The setting has a lot of potential, and I can't wait to see more of it. And Violet begins to understand, her edges becoming much sharper. It's not the smartest thing, but Lady Luck smiles down on her. It's a brutal setting, but Violet is reckless enough to shake apart the establishment and draw too much attention to herself. (In fact, she's more of a prized breeding cow than an actual slave.) She is thrown into a whole new world of politics and backstabbing, and one wrong move can have her poisoned to death. She doesn't have anywhere to go, and she is almost a slave to the rich and wealthy. Violet is a young woman who is stuck in her horrible situation. But thankfully, those times come very rarely and the author is quick to smooth out any wrinkles. The down is that the reader isn't fully aware of the world and that when a new detail is discovered (or announced), there's a huge question mark. The up is that the reader knows what's going on through the inner thoughts of Violet (or the dialogue of another character).

It weaves its explanations with its plot, and it doesn't feel like a rough roller coaster.

THE JEWEL starts off its world building slowly. It sits on the shelf, and I have thought about reading this book for the last year or so, but I'm fully aware that there's a sequel, so I waited. I have been passing by this book in the library every time I go there.

The lone city book series