The Jewel (Lone City Trilogy, 1)

The Jewel (The Lone City #1) by Amy Ewing Purchased: Kindle - $1.99 Sale. Price now - $9.99 My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Spoilers! What's it all about? Violet was raised in the Marsh of The Lone City. What she has known her whole life is working hard to get what you want. For those living in The Jewel, they are royalty and are privilege with more than any one could know, but when Violet finds out she is a positive match for surrogacy her life is taken away from her. When Violet, or lot 197, has been purchased at Auction by the Duchess of the Lake her whole world turns upside down. She has been taken away from her friends and family and her identity stripped away. She is nobody, or so she thinks. As light starts to form in her dark world things only seem to get harder for Violet. In this tale of survival, servitude, and forbidden romance what is Violet supposed to do when the tides turn from every hating her, to everyone wanting to save her? The Best Parts: Can I just say how much I hate The Jewel, and the royals, and the auction and everything about this book? But can I also say that all of these horrible things together created a wonderful world that I was able to get lost into for a few days. Violet’s stubbornness is known throughout all the characters and the reader as well. I loved that each character had their own traits and you could pick them out even if you didn’t know their names. I love that this story line had a romance in it, but didn’t dwell on it. The romance was a consequence had a major play into other things happening in the novel and not the other way around. It flowed so perfectly till the end, and oh my god the end! If I could just tell you what happened I would, but my god even I was screaming at my book. Perfection is what happened for this cliffhanger, and when I say cliffhanger it is not with the faint of heart. Like I’m freaking out that the next book is months away. I. NEED. TO. KNOW! The Worst Parts: I truthfully have to say that I loved this book a lot. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like, but a few things that frustrated me a little, but seemed to fix themselves over time. The beginning is a little off kilter, as to the pacing of it and the style that it is written, but once we get to know Violet al of that changes and you are truly brought into the story. Throughout the novel there were a few instances that I wished had been elaborated on, rather than just told to us, but it was made up with the elaboration of other scenes, that were probably far more better. Final thoughts ... This novel definitely takes everything from many different YA Dystopian novels, but what is great is that I didn’t notice until reading the description on Amazon, that it really does incorporate some of The Handmaid’s Tale into it as well. This novel is one I think girls of any age can quickly get into. It only took me a few days to read it, but that was because I had to work and didn’t have multiple hours just to indulge myself. The second book to the series, The White Rose, comes out October 6, 2015, so soon!

Favorite Quote: “Hope is a precious thing, isn’t it,” she says. “And yet, we don’t really appreciate it until it’s gone.” I found myself really enjoying this novel. I was originally planning to read The Selection since my friend absolutely raves about it, but after reading some of the reviews I wasn’t inclined to read another love triangle. One of the reviewers suggested this novel as it’s along a similar thread, but a bit darker. So I figured why not, I already had this in my kindle library from a while back when it was on sale, and jumped in. First off I want to appreciate the pacing. This book never had me bored, yet I never felt rushed either. I honestly really liked the pacing of this book. I felt like the events happening made sense with the story line and I had a hard time putting it down. I wanted to know what was happening, what was coming next. It was an addictive read. The writing is also another strong point for this novel. It was smooth and easy to read. I felt it was easy to get swept up into the story. It felt easy to connect with our MC, Violet. Violet was quite well written. You really feel her emotions throughout the story. Her helplessness, anger, frustration, fear, desperation. She goes through a tough time throughout this novel. I can see how people would feel it has insta-love qualities. You actually don’t even meet the love interest until 50% of the book. Yet I can see how their romance kindles so quickly. That forbidden feeling, secret trysts but she seems to struggle with trust. I do like how she constantly thinks of Raven and her situation. I look forward to the second book, from the end of this one I get the feeling we shall see a lot more of the side characters like Raven and Garnet. I have to say the story is compelling. I want to know what happens. I’m curious to see how they’ll work to overthrow the royalty and the surrogate systems. I feel like the second book will blossom from here. We get to see them in a completely different setting and I can’t help but be intrigued. I want to know more. Admittedly the premise of how the royals are unable to have their own children is strange, but I can definitely see the nasty things the royals do to further their own goals. I personally just took as it was. The Augury (read: magic) at first seemed out of place but I could see how it was worked in to enhance the surrogates and it gives an extra touch. I honestly had a good time reading it. The story was interesting, I enjoyed the premise, I’m looking forward the potential of the side characters. Considering the darker tones, I still had fun. It feels like I got exactly what I was wanting going in and that’s not too something I feel that I experience very often. I definitely plan to continue the series.

