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Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

November 1, 2015November 2, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Lone City #1

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.

2.5 Drink Me Potions

I must say, I had such high hopes for The Jewel. The synopsis was brilliantly intriguing. And the plot line was definitely unique. Come on, our protagonist is a human incubator–I mean, a surrogate for the royalty’s babies. You don’t see that kind of idea popping up everywhere in the YA genre these days.

And that’s about all the genuinely great things I can think of to say about this book.

It was disappointingly slow. It took a long time to even get the Auction started. I mean, I totally get that it’s very important to set the background of this place known as the Lone City.

Oh, and that wasn’t done very well either. World building. So it’s basically broken into 5 rings of society with Violet’s family coming out of the poorest group (of course). And the royalty is broken into 4 founding families with the ruling couple known as the Exetor and Electress. First of all, what’s with those names? Originality, I suppose. Like, I think of circuits whenever I saw the Electress’ name pop up. Not sure if that’s what Ewing was going for.

So the pacing was SLOW as crap. And after reading the whole novel, I look back and think to myself, “What the heck really happened in this book?” . ‘Cause seriously, it’s basically a bunch of gossiping among the royal ladies who brag about their purchased surrogates like they’re freaking furniture or pets they could care less about. Oh, and the odd backstabbing and political scheming. But nothing really EXCITING ever happens. Except maybe about the potential plannings of a rebellion….which is so overdone but at least it’s something beyond gossip, right? I’ll get back to this point later.

Anyway, world building wasn’t great. I still barely know anything about how it all came to be or how the Auction even started. If I thought the history of the Lone City was weird, the idea of Auguries and these “magical powers” that surrogates were born with mystifies me 100 times more.

Being a science person, it’s genuinely confusing. A genetic mutation found ONLY in people from the Marsh (aka the poorest ring of society) gave these girls the ability to become surrogates for the royalty who seemed to be making defective babies as of late. Okay, I can accept that. But uh, a genetic mutation also gave rise to 3 magical properties that could change colours, shapes and growth of things? Is this a fantasy novel or a science fiction story?

This was the randomest thing I’ve read in a long time. Being incubators wasn’t enough, they had to be “magical” too? I guess the story wouldn’t have survived very well if these girls were just “normal”. Harder to overthrow a society, hmm?

And apparently in this society, men are absolute pathetic and weak excuses for human beings. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy having such strong female presence for a change. After all, nearly every character with a personality beyond something equivalent to a boring piece of cardboard was, well, female . Those backstabbing ladies in the royalty. The other surrogates. The Electress, of course. But the men don’t have to be written so….I don’t even have a word for it. Disrespectfully? We don’t really know much about the Exetor beyond the fact that he rules. The Duke of the Lake is definitely the submissive half to the Duchess. Most men, in fact, are described as either frail or desperately drunk at dinners to tune out the schemings of their wives.

What is with this? The only male even worth an inkling of respect is Lucien, an unexpected and only friend of Violet’s in the Jewel. And he’s a lady-in-waiting, so maybe that’s why he appears to be the exception to this. I guess in a world dominated by surrogacy in the royalty, the women are in charge of their own destinies and have more pressure in securing their bloodline. But still. No excuse for not giving many males even the slightest backbone of a personality.

And that , my dear friend, leaves me with our love interest. Ash. I have nothing against him. Nothing at all. He seems like a decent guy who also got wrecked by people from the Jewel. They own him, although not in as obvious a way as how Violet and other surrogates are.

He pops up midway in the novel, and oh my goodness, it’s practically LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. In the weirdest way. Like, Violet, I get you haven’t spent much time with males your own age that aren’t related to you because A) you’re a surrogate and held in some holding facility since you hit puberty and B) you don’t have time to think about your own love life when you’re a surrogate. But HELLO, here’s some fairly attractive guy and BOOM. Instant-love.

Literally. She sees him and all of a sudden, she can’t get him out of her head. Or the itching desire for him to hold her or whatever. It was slightly nauseating to read.

Oh, and if that wasn’t awful enough, Ash fell for her rather fast too. I just couldn’t understand their dying love for each other when I practically did not know Ash all too well myself. Like I said, he popped up midway in The Jewel. We never had the time to get to know him beyond the fact that he was a lonely companion screwed over by the royalty. Like who wasn’t really screwed over by these people at the end of the day? Even the royalty screwed each other over. He wasn’t all that special just for his sad history.

So for the first time in my life, I was VERY excited about everything EXCEPT the romance. I’m a huge romantic, so this is saying a HUGE something.

