Title: Pawn
Author: Aimee Carter
Publisher/Year:  Harlequin 11/24/15
Length:   304 Pages
Series:  The Blackcoat Rebellion #1

Overview

A single test determined her entire future…until she was given a way out

Kitty Doe had one chance to prove she could be worthwhile to society. Instead, she walked out of her ranking test as a complete failure, with a permanent “III” tattooed on the back of her neck. At seventeen, she’s facing a lifetime of cleaning sewers…and being separated from Benjy, the boy she’s loved for as long as she can remember.

So when Kitty is offered a chance to escape her fate, it seems like an easy choice. 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—a VII—she will be famous. 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 learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she’s only just beginning to understand.

My Thoughts

Well, we have a coming of age dystopia kind of like Breathe (with the age related testing for success and determination of your cast) and a trilogy that i can’t remember the name of when there were clones created so that the government could make sure that the ‘right’ people were in power at all times.

Regardless, we have a sweet story at the onset, and one of really wondering what the end game is and who’s to be trusted.

Kitty is our main character that we meet on the day that her fate has been sealed.  she scored a 3 ranking on her test meaning that her life was about to get really tough.  she’s quite smart but can’t read and that’s why she got the three.  her boyfriend Benjy though is destined for greatness and there lies the issue since their rankings will keep them apart. Its through interesting circumstances that Kitty’s fate changes.  Because of her eye color, she’s purchased and taken to the home of the prime minister and life as she knows it has changed since she’s drugged on her way there and wakes up in another body.

Here is where the story takes a nice turn.  The Hart family is the central power in the nation and because of how they control things through rankings and such, they instill fear and order.  We learn throughout the story though that of course there are rebels who are fighting against the Harts, and want to see more equality.  We also get to see the dynamic of a very messed up family.

Back to Kitty though – she’s woken up to find herself in Lila’s body (niece of the PM) of sorts -she’s been ‘Masked’ which means that she’s now taken on every aspect of lila’s life, her body, voice, mannerisms etc.  Where we go from here is seeing how quickly Kitty can make everyone believe that she’s Lila as her life depends on it and the lives of anyone around her.

If that weren’t enough, we find out that Lila’s been killed by her uncle for voicing her own opinions on what the nation should be like – and the question is does she truly believe that and who’s put those thoughts in her mind.  Then there’s Celia – her mother – who we’re very interested in getting to know.  Throughout the story she continues to be an enigma and i don’t know which side she’s playing for aside from the fact that she hates her brother Daxton and wants him dead as she has been told that he killed Lila.

There’s also Daxton, the PM who is a tough one.  He has no sense of right or wrong and only wants things his way.  He’s led by the rule of his mother Augusta who is the matriarch and the one who pulls all the strings here.  It’s nice that because of circumstances that we get to learn where she came from, but it’s not a justification of anything in terms of what she’s become – and that’s a shame.

So the story that we’re taken through is one of trying to understand if there’s validity in how the government is ruled now, or if the rebellion is working for something better.  Then there’s the question of who’s really working for which side and what’s the benefit there.  Alliances are made and you still never quite know who’s the good guy.  We find out that Kitty isn’t the only one who’s been masked and the return of the original in some cases come back to make us realize that the story is that much deeper.

As is typical in all dystopia, we’re really not left off with any real direction yet, just the knowledge that there’s so much more going on that even we know and we’re not yet sure who’s in control.  I think that’s where we’re going to go in Captive – to see that Kitty/Lila, Benjy, Knox and everyone else on that level are working for something that they believe in with a cost that they don’t yet know.  All in all, quite nice and i hope you guys take a read!