Title: The
Jewel
Author: Amy
Ewing
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date:
9.2.2014
Pages: 358
Genre: Young
Adult, Dystopian
Series: The Lone City #1
Source: ARC
for
Rating: 5
Stars
Summary (from Goodreads):
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.
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.
Review:
The Jewel. Doesn't that sound so lovely and
full of promise and happiness? Like it should be something good. Wrong! The
title couldn't more deceiving. But yet it is perfect.
Violet, Lot 197, is such a strong girl and full of emotions. I can see myself in her in a few ways. She has such a strong will and her own determined mind set. She works so hard to do what is right even if it means it's wrong to her, and against her will. I love how she knows who she is, despite everything she has gone through and the people who try to break her.
I love all the little twists. I can't tell you about them because it would ruin it. If you ask Hannah, as I told her, I let out a few strings of quiet expletives, almost whispering to myself. Saying them aloud would just have ruined the moment of complete and utter surprise.
And who doesn't love a book you can relate to or see the relevance in today's world. There isn't a lot of that but enough that I can imagine the life in The Jewel as a parallel to ours. There are stereotypes, which are wrong when you meet someone with out using their title and you get to know them. The feelings of people who can't have children and will do anything to have one of their own. And the ruined life of a "slave" surrogate.
I really loved this book. Finished it in a couple of hours because I could just not put it down. While there are some parts that will pull at your heart strings or make you madder then hades, there is determination and love, and a secret plot behind every pretty face in The Jewel.
Violet, Lot 197, is such a strong girl and full of emotions. I can see myself in her in a few ways. She has such a strong will and her own determined mind set. She works so hard to do what is right even if it means it's wrong to her, and against her will. I love how she knows who she is, despite everything she has gone through and the people who try to break her.
I love all the little twists. I can't tell you about them because it would ruin it. If you ask Hannah, as I told her, I let out a few strings of quiet expletives, almost whispering to myself. Saying them aloud would just have ruined the moment of complete and utter surprise.
And who doesn't love a book you can relate to or see the relevance in today's world. There isn't a lot of that but enough that I can imagine the life in The Jewel as a parallel to ours. There are stereotypes, which are wrong when you meet someone with out using their title and you get to know them. The feelings of people who can't have children and will do anything to have one of their own. And the ruined life of a "slave" surrogate.
I really loved this book. Finished it in a couple of hours because I could just not put it down. While there are some parts that will pull at your heart strings or make you madder then hades, there is determination and love, and a secret plot behind every pretty face in The Jewel.
I think you're the first to rate it a five-star that I've read but it makes me happy because I want this pretty book to be an awesome read!
ReplyDeleteEEEEK!!! I'm so glad you loved it and I can't BELIEVE I haven't read it yet!!
ReplyDeleteI side with Mary. I haven't read it yet, but the reviews that I've seen around are not the greatest. I might still read it since I can't help but love the cover :)
ReplyDelete5 stars?! Yayyyyy!! I've been so scared to read this, but your review is definitely helping to convince me to give it a try. :)
ReplyDeleteYey, I really enjoyed this one and am so glad to find someone else who loved it :D It was so addicting to read and now I'm dying for book two after that ending!
ReplyDelete