Sigh. And right when the rebellion, or whispers of the rebellion, was starting to heat up….I flip the page and it ENDS there. With one slightly surprising twist that maybe I should’ve seen earlier, but still. Now I’m gonna have to read book 2 ’cause that was maybe the only highlight for me.

All I can say is, I think The Jewel is gonna be a hit or miss for you. Especially if you hate insta-love romances. This was 100% in that category, and I’d like to think that I’m a sucker for most romances as long as they’re written somewhat decently. You have been warned. Don’t get misled like I did. You’ll just be facing a huge disappointment by the end of it.

Overall Recommendation:
The Jewel presented itself with a unique idea: girls being sold as surrogates to carry babies to full term for the royalty. And in this society, there are political unrest and stirrings of change for the roles of the surrogates. What could’ve been an amazing fantasy novel with a crazy concept just didn’t hold up to the awful insta-love romance and slow pacing of the story. Violet was a decent protagonist with strong powers (I know, these surrogates are also magical?) and may just have what it takes to be the “saviour” for all the other surrogates, but nothing really happens in this first novel beyond a glimpse of an underground rebellion stirring in the Jewel, the heart of the royalty and the wealthy. I wouldn’t recommend this novel unless you may find the synopsis intriguing enough to try it. I don’t hate it enough to not continue the series out of morbid curiosity, but it really is a hit or miss.

Review: Can’t Lose You by J.R. Brown

October 16, 2015October 16, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

My name is Elizabeth Grace Payton. I just graduated high school and am looking forward to enjoying my last summer with Jayce before we go off to college together. Jayce isn’t just my boyfriend, he’s my everything.

I’ve heard stories about people saying there can be one moment that changes their entire life. As if this moment flipped their entire life upside down. They said that once that moment happened things never went back to what could’ve been, what should’ve been. I always thought these people were being a little dramatic. I mean, how could one moment change everything? Change your entire life?
Well, apparently I was naïve because that’s exactly what happened to me and I never even saw it coming.

One night changed everything. I ended up in the wrong place, at the wrong time. My dreams, my future, and my life were taken away from me. I can no longer be Elizabeth Grace Payton.

I am now Riley Lynn Anderson.

4 Drink Me Potions

Thank you Xpresso Book Tours for this copy in exchange for an honest review

I am left with a lot of emotions after finishing Can’t Lose You. It was most definitely an easy read, and particularly enjoyable in the midst of studying for midterms.

I really liked it, yet there were things that annoyed me endlessly at the same time. If I wasn’t so busy and craved the distraction, maybe my rating would’ve changed. However, as it stands right now, Can’t Lose You made my heart skip a beat here and there and had me craving to dive back into Riley’s life. Her relationship with Jayce was definitely the highlight of the book. Which is a good thing ’cause that pretty much takes up the majority of the plot.

It was well-done in my opinion. What would happen to a couple who thought they knew exactly what their future plans were going to be like, only to have it suddenly change overnight? Yes, I will agree that the synopsis’ vague description of the “inciting incident” poorly tried to build-up the suspense when it really shouldn’t have. This was by far NOT a suspenseful book. I don’t expect it to. It’s a romance novel, for goodness’s sake. Half the things that happened on the more “scary” side of the plot was BEYOND predictable.

Good thing I only cared for the romance. If you want more, don’t expect much beyond that.

Anyway, meeting again way across the country after years apart, how could Jayce and Riley expect it to be the same? I loved that J.R. Brown really explored their feelings, the unresolved issues, and hard decisions that came with this second chance. She didn’t jump the gun on anything. It wasn’t like they immediately had it all figured out, and just wanted to be together, like some insta-love stories I’ve read.

No, a good romance story dives deep into the heart of the relationship, and that is what you get here. A beautiful love story of two people, against all odds, getting their second chance.

Now, Jayce and Riley may have captured my heart enough to get 4 generous stars from me. It could’ve been higher – if Brown had just written in a manner that did not bug me incessantly.

Listen. Who writes down everything a protagonist does? Honestly. I write stories too since I was barely a teenager. I loved the concept and plot of the story because it reminds me of something I would’ve loved to write myself.

But the style? Here’s an example of it.

“I pull into the parking lot, grab my things, and head to class. I get to my seat just as the professor comes into the room. I like that the classes are small, but if you’re late then they usually notice. I pull out my notebook and pen and prepare to take notes. Thankfully class goes by quick, and before I know it I’m walking out the door towards my car.”

And this.

“I walk over to my closet, grab some clothes, and head for the shower. After I shower and dress I begin fixing my hair…Instead of drying my hair I decide to use some mousse and leave it curly. After I fix my hair I put on some black eye liner and mascara and call it good. I rush out of the bathroom to my room, grab my things and head out to the kitchen.”

