I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Captive by Aimee Carter
Series: The Blackcoat Rebellion #2
Published by Harlequin Teen on November 25, 2014
Pages: 304
Source: the publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

For the past two months, Kitty Doe's life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate the Prime Minister's niece, her frustration grows as her trust in her fake fiancé cracks, her real boyfriend is forbidden and the Blackcoats keep her in the dark more than ever.

But in the midst of discovering that her role in the Hart family may not be as coincidental as she thought, she's accused of treason and is forced to face her greatest fear: Elsewhere. A prison where no one can escape.

As one shocking revelation leads to the next, Kitty learns the hard way that she can trust no one, not even the people she thought were on her side. With her back against the wall, Kitty wants to believe she'll do whatever it takes to support the rebellion she believes in—but is she prepared to pay the ultimate price?

Captive was a crazy, intense book with one “Oh, crap!” moment after the next. While I enjoyed Pawn, I had several issues with it, so I was uncertain about moving forward with the series. But I’m so, so glad I did! Captive kept me on the edge of my seat and refused to stop messing with my head until the very last page.

I’m still really not a fan of Kitty. In Pawn, she was boring and passive, which was bad. But in Captive, she either said she wanted to help, then backed out and refused at the last minute OR she tried to take matters into her own hands – and that got her into a LOT of trouble. Seriously, I get that it’s hard for her to trust people, but every time she opened her mouth or tried to “help,” she ended up getting someone killed or she ruined a perfectly-crafted plan. I just wanted to grab her, shake her and smack her. Not necessarily in that order. I definitely think she matured a lot by the end of Captive, but she still has a long way to go.

I’m still not a fan of Benjy as a love interst, either. I usually go for the “best friend” or the “underdog” in love triangles, but I just can’t see them together. I really can’t. When I picture them, I really do just see him as her friend and nothing more. I still ship Kitty and Knox. Knox was… frustrating in this book, though. Oh, man, was I annoyed with him.. I don’t quite remember Knox and Kitty hating each other that much in Pawn, but they sure were at each other’s throats in Captive. Their batter was, at times, hilarious. At other times, it was frustrating beyond belief. But the way things ended…

We met a lot of new characters in Captive. Some that stood out were Scotia, Noelle, Mercer and Hannah, to name a few. It’s REALLY hard to discuss these characters without spoilers, though. I will say this: those I thought were trust-worthy, weren’t – and those that I didn’t trust, surprised me. If that makes sense without being too spoilery. I think that was my biggest issue with Captive.. It was very back-and-forth with the “Trust this person.. No, don’t… Actually, you can.. Wait, never mind, don’t.” It made me dizzy. Some of the fake-outs annoyed me, too – There were just too many of them! When you read the book (cause you should), you’ll know what I mean.

Despite my annoyance with all the deception and lies, I will say that those deceptions and lies kept me on my toes and constantly wondering/guessing/cursing. I had the worst time figuring out who to trust and who would be revealed as a traitor. Everything Kitty did, everyone she spoke to, I was leery that she was putting her trust in the wrong person – and she did, several times…

Elsewhere was brutal. More brutal than we were led to believe in Pawn. When I say this book was intense, I mean it. And the sections in Elsewhere were the most intense. It was just an epic bloodbath – which, honestly, was sad but realistic. In most YA books that deal with revolutions and over-throwing governments, everyone miraculously gets out alive. Sometimes, there are small casualties with secondary characters, but not with anyone we’ve grown to like or love. But Aimee Carter didn’t hold back at all in Captive and people – even ones you wouldn’t expect – were killed and sacrificed. My heart still aches for some of those loses.

The most important thing with Captive? It never felt like Second Book Syndrome. Only once, for one small section of the book. Otherwise, it was crazy good – better than Pawn – and full of intense action and craziness. And the revelations.. Holy crap, the second half of the book was so riddled with revelations and shocking twists, I could barely turn a page without being shocked and surprised. There were several revelations, especially, that I’m very excited to see unfold in the next book.

Despite some issues I had with Captive, I’m really glad I read it. While Pawn was enjoyable, Captive was epic. I’m so glad I didn’t give up on this series and I’m really excited to see what happens in the third and final book, Queen – though 2015 is a long way off! I have no idea how I’ll make it to 2015!

So yeah, if you couldn’t tell, I definitely recommend Captive! If you haven’t read Pawn, I say go for it! Binge Pawn and Captive! And if you read Pawn and were unsure if you wanted to continue on with the series, I highly recommend you give Captive a chance. It might surprise you!

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Pawn by Aimee Carter
Series: The Blackcoat Rebellion #1
Published by Harlequin Teen on November 26, 2013
Pages: 296
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

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.

I went into this book expecting one thing, and it was something else entirely. I don’t know how it happened or how I got so confused. I was positive I had read that, in order to move up in society, Kitty had to go through a labyrinth and fight her way to the end. And that, if she made it to the end, she would be rewarded with the society rank of a seven.

Despite the HUGE confusion this caused when I realized it wasn’t about that at all, I still really enjoyed this book. The plot and the writing were really interesting and very unique to the Dystopian genre. A lot of the “twists” and “shocking revelations” were not shocking, unfortunately. I found a lot of it very predictable. But again, that didn’t deter me from reading and I still found it interesting and unique.

As far as MC’s go, Kitty was kind of boring and passive. I felt indifferent towards her, I didn’t care what happened to her. It was almