Book Review: Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion #1) by Aimée Carter

Image from Harlequin.

Pawn
Lena’s rating: 5 of 5 stars
Published: October 2013
Copy: Bought

---

“YOU CAN BE A VII IF YOU GIVE 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.” – Harlequin Teen

I think my little break from YA (dystopia) was a good decision because now the last two YA novels I read I highly enjoyed. This dystopia had an innovative enough twist to win me over completely. Yes, you have your same old government with an oppressive caste system and a rebellion that seeks to destroy this system. But unlike in most dystopias, this time the protagonist actually becomes part of the most privileged caste in the beginning. You don’t start from the inside of the rebellion and the system does not get unraveled from the outside and I loved that. The power play, the intrigues, all that blackmail, the plot twists. If this book were a Hogwarts pupil it would probably be in Slytherin xD

The characters were all untrustworthy, except for one or maybe two, and that made for wonderful mind games. Everybody has a secret or ten thousand, basically, and most of them would do a lot to reach their goals. I for my part loved it, it made everything so much more exciting. You never could be sure if things were really as they seemed and you can be sure there are more revelations to come in the sequel!

Now as I gather from negative reviews, for some people the female protagonist Kitty was a deal-breaker because she makes some morally questionable choices. While I myself would probably have decided a bit differently, I found her decisions believable given the circumstances and influences she has had in her life (I mean, who wouldn’t take an illusion of freedom, getting control and loads of money instead of working in the sewers and being just another government puppet). Yes, Kitty won’t win a prize for most perfect human in the world but that made her so much more fun, I thought. She will try anything to get what she wants while trying not to be just another ball in the court of power.

Aimée Carter’s writing is very accessible and makes for an absolute pageturner. I already devoured another series by her: The Goddess Test series. Her books always feel like guilty pleasure reads to me because of how fast I read them and how little I care if things make sense because I’m too busy reading. If you aren’t sure if her writing style is for you, you can just read the first few pages on Amazon or on Harlequin’s site. I immediately bought the sequel Captive (#2) when I finished.

If you have read Pawn I would love to read your thoughts. Were you on the love or on the hate side?

Stay inky! – Lena