Thursday, November 7, 2013

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

13 comments:

  1. I got an ARC of this through Edelweiss and can't wait to start reading!! I have one more review book to read this weekend and then I'm starting this one. I've heard great things so far. Hopefully I'll like it as much as everyone else seems to!

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    1. Edelweiss hates me, they have yet to approve me for anything. Hope you enjoy it, it is a fun read! ~Pam

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  2. Great review! I also found it hilarious that they could change every other aspect, but not eye colour. I mean, what about some high tech contacts or something! That I did find truly laughable but ended up really enjoying the rest of the book =D

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    1. Yeah, I just thought that was so weird and really unnecessary actually. But oh well. Glad you enjoyed it too! ~Pam

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  3. I'm starting this book either later today or tomorrow! I've heard a lot of great things about it so far so I'm pretty eager to get started. Great review, Pam!

    Christine @ The Bookish Daydreamer

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    1. Hope you enjoy it. I thought the political intrigue was great and it's such a fast, page-turning read. ~Pam

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  4. Hmm. I'm planning to read this one soon, but I'm not sure how I'm going to take some of these details. I agree about the eyes thing. I mean, can't she just wear contacts? I'm sure they could pick a perfect color to match if they're able to lengthen her legs. Also, she decides to be a prostitute for a month? I agree, WHAT? The scifi masking is kind of interesting as is the political intrigue. I'm not looking forward to a future triangle though. But we'll see when I read it! Thanks for the thoughtful review.

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    1. Those two things just stuck out to me for some reason, but yes, the sci-fi masking was such a cool thing and I did love the politics. Maybe there won't be a triangle in the future, but it looked like that's where it's heading. But who knows? I'm looking forward to your review once you've read it! ~Pam

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  5. Such a bummer. I'm planning on still reading my eARC, but it won't be as top of the tbr pile now. Things like that bother me too - when they're inconsistent or just don't feel authentic or make sense. Thanks for the review!

    Tressa @ Tressa's Wishful Endings

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    1. I hate when I complain about something not being realistic when the whole thing is so sci-fi and hi-tech anyway, but that thing with the eyes just bugged me. But it was a fun read, I think you'll enjoy it! ~Pam

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  6. Hmm I think I will like this despite some of the gaps in logic. It has a lot of themes that I typically enjoy - tests, espionage - what fun :D. I would have questioned the same things though.

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    1. It was an entertaining, fun read so hopefully you'll enjoy it! ~Pam

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  7. This one was on everyone's radars a while back and I still find myself curious about it despite the temptation of reading it being less fierce than it was once.

    "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." -- So interesting because of what they've been writing about Divergent and Legend and YA dystopias in the press, how they reflect teen fears of SATs and the like. I mean, this is sort of the reality they already tell us about getting into college despite other factors being involved...

    "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." -- Also interesting because even in Legend, which seems to have similar elements, at least re: poor score = poor, you didn't get the perspective of someone with a disability...

    "Instead she decides to become a prostitute (what?) for a month and once Benjy scores high (he's really smart) they can be together." -- lol, I am confused too. Also I must admit that part of why I didn't want to read this was out of pedantic irritation to see the name spelled as Benjy.

    "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." -- I find that hard to believe too. We have contacts. If you can lengthen someone's legs, you can probably find some way to make contacts less visible if we're talking about technological advances...

    "So no love triangle, but I'm thinking there's going to be one." -- Sounds like a decent enough set-up though. They're not so bad if there's other things going on and it sounds like this story has lots of other plotlines to follow!

    I hope you enjoy the second book :D. Maybe I'll have caught up by then...

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