Book Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Pawn

Aimee Carter

352 Pages

Published November 26th, 2013

YOU CAN BE A VII IF YOU GIVE EVERYTHING.
For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a 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.

Kitty Doe is your average teenage girl, stuck in a controlling and domineering society that sorts people by a ranking system, based off the roman numerals.  When Kitty is assigned the lowly category of a III, due to not being able to read or finish the test on time, she fears that her life is over. Her standing in society places her in a risky spot, one where any small crime can get her banished to Elsewhere, a cruel place no one in their right mind would ever wish to visit.

Sad and forlorn, frustrated with her turn of luck in life, Kitty does the unthinkable: she commits a crime and steals food from a vendor, not knowing what will happen to her as consequence. When guards hunt her down no matter where she goes, she knows she's in for a fair bit of trouble. However, she never could have imagined how her life would change, all because of one orange.

When she wakes up in a hospital-like setting, feeling anything but like herself, panic sets in. Not knowing where she is, she gets the shock of her life when she discovers she's been kidnapped and had body modification surgery performed on her against her will. She is now the replacement for a powerful figure in society, Lila Hart, and she is no longer a III. She is a VII, the highest level of society one can belong to.

Pawn follows Kitty as she gets adjusted to her new life, where secrets and danger round every corner. She must learn to act just like Lila, a girl she's never met before in her life. Pressure is coming from many sides to behave in different ways, and death threats abound. Despite all this, Kitty remained strong and kept a level head. If I were her I would have broken down and given up, locking myself away and waiting for imminent death; it just would have been too much.

I loved Benjy as well. Even with everything going on, he still stands by Kitty through thick and thin, remaining devoted and all hers. Daxton seemed nice as well, but sometimes I questioned his motives. I knew something was up with him and Cecelia from the beginning, but it took me a while to piece together the puzzle and figure out who they really were.

Pawn was a thrilling story, set in a futuristic USA. With a corrupt government, murderers everywhere without shame and many lies and conspiracies, the story kept me on my toes and was believable. I can only hope that next year rolls around faster so I can read the next installment!