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saigealiya's review
4.0
More of a 4.5/5 because I really was interested in the story and the world seemed interesting but the insta-love kind of annoyed me
hannechr90's review
5.0
I really loved this book. It is a cross between The Selection and the Hunger Games in my opinion. It is of course a dystopian novel, so if you don´t like this genre then don´t read it. As simple as that....
I don´t get why people are giving this book a bad review, as it is a very good dystopian novel, and it follows the "rules" in which these books typically inhabits.
People are complaining about the instalove, and that it does not make any sense. Well think about it, she haven't had any real contact with boys before, she is young, its not that weird that she falls in love quickly. I find that believable.
As for comparing it to the Handmaiden´s tale, that I do not get at ALL. They have a completely different writing style. Where as I had to drag myself through the Handmaiden´s tale for the first half (I have to finish the books I start), this went by soooo fast. The story is so much more captivating, sweeter and in my opinion logical to understand then the Handmaiden´s tale. Could not put it down. Looking so much forward for the sequel!
I don´t get why people are giving this book a bad review, as it is a very good dystopian novel, and it follows the "rules" in which these books typically inhabits.
People are complaining about the instalove, and that it does not make any sense. Well think about it, she haven't had any real contact with boys before, she is young, its not that weird that she falls in love quickly. I find that believable.
As for comparing it to the Handmaiden´s tale, that I do not get at ALL. They have a completely different writing style. Where as I had to drag myself through the Handmaiden´s tale for the first half (I have to finish the books I start), this went by soooo fast. The story is so much more captivating, sweeter and in my opinion logical to understand then the Handmaiden´s tale. Could not put it down. Looking so much forward for the sequel!
booktallie's review
3.0
Debut author, Amy Ewing present a shocking new YA series where brutality, duplicity, and jealousy is barely veiled by the sparkling dress, luxurious balls and overwhelming opulence that exists in The Jewel. The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Selection meets The Chemical Garden has elements of all three yet keeping an original concept all its own.
In the Lone City, containing great beauty and talent means a life of servitude where your entire worth is determined by the highest bidder. For some girls, being auctioned off like cattle, as a surrogate to the royal families is a chance to live the dazzling lifestyle of the rich and powerful. For Violet Lasting, known as 197, it means a life devoid of choices, where your body is nothing more than a commodity to be displayed, used, and abused. In the inner city known as The Jewel, Violet is suddenly forced into a world where friendships exist only as facades and cruelty and violence ensure power and status. The life of a surrogate is not easy as they are auctioned, purchased, collared and leashed, and displayed as trophies for the rich. Violet’s sole purpose is to produce an heir as she is forced to become a surrogate for the Duchess of the Lake. But Violet manages to finds a bit of happiness through this ugly and harsh reality, when she meets Ash, a handsome gentleman hired as a companion for the Duchess’s petulant niece. Both Ash and Violet know the dangers involved in their association but they can’t stop the mutual attraction, a classic forbidden love.
The political intrigue, strategic alliances and shocking moments were vivid and realistic. The scandal, lies, and outright brutality displayed by the royals where exciting and unexpected. However, the romance between Violet and Ash was some-what lacking in creativity. The pace of the romance and the automatic connection between the lovers seemed false and at time unbelievable. Their spark, made them feel like this love would not last. There was no friendship in their whirlwind love tale.
Despite the romance view of this story I still found it enjoy and was glad to read it for the first book of the year.
In the Lone City, containing great beauty and talent means a life of servitude where your entire worth is determined by the highest bidder. For some girls, being auctioned off like cattle, as a surrogate to the royal families is a chance to live the dazzling lifestyle of the rich and powerful. For Violet Lasting, known as 197, it means a life devoid of choices, where your body is nothing more than a commodity to be displayed, used, and abused. In the inner city known as The Jewel, Violet is suddenly forced into a world where friendships exist only as facades and cruelty and violence ensure power and status. The life of a surrogate is not easy as they are auctioned, purchased, collared and leashed, and displayed as trophies for the rich. Violet’s sole purpose is to produce an heir as she is forced to become a surrogate for the Duchess of the Lake. But Violet manages to finds a bit of happiness through this ugly and harsh reality, when she meets Ash, a handsome gentleman hired as a companion for the Duchess’s petulant niece. Both Ash and Violet know the dangers involved in their association but they can’t stop the mutual attraction, a classic forbidden love.
