Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Title: The Jewel
Author: Amy Ewing
Series: The Lone City # 1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 2nd, 2014
Source: From Publisher via Edelwiess
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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.

I was a little nervous about starting The Jewel. You see, there have been many comparisons to The Selection out there. Why should this bother me? It doesn't really, because I haven't read The Selection books yet, so really what do I care? Well maybe that's why I liked The Jewel, because I didn't have The Selection to compare it to. Jen wasn't a huge fan of The Selection books, and we were supposed to read this together but we are busy, so I took on this one all by myself. 

I'm kind of glad I did! I mean, I really liked The Jewel. I had my issues, but over all it was fast paced and kept me interested. That's big guys, because I've got some things going on right now, and I'm so freaking distracted. I could not put this one down though, and when I did, I kept thinking about it. 

The whole surrogacy thing is creepy as hell. Can you imagine being forced to grow some crazy bitches baby? Um, no thank you, but that's what these girls are purchased to do. Those royals are all friggen nuts, and those poor girls.  

There is a special reason certain girls are auctioned off, and it's interesting. Interesting as in different and I still don't fully understand. I get why they are being used for those reasons.. but why are they the way they are? Why? I want to know. 

One thing I didn't buy was the romance. There was no build up. They met and bam, couldn't stay away from each other.  Even when it was the stupidest of things for both of them to do. I wanted to slap that girl, let me tell you. Their romance felt forced and fake to me. 

Overall, it was a good story. I wasn't blown away by any means, but it did suck me right in. I would probably give it 3.5 stars, but I'll round it up just for the sake of keeping my mind of things. 

I really hope that's not real. lol

About the author:


Amy Ewing is the young adult author of The Jewel, the first in a trilogy from HarperTeen, coming out September 2014.

She grew up in a small town outside Boston, where her librarian mother instilled a deep love of reading at a young age. Amy moved to New York City in 2000 to study theater at New York University. Unfortunately, her acting career didn’t quite pan out. She worked in restaurants, as an administrative assistant, a nanny, and a sales representative for a wine distributor before the lack of creativity in her life drove her to begin writing.

Amy received her MFA in Creative Writing for Children from The New School, where she was lucky enough to meet a fabulous community of YA writers who keep her sane on a daily basis. She lives in Harlem, where she spends her days writing, eating cheese, and occasionally binge watching The Vampire Diaries.

Find Amy:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Labels: amy ewing, distopian, harper-collins, reviews, surrogacy, The Jewel