BOOK REVIEW! The Jewel by Amy Ewing

TITLE: The Jewel (The Lone City #1)

AUTHOR: Amy Ewing

FIRST PUBLISHED: 2nd September 2014

PAGES: 362 (paperback)

RATING: 4.5/5 stars
AGES: 12+
READ IF YOU LIKED: The Selection by Kiera Cass
                                        Eve by Anna Carey
Website of Amy Ewing

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. -- Goodreads.com description

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Auctioned as a surrogate

Imprisoned in the palace of

the Duchess of the Lake

Destined to carry the child

of a woman she despises

Violet is trapped in a living death, her name and body no longer her own. She fights to hold on to her identity and sanity, uncertain of the fate of her friends, isolated and at the mercy of the Dutchess.

Then she meets another captive - Ash, the handsome royal companion. Drawn together, Violet and Ash are puppets in the deadly game of court politics, each the other's jeopardy - and salvation.

-- Book Blurb

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I absolutely loved(!) this book! Right from the beginning I couldn't put it down. I started reading it late at night, and thought the furthest I'd get would be 20 pages, but what felt like just 2 minutes ended up being 1 hour later, 82 pages, and 8 chapters! Amy Ewing really encourages you to continue the story by not revealing everything in the first chapter, pretty much forcing me to read till my eyes fall out! You fall in love with all of the gorgeous characters, and despise the same ones as Violet. 

The story is told from Violet's point of view, and every thought, feeling, and opinion, is relatable. With characters such as Violet, Raven, Annabelle, and Ash. You feel you need to read the book just so you can find out what's going to happen to the characters.

There were only two faults I could find in the whole story! 1) I feel that the love story between Ash and Violet is rushed, but I do believe the speed is necessary as he isn't immediately introduced in the story, and only comes in around half way through. Obviously, the relationship is not as quick as we read it, but it would be impossible to describe everything without writing a 600 page novel compared to a 362 page novel.  All this affects is you don't know Ash as well as you could, but you still fall in love with him just as Violet does! 2) I found some parts of the novel predictable. This didn't affect my love for the tale, as I really, it was only predictable right before it happened, about 2 pages before maximum. These faults were minor details to me, as there were so many more positives than negatives. 

Overall I looooooooved this book, and is one of my favourites! I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed The Selection by Kiera Cass, as I find it has similarities such as royalty and the social side of royalty, and anyone else who would like to try to read a fabulous book! I would love to hear any comments you have about the book and it you loved it as much as I did.

Happy reading!
The Bookworm of Green Gables :)

P.S If I haven't already mentioned it I highly recommend this book! ;)