first glance.

Eden's following Lorenzo and Charlie through the jungle... and apparently they're going on foot.  I thought they had a truck?  I suppose this could be because they're trying to conserve precious fuel, but given how this book has treated continuity all the while I want to instead blame it on Foyt forgetting that she gave her tribe of Noble Savages a truck in the first place.  I can understand fanfic writers, many of whom write and post their work a chapter at a time, goofing up their continuity (a big reason why any writer should re-read their previous work before adding onto it), but I expect better out of a published writer, even if their spouse owns the publishing company that prints their work...

Eden's stumbling after the two men, slapping bugs and tripping over vines and the skirts of her dress -- and again, why are you wearing a dress in the jungle?  If Disney's Tarzan has taught us anything it's that a dress isn't practical in the jungle -- something Jane found out the hard way.

This has been me throughout this entire book

Then the inevitable happens -- Eden steps on a dry twig and it snaps, getting the two men's attention.  Shouldn't they have been alerted by the stumbling, bumbling, and bug-slapping earlier?  But hey, plot convenience!  And of course now our precious protagonist decides they're going to turn around and shoot or stab her, which is understandable considering these are seasoned hunters in the jungle who probably are quite aware that there are terrible things lurking out there that could kill them.

What if they mistook her for prey?  For Earth's sake, with her blond hair and pale skin, Eden presented a bull's-eye target in the dark forest.  She felt faint as she imagined a poison dart sailing straight to her heart.  -- p. 183-184

Don't forget the WHITE dress you decided to wear into the jungle, girl... and as much as I think Bramford is the smartest character in this book I have to question his decision to yank them all into the jungle without giving them the proper supplies or even appropriate clothing.  Yeah, this flight into the wilderness was pretty much a last-minute decision, but still... why am I trying to apply logic to this book?

She inched back against the tree trunk.  She could almost hear the warrior's steady breathing, wafting through he moist air to reach her feverish cheek.  Somehow, she knew they had located her position.  Deep inside, she had a heightened feeling, as if she also had sprung a finely tuned antenna like Bramford.  Eden, a she-cat? -- p. 184

Hey look, it's New Powers as the Plot Demands!  Well, good on her for finally listening to Bramford, I guess... but I highly doubt that a spoiled city girl lost in the woods in a FREAKING WHITE DRESS is going to outclass two seasoned and experienced hunters who have lived in the jungle their entire lives.

Then, because we have to be reminded that everyone and everything is out to make our poor special snowflake-Pearl protagonist miserable, she discovers that the tree she's hiding behind is infested with ants -- what she calls "24-hour ants" because that's how long the pain of their sting lasts, but apparently are actually called bullet ants.  And of course we not only get their Latin name but the factoid that for a Native American boy to become a man he had to survive being stung by dozens of these nasty buggers at once.  We get it, your protagonist is a smarty-pants, let's move on.

What all Foyt's attempts to make her protagonist seem

educated come across as

Eden decides she has a choice between slow painful death by the ants or a quick death from a dart... and she chooses the dart by jumping away from the tree.  Nothing happens... because apparently Lorenzo and Charlie decided that there was nothing there to threaten them and moved on out of sight.  I guess we're supposed to assume they saw nothing, but I'm going to pretend they saw the clueless girl tripping and slogging her way after them and just moved on, sharing a laugh at her stupidity.

Eden's trying to decide which route to take when a bird cries out (azure-hooded jay, and oh yes, we get its Latin name) and she bolts.  Then we get a scene ripped straight from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves:

Long tendrils reached out to grab her like the bony fingers of a giant, green monster.  They knotted into her long, oak-colored hair.  Trembling, Eden tore at the shoots and pressed forward, only to feel the clawing tentacles quickly smother her again.  She was a small offering walking into the forest's hungry mouth.  Feed me, little Pearl. -- 185

This... but the "feed me" line reminds me more of...

This

Eden thinks Rebecca was insane for strolling through these jungles alone with just her animal protector, which is kind of ridiculous seeing as the only proof we have of that is a painting.  Because paintings are ALWAYS true and honest, right?  She thinks she should have stayed in the hut where she belonged, but of course doesn't turn back because then we wouldn't have gripping action, right?

She finally spots the two men crossing a marsh using a fallen log, and decides that it has to be easy and goes after them.  There's a weird moment when she spots a little blue heron and has to spout out its scientific name (can we drop this character trait already?  It's neither quirky nor intelligent), and imagines that the croaking frogs (again, awkward dropping of their scientific name) are taking bets on whether she'll fall or not.  If your protagonist is so smart she'll know that frogs croak to attract mates or warn other frogs away from their territory, but hey, we have to remind our audience that the whole world is out to get our precious white girl!

