Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion #1)
By Aimee Carter
Release Date: November 26, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: NetGalley
Reviewed by: Jenn
Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Goodreads / IndieBound

*I received an eARC of this book from the publisher but it did not influence this review in any way.*

My rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

Synopsis:
You can be a VII. If you give up everything.
For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as an III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.
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, she will be famous. She will be adored. 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 decide which path to choose - and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

          Pawn really surprised me. I've read so many dystopian novels that they all start sounding alike after a while, but this story had some really nice twist to it. I read it fairly quickly because I couldn't seem to put this down, just wanting to know what happens next. There were so many twists and turns in the book that I never felt like it was slow or there was too much information thrown at me.

We first meet Kitty Doe right after she becomes marked. At first, I was really confused because she kept saying how it was all downhill from there and how she had to leave her life behind. She said a lot things that were a bit confusing and there weren't any real explanations to them until later on in the book. When she decides to leave and we start understanding what's happening, that when things start picking up.

I felt for Kitty, though. After being changed to another a person without her consent, being forced to give up everything that you ever known and inhabit someone else's life, Kitty is torn, obviously. But Kitty reacted very realistic and I have to give her kudos for just not whining and crying about her misfortunes. She showed a lot of inner strength and I'm curious to see what happens next for her.

Knox is also a favorite character of mine. While he and Kitty had a little rough start, considering how they meet, I really enjoyed getting to know him. He tried to keep all his promises to Kitty and he always tried to have her best interest at heart. I found that to be really admirable of him considering that he didn't know Kitty and that he could get in trouble for it. So I hope he gets his happy ending.

I can't wait to read more of Aimee's work and I can't wait until the next book of the series, Captive. I'm completely hooked and I want for Kitty/Knox/Lila/Celia to kick Daxton's ass. He's a slimy bastard who just gives me the creeps.