The Jewel takes place in a world run by corrupt royalty. The royals can not have babies, however, certain girls from the Marsh, the poorest part of the island, can have the royal's babies. If a girl is tested to be able to have their babies, they are taken away from their families and trained in Augury's. Once they have mastered all three Augury's, they are taken to the Jewel and auctioned to become a royal's surrogate. The Jewel follows Violet Lasting and her story as a surrogate when she is in a holding facility and her time in the Jewel. I got this book because it has a beautiful cover, but it was a perfect story. I found this story to be very well written. The author captured my attention with this creative, but interesting world. The story building was very thought out and the characters were well developed. I did think that Violet and Ash's relationship happened fairly quickly, however, it was still a very good book. I would highly recommend this to females over the age of 16 who like young adult books.

This is a book that I wanted to read based on all that I heard about it from other book bloggers. I just kept putting off buying it till recently, and boy am I mad at myself that I waited. As a huge fan of the Selection series the premise for this story was right up my alley. I have to say that I have never seen or read the Handmaid’s Tale, but I remember my sister talking about it before, so I was not sure how this tied into that type of story, after reading a few pages I understood. The story is about Violet, a girl from the Marsh who was tested by the government and found to have the gene/abilities wanted by the Rich and Powerful to be a surrogate. She is taken from her family and sent to live with other girls like herself, where she is taught to hone her abilities. At a certain age Violet is then auctioned off to the one of the wealthy ladies of the Jewel to be their surrogate. Once Violet is taken to the auction she is given the identification number of 197, which is the only name she will be able to use once she is purchased at Auction. She is purchased by the Duchess of the Lake, and this is where the story really begins for Violet. Once Violet is living with the Duchess she is introduced to a lifestyle that she is not used to, having a lady in waiting, having electricity at all times, and nice clothing. She is given rewards for her cooperation by the Duchess, and suffers consequences when she breaks the rules. In this new world Violet must realize that surrogates are not seen as people, they are seen as property, they have one purpose for the family and as Violet learns why she was chosen by the Duchess she becomes more aware of how much her life is no longer her own. Then one day while exploring the mansion she now lives in she meets a boy named Ash, who is the companion of the Duchess’ niece. Their relationship forms under the understanding that no one can know about it, they each have their roles and the consequences of breaking them will be dire for them both. I thought their relationship was an important part of the story, especially when you realize how little control over their own life and bodies the girls in this story have. Being with Ash was one of the few choices that Violet got to make for herself. The other relationships that I thought were important to the story was Violet and Raven’s, it was best friends trying their hardest to stay in contact so that they can keep themselves as more than just the number assigned to them, even when something starts happening to Raven. I also really liked Violet’s relationship with Lucien, the lady in waiting for the Electress, how he is intent on helping Violet both before and after the auction. While his role is small, he is the beacon of hope that maybe there is more out there for Violet then the life she is being forced to live. I thought that the Duchess’ niece was pointless, she had no real reason in the story except to be the reason that Ash show up, but she really only served maybe two purposes in the entire story…and the Duchess’ son was pretty much my comic relief. He seemed like your typical drunk spoiled rich boy who did not care what anyone thought of him. I have to say that this book was amazing and I was really sad when it ended that the sequel is not out yet. The way that the author ended definitely left me wanting more, wanting to see what happens with Violet, Ash, and Violets best friend Raven.

The other night at a bar, I ask my boyfriend if he'd like to know about the silly YA book I started reading to help me out of my reading slump. He agreed, on one condition, he wanted to guess some things first. Dystopian future with ranks? Yes A very pretty girl from the lowest rank? ... yes He begins to smile now She has an ability or something that makes her special and desirable to the higher ranks? ... Attractive and forbidden guy from within the ranks she falls for and risks her life to be with after knowing him a short time?.... yes... A horrible secret, and the inner circle is bad? Yes A plot to overthrow the status quo that she is somehow central of?... yes... Photomanip cover... a girl... either overlooking a wasteland or in a fancy dress..? come on... He starts laughing and I add " but it's like the handmaids tale too, but with magic" "Oh, that's kind of cool" And he was right, I read this in less than a day. It was formulaic, and fit allvthe YA checkboxes, but it was delivered well. I liked the characters, I rarely rolled my eyes at them and it kept me enthralled. The romance was small yet big enough. The world was decently developed and somewhat believable (royal imbreeding can get gross). I wanted to know what happened, and I literally let out an exasperated huff noise at the end and bought the 2nd book, feeling frustrated that prime shipping will take a whole 2 days. The problem with the YA formula is that often the writers aren't talented. Amy Ewing took this formula, and was obviously inspired by other books, but made it her own, and did it well, well at least above average for YA. This is not some amazing tale, it does not convert me from my non ya book usual, but it was refreshing to see that there are some decent story tellers in this genre. I'd place it in the guilty, but not too guilty pleasure read zone. If you enjoy YA, or like me, turn to it in desperate need for a quick, thoughtless read during dry spells of reading, I highly suggest it. It's a quick, enjoyable, formulaic but suprisingly interesting book.