Naturally she falls in, and just settles for wading to the other side, which is probably what she should have done in the first place, no?  She imagines a snake or crocodile going for her "bright white legs" and also drops this weird bit:

..huge, untamable fear welled up in her.  She couldn't even pretend this was a bad experience on the World-Band.  Too late, she understood that hope and courage weakened denial. -- p. 186

I have no idea what that means, or if it's even supposed to be positive or negative... maybe my brain is just numb by this point, I dunno.

By the time she slogs through the bog, her unknowing guides have vanished again.  So she does the "stupid girl in a horror movie" thing and goes charging into the dark forest after them, screaming their names.  Because that always works so well, doesn't it?

She ends up on the bank of a river, and figures she can follow it to a camp somewhere.  The light reflected from the river hits her eyes and blinds her, and we're given the tidbit that blue eyes are more sensitive to light than brown eyes.  True, but it feels like the only reason that's dropped here is to hammer home how delicate our little white flower is.  Ugh...

Monkeys are howling, and she wonders if they're trying to warn her of something but brushes that thought off as ridiculous.  Then she trips over an anaconda.  No, I'm not kidding, she somehow misses a giant snake on the ground and trips and falls right on the thing.  I mean, I guess if you're seriously not paying attention you could trip over a snake same as you'd trip over a fallen tree or a rock, but c'mon, look at the size of this thing!  Wouldn't that get your attention?

A giant monster had broken her fall.

Oh, Holy Mother Earth.

Eden was caught in the grip of an anaconda.

Immediately, the howler's cries stopped.  And her curdling scream rose up into the sudden, sharp silence. -- p. 188

If there was any justice in the world, Eden would get eaten by this thing and the book would either end or move to Bramford as the more sympathetic protagonist.  But we've still got seventeen chapters of this swill to go, so we can't be that fortunate...

For being a supposedly anti-racist novel, we've sure gotten a throwback to the era of "beautiful delicate white flower of a woman in peril in a savage land" fiction here.  This whole chapter feels designed to only hammer home how precious our protagonist is, but it just makes her look weak and spoiled.  Give me Katniss Everdeen over Eden any day... at least Katniss would have been able to fend for herself...

Chapter 25 -- A Breath of Fresh Air

Let's get this over with, folks... moving right along...

If you get this reference, your childhood was awesome

Eden wakes up to "soft rustling sounds" -- yup, our friend the spider monkey is back.  It knocks something over and starts fussing and begging, and Eden tries to shoo it off but it keeps begging.  She screams, it screams, we all scream for ice cream (dang I'm gonna need some after this chapter), and the monkey takes off, leaving behind some unidentified object that Eden ends up kicking under the bed.  Ten bucks this is important for some stupid reason later...

Out of nowhere we get this bit, which could have used some setup in my opinion:

If only Austin were there to protect her.  If only she had paid attention to his warnings.  Never again would she be blinded by pride.  For Earth's sake, she had bought into the hatred against her own kind.  She had longed for a color-blind mate when she was more prejudiced than the worst of the FFP.

She glanced at Rebecca's portrait.  Sorry, Eden's eyes pleaded.  Thanks to you, I'll do better. -- p. 177-178

...wait, what?  Could it be?  Could we actually have gotten...

"Crikey, mates, we've got ourselves a genuine moment of self-awareness on the part of our racist lil' sheila here!  Ain't it beautiful?  Our main character's finally acknowlegin' her own flaws!  Cherish this moment, mates, before it's gone forever!"

We haven't gotten a visit from Steve in ages...

Seriously, folks, I am genuinely shocked that we got a moment of actual self-awareness from our clueless protagonist.  True, it's buried in more stupid (you can't convince me after all this time that she was fond of Austin at all, and "her own kind" carries some racist implications of its own), but after chapter after chapter of sheer head-desking stupidity, a moment of clarity like this feels like a breath of fresh air after slogging through a landfill.  Breathe it in, folks, I doubt we'll get another one of these for awhile...

Eden looks out the window and sees that the storm has transformed the compound, scattering leaves and branches.  Eden thinks that if she's to survive in this world, she needs to do the same and shake off her old ways and achieve a "personal evolution."  About freaking time, girl...

She even thinks about taking some advice from Bramford about opening her mind.  Wow, do miracles never cease?  There's some nonsense about giving the "Real Eden" the chance to breathe, then we're back to Rebecca.

