Lone City No Spoiler Series Review
Hey my lovelies!
Today I am bringing to you a series review! I was going to
do book reviews on all the books but then I realised I had pretty much the same
things to say about each of them so I decided to sum it all up in a series
review instead!
The series I am reviewing (in case you couldn’t tell by the
title, haha!) is The Lone City trilogy by Amy Ewing which consists of three
books, The Jewel, The White Rose and The Black Key.
I was really drawn to this series because of how interesting
it sounded and how it was the perfect mix between The Selection and The Hunger
Games! I love myself a good dystopian and it’s been such a long time since I’ve
read one (and enjoyed one!) and I’m glad this series was it for me!
Also, can we talk about how pretty the covers are? I do have
to say the US ones are marginally better but I quite like these ones too!
*insert heart eye emoji here*
About the book.
Series: Lone City
Author: Amy Ewing
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Synopsis (for the first book): 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. (source)
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Recommended for: Anyone 13+.
My thoughts.
{ WRITING }
The writing of this book wasn’t really outstanding for me,
unfortunately! Yes, it was enjoyable and yes, it was very interesting and
intriguing but I didn’t feel like it really made a huge impact on me, in the poetic(ness)
of it.
However, I feel the way the characters was written and the
political intrigue was built up was really well done! It created mystery and
suspense quite well and I really sped through these books because of how a)
easy they were to read because of the length and b) how enjoyable they were!
It was easy to get into them and everything about the world
was quite well explained, which was great!
{ IDEA }
Like mentioned before, I love the idea for this book! It’s a
mix between The Selection with the whole vibe and tone and also has elements of
The Hunger Games with the political intrigue. And it has the cutest romance!
I loved the idea of a world with surrogates and I love the
way Ewing evolves that into something so much deeper, as you read on in the
series!
Another thing I felt was well done was the romance. Yes, it
is a little instalovey but I didn’t really mind because I could understand how
two people, in that kind of situation, would want to cling to the only other person
they had that they felt was similar/familiar.
The only thing I wasn’t the hugest fan of was the worldbuilding.
There wasn’t much of it and I felt like there could have been so much done with
the world if Ewing had wanted to. There were some parts that weren’t very clear
and a map would have been super helpful to be able to see the ‘circles’ that
are a part of the book.
{ PLOT }
This book was super intriguing and it was kinda hard to know
what was going to happen next. Although the plot could have been more
twisty-turny, I felt there were some super shocking bits, especially in the first
book, where I could feel the entire world beginning to crumble, and Ewing was
so good that she was able to make me want to just run into the book and save
the characters!
I felt the plot of the second and third book dropped off a
little and the first book was probably what I found the best/most intriguing!
I can’t say too much more about the plot without giving it
away!
{ CHARACTERS }
Eh, I wasn’t really feeling the characters! I wasn’t able to
connect with them and while I thought they were great characters, it was quite
hard to put myself into their situation. There were times where I felt very
sorry for them and the situations they were in but at other times, they were
just characters on a page rather than real life people I was reading about.
In saying that, I loved both Violet and Ash because they were
so determined and loyal to each other. I also thought the romance between the
two was absolutely fantastic because it was well written and developed and sweet
and not at all cringe worthy!
{ FINALLY… }
Overall, I really enjoyed this series! There were many mixed
reviews about this but I found it highly enjoyable and a light, not too
difficult read that’s easy to get into! The added bonus of the beautiful covers
and cute romance just makes things better! ;)
I recommend you read it if you enjoy a good dystopian!
OVERALL SERIES RATING:
★★★★
0 happy thoughts
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