Title: The White Rose
Author: Amy Ewing
Series/Standalone: The Lone City (Book #2)
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: HarperTeen
Year Published: 2015
Format: Audiobook
"Violet is on the run. After the Duchess of the Lake catches Violet with Ash, the hired companion at the Palace of the Lake, Violet has n o choice but to escape the Jewel or face certain death. So along with Ash and her best friend, Raven, Violet runs away from her unbearable life of servitude.
But no one said leaving the Jewel would be easy. As they make their way through the circles of the Lone City, Regimentals track their every move, and the trio barely manages to make it out unscathed and into the safe haven they were promised- a mysterious house in the Farm.
But there's a rebellion brewing, and Violet has found herself in the middle of it. Alongside a new ally, Violet discovers her Auguries are much more powerful than she ever imagined. but is she strong enough to rise up against the Jewel and everything she has ever known?
The White Rose is a raw, captivating sequel to The Jewel that fans won't be able to put down until the final shocking moments."
My Rating: 3.5/5
So this is the second book in the Lone City series and I found myself really enjoying it. I won't go on a huge rant with things that were slightly problematic in this review, I will say how I felt about it overall though. It was a good audiobook. I thought that the characters paths were still interesting and while we did see some growth and learnt more about some characters pasts, we didn't really see a huge leap and change. I did find myself feeling this was a bit of a filler for the final book (which I have on hold on audiobook at the library). This book took little time to get into and while I had to concentrate, it didn't involve a lot of focus and I did love the kickass female them that it set. Especially when I was working out at the gym, it was a good distraction from how out of breath I was feeling (#sofit). I do hope to continue with this series and read some of the ebooks that are available through overdrive, but I don't feel a huge rush to jump into the next book, I'll get to it when I can.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
So this was a book I picked up because I enjoyed the first one and hadn't read a dystopian like this in a long time. I thought that the world was interesting and seeing different kinds of servitude to a ruler was interesting to me. The idea of companions and surrogates was interesting to me. In this book we learned so much more about the world how regimentals are taken, as well as ladies in waiting. It was interest and sad to see a world where there was so little choice in what you became, where the rich keep getting rich and the poorer are continual losing loved ones and lives. I think that the author does a very good job of getting a reader interested in different aspects of the world, but around the last 2 hours of the audiobook I found myself getting bored with where this story was going. And while the author tried to write a surprising ending, I wasn't surprised by what happened and guessed it within the last half an hour of the audiobook. For these reasons I thought this book was ok, it was good but not my favourite dystopian of all time.
Characters:
Violet: I think that Violet started to find peace with herself and what she had to do. But at the same time I found her a frustrating character because she was constantly saying it was time for answers she just got the bare minimum but then kept getting angry about it. I also thought she made many poor choices. I'm interested to see how her sister's kidnapping will change her, I can't see a way it won't.
Ash: To have to leave your sister to die when you are helping so many others can not be easy, but to see him without a purpose is so frustrating. Not quite as frustrating as people not taking his need for help seriously. Companions don't ask for what they get either. They aren't given a choice.
Raven: To see her so week and so different was scary, but also important to remind the reader what they were fighting against. I was surprised that she didn't want to learn what the other elemental powers were, but I can see how she would be frightened after all she's been through.
Sil: I'm not sure if this is how you spell her name, but I listened to the audiobook so I'm just guessing. She's a weathered woman. She's seen things that no person should ever have to and has lived through the building of a revolution I only hope she gets to see a better world.
Lucien: His story was another one that broke my heart. To hear that his father sold him out so similar to how Ash's family sold him out broke me. It was hard to see that they couldn't see eye to eye. They have no reason to fight, they should remember who they are really trying to fight but we'll see how well that works out.
Garnett: I wonder what made him really turn to the Black Key and could he be the weak link? It's sad to think that that's possible, but he didn't really get what he wanted out of the deal, he still had to marry the boring teacup lady.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