She looked toward the gated hut.  Did poor Rebecca languish there, filled with similar regrets?  How Eden longed to sit and talk with her, like sisters in an Old World novel.  They'd laugh and cry over how foolish they'd been to fall for a couple of jerks like Jamal and Bramford. -- p. 178

Or maybe Rebecca will recognize you for the spoiled and wretched little brat you are and refuse to speak to you.  Stop drawing assumptions about this Rebecca chick that we haven't even met yet.

She spots a couple of cockatoos (Latin name?  Sic infernum!) and marvels that they mate for life, and vows to be wiser if she ever has another chance to find her own mate.  Don't try to keep us in suspense, we all know where THIS is going...

She spots Lorenzo and Charlie leaving their huts, wearing actual clothes, and realizes they're leaving.  Before they can leave the compound, though, they come across a dead harpy eagle laying on the ground.  For once we don't get the Latin name -- thank heaven for small miracles -- but we're helpfully reminded that "the bird's showy, feminine crest of feathers" and "stern vulture-like features" are reminiscent of the harpy from Greek mythology.  Hey Foyt, I think most of your readers can figure out where the harpy eagle got its name just fine...

The eagle's bleeding from neck bites, and Eden realizes Bramford killed it and that it's one of the donor species needed for his procedure.  I'm still failing to see where Bramford gets the eagle part of his new genetic makeup from, but hey, maybe Foyt figured eagles aren't sexy enough.

Eden imagined Bramford stalking the raptor, as it tracked its own prey, possibly a sloth or monkey.  He must have ambushed the surprised eagle with lightning speed and impeccable timing.  She shuddered to think of the actual attack -- Bramford's springing action, the desperate harpy flailing its long talons in defense, the bloodthirsty roar as Bramford lunged at the huge bird.  Hot and dizzy, Eden leaned against the window to catch her breath. -- p. 179-180

Foyt... this is NOT normal.  No sane person is going to be turned on by imagining an animal getting ripped to shreds or otherwise brutally killed.  You aren't making a compelling romance by including these weird scenes, you're just making it look like Eden is into zoosadism.  (I ain't defining that, look it up on your own...)

Lorenzo and Charlie haul the bird off, and Eden knows she'll be following them when they come back -- into a jungle full of predators and poisonous creatures, she realizes.  NOW you think about this...

The idea paralyzed her.  Why couldn't she just stay there at camp and wait for a better option?  She was just a Pearl, after all.

And yet, she could almost hear Rebecca nudging her.  Remember your promises, Eden. -- p. 180

Um... I don't remember Eden making promises to anyone.  Did I miss something?

Apparently there's a stereotype that Pearls are cowards, because Eden's taking now to remember "not all Pearls were cowards."  It would have been nice to have this stereotype established beforehand in this world's culture, Foyt.  And yes, I know black people like to mock how wussy white people are on the Interent, but still, this feels out of the blue.

Eden remembers brushing her mom's hair, and how she wasn't afraid of death.  She also remembers another Emily Dickinson poem ("Because I could not stop for death..."), and I find myself wanting to apologize to Emily for having her name dragged through the mud like this.  

Still a better use of Emily Dickinson's name

than this dreck...

Also "the notion of a soul living past the grave was as illogical as love."  I'm not sure why all these dystopian books think society's going to ditch religion entirely in the future -- religion is still going strong after all these thousands of years, and many people actually cling tighter to their faith in times of catastrophe.  But of course our oh-so-enlightened protagonist can't be religious, can she?  *sigh*

Lorenzo and Charlie head for the main gate, and Eden sneaks out to follow them.  She passes by her father on the way, who's still asleep, and vows to be strong in order to save him.  Actually, I think you're just going to get him into deeper crap by doing this, girl, but hey, you haven't listened to anyone else up to this point.  Why should you listen to the reader/sporker?

She runs after the men, still wearing Rebecca's white dress (and getting mud on it, who wears a white dress in the freaking jungle), and hears a "sharp cry."  She thinks it's the girls who are always so freaked out by any mention of Rebecca, but it's coming from the locked-up hut, and she wonders if Rebecca saw her.  She considers ditching her plan and going to investigate the hut instead, but instead vows to come back with help and runs after the men... and end chapter.

Can you tell I'm sick and tired of this book?  Even with the brief moment of much-needed self-awareness, this chapter was exhausting to get through.  I just want to be freaking done with this madness...

Hope to have the next chapter up here soon.  Let's see if we can get through this together...