The political intrigue, strategic alliances and shocking moments were vivid and realistic. The scandal, lies, and outright brutality displayed by the royals where exciting and unexpected. However, the romance between Violet and Ash was some-what lacking in creativity. The pace of the romance and the automatic connection between the lovers seemed false and at time unbelievable. Their spark, made them feel like this love would not last. There was no friendship in their whirlwind love tale.
Despite the romance view of this story I still found it enjoy and was glad to read it for the first book of the year.
andreabecerra's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rasha_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I wasn’t really sure what this book was when I picked it up thinking it might be a historical fiction novel of some form but it is actually a YA / Dystopian story.
For fans of Divergent, the Hunger Games, this will probably appeal to you. I did enjoy it but for me this was a light read and predictable. There was no particular depth to the characters and the love story is one of young love that i did not find particularly believable. Having said that, it is an easy read that is not overly taxing and since I have started the trilogy, I will probably continue.
All in all, I would describe this story as a YA sorbet for the mind…
marscandy37's review
3.0
This book left me scratching my head. I really don't know what to say about it... Which is weird for me. I'm not usually at a loss for words when it come to reviewing a book. But the thing with this book is that nothing special really pops out that I can point at an analyze. There was something missing really...
Violet Lasting is a girl from the Marsh, the poorest section of a weird island known as the Lone City. This city is surrounded by a massive stone wall...but we don't know why...something about a giant wave of water...
Violet is one of a number of girls with a kind of genetic quirk that allows her to manipulate things in her environment called the "Auguries". Changing colors, shape, sizes of inanimate objects, and making organic things grow. She is particularly adept at the latter. In consequence to her genetic quirk she is taken to a facility and trained to be a surrogate to the royal women in The Jewel, the inner most circle of The Lone City. These woman have some how lost the ability to bare healthy babies and so need the auguries to fix the genetic abnormalities in their fetuses.
We soon learn all the royals hate each other (but they don't really tell us much about why) and that they use their surrogates as guinea pigs in an imaginary race of who gives birth first. So that they can marry off their infant daughter to the head royal's (the Exeter and Electress) equally infant son (but we don't exactly know for what...)
I don't want to give too much away, in case anyone would like to disregard all common sense and pick this book up.
I'm not going to say this book was hard to read. It had great prose. There just wasn't much plot. I'm not sure where Violet was heading to. It just seem irrelevant. It read more like a day in the life... I eat this, I wear this, I like this. I couldn't understand why there was so much useless information. She looked at herself in the mirror like a hundred times. She admired dresses a hundred more. I felt like there should have been a point to that, but by the end of the book I didn't see one.
I was on edge the whole time I was reading telling myself that something big was coming, but by the end of the book I was wholly disappointed.
The main character carried the story along like a ball in chain. At times I grew bored with her constant moods.
I wish that the story would have had better character building. I liked some characters a lot. The Duchesses son, Garnet, was a darn riot. I wanted to get to know him better, and Raven, and what happened to Lily?
Another thing that bothered me a lot was the world building. After reading the whole book I don't understand anything about The Lone City. There is a agricultural district, an industrial district and a financial district. Then there is the Marsh. Why do they call it the Marsh...? I. do. not. know... It seemed all the other districts served some kind of purpose but the Marsh is just poor. This is a dystopian, so what happened to the world?
Also, I'm not a fan of instalove. She fell for Ash so quickly that I actually grew to really dislike him. I was waiting for him to do a 180 and betray her trusting butt.
