Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

The Jewel by Amy Ewing
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this free eARC novel from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Violet is a surrogate - she was diagnosed with this at age 11 and was sent to the facility to get trained on how to use her Auguries - her abilities that come with being a surrogate. After 4 years of trainings and getting ready for the Auction, Violet is one of the highest scorers among the surrogates - the third actually.

And what are surrogates, you may ask? Well they are girls who are able to carry a royals child to term and give birth for them, since royals were forced to procreate. Instead, they can have one boy and one girl, and surrogates are the only way to continue their royal line. And the highest score surrogates, the richer your royal family is.

After getting prepped by a lady-in-waiting, Lucian, Violet is physically ready for her auction, and it was an auction that lasted until the last second with Violet being bought at 6 million total.

Violet does not want to be pregnant. She does not want to be a surrogate. But she has been bought and paid for by the Countess of the Lake and she does not get a choice: she is her property now. She doesn't have it as badly as the other surrogates, though, because the Countess is having a lot riding on Violet producing a girl to be the next Electress of the Jewel.

When Violet meets Ash, the companion to the niece of the Countess, she feels such a strong connection with him. Even if it means punishment, Violet continues to see Ash because it's what makes her happy, and she wants to be happy for as long as she can.

Then Lucian tells Violet that she can escape from her fate at the Countess's house - he can free her. This is the best news that Violet has ever heard, and she is on board.

But just when life is getting good for Violet, events unfold that will forever change her fate and how she is treated. In fact, death may be preferable than to what she may have to go through.

I have had this book for so long and I just have never gotten around to it. First it was because I wanted to have the whole series in my hands before starting and second just because I forgot about it, to be honest. But I finally got the third book in my possession and I thought that I would finally read it!

And it was okay, overall. The idea of surrogates creeps me out and is literally a big fear of mine to be pregnant, so I would definitely pick dying than being pregnant. No, seriously. So to be in Violet's shoes is not something I would even want to imagine.

So it was a strike against this book about the surrogate part, and then the way she was treated like an animal? Being on a leash?!? I feel so much for Violet, yet she continued to find subtle ways to defy the Countess and make her life bearable for herself.

But the scene where they drug her and impregnate her? No buenos. No. There was nothing like physicalness - just doctor stuff, but still!! Violet really is treated like a piece of furniture and not a human being.

So I had some issues with this book. The whole romance factor with Ash was just weird and Violet was always on the fence with him that it made me frustrated every time they were together.

I am going to read the next books - even though my review sounds hesitant and that I didn't like the book. I'm curious to see what happens after that ending and how it all ties together. Hopefully there won't be any more uncomfortable topics for me, but I obviously pushed my way through them during this book so I can do it a few more times. Hopefully there will be more adventure and action that happens in the upcoming novels.

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