The Jewel (The Lone City #1)

The Jewel got to my attention when I received its sequel The White Rose couple of weeks ago. It had been on my TBR for a while, but I never really got excited enough about it to read it so it just stayed far away in the corner of my mind. With the release date of The White Rose coming closer, I picked up The Jewel - BEST DECISION EVER. I was totally surprised since this was the first book I read after a month of not being able to read anything except for the books I had to read for Comparative Literature (what I study). So, in short, The Jewel hit me like wrecking ball.

So the concept of the book was hard to grasp at first. You arrive almost in the middle of an action-ish thing where Violet is going to an auction to get sold to a very rich person to get a baby. WAIT... WHAT? Yes, yes, girls with special 'powers' are sold to the royals to bare their children, since the genes of the royals are thus far screwed up they cannot have kids themselves. What fucked up society does this? Well... let me explain this to you.

The Lone City has 5 rings: the outer ring is the Marsh, the poorest part of the city. Since the city is practically and island only protected from the waters by the outer walls, the Marsh will be hit first when the walls cannot hold back the water anymore. Violet is from the outer ring, and like some other girls, she has special powers, that will help getting kids for the royals. They will be sold at a certain age and become surrogates, which is, in short, just a body to carry a kid. Nothing more. The forth ring is the ring of the Farms, whereas the labor hard but the environment is good, at least. The third ring is the ring which has all the factories. Violet's brother, Orche, works there to support the family, while her father is dead and she's in an facility for surrogates-to-be with her friend Raven. The second ring is the Bank, where all the shops are and all the rich people live. The inner ring, which is actually a circle, is the Jewel, where the royals live.

So - a society with class differences, unbelievable values and big differences between the poor and the rich. Genes do play a big part in the story over all, which I think is great. I loved that in Divergent and I love it in The Jewel.

Violet is the 197th surrogate to get sold to one of the four founding families of the city. She thinks she might have a nice place, but the Duchess of the Lake isn't much of a nice aunt you visit every so often. Violet soon finds out how screwed up their society is and how dangerous it is to be a surrogate. Will she fight for what she believes in, or will she give in just to get it over with?

The Jewel features, luckily, some strong, straight minded women, who are not afraid to say what they thing and do what they say. The book does have some romance, though I think this could've been elaborated more thoroughly. To me, it felt like it was rushed: just something that HAS to be part of a young adult novel. But the thing is, I still fell head over heels for the guys, Ash.

The Jewel has a good plot, a very interesting cliffhanger and strong characters. The book discusses some real existing social issues like slavery and it will really get under your skin. It definitely surprised me and I'm so happy I decided to read it. I cannot wait to read The White Rose, which will be released October 6th: tomorrow. The Jewel is my new obsession and I firmly believe it could be yours too!

I recommend this book to anybody who loves The Selection by Kiera Cass or Divergent by Veronica Roth.

What I Loved:

The Jewel had good pacing and even better anticipation, and I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. It's a light read and I sped through pretty fast and none of the characters irritated me too much. This might have something to do with the fact that books that explore a Reproductive Dystopian world fasciate me.

What Left Me Wanting More:

I didn't really love the romance because it is on the "quick" side of things, but somehow that did not seem to bother me much. One thing you might want to consider is that this book does have a terrible cliffhanger. It's the worst. I know I'll end up reading book two just for that alone. I only hope that book two either expounds on the romance or gets rid of it completely.

Overall:

This is a great read for younger teens that most will enjoy. It has excitement, romance and a great plot. The Jewel is a promising start to new series.

I have been passing by this book in the library every time I go there. It sits on the shelf, and I have thought about reading this book for the last year or so, but I'm fully aware that there's a sequel, so I waited. And waited. Until now.

I regret yet also don't regret waiting.

THE JEWEL starts off its world building slowly. It weaves its explanations with its plot, and it doesn't feel like a rough roller coaster. It does have its ups and downs. The up is that the reader knows what's going on through the inner thoughts of Violet (or the dialogue of another character). The down is that the reader isn't fully aware of the world and that when a new detail is discovered (or announced), there's a huge question mark. But thankfully, those times come very rarely and the author is quick to smooth out any wrinkles.

Violet is a young woman who is stuck in her horrible situation. She doesn't have anywhere to go, and she is almost a slave to the rich and wealthy. But that's not the entire truth. (In fact, she's more of a prized breeding cow than an actual slave.) She is thrown into a whole new world of politics and backstabbing, and one wrong move can have her poisoned to death. It's a brutal setting, but Violet is reckless enough to shake apart the establishment and draw too much attention to herself. It's not the smartest thing, but Lady Luck smiles down on her. And Violet begins to understand, her edges becoming much sharper.

The setting has a lot of potential, and I can't wait to see more of it. It's a really interesting world the book has here, and I want to know more about the economy, the system, the wealthy, the poor, and more.

The romance has high stakes in its forbidden nature. Violet is a surrogate for a future duchess. And her gentleman friend is pretty much a male version of a lady-in-waiting with even less limitations in what he can't do for his mistress, who is not Violet. (Anything is on the list... Seriously. Anything.) Still, it's cute to see it unfold, but I'm not totally invested in it.

The ending (and the twisty plot) is perhaps what totally sold me. It's an epic twist, and I admit that I did not see that coming. Epic...

Overall, THE JEWEL is a wonderful start to a new trilogy. It dives into a daring story of privilege, politics, and danger. I honestly curse myself for not reading it sooner.

Rating: Three out of Five