ARC Review - Pawn by Aimee Carter

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Expected  release date: November 26th, 2013.

Harlequin Teen

My rating: 4 stars

Book summary:

"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."

      I didn't expect much. A lot of my friends didn't like Goddess Test by Aimee Carter and they warned me that I might not like Pawn. I decided to give it try anyhow and I'm glad I did. Pawn maybe did start a little bit "clumsy", but premise of this novel is so intriguing and the rest of it was really good.

      One corrupted family, one low ranking girl, unexpected circumstances and few new friends. Judging by available advanced copies of books, it looks like dystopian genre is, at the moment, the most popular. That got me thinking about this whole obsession. Is it possible that every dystopian novel has fresh, new plot? Different fictional world? Can authors avoid predictability an cliches of the genre? Give us something unexpected? Answer would be hardly, but they can try. Aimee Carter tried and I think a lot of readers would be happy with what she managed to do. It is the most logical thing that even Pawn has few predictable points - like the way how new society is organized or the fact that one low ranking girl will try to change things. Even her love interest. But that is where all the similarities end.

     Political games, revolution and cruelty. If you are expecting a story where future of humanity is based with who our main heroine will end up, you've picked the wrong book. Kitty Doe is "second child" - you can have only one child in this new reality. If you by a chance get second, you have to give it up. At the age of seventeen everyone takes test that will determine their role. If you rank the lowest, you're sent Elsewhere. Kitty barely manages to avoid that faith, but she doesn't want to leave her friends behind so she goes rogue. That is where her life takes completely different turn - she wakes up in the body of another girl - Lila Hart, one of the most important persons in the country. Kitty has to survive and in the meantime decide will she be a puppet, a pawn or she'll take matters in her own hand and do something with all the knowledge about what hides behind perfect picture of their leading family. Aimee Carter smartly deals with educational system of our own time - how we are told that if we are good students, we will have bright, promising future, but in the reality that holds so little importance when it comes to positions of influence and power. We still live in society where future leaders are determined by inheritance, money and legacy of their fathers.

      Should you read this book? If you consider yourself a fan of dystopian novels, you should. This is not Hunger Games, but still I believe it will be one of the series that will offer us something worth reading.

***Note! Copy of this book was kindly provided by publisher, Harlequin Teen, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. We are not paid for writing reviews.***