Title: The White Rose
Author: Amy Ewing
Series: The Lone City
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: October 6th, 2015
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5)

Quick Look: I enjoyed The Jewel, but wasn’t blown away. I hoped The White Rose would give more information on the world the story is set in, and it did do that. It also explored the fantasy aspects a little more, which I was glad to read. The romance still felt stiff and sometimes the pacing was a little off, but it was a decent sequel that set up the conclusion well.The summary of The White Rose from Goodreads:

Violet is on the run. After the Duchess of the Lake catches Violet with Ash, the hired companion at the Palace of the Lake, Violet has no choice but to escape the Jewel or face certain death. So along with Ash and her best friend, Raven, Violet runs away from her unbearable life of servitude.

But no one said leaving the Jewel would be easy. As they make their way through the circles of the Lone City, Regimentals track their every move, and the trio barely manages to make it out unscathed and into the safe haven they were promised—a mysterious house in the Farm.

But there’s a rebellion brewing, and Violet has found herself in the middle of it. Alongside a new ally, Violet discovers her Auguries are much more powerful than she ever imagined. But is she strong enough to rise up against the Jewel and everything she has ever known?

The White Rose is a raw, captivating sequel to The Jewel that fans won’t be able to put down until the final shocking moments.

What I Liked:

Let’s discuss the fantasy aspect of this series. In the first book, the focus was on the surrogates’ gifts, called Auguries. These gifts give people the ability to change something’s shape or color, and to force growth out of living things. I was interested in these gifts, but felt like they weren’t really explained much in the first book.

That changed in this novel. These Auguries are much more than tricks. The background on these gifts was fantastic, and it’s what I felt was missing from the first book. It explains the why of the world, where these people come from, and helped me place the story into a greater context.

I also thought the shift in external conflict between surrogacy to fighting the system was a great way to manage broadening the issues. It’s no longer just about the surrogates’ lives being taken away from them. It’s a larger problem that affects everyone and has the potential to make a huge change in the world.

Much like the first book, I love Ewing’s writing style. She gives an effortless feeling through her worlds, painting a picture that’s easy to drop the characters into. It adds a lot to the story to be able to place myself in the story, and Ewing’s style makes that possible. Getting to see the other rings of society and finding a cohesiveness in how they are described, as far as the types of details covered, makes it easier to compare the social classes based on things like living styles and life on the street.

What I Didn’t Like:

I’m just not feeling the romance between Ash and Violet. It just feels forced to me. I don’t find myself rooting for them because I believe in them, so much as they are the romance and I feel obligated to support that. There’s a lack of chemistry that almost makes it feel, to me, that they love each other only because they thought they were each other’s only option. I don’t like feeling that and I don’t like writing that, but I want a little more spark between them.

I also thought the pacing was off at times. We get a lot of information on just Ash and Violet getting out of the Jewel. I liked getting to see the different rings of society, but it did feel like it took a long time to get them from Point A to Point B.

I’d Recommend To:b

Definitely pick this book up if you enjoyed The Jewel. I think it does a better job of explaining the world and the fantasy elements are featured more.

You can purchase The White Rose here:

Amazon
Audible
Barnes and Noble
IndieBound