Mi Hija le encanta la literature u lo amo para mi regalo perfecto

to the highest bidder. Once they are sold they are considered property and then their mistress can basically have them do whatever they want but their soul purpose is to birth the next child. Violet is chosen because she scored a 10 in the growth ability which is the highest score a surrogate can get in the categories. Violet is purchased by the Duchess of the Lake. The Duchess of the Lake isn't the nicest mistress but she isn't the cruelest either. She seems to be a bit temperamental. The Duchess of the Lake doesn't seem to like Violet at times and then at other times she seems to want to try to be a loving mother type figure to her. In the end, everything is about trying to get the crown. Garnet is probably the only character I could visualize perfectly in my head. He reminded me so much of the Charming, the prince from Shrek II. So many of his quirks and actions remind me of Charming. Every time Garnet was brought up that is who I would visualize as him. I have to say that Garnet was pretty interesting because he seemed to pop his head in at the most inconvenient times but it fit perfectly in the story. I do wish that Raven was in the story more. Maybe by doing a dual perspective with Raven or something because it would have been nice to know more about what was going on with her. I feel like she played a bigger part in the beginning of the book than she did in the middle or end. What ever happened to Lily? She was mentioned a few times but was never seen again. The plot was definitely interesting. The testing and experiments that go on with the surrogates. Some people are trying to save them and others want to get rid of the person part of them and keep them as an incubator. It is definitely interesting to see who is on which side or maybe even who is on the fence of both sides. What could have happened so long ago to make it to where the royals weren't able to have healthy children anymore? Why is Violet the most important? The Duchess of the Lake really wanted her but it also seems like Lucian wants her too? Why Violet? That is what the big question is. The world building wasn't that great but it didn't hinder me from enjoying the story. I think the story could have been a whole lot better by having better world building. I hope the sequel will have better world building in it now that the debut novel is out hopefully the second one will be a whole lot better than this one because I really enjoyed the story I just wish that aspects of it were done differently or better. The romance wasn't very good in this story. I think Ash could make a great love story for Violet but I feel like the romance is very instant puppy love and that it isn't anything worthwhile. I think the love story needed to be developed more rather than being as instant as it was. Ash and Violets interactions and conversations seemed to repeat a lot. I feel like their romance or love story could have been developed a whole lot better and maybe taken a little bit slower. Last but not least I feel like the ending was lacking. I understand having a cliffhanger at the end because you want to draw readers in for the second book but I also felt like it ended in the middle of a chapter. It didn't feel like that was where it was supposed to end. I think the Ewing could have kept everything a cliffhanger at the end but wrapped up the story a little bit more than what she did. I enjoyed this novel a lot. I think I read it in two days. I can also see where Ewing has room for improvement, so I will be looking forward to the sequel to not only learn what else is in store for Violet but I also want to see how the writing has improved. I think "The Jewel" is worth reading. I had a great time reading it even with its flaws.

I had the pleasure of snagging an ARC of The Jewel at RT last year with a good deal of expectations. It is, after all, a HarperTeen novel, and I’ve come to expect a lot from HarperCollins. Let me just say: I was not disappointed at all! I’ve been reading a lot of YA contemporary novels lately (thank you, Stephanie Perkins for getting me in the mood with your precious Anna series), but reading The Jewel reminded me all over again as to why I fell in love with YA dystopia. The first thing I thought of when I saw the cover for The Jewel, was the blatant similarities it had to Kiera Cass’s The Selection series. The dress, the auction, the overall feeling of it all screamed of The Selection—and while The Jewel does have a lot of similarities, Ewing created a fantastic new story that’s uniquely hers. One thing I wasn’t really expecting was the whole political aspect of The Jewel. Yet it’s so eminent that without it we wouldn’t have a story. Being a dystopia, I (of course) figured that politics would make an appearance. However, I was expecting more of a forbidden love story-type novel, and while that is an element in the book, Ewing spends the majority of the novel crafting such a world filled with political ambitions, backhanded compliments, violence and carefully-concealed smiles that suck you right in. In the same way I was pleasantly surprised with the prominent presence of politics in The Jewel, I was also a bit surprised in regards to the romance. Violet’s love interest doesn’t come into play until more than half-way through, and while their forbidden romance is certainly a catalyst, Ewing’s focus on Violet and her experience at being thrust into a brand, new world is what really sets the stage for the whole book. Needless to say, I loved Ewing’s amazing story and captivating world-building. There’s still a lot we have yet to see, and I can’t wait to see what surprises Ewing has up her sleeve for the sequel.