Book Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

I received a copy of The Jewel by Amy Ewing from Walker Books and couldn't wait to read it because it is Ewing’s debut novel and because it was dystopian (my favorite genre). Thank you.

In Violet’s world, identity isn't important. She's just a number; a surrogate raised to bear the child of a royal in The Jewel. She is forced to partake in an auction, where she is the lot – lot number 197 to be exact. Violet is bought by the Duchess of the Lake and thrown head over heels into a world of glittering parties and society balls. But The Jewel has a dark side and Violet learns that all that glitters may not be gold. She soon finds herself trapped in a world of death and destruction, lies and manipulation, a game where she is a pawn. Violet discovers that she can never be who she truly wants to be. Danger is around every corner, but then she learns that even love can be found even in the darkest of times.

This book has been described as the love child of The Selection and The Handmaid’s Tale, I am inclined to disagree. The twist to this story comes with something called the Auguries: special powers that each surrogate possesses, where they can change the colours and shapes of objects, as well as grow things. In Violet's case, the third augury, Growth, is her best gift. The Auguries were a great idea to set the story away from other books of its kind and they made The Jewel unique.

;">I loved the way that Ewing introduced Violet’s world; The Lone Island. I enjoyed the way that its society functioned; in five circles: The Marsh, The Farm, The Smoke, The Bank and The Jewel. The Marsh was Violet’s home; the poorest circle. The Farm was were animals and dairies were kept, The Smoke held the factories, The Bank of course housed the banks and the shops and businesses and The Jewel, the central circle, was full of palaces and mansions. It was very interesting to see how much the Jewel relied on the outer circles and how vulnerable it would be if there ever was a rebellion *hint, hint*.

Violet had a good personality and over the course of the novel she certainly grew as a character. I loved the side characters: Garnet, Raven, Annabelle and Lucien. I thought that they were great and they will certainly play major roles later on in the series.

My only problem with The Jewel was the romance that suddenly appeared between Violet and Ash. It seemed to be instantaneous, I can understand why Ewing may have done this, perhaps because both Violet and Ash were both trapped and isolated, but this only begs the question: did they really care for each other or did they peruse the relationship purely because it was unlikely either of them would ever have another chance to ‘fall in love’? Ash’s character especially his mysteriousness added to my enjoyment of The Jewel and at times his and Violet’s relationship was sweet but I felt that it came out of nowhere and moved too fast.

The cliff hanger at the end of the book absolutely killed me, I need the sequel NOW. I have so many questions, it was so good.

Overall I give The Jewel four out of five stars. I thought that all the dystopian ideas out there had already been written and then BAM, this one comes along. I loved its complexity and Ewing’s beautiful writing style, I flew through this book and literally can’t wait for the next one.

J