Publication: 09/02/2014 by HarperTeen
Series: The Lone City #1
Pages: 358 Pages
Source: eBook
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
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Goodreads Summary
The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.
Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.
Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.
My Thoughts
This book took work to read, and I can't say it was very good. It was readable, but while reading it you just knew that it isn't very good. You can kind of enjoy it, in a very guilty pleasure way but you still know that it's not greatness. I have a lot of problems with this book but not everything was terrible.
One of the biggest problems I had with the book was the romance. It was extremely "insta-love". Violet immediately is head over heals in love with Ash but rarely stops to consider the consequences of this relationship. There is way more to lose than to gain from this relationship. In addition, Ash is an extremely flat character. All that we really know about him is that he loves Violet and that's about it. I had a lot of eye rolls during their scenes together.
Besides the romance, the rest of the book also fell flat for me. The concept was interesting, the idea of using surrogates could have been done really well and been very intriguing. For the most part, it just was kind of boring. There was no action during the book and you can only read so much about the same thing before you get tired.
Lastly, the magic that the surrogates possessed was pretty confusing. I didn't find that it was well flushed out. I think Ewing should have put some more focus on this aspect because it does play a big role in the book and likely an even bigger role in the sequels. I understand that you want to keep some secrets for later but it's also necessary to understand some things early on.
In conclusion, The Jewel wasn't the worst book I ever read but it wasn't great. I wouldn't recommend it, but I can see how some people might enjoy it. I probably won't continue the series, because there are better ones out there. I am kind of half interested in what happens but I know it's not great so I shouldn't spend more time on something I am not enjoying.
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