Book Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion #1)
Author:  Aimee Carter
Publisher:  Harlequin Teen
Publication Date:  November 26, 2013
*Received ARC from publisher through NetGalley

From Goodreads:
For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country. 

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter. 

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

Review:
I liked this book.  The world was interesting, with everyone taking a test when they turn seventeen to see how smart they are and then that determines what job you get.  A score of four is average, but lower than that, and you get a really crappy job and you're basically poor.  Kitty gets a three because she can't read (dyslexia) and she didn't get extra time and the person reading the exam questions was a slow reader.  So she gets assigned a horrible job in Denver (she lives in DC) and she doesn't want to go because Benjy, her boyfriend, doesn't turn seventeen for another month and she doesn't want to leave him.  Instead she decides to become a prostitute (what?) for a month and once Benjy scores high (he's really smart) they can be together.  Instead, she ends up being bought for big bucks by the Prime Minister (Daxton) and she gets Masked so she can impersonate his niece, Lila, who has died.  Being Masked means having your face, hair, body (they somehow lengthen her legs), and even voice altered.  By the way, I found it hard to believe that they picked her because her eyes were the same as Lila's and that's one thing they can't change.  Really?  You can't change eye color but you have the technology to change everything else?

I found the premise of impersonation and political intrigue fascinating.  Talk about a backstabbing royal family.  Both Augusta, Daxton's mother, and Daxton are a piece of work.  Kitty doesn't know if she should trust anyone, but she's doing whatever she can to survive.  There's Celia, Lila's mother, who definitely has an agenda, and Knox, Lila's fiance, who seems like he may be a good guy, but is he? Even though Kitty is attracted to Knox and sometimes they have to act like they're in love to fool the public, Kitty is loyal to Benjy.  So no love triangle, but I'm thinking there's going to be one.

This is a fast-paced book that kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next.  There are definitely twists and turns and a few surprises along the way.  And when you find out about what Elsewhere is...truly chilling.  

Posted by:  Pam