Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Pawn

Author: Aimee Carter
Series: The Blackcoat Rebellion #1
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA Dystopian
Format: Ebook
Release Date: November 26, 2013
Source: Received eARC from publisher through Edelweiss
Rating: 3.5 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

My Review:

I finished this book and was so excited. I thought “4 stars for sure! That was awesome!* But then I sat down to write the review and was like “why did I like that book so much?” It wasn’t very memorable to me. Was it still good? Yes. Will I read the subsequent books in the series? I don’t know. Maybe.

This book is full of secrets, corruption, twists, and rebellion. The main character, Kitty, is a III which means she is destined to clean up sewers for the rest of her life. Not exactly her idea of fun. But then she is offered an opportunity to become a VII. The only people who attain that status are the ones born into the Hart family, the wealthiest and most powerful family in the country. Kitty accepts. How could she not? What she doesn’t know is that by accepting she has agreed to be Masked. Plastic surgeons literally turn her into a different person. They can make you taller or shorter, change your hair, change the shape of your face, your ears. Everything. Except eye color. That’s the one thing they can’t change and it’s the reason why Kitty was chosen. I had a hard time believing this. They can’t change eye color? They can literally make you taller or change your shoe size, but they can’t change your eye color? What about contacts? But I accepted it so I could continue on with the story.

The rest of the book was really good. I love rigid class distinctions in books so enjoyed reading about how they got their class assignments and what each class could do. I also loved trying to figure out what was going on with the Hart family. There was so much corruption. Like crazy amounts of corruption. I don’t even know. It was sad, disgusting and made me hope and pray that our already corrupt government doesn’t end up like this. Seriously, these people make the current US government look like angels. I can’t say much more about the plot without giving it away, but it truly was great. It was extremely fast-paced; I tore through the pages and couldn’t put it down.

So why am I feeling kind of disappointed? I think it had a lot to do with the characters. I just didn’t really care about them. Kitty was okay, but she felt almost cowardly at times and it started to annoy me. And the romance I never really jived with. There was a sort of love triangle going on and I honestly liked the other guy better, not Kitty’s boyfriend. Maybe it’s because we didn’t really get to know her bf, Benjy, but his character was dull and boring to me. And honestly, I’m trying to think of what characters really grabbed me and I just can’t come up with anyone. They were all just kind of bland to me.

So now I’m feeling pretty sad. I wanted to love this book. Everyone else did so why didn’t I? Is it because of the hype? Did it kill it for me? Or maybe I’m just burned out on dystopian. That could be it. Regardless I still think you should give this one a try because it got so many other raving reviews. And the plot truly was interesting. It kept me guessing the whole time and my jaw was on the floor several times throughout. I think this might have been a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” Happy reading all!