All these details would make for an interesting character if Violet had an idiosyncrasy that I hadn’t read before. She plays the cello, which amazes everyone who comes into contact with her. She hates the society in which she was raised. She loves her family and feels the need to protect them because of the death of her father. She is tall, pale with black hair, and has violet eyes. Violet as a protagonist and narrator was quite lackluster and painfully similar to the whopping majority of female dystopian protagonists. As presumed, Violet is a surrogate who is purchased by a prestigious royal house and forced to bear their child. The girls chosen to be surrogates must possess the Auguries: the ability to change something’s shape, color, and size with their mind. Because of inbreeding, the royalty are not allowed to have children, but they ameliorate this problem by shipping in young girls from the Marsh (the poorest circle of the city) to bear their children. In The Jewel, protagonist and narrator Violet Lasting lives in the Lone City, which is divided into circles by the overbearing royalty who live at the heart of the island in an opulent quarter called, wait for it, The Jewel. In order to avoid spoilers, I’ve rolled my thoughts on the entire trilogy into one, bite-sized review, which is appropriate for the series because my thoughts on the quality of the writing and plot itself were largely consistent across the three books. Today, I’m reviewing The Lone City Trilogy, which is comprised of The Jewel, The White Rose, and The Black Key by Amy Ewing. This review, like all my reviews, is spoiler-free. 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.

But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence… and try to stay alive. 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, 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. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude.

Find The White Rose On // Amazon // Goodreadsįind The Black Key On // Amazon // Goodreads

Amy ewing the jewel series