Tag Archives: The Blackcoat Rebellion

Review: Queen (The Blackcoat Rebellion #3) by Aimee Carter

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Title: Queen
Author: Aimee Carter
Publisher/Year:  Harlequin 12/01/15
Length:   221 Pages
Series:  The Blackcoat Rebellion #3

Overview

PAWN…CAPTIVE…QUEEN? 

Kitty Doe is a Blackcoat rebel and a former captive with a deadly connection to the most powerful and dangerous man in the country, Prime Minister Daxton Hart. Forced to masquerade as Daxton’s niece, Lila Hart, Kitty has helped the Blackcoats take back the prison known as Elsewhere. But Daxton has no intention of ceding his position of privilege—or letting Kitty expose his own masquerade. Not in these United States, where each person’s rank means the difference between luxury and poverty, freedom and fear…and ultimately, between life and death.

To defeat the corrupt government, Kitty must expose Daxton’s secret. Securing evidence will put others in jeopardy, including the boy she’s loved forever and an ally she barely trusts. For months, Kitty’s survival has hinged on playing a part. Now she must discover who she truly wants to be, and whether the new world she and the rebels are striving to create has a place in it for her after all.

My Thoughts

There is so much going on in this finale that it makes my head spin.  The cat’s out of the bag in terms of who is actually masked and what that means for the Rebellion.  We want to hope for the best with who’s going to be the right person to take power and if they can be successful in not only getting the rest of the ministers behind them, but the country as well.

Throughout this story, we see a lot of battling going on, and a lot of ‘playing the game’ since we know that there’s an agenda in play.  Kitty is being used again as a pawn, and she and Knox have decided that it’s time to reveal the truth – the full truth in the hopes that it will help the Blackcoats get to a place where they are able to overthrow Daxton (or Daxton’s mask).  This of course gets her captured to be used as a pawn by Daxton, and that’s where the bulk of our story goes.

We know that Daxton (or Victor) is using Lila (the real one) to be a mouthpiece for his causes.  When Kitty gets pulled in, she’s forced to do the same in the hopes of saving Greyson and Lila.  Things are never that easy, and of course they get tricked.

Top that off, Daxton is getting a bit in his own head where he’s taking every chance he gets to do these ‘acts of power’ as i see them, and he bombs Elsewhere, killing everyone who was there, shooting down a helicopter that had either Kitty or Lila in it, and getting the ministers to sign off on a document that gives him absolute power.

That’s where the remainder of the story plays out.  We don’t know who’s alive anymore, but we know that there’s a need to get some sort of order instilled in the nation since there is hope among small pockets of people in the rebellion that things can change.  If Greyson is able to get into a role of power, he’ll make the changes that everyone wants to see.

What we have in this final installment is a battle of wits – who will be able to outsmart whom.  Who will remain alive and what relationships will last.  Some of those that we thought were completely destroyed come back to be fairly sound and those that were comfortable are broken apart and mended into new things.  There is an end of an era and a beginning of a new life.

The ending here is one that’s entirely expected but a great culmination of the chaos that we’ve been going through with these folks.  You know that you want to see a nation of change and they’ve acknowledged that it’s perhaps something that will not happen quickly or soon but something that is worth fighting for.  You’d be surprised to see who’s at the helm of the change that’s going on, and who’s going to help drive that ship.

What we don’t get though is the background on Rivers.  I don’t know if anyone else got annoyed here but there were so many hints along the way that his eyes were just like Kitty’s and i kept waiting for them to tell us that he was Knox’s twin or someone like that.  and we never get those answers.  just the reminder that his eyes are the same.  oh well.

So on that note, i’m glad that i finally read it since i’ve been appreciating the cover art for so long and i hope that you guys give it a chance.  happy wednesday!

Review: Captive (The Blackcoat Rebellion #2) by Aimee Carter

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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!

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

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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!