See YA 2014! Day 8: The Jewel (The Lone City #1) by Amy Ewing

The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Published September 2, 2014

Publisher: HarperCollins

Imprint: HarperTeen

Page Count: 358

Genre: Dystopian

Violet Lasting is a girl living with her family in the Marsh. That is, until she is whisked away to an auction and sold to one of the royal families in The Jewel. Violet isn’t there to be a servant, though. She is to be the Queen’s Surrogate, to birth royal offspring. As she adjusts to her new life, where her old name is forgotten and she must have etiquette, Violet starts falling for someone who is off limits and must hide her true feelings from everyone. She increasingly worries about her friend, Raven, who she hasn’t heard from and hopes that everything is okay. In Ewing’s debut, Violet must find a way to adjust to this different place and fit in; while attempting to find a way out.

Thoughts:

The Jewel was one of Harper’s most publicized books of last year. I love the cover, and the summary sounded good. I was so pumped to pick this up at BEA. Sadly, The Jewel for me blended in with a lot of other YA books and didn’t really enthrall me. I liked the palace setting of the book but the world for me without a map in the book was SO HARD to grasp and visualize as was the relationship with all the Duchesses and royal families. I was so confused as to who the characters were that the reading experience (at least for me) got some points subtracted. This book was basically what I feel was a general YA book that is hyped a lot and has a relationship like all other relationships. The ending killed me and I actually yelled. I am verrry lucky to have gotten my hands on the sequel, The White Rose and I can’t wait to read it! While The Jewel had quite a few flaws in my mind, I still enjoyed the book. Definitely not my new favorite book, but I’m still reading the sequel.