The Lone City Series Review

Hello my avid readers. My names Amelia and people call me a cynic but really I just want quality entertainment. So here I am with another review.

OK so this week I read the Lone City series and honestly I couldn't put it down.

(Slight Spoilers Ahead)

It's about a girl named violet who is taken from her home and is put in this program to become a surrogate for the rich. Violet is very talented and finds out there is more to this surrogate program then she ever realized. But when she falls in love with a boy who she was never supposed to know it may cause the system and her escape to fall apart.

I have never really read anything like this. The first book is refreshing original and something the dystopian futures book have been needing. The ideas and the society we see is old but, it feels very interesting and new. In this series the first book was amazing. I couldn't put it down. I read the first book in a day. It's a fast paced refreshing read that I would highly recommend for anyone who love dystopian novels. The only thing that was weak for me was the love story. The character Ash always felt useless and it never really felt like him and violet were drawn together. It felt more like teen rebellion. I was never in love with ash or really felt like him and violet needed to be together but, there was no stupid love triangle and they did get together and stay together which was also a nice change for these YA books. Even though the love story in this novel wasn't amazing it wasn't cringe worthy and was cute to read.

Where this book really shines is how you feel you have never really read anything like this. I really loved every piece of the puzzle falling into place. I really loved Garnett and Raven and especially Lucien. He was just someone you didn't expect. I didn't think when we saw him the first time that he would becomes such a big part of the story or that I would grow to care so much about him.

Garnett was my other favorite character. He is just someone who is a self absorbed prick in his first scene but by the end he was the best. I didn't see the twist with him being part of The Black Keys at all. My only complaint is we didn't see enough of him and his transformation. I know there is a spin off book but I don't really read those but, I love garnett so much I might pick it up.

The only other problem with this series is would say is how these books are broken up. You never really feel like there is a climax. This is really apparent in the second book because it kinda just ends. Same in the first book to it kinda just stops mid climax. I would have made this series duology and I really think that would have fixed this problem. It never really feels like there is an ending ether it just kinda ends. But maybe that's just me.

OK I really loved violet's concerns about being pregnant. I feel like we never really read about anything like this. I liked how she wished that people would see her more than just a surrogate. Her nightmare about her playing the cello gave me chills.

Can we just take a second  and can I tell you how sad I was when The Duchess broke violet's cello. I started crying. I don't really cry in books but wow that hurt.

The Duchess was also a great Villain I felt. I really liked how I grew to hate her and she wasn't just evil when she showed up. She saw herself as a hero which always make the best villain bit she was still despicable in all her actions. From breaking the cello to being awful to her niece to kidnapping Hazel.

I really did love these books. I felt like they were a good read and I really loved them. If you have any interest in reading these books go now!!! They are a fun and fast read that are easy to get into. I feel like you won't be disappointed.  

Rating: 4.5 stars

Favorite Quote: “Hope is a precious thing” She says “and yet, we don't appreciate it until it is gone”