I did like the names reflecting the places they were born and lived. Like Ash and Cinder, from the Smoke, and Pearl and Garnet from The Jewel. Or Raven and Crow from The Marsh. I thought that was kind of cool. There were some I shook my head at like Ochre and Carnelian.
I'm thinking I'm being a bit critical of it, but the amount of hype that this book received was so not merited. I was already expecting the huge cliffhanger because the sequels are already out but I haven't decided if I'll be picking them up yet. It may get better, like the sequel to the queen of the Tearling and then this book may make more sense, or it might avalanche into the absured, like so many other sequels. You never know. Until then this book is a solid 3 stars, because the writing was really good. Unfortunately nothing else was.
Violet Lasting is a girl from the Marsh, the poorest section of a weird island known as the Lone City. This city is surrounded by a massive stone wall...but we don't know why...something about a giant wave of water...
Violet is one of a number of girls with a kind of genetic quirk that allows her to manipulate things in her environment called the "Auguries". Changing colors, shape, sizes of inanimate objects, and making organic things grow. She is particularly adept at the latter. In consequence to her genetic quirk she is taken to a facility and trained to be a surrogate to the royal women in The Jewel, the inner most circle of The Lone City. These woman have some how lost the ability to bare healthy babies and so need the auguries to fix the genetic abnormalities in their fetuses.
We soon learn all the royals hate each other (but they don't really tell us much about why) and that they use their surrogates as guinea pigs in an imaginary race of who gives birth first. So that they can marry off their infant daughter to the head royal's (the Exeter and Electress) equally infant son (but we don't exactly know for what...)
I don't want to give too much away, in case anyone would like to disregard all common sense and pick this book up.
I'm not going to say this book was hard to read. It had great prose. There just wasn't much plot. I'm not sure where Violet was heading to. It just seem irrelevant. It read more like a day in the life... I eat this, I wear this, I like this. I couldn't understand why there was so much useless information. She looked at herself in the mirror like a hundred times. She admired dresses a hundred more. I felt like there should have been a point to that, but by the end of the book I didn't see one.
I was on edge the whole time I was reading telling myself that something big was coming, but by the end of the book I was wholly disappointed.
The main character carried the story along like a ball in chain. At times I grew bored with her constant moods.
I wish that the story would have had better character building. I liked some characters a lot. The Duchesses son, Garnet, was a darn riot. I wanted to get to know him better, and Raven, and what happened to Lily?
Another thing that bothered me a lot was the world building. After reading the whole book I don't understand anything about The Lone City. There is a agricultural district, an industrial district and a financial district. Then there is the Marsh. Why do they call it the Marsh...? I. do. not. know... It seemed all the other districts served some kind of purpose but the Marsh is just poor. This is a dystopian, so what happened to the world?
Also, I'm not a fan of instalove. She fell for Ash so quickly that I actually grew to really dislike him. I was waiting for him to do a 180 and betray her trusting butt.
I did like the names reflecting the places they were born and lived. Like Ash and Cinder, from the Smoke, and Pearl and Garnet from The Jewel. Or Raven and Crow from The Marsh. I thought that was kind of cool. There were some I shook my head at like Ochre and Carnelian.
I'm thinking I'm being a bit critical of it, but the amount of hype that this book received was so not merited. I was already expecting the huge cliffhanger because the sequels are already out but I haven't decided if I'll be picking them up yet. It may get better, like the sequel to the queen of the Tearling and then this book may make more sense, or it might avalanche into the absured, like so many other sequels. You never know. Until then this book is a solid 3 stars, because the writing was really good. Unfortunately nothing else was.
mickachoo's review
4.0
Four stars because it's not a badly written book and it was interesting enough to make me want to finish it but I haven't fully decided whether I want to read the next book or not. The characters just didn't really get to me; I liked Violet enough and liked reading her story but Ash was not very interesting. In fact, I preferred Garnet to everyone else in the book and he had the least amount of mention. If I knew there would be a significant more about him in the sequel then I might go ahead but for now, I don't plan on reading it any time soon.
