My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In the spirit of Divergent and The Selection comes PAWN, a young adult dystopian novel about a merit-based society caused by overpopulation.
Kitty Doe grew up in a group home after her family was forced to give her up because they’d gone over their one child mandate. At 17, she is given a test that will determine her future place in society. Though she’s extremely smart and can memorize almost anything if given the opportunity, dyslexia causes her to perform poorly on the test and she is given a sewer worker job and forced to move far away from the love of her life, Benjy. When she acts out in a moment of anger over her newly realized destiny, she is exposed to a whole new world of trouble.
Daxton Hart is the prime minister of the meritocracy and just so happens to need someone with Kitty’s unique physical attributes. He masks her into a replica of his recently murdered niece in an attempt to quiet those who hope to cause an uprising. With little choice in the matter, Kitty is suddenly thrust into the highest class of society when she is turned into Lila Hart. Taught by those closest to Lila, Kitty learns exactly how Lila acted and what motivated her in life. As Kitty tries to survive in this new role, she realizes no one she loves is safe as the Harts will use anyone she cares about to force her into submission.
I was instantly caught up in PAWN’s world and the characters that brought it to life. The story is well-told, multidimensional and instantly appealing to anyone who loves the young adult dystopian genre. I would have liked a little more depth on the motivation of the characters—what compelled and inspired them, what made Celia or Knox want to fight for the Blackcoats, what drove the masked Daxton to the choices he made. Near the end I felt like the story lost a touch of it’s authenticity in its attempt to throw so many unexpected twists and revelations at the reader but not enough to keep me from wanting to jump right into the sequel.
PAWN was exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat and I can’t wait to see what happens to Kitty, Benjy, Knox, and Greyson in CAPTIVE. If you love young adult dystopian novels even a fraction as much as I do then you should definitely give PAWN a try.
**Complimentary copy provided by the author/publisher for an honest review.
**Reviewed by preppea on I ♥ Bookie Nookie Reviews.
BUY IT NOW! - Amazon
No comments:
Post a Comment