Pawn (Blackcoat Rebellion, #1)

by Aimée Carter

[shannonmiz]

This book was fun, different, and totally not what I was expecting, in a good way. Our main character, Kitty (yes, the name irked me, but I got over it, mostly) is not in a good situation. She has spent her life in a group home, and now has done poorly on her all-powerful test, and is basically without options. She doesn't want to leave Benji, her boyfriend behind, but she doesn't want to weigh him down either. Decisions, decisions.

The thing is, Kitty doesn't actually have a ton of choices. She might, but none of them are great. So, she ends up doing this whole transformation into Lila Hart, which she's figuring to be the least of the evils. And that is where the whole story kicks into high gear. We meet the entire Hart clan, and what a clan they are! Basically, Kitty is completely unsure of who or what to trust, and the stakes are incredibly high for her, and for those around her.

There are so many twists and turns happening in this book that I simply did not want to put it down. I kept trying to guess what would happen next, and I was generally wrong (which I love!). Hell, half the time I didn't know who I was supposed to be rooting for, how could Kitty?

I won't go into too much character or plot detail, because it would be nearly impossible to do so without spoiling things- and this is a book that you do not want to read accidental spoilers for! There is drama, and lots of it. It reminded me almost of a soap-opera family in some ways, because you never knew who was going to be betrayed, who was going to come out on top, who was going to come out at all.

My only small gripe is that I would have liked more character and societal backstory, but since there are more books coming, I am just hoping that my questions will all be answered in due time.

This book was pretty fantastic. I might have already pre-ordered Captive. Basically, I definitely recommend reading it, especially if you like a side of intense drama and crazy antics with your dystopia.

4.5 Stars