ARC REVIEW – THE WHITE ROSE by Amy Ewing

The White Rose (The Lone City #2)
by Amy Ewing
Publisher – Walker Books
Release Date – October 1st 2015
Buy – Amazon | Book Depository

Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and Matched, this is the second book in the Lone City trilogy, following on from Amy Ewing’s shocking and compelling debut novel, The Jewel.

Violet, Ash and Raven have escaped the palace of the Duchess of the Lake, but Regimentals are hunting for them across the city. Nowhere is safe, and they are dependent on Lucien and his secret society for survival. If they can reach the safety of the White Rose then Violet may be able to help Lucien in his plan to rescue more surrogates. For one surrogate, however, it is already too late. Violet’s best friend, Raven, is pregnant. And in the Jewel, surrogates cannot survive giving birth.

The feelings you expressed after finishing this book?
            Happiness. Shock. Sadness. Inspired. Awed. I had a book hangover. That is the best way to describe it. I was completely in awe of this book from the beginning so I wasn’t surprised that I mourned for it when it ended. I laughed, I cried and I was on tender and emotional hooks throughout the whole novel. I wanted to be on that island, only those who have read know what I mean.
It possibly didn’t help that there was a major cliff which was so cruel of Amy but I sort of mentally prepared myself for it. Although I hate cliffhangers, I know you do, I mean who really loves them. But it does keep you really hooked till the next book and what I found is even with the cliffhanger from the previous book, you are still immersed into her world from Page 1!

What part of the world-building did you enjoy the most?
          Travelling through each element of The Lone City – seeing that there is something beyond the rich gleaming walls of The Jewel. It sort of reminds of Breathe by Sarah Crossan, the city contained in some sort of dome from the outside. Especially when they reach the island and The White Rose, that’s when everything changes. It’s quite hard to explain when you really have to read it for yourself. Can you see that I’m not revealing anything, that you must read this series. As well as the Auguries being developed beyond anything you will ever realise.

Which Auguries would you want to be able to control?
          – (Auguries (powers of manipulation in our terms) Colour, Shape, and Growth.) I’m torn between Shape and Growth to be honest. They developed so much in this book into such a beautiful and wonderful gift to have. Rather than abusing her abilities into something ugly and dangerous. Final verdict: Growth.

Your thoughts on Violet’s character?
           Violet is a lot more mature than she really is. She is only sixteen years old yet she seems to me eighteen. I think I’ve come to realise that The Jewel and it’s way of life leads me to believe that you have to grow up far beyond your years. That is the brutality and rawness that Miss Ewing writes about, which is quite shocking to say the least but intriguing nonetheless. Sorry lost track of the question – Violet was very brave and very caring. A lot of girls who thought that being the mistress’s surrogate was a privilege, but she knew the truth and it was her job to save them. To bring The Jewel down to the ground. Whilst Tanja has issues with her as the main character, I think I connected and loved her development more in this novel.

How did you feel about Violet and Ash?
           Awwwww, I loved, loved how their relationship developed without the barrier of current society and rules. There wasn’t any more Surrogate vs Companion. It was just them, stripped to the real Ash and Violet. No more hiding, metaphorically speaking.  Being on the run lead them too themselves more and we finally saw a lot more of Ash’s persona more. Including his back story which is truly horrifying. At times being together though let their feelings cloud their judgement to their responsibility and purpose in the novel.

Who’s your favorite secondary character?
           I agree on Tanja with this one, Raven! She was such a wonderful, down to earth characters she suffered the most in the whole of the novel. There is a scene that has you crying… I’m not going to tell you whether its for the good or the bad of the story.

Which one did you like more: The Jewel or The White Rose? 
          Tricky one for me that is – See the The Jewel the introduction to the story and the getting to know Violet. The White Rose for being the perfect sequel that didn’t suffer the sequel syndrome and the development of the Auguries.