Honestly. It’s exhausting reading everything little thing she does. I see this. I pick up this. I put on this. I do this. Oh. My. Goodness. Do we have to know that she puts on black eyeliner and mascara 3 times in this story? I get that in some way it helps us see what her life is like, but it dragsssssss it out. And this is how it’s like for the WHOLE story, by the way.

It’s not to say I hated it so much I couldn’t continue reading. In fact, the writing style was reminiscent of something. My old writing style, actually. When I was thirteen. I’m being generous. One star docked off for adolescent writing only happens when I’m in a good mood.

And ’cause Jayce has captured my heart. Who wouldn’t want a guy like him? Who fights for you no matter how hard you push him away?

I’ll leave this off with probably the cutest quote in the entire novel.

“Jayce: Don’t worry about the storm, I’ll be there to keep you warm. No need to check the time, you’ll be forever mine.”

Overall Recommendation:
Can’t Lose You was a gorgeous love story centred on a couple who was separated due to one fateful (but not that exciting) incident that changed everything. Getting their second chance years later, their relationship was carefully and realistically explored, which really pulls at the heartstrings. Brown’s writing style was a challenge to get over as she writes in a simple fashion that literally describes everything that Riley is doing throughout her day. If you can survive that, I do believe this little romance may just pop out a tear or two.

Review: The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson

October 11, 2015October 16, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Fairy Tales #2

An unthinkable danger. An unexpected choice.

Annabel, once the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is trapped in indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf, a recluse who is rumored to be both terrifying and beastly. Her circumstances are made even worse by the proximity of Lord Ranulf s bailiff a revolting man who has made unwelcome advances on Annabel in the past. Believing that life in a nunnery is the best way to escape the escalation of the bailiff’s vile behavior and to preserve the faith that sustains her, Annabel is surprised to discover a sense of security and joy in her encounters with Lord Ranulf.

As Annabel struggles to confront her feelings, she is involved in a situation that could place Ranulf in grave danger. Ranulf’s future, and possibly his heart, may rest in her hands, and Annabel must decide whether to follow the plans she has cherished or the calling God has placed on her heart.

2.5 Drink Me Potions

I don’t even know where to begin this review. And I always have something to say when giving opinions on books. Please. It’s second nature to me. So this isn’t a good sign.

Annabel was a really sweet girl. Too sweet, in fact. Yes, she wanted to learn more and grow spiritually, although the priest back in her time did not think a woman should be doing such things. I want to be nice like her, but it was almost too much. She did what she was told and constantly worried about things. From worrying about not betraying her friend’s trust to working hard as a servant girl now to warding off men who couldn’t take “no” for an answer.

Fine, the last one is a reasonable thing to worry about, but still.

And besides being a really nice girl, she was beautiful. It was obvious from the way men kept coming after her. Or from the snide comments from the other maids employed in Ranulf’s household who were jealous. I mean, that’s great and all. But she was like PERFECTION. And almost seemed to have no backbone. I couldn’t connect with her very well.

As for Ranulf, he fit the ideal of Beast if anyone did. But I just did NOT like him. If it was written well, I would be able to at least sympathize with him and actually like him as the love interest. I just didn’t care for him much.

It may be the time difference (it was the Middle Ages after all) that most of these characteristics can be attributed to. Like, men could get away with doing whatever they wanted with a girl. Who’s gonna believe the word of a woman, huh? It still baffled me quite a bit why Dickerson had so many of the other maids try to seduce Lord Ranulf so they could get his title. I mean, sure, that happens in any century, but it seemed rather random and unnecessary to the plot. They thought he was ugly as crap. He was scorned and had terrible scars, literally, but still.

I’m gonna just cut this review short. Honestly, I don’t feel much for The Merchant’s Daughter. I did not enjoy it, but it wasn’t boring. That’s the distinction. Still readable, but not much feeling towards anything going on. This is apathy at its greatest.

Overall Recommendation:
Having read some of Dickeron’s other novels, The Merchant’s Daughter just didn’t compare. With a Beauty and the Beast theme, Annabel is given the choice to work in Ranulf’s place as punishment. He was definitely a beastly man, but that was all he is. I couldn’t empathize and it made liking him as the love interest hard. Annabel was a little too nice of a girl for my taste. I like my protagonists to have a bit more fight in them, to stand up for their passions, to feel something. How could I feel something for them if they don’t actually have strong feelings? I wouldn’t recommend this on your reading list unless you don’t mind these annoyances that just bugged me endlessly.