The Jewel by Amy Ewing Series: The Lone City #1
Publisher: HarperTeen (2014)
Audiobook
{10 hours and 12 minutes} (358 pages)
Rating:
Also by this author: The White Rose, The Black Key
Also in this series: The White Rose, The Black Key
Reading Challenges: Read 2015
Synopsis
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.
Find the book: Goodreads
My Review
Violet is a surrogate. She was selected because of a blood test that showed she had the ability to use the auguries, basically magic. Aparently, due to too much inbreeding, the royals are unable to bear their own children. The royals need to use the surrogates who are treated like slaves. It is rather terrible.
Violet is sold at an action to the Duchess of the Lake. Her name is taken away and now Violet is known simply as the Surrogate of the House of the Lake. That is so dehumanizing. This whole practice is rather barbaric. They are young girls, not animals!
At the duchess’s palace, Violet meets Ash who has been hired as a companion to the duchess’s niece. They aren’t supposed to even talk but they do. There is a bit of the insta-love going on though I believe that part of it is because they are forbidden to each other.
This world was very interesting. I would love some more back story on the Lone City and how it really functions. It seems like an odd set-up to me but I think that is mainly because I don’t think I know enough about it. Maybe the next book will have some more details.
Catholic Connections
*Spoiler Alert*
In order to analyze the text and make these connections, there may be some spoilers.
Please do not continue reading unless you have already read the book
or you don’t mind if you read some spoilers.
*Spoiler Alert*
Lucien is an interesting character. On one hand, he works for a terrible lady and is part of terrible things. On the other hand, he seems to be working for a resistance/revolutionary movement and is willing to help Violet escape the Jewel. That really takes a lot of guts when your own life is on the line. It takes a lot of courage to work for what is right when society is against what is right, when society doesn’t even see anything wrong with what it is doing.
Which Reading Challenges?
- You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
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