Review : Pawn by Aimee Carter

Summary (from Goodreads) 
Title : Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion #1)
Author : Aimee Carter
Publication Date : November 26th 2013
Publisher : Harlequin Teen
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

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.

Personal Thoughts

Wow! What a fantastic dystopian novel this was. Pawn, with it's stunning/creepy cover is definitely not a book to be missed out on. Not only did it manage to keep me glued to the pages, but it also managed to surprise me with its twists and turns that I honestly did not see coming.

In Pawn, we are introduced to Kitty, a young woman who immediately resonated with me. She was fierce, determined and vulnerable at the same time. Aimee Carter crafted a realistic character who possessed a lot of depth with Kitty. She was a very likeable character and being inside her head was an absolute delight. A risk taker, Kitty was the kind of protagonist who was not afraid to put herself in the face of danger to help others. Part of me was worried when Kitty agreed to take the place of Lily Hart that she would become victim to life as an elite, but my doubts were for no reason because Kitty remained true to herself throughout the whole book despite the luxuries that came along with being Lily. The villains in Pawn, the Harts, were brilliantly portrayed. They were one hell of a twisted family and I loved it! They were all a bunch of manipulative people who did whatever they had to for their own selfish needs. Each and everyone of them had an agenda and I never knew who to trust and who not to trust. Whenever the Harts were in a scene, especially the grandmother, power radiated off the pages and not many authors can do that. I truly feared the Harts and I'm excited to get to know more about them.

The world building in Pawn was solid, complex and extremely well-developed. Aimee Carter left no stone unturned and throughout the book, the reader slowly begins to grasp how brutal Kitty's world is. One scene that especially gave me shivers was a scene where one of the Harts is seen shooting people from a lower caste for fun. In addition to the world-building being fabulous, Pawn also provided an intense and entertaining plot that had me dying to find out more. I have to say, I loved how the author threw twists after twists in my face that I did not see coming at all. The surprise factor definitely amplified my enjoyment of the book. The only aspect I would say I would like to have seen more fleshed out was the romance. See, Kitty's relationship with Benji had already been established before the start of the book, so we don't really get to watch them fall in love. Despite the romance being minimalist, there were some sweet scenes that showed that Kitty and Benji worked well together as a couple. I liked how the author did not focus on the romance, but instead chose to aim her attention on the Rebellion, the world-building and the pace. The author also refused to use the usual dystopian tropes such as annoying love triangles and cliffhangers, and I truly respect her for that. Carter's writing immediately pulled me in from the first page. I haven't read her Goddess series, but I have to say, I'm looking forward to reading more from her.

Thrilling, entertaining and all-kinds of twisted, Pawn is not a book to be missed out on, especially if you're a dystopian fan. It might not have the most unique foundation, but Aimee Carter's execution makes it one of the best in the genre.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5






Thank you to Harlequin Teen and NetGalley for the e-ARC of Pawn.


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