Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion #1)
by Aimee Carter
Summary: YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING.
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.
Previously titled Masked.
Source: I received a digital copy from NetGalley
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Review:
Pawn was an interesting book with likeable characters. It’s another YA dystopian novel, but it doesn’t suffer from insta-love or love triangles or small characters suddenly becoming important, kick ass, who create rebellions instantly. The character is already in a relationship when the book begins and she doesn’t change her mind as her life changes. While she became important, it wasn’t because she was suddenly awesome and any rebellions going on were not of her own doing.
The main character, Kitty Doe, ended up having to replace deceased member of the Prime Minister’s family, Lila Hart. While the novel is dystopian in nature, a lot of the conflict took place within family dynamics. There was a rebellion and some of the members of the family seemed to be involved, but the novel was essentially the ins and outs of the Hart family, who were quite vindictive and terrible. The Prime Minister was controlled by his mother. His sister hated him. Lila was his niece, who was torn between pleasing her mom and pleasing her grandmother, who had to control everyone. It was a mess. The Prime Minister was cold and villainous, along with his mother, but his sister wasn’t much better with her eagerness for revenge.
I had my doubts about the novel because I think the genre has been exhausted and many of the same ideas are being recycled and I assumed this would be another forgettable book. I also expected much more of a love triangle, what with Lila Hart being engaged to another person and Kitty already being in a relationship. The pieces were all there, but it never went in that direction, which was a relief. I also had my doubts about a novel where the main character’s name was Kitty Doe. (Seriously? Why do YA characters have to have such terrible names?)
Pawn was surprisingly good, and while it didn’t really stand out as the best dystopian book I’ve read this year, it was better than I thought and I’m interested enough to continue the series. Although, I feel like future installments will probably create those love conflicts I was talking about. (Which would be fine, because I actually didn’t care for Kitty’s boyfriend and thought Lila’s fiance was intriguing.) Not much happened in regards to the world outside of the family, so I think future books will explore the dynamics of the world a bit more.
Labels: Dystopian, Review, YA
