Enmity by E.J. Andrews
Series: Enmity #1
on 24th March 2014
Pages: 295
Format: Paperback
Goodreads

Love vs Life.
Good vs Evil.
War vs Warfare.

Which would you choose?

After a solar flare wipes out most of the world’s inhabitants, it leaves behind nothing but a desolate earth and a desperate population. Existence is no longer a certainty. And with factions now fighting for the power to rule, people start to become reckless with their lives. The world has become a dangerous place.

Amongst the ensuing chaos, Nate and Hermia — two victims of the new world order — are taken against their will to The Compound. Joined by eight other teenagers all chosen for a specific reason, Nate and Hermia are forced to train as assassins to overthrow the current president and make way for a new leader of the free world. Here, they learn to plan, fight, and most importantly... to survive.

Except, despite the casual cruelty of their new existence, both Nate and Hermia — two very strong but very different people — begin to form fragile bonds within the group. But they soon realize their happiness is short lived...because their training is just the beginning.

A war awaits...regardless of how ready or willing they may be.

There’s a lot I loved about Emnity. It’s set in an exciting world where most of the population was wiped out sixty years ago. Only the strong survive and those remaining are at war with each other.

The characters are interesting. Nate and Hermia are taken and forced to train in a secret compound. Along with other teens, they face brutal training methods and it seems that everyone has a secret. Hermia is blunt and somewhat jaded by the world she has grown up in. As uneasy as she is about what is going on, she knows there is more to her captors. Nate is devastated by what has happened to his family but doesn’t let that stop him from forming relationships within their odd and mixed up group and trying to be the leader others believe he can be.

I loved Hermia. She’s bold and angry with a sarcastic streak that runs deep. Nate was an interesting contrast to Hermia and I enjoyed how the point of view switched between the two. It’s great to read a novel where the two main characters don’t fall in love with each other. There were times when their stories seemed to mirror each other too closely and it felt just a little too coincidental but otherwise I think they were a great pair to have narrate the novel.

These characters exist in a dangerous world and I liked how EJ Andrews described the setting. Magical rooms that display memories, orbs as weapons which run off human feeling – it’s all pretty cool stuff.

But unfortunately I had one big problem with this novel. I felt lost. I never seemed to know what was happening or why people were doing certain things. I wanted to like this book but I found it hard to follow. There were big reveals as to people’s identities but then after one person knew – it seemed like it was common knowledge. There needed to be more build up and integration between some events and reveals and the rest of the novel. I understand that a certain level of mystery is important to build the suspense and excitement. But even now after I’ve finished reading the book – I feel like I have no idea what was going on.

Conceptually amazing. Enmity is an exciting dystopian by debut author EJ Andrews. There’s a lot going on with some great characters and very interesting family dynamics. I don’t think I’ll be continuing with the Enmity series but I think that Ms. Andrews is a talented writer and I’d definitely consider reading another novel by her.