I think this is a good book, almost like a young adult version of The Handmaid's Tale. An intriguing plot and world but it's just not for me and what I like to read.
I think this is a good book, almost like a young adult version of The Handmaid's Tale. An intriguing plot and world but it's just not for me and what I like to read.
svillanu's review against another edition
3.0
Good setup. The romance was not convincing, but I like each character on their own. I'm interested in seeing where the story goes from here.
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
Dit boek staat echt al jaren in de kast, net als de rest van de serie. Toen de boeken uitgegeven werden, gingen ze een beetje langs me heen, maar op een bepaald moment zag ik ze ergens tweedehands langskomen en heb ik mijn kans gegrepen. Toen ik een paar dagen geleden zocht naar een boek dat ik kon lezen voor het slapen gaan, in kobo plus en in het Nederlands, kwam ik bij dit boek uit. Ik wist niet helemaal wat ik ervan moest verwachten, maar ik was benieuwd.
En dit boek was meer dan ik ervan verwacht en gehoopt had. Deze dystopia is echt heel erg naar. Misschien nog wel naarder dan the Hunger Games en dat zegt wat. Het duurt wel even voor we daadwerkelijk snappen hoe de wereld in elkaar zit, wat er nu precies met de adel en de surrogaten aan de hand is, welk doel de surrogaten hebben en hoever dat gaat. Maar hoe meer informatie we krijgen, hoe misselijker je er van wordt.
Hoewel de wereld in principe behoorlijk klein lijkt, we zien alleen een stukje van de buitenste ring en uiteraard de Jewel, vind ik de manier waarop deze stad, de maatschappij en de onderlinge verhoudingen tussen de verschillende groepen mensen is neergezet wel enorm geslaagd. En hoewel de wereld in de Jewel heel erg glitter en glamour lijkt, weet de auteur goed neer te zetten dat ook daar elk huisje zijn kruisje heeft.
Daarnaast is Violet een heerlijke protagonist voor een verhaal. Ze is misschien niet altijd de slimste, maar de vraag is of je daarmee gebaat bent in een wereld als deze, maar ze is koppig, ze weet op de juiste momenten haar kansen te grijpen en zich uit te spreken en ze is niet bang om datgene wat ze heel graag wil na te streven. Uiteraard komen daar regelmatig problemen van, maar ze heeft overduidelijk haar hart wel op de juiste plaats zitten.
Ik ben heel benieuwd naar het vervolg!
En dit boek was meer dan ik ervan verwacht en gehoopt had. Deze dystopia is echt heel erg naar. Misschien nog wel naarder dan the Hunger Games en dat zegt wat. Het duurt wel even voor we daadwerkelijk snappen hoe de wereld in elkaar zit, wat er nu precies met de adel en de surrogaten aan de hand is, welk doel de surrogaten hebben en hoever dat gaat. Maar hoe meer informatie we krijgen, hoe misselijker je er van wordt.
Hoewel de wereld in principe behoorlijk klein lijkt, we zien alleen een stukje van de buitenste ring en uiteraard de Jewel, vind ik de manier waarop deze stad, de maatschappij en de onderlinge verhoudingen tussen de verschillende groepen mensen is neergezet wel enorm geslaagd. En hoewel de wereld in de Jewel heel erg glitter en glamour lijkt, weet de auteur goed neer te zetten dat ook daar elk huisje zijn kruisje heeft.
Daarnaast is Violet een heerlijke protagonist voor een verhaal. Ze is misschien niet altijd de slimste, maar de vraag is of je daarmee gebaat bent in een wereld als deze, maar ze is koppig, ze weet op de juiste momenten haar kansen te grijpen en zich uit te spreken en ze is niet bang om datgene wat ze heel graag wil na te streven. Uiteraard komen daar regelmatig problemen van, maar ze heeft overduidelijk haar hart wel op de juiste plaats zitten.
Ik ben heel benieuwd naar het vervolg!