Title: Captive
Author: Aimee Carter
Publisher/Year:  Harlequin 11/25/15
Length:   221 Pages
Series:  The Blackcoat Rebellion #2

Overview

The truth can set her free

For the past two months, Kitty Doe’s life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate Lila Hart, the Prime Minister’s niece, in a hostile meritocracy on the verge of revolution, Kitty sees her frustration grow as her trust in her fake fiancé cracks, her real boyfriend is forbidden and the Blackcoat rebels she is secretly supporting keep her in the dark more than ever.

But in the midst of discovering that her role in the Hart family may not be as coincidental as she thought, she’s accused of treason and is forced to face her greatest fear: Elsewhere. A prison where no one can escape.

As one shocking revelation leads to the next, Kitty learns the hard way that she can trust no one, not even the people she thought were on her side. With her back against the wall, Kitty wants to believe she’ll do whatever it takes to support the rebellion she believes in—but is she prepared to pay the ultimate price?

My Thoughts

This second installment, we are taken all over the place, not only in the lives of the characters, but in the geography as well.  Kitty/Lila is still in quite the predicament where she’s trying to figure out how to make her life as Lila work towards the greater good while still holding onto whatever she can as Kitty.  There are so many things that are coming up throughout the story that make us wonder if people are actually ever what they seem, and there are hints along the way to make you connect dots that you wonder if will ever get answered.

So in book 2, Lila learns more and more about the Blackcoats and the role that Celia and Knox have within their rebellion.  The question still lies in whether Celia can be trusted, and she’s run away into hiding so that answer becomes a big no.  Then there’s the question of Knox and who he’s going to support.  He seems to be on the side of the rebellion, but throughout the story, we see that he’s feeling information to Daxton, and that makes us truly wonder if that’s something that we need to worry about – if he’s on Daxton’s side or playing both.

After a series of unfortunate events, we find ourselves Elsewhere, and that’s where things take an even darker turn.  There’s Minister Mercer who’s in charge there, with his wife Hannah which we can’t quite figure out.  She seems like she’s got all this hatred in the world towards Lila, but she realizes that in fact it’s not the real Lila, and things get strange.  She shows another side of her where she’s willing to make concessions and the question really becomes ‘WHY’?  We find out as the story goes on, since Hannah is far more complicated than we ever knew, but that’s another good story.

Then there’s this guard – Rivers – whom Lila/Kitty makes a note that has eyes that are like hers.  That’s something that sticks in my mind since her eyes were noted to be so much like the real Lila’s and that’s something that i wonder if we’ll get answers to.

So while we’re Elsewhere, after of course we saw Benjy get shot and killed before going there, we see Lila/Kitty come into her own, or at least try.  Before she even went there, we knew that from her hunting trip, she wanted to make things change, and when she became a citizen of Elsewhere, that’s something that she wanted to get a better understanding about how to change.  Knowing that giving information got you places, and killing other people became a means of survival, Kitty knew that there had to be more.  Top that off with the fact that everyone still thinks she’s Lila, well she’s then put to the use of the rebellion to gather troops, make the citizens want to fight, in the hopes that when the time comes, they can overthrow the people in power and make a change for the better.  Get someone other than Daxton into a position of power.

Where we end up in this middle book is a place of complete uncertainty.  There was a battle fought and won, but it’s clearly not the big war that’s on the horizon.  There are still so many distinct people who are in power that should not be, and you have to wonder if they are actually on one side or another.  Lila rises to power again towards the end, and she’s been positioned as the voice of the Prime Minister, and that’s not a good thing if it’s the truth, so we’re seeing the stage set for a Lila to be over both sides.  Then there’s Knox who thinks that he knows best which one never really knows, and then personally i really want to know what’s going to happen with Greyson because he’s my favorite and i think that he’s highly underestimated.

So…all that means that we’ve got a big war coming, and who will survive is a guess that i can’t quite make.  Who will end up on which side is also a big grey area, and i hope that we get to see a happy ending for Kitty.  she deserves it.  Have a great day all!