-Amy Ewing, The Jewel

Rant about The Selection Book 2

Ok this book was very frustrating. I did not like it at all. This book really puzzles me. I really don't know who it was written for. It not a romance. (This stupid love triangle has been going on for way too long and they really are not even together) It is not really a dystopian future with a political edge. (I mean there is the caste system and this war with China but it is not explained well or explored) And it is not a good love Triangle.  I have a lot of problems with this book but I will try to keep it too five.
This review contains slight spoilers for The Dark Knight, Captain America The Winter Soldier, The Remnant Chronicles and Red Queen. Spoiler for The Selection Books.
1. The characters
America is a brat. She is manipulative and indecisive. She is the typical girl who is pretty but doesn't know it who is different than all the other girls archetype. She really bugs me she changes her mind every 5 pages on who she wants to be with. She thinks so highly of herself when she is just really a brat and just as bad as the other girls.
Aspen is a plot device. He is not a character in this book. He is the basic guy from her old life that she can't let go of. I have seen this before and it is done really badly here. He is in this book so they can drag out the “plot” longer.
Maxson is the most likable character in the whole book. But how likable can you be when you are dating five other women. Maxson is really the only archetype I like in this book. Which I'm fine if you start with a basic archetype but build on it. Maxson is the basic likable prince with a bit of the tortured  soul thrown in. 
All these characters are so Flat and and have no depth to them it is not even worth talking about the side character because they have one word description. 
2. The “Plot”
ok so we have really onenote characters but, if we give them an interesting plot then this book can still work but, nope. This plot is so generic it is sad. There is nothing interesting here. America can't decide between Aspen and Maxson and the rebels attack the palace. Ok you can't do this. You have to have a strong plot or strong character or preferably both but, at least one. Ok let see an example of a weak character but a strong plot.
Captain America is a great example of a character who is very one dimensional. He is a guy who is just trying to do the right thing. But if you put him in a story with people who are very gray and you are not sure who the bad guys are then he can be very interesting.
The Dark Knight is a great example of characters that are very interesting but a weak plot. The plot is the joker wreaks havoc on Gotham. Now if the character were very one note this would be very boring but, because the characters are interesting and them interacting with each other is interesting you don't really care about the plot. It is just interesting to see how the characters interact with each other and how they respond to certain situations.
This book fails to do both of these. The characters are basic archetypes so it can't be a character study because, these characters are so cardboard cut out they aren't interesting. This plot is not interesting. This is two boring and, dumb people seeing if they want to be together. That could be interesting, in fact in a lot of books it has been interesting but, you have to like the people that are falling in love and they should be interesting. They should have a real reason why they can't be together other then they can't talk to each other.
3. Character Arcs
This is also really basic part of writing. Your character should change, learn something and, grow. This is what makes a character interesting to see how they change from the beginning of a book to the end of a book. Let's take a look at the three main characters from this book.
America Singer at the Beginning
Isn't sure if she should be with Maxson or Aspen
America at the Ending
Is pretty sure she wants to be with Maxson but is still holding on to Aspen.
Maxson at the Beginning
Wants America to be with him but in case America wants to go home he is going to keep the other girls here.
Maxson at the Ending
Wants America to be with him but in case she gets kicked out he is going to keep the other girls around.
Aspen at the Beginning
Wants to be with America
Aspen at the Ending
Wants to be with America (and don't tell me that he was with Lucy. There is no indication of that in this book what so ever)
As you can see there is almost no change from beginning to end so the characters didn't learn anything. Now I'm not saying if your character doesn't change that means they're a bad character but it helps. Let's take a look at a character who is kinda like America where she is kinda unlikable, She is very brash and makes dumb decisions and only really thinks about herself.
Mare Barrow from red queen has a much better character Arc.
Mare at the beginning of Red Queen
All silvers are terrible people. The royal family is full of them self. Doesn't care about the rebellion and we can't win. Only really worried about Kilorn. She is nothing
Mare at the end of Red Queen.
Not all silvers are bad some are fine. The rebellion needs to happen and we need to win and we can win. I am the most important because I can win this rebellion.
She changes so much and that isn't even everything and, she still is selfish and makes dumb choices but she learns some things and changes where the characters in this book don't change at all. At least one character should change significantly but there is not character development in this book. Everyone stays the same.
4. The Love Triangle
The love Triangle is really bad. Like one of the worst I have ever read. Ok for a love triangle to work all the characters need to be interesting. This is because we see this a lot. It is used in so many books, TV shows and, movies. You have to do something different to make it engaging. So what does this book do? The complete opposite. You know who she is going to end up with as soon as you open the book. It is really predictable. And yet they drag it out for a really long time. I mean I have read almost 700 pages at this point and she still hasn't made her decision. It doesn't help that really only one of the guys in the love triangle is a character. Aspen is so annoying. He didn't need to be in this book at all. Aspen is there to give tension and to drag out the “plot”
Now you can do a good love triangle. One of my favorites is from the kiss of deception. In that book you get to see all of the character's perspective and it gives each of them depth. We like both Rafe and Kaden because they both have conflicts and Arcs outside of being with the girl they both like. And when they are with Lia it is not annoying and aggravating. This book also puts a fun spin on the love triangle and gives you mystery with it too. It flips your perspective and puts a new spin on this common trope. And here is also a big plus it is over by the end of the first book beginning of the second. Because we want to see the couple together not the will they won't they storyline from every soap opera ever.
This book give us the most basic love triangle. It is not fun or engaging. It is not different or new. It is the same love triangle I have been reading since the third grade and seen it way too many TV shows. (I'm looking at you The Office and Chuck and even you Twilight)
4. Too Long and Too Short
Why was this a series?? It really does baffle me. If this trilogy would have been one 500 or 600 page book it would have been a lot better.  There is so much filler in this book. This book is mostly filler. If your characters aren't changing or learning anything then what is it? You guessed it! Filler! This book was pointless you needed maybe 3 scene from this book total. This 3 books series needed to be one book called The Selection. If this was the case. The pacing issue would have been fixed. The character arcs would have worked much better. I would have been more forgiving with this book because there would not be so much pointless filler.
5. World Building
OK this world is so underdeveloped. We hear there are poor people. We hear there is a rebellion but, do we see any of this? NO! The one thing I learn about this world is Halloween. Why there is so much more you could talk about. Halloween is not the interesting world building I was looking for. I know what Halloween is I don't need a whole subplot that takes up a good chunk of this book to explain what Halloween is. There are so many other things you could talk about. You have a whole world that you haven't really explored. You could talk about the war with Asia. You could explain how the caste system was established. You could tell us anything else about this world would be more interesting but, nope. We need to learn about something that we already know about. This world could be interesting but we never get to see it we only see the palace and, it is not even like politics. It is just basic boring muck. My other complaint about this is why is there even a rebellion? It has no effect on the plot, provides really no tension and, America and Maxson have no part in it.  I see very little point to it.
In my opinion if you want to do a dystopian future book you explore the world you have created.
Now you may think that I completely hated this book. I didn't I thought there was a lot of potential for it to be one of my favorite books. It has a lot of things I love. A stubborn female lead, a dystopian future, fantasy elements, rebellion, prince charming, monarchy element, war, romance and lots of female characters but, it was not well executed in my opinion. In my opinion I feel that this book would have been better if America was kidnapped and was taken and used as part of the rebellion. She could have been conflicted about saying bad things about Maxson or you could have Maxson come and try and save her but she believes in the cause and have their relationship tested. But maybe it is just wishful thinking. A lot of people seem to really like this book. I just see an interesting book with characters that could be interesting world but it wasn't. This book was very disappointing I feel it could have been good great even but, it just turns into a catty generic love story with basic and, flat character that learn nothing in a world we never really see.