The Lone City Series; A Place where Jewels do not Shine

This entry is a little different from the others, because I read the three books in this series in one fell swoop, one right after the other. The series starts in Southgate, a surrogate holding facility in the Lone City. Surrogates are needed by the royalty to have children, because of generations of intermarriages making fertility very low and troublesome.

Our main character, Violet, is a member of Southgate, a holding facility for the surrogates before they get auctioned off to the royalty. Violet is important in this story, other than being the main character and one of the few members of this society with very high scores of auguries, a special power the surrogates seem to have. Violet was lucky to be cast in the top ten of the auction lot, as Lot 197.

This is where her life takes a different turn. From befriending a Lady in Waiting and another surrogate, Violet's eyes are opened to the true world of the surrogates, seen as expendable for the royals. Violet has to decide whether to follow her heart and rebel for a companion to her mistress's niece, or follow through with the pregnancy. She is lucky, the Lady in Waiting is part of an organization rebelling against the royals, using the natural powers of the surrogates. Violet, her friends Raven, Ash, and Lucien must work together to stop the royals and their misuse of the common people. When reading this, I thought it would have been like the Selection series, just another YA fiction with the same plot line and no real substance, but I was and am truly surprised. Even though there is the romance between Violet and Ash, it is not the only motivation for Violet, she wants to change the world to protect those that could go through the same thing. I really enjoyed this series, and I highly recommend it to those who want to have a new taste in the YA fiction realm