Next on this week's Friday Reads is an ARC review that is part of my NetGalley November challenge! I still have a lot of catching up to do, but at least I managed to read and review Pawn before its release date of November 26th!
Pawn by Aimee Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm quite a fan of dystopian books so when I found out about Pawn I requested it immediately on NetGalley, so thank you Harlequin Teen for approving my request!
Since I've read quite a few dystopian books already I usually trust my judgement on the blurb of the book but with Pawn I'm glad I decided to not trust my first instinct completely, cause I wasn't 100% sold on it, but the title reference to chess made me want to read the book, and I'm quite glad I did!
This world we found ourselves in boasts of being based on merit, you take a test at 17 and it will determine your rank number and from then on your jobs and the kind of life you'll have. From I to VI, because the VII's are by birth only and they're the Harts, the ruling family. Kitty can't complete her exam and is awarded only a III, which means she'll spend her life cleaning sewers. She rebels against her fate and tries another not-much-better option and due to some random chance she's given the chance to became a VII, being Masked and taking the place of Lila Hart, the niece of the current Prime Minister.
One of the best things about Pawn and that I must really praise the author for is how she doesn't hold back any punches. She does show us all the ugly stuff and she's not afraid to face the reader with a very harsh reality out there. In this dystopian the Earth is not trying to kill us with natural catastrophes, here it's all about power, political and economical, control and the ugliness that human nature is capable of.
Kitty is thrown into a mess of family conflicts and political intrigue without much of a warning and she has to learn how to be someone else and how to negotiate who she's supposed to be without losing sense of who she really is. She has to face the ugly and shocking truth behind the propaganda of the Harts and she keeps on being threatened by almost everyone around her to take their side. She's a strong character and she fights to try and make her own choices, to keep those she love safe and to try and stay alive. And she finds that she has the strengh and the wit to do just that by the end of the book.
One thing that I kept on wondering about during the first part of the book was how much all the mentions of the Hart family made me think of Alice in Wonderland and the Queen of Hearts and the rest of court... I don't know if I'm the only one that thinks so, or if it was even part of what the author intended...
Pawn is full of twists and turns and most of them really took me by surprise! One of the biggest shocks, so big I had to close the book for a moment was the revelation of that Elsewhere really was. Shocking, harsh but not something that humans haven't done before, unfortunately.
There's some romance in the book, but Benjy and Kitty had been together before the story starts in Pawn, so we get mostly longing for being together and a motivation for keeping each other safe. There might seem to be some hints to a possible love triangle with Knox, Lila's fiance, at some point but I'd say it was averted in this book and hopefully for the rest of the series!
Very happy I got to read this one in advance and very intrigued where the series will take us next. A very original take on the dystopian genre that deserves 4 stars.
View all my reviews
Pawn by Aimee CarterMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm quite a fan of dystopian books so when I found out about Pawn I requested it immediately on NetGalley, so thank you Harlequin Teen for approving my request!
Since I've read quite a few dystopian books already I usually trust my judgement on the blurb of the book but with Pawn I'm glad I decided to not trust my first instinct completely, cause I wasn't 100% sold on it, but the title reference to chess made me want to read the book, and I'm quite glad I did!
This world we found ourselves in boasts of being based on merit, you take a test at 17 and it will determine your rank number and from then on your jobs and the kind of life you'll have. From I to VI, because the VII's are by birth only and they're the Harts, the ruling family. Kitty can't complete her exam and is awarded only a III, which means she'll spend her life cleaning sewers. She rebels against her fate and tries another not-much-better option and due to some random chance she's given the chance to became a VII, being Masked and taking the place of Lila Hart, the niece of the current Prime Minister.
One of the best things about Pawn and that I must really praise the author for is how she doesn't hold back any punches. She does show us all the ugly stuff and she's not afraid to face the reader with a very harsh reality out there. In this dystopian the Earth is not trying to kill us with natural catastrophes, here it's all about power, political and economical, control and the ugliness that human nature is capable of.
Kitty is thrown into a mess of family conflicts and political intrigue without much of a warning and she has to learn how to be someone else and how to negotiate who she's supposed to be without losing sense of who she really is. She has to face the ugly and shocking truth behind the propaganda of the Harts and she keeps on being threatened by almost everyone around her to take their side. She's a strong character and she fights to try and make her own choices, to keep those she love safe and to try and stay alive. And she finds that she has the strengh and the wit to do just that by the end of the book.
One thing that I kept on wondering about during the first part of the book was how much all the mentions of the Hart family made me think of Alice in Wonderland and the Queen of Hearts and the rest of court... I don't know if I'm the only one that thinks so, or if it was even part of what the author intended...
Pawn is full of twists and turns and most of them really took me by surprise! One of the biggest shocks, so big I had to close the book for a moment was the revelation of that Elsewhere really was. Shocking, harsh but not something that humans haven't done before, unfortunately.
There's some romance in the book, but Benjy and Kitty had been together before the story starts in Pawn, so we get mostly longing for being together and a motivation for keeping each other safe. There might seem to be some hints to a possible love triangle with Knox, Lila's fiance, at some point but I'd say it was averted in this book and hopefully for the rest of the series!
Very happy I got to read this one in advance and very intrigued where the series will take us next. A very original take on the dystopian genre that deserves 4 stars.
View all my reviews
Great review Pili! I enjoyed this one too...Elsewhere...wow. Carter really went dark there, and I liked it. Very excited to see where the sequel will go.
ReplyDeleteYep, I really loved how she didn't gloss over and showed us how harsh things were! Excited for book two!
DeleteThanks Kristen!
I am a bit burned out on the dystopian genre, but I do love it when authors don't pull back punches. Dystopias should be all about hard, gritty realities after all.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually very tempted to pick this up. Originality is a huge plus.
It was very refreshing to have the harsh stuff out there and show that the bad things came from human choices and the madness of power. I'd love to hear what you think of it if you pick it up, Maja!
DeleteI thought the non-love triangle was a breath of fresh air!
ReplyDeleteKate @ Ex Libris
Aye! I started dreading it when the first kiss happened but so happy it just didn't happen!
ReplyDeleteI'm so so glad you enjoyed this book! It was one of my favorites this year! I love how deep the turns the moment I read what Elsewhere was.
ReplyDeleteI hope this doesn't become in a love triangle, because I like Knox, but I'm tired of triangles everywhere!
Happy reading!
Lis @ The reader lines
Thanks Lis! I so hope the love triangle will be avoided and instead we'll get the two couple development!
DeleteYay I'm glad you loved it as much as I did Pili! She definitely shows us the ugly side of power, and for that I'm thankful for the great experience. Great review Pili.
ReplyDeleteJeann @ Happy Indulgence
Thanks Jeann! I'm quite glad that the book took a less usual route in the dystopias!
DeleteGreat review Pili. <3 I'm glad you enjoyed this one :D I still need to read my eARC.. hih. But hopefully soon :D
ReplyDeleteThanks Carina! I hope you'll enjoy it when you read it!
DeleteBrilliant review Pili! I also really loved how Aimee Carter wasn't afraid to show us the dark and violent side to this dystopian world. The revelation of Elsewhere left me shocked! I never in a million years would have consider it to be something that horrible. And the way it was revealed was horrific! But I love that she didn't hold any of it back.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you really enjoyed it! :D
Thanks Samantha! Yeah, I was so shocked with the reveal I closed the book! But yeah, I think it was a brilliant move on her part!
Delete