Britney's Review of The Jewel

The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Publication Date: September 2, 2014

Summary: 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. 

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

My Review:

I didn't expect to love the next book I read after Fire and Flood so much. But I certainly made a good pick reading this, and in the end loving it. I had honestly never heard of any other story like this. I mean, girls who have to be surrogates? I was thoroughly intrigued right off the bat by that concept, and then add in some forbidden love and it is my kind of perfect story. 

The beginning was a bit slow in my opinion. It was setting everything up though, so I wasn't bored, nor did I hate it. In fact I loved learning about everything in this world. There were so many twists that I didn't see coming, and I loved that. 

I honestly expected there to be some sort of romance between Violet and the Duchess's son, but I was wrong. I have to say while I'm sure Garnet wasn't supposed to be a likable character, I loved him. I loved how he seemed to live to piss his mother off. Violet wasn't a bad character either, except for a poor decision she made at the end of the book (bad Violet), which led to the one thing I knew was going to end up happening in the book (1 point for Britney!). She handled situations a lot better than I ever could, that's for sure. Then Ash, oh Ash you boy. I loved learning all about him, where he came from, his family, and why he does what he does. I honestly believe that Violet and him make a wonderful match and they can really relate to one another. 

The Duchess of the Lake who Violet ends up belonging to, while she isn't the most awful, is certainly a pretty horrible person. There were truly points I wanted to like her, and I thought maybe she was a good person, but she ruined all of that. 

The ending of the book was so many things bam bam bam, and my mouth was opened in shock. 100% honest as I read the last page my mouth was hanging open because of what happened. Which also means I need the next book because you can't just leave a book at the point. Oh, let me give you this little piece of information, but then end the book. No! 

Everybody should read this book because it is wonderful, and if you don't like books with a lot of romance, then read it because the first like 200 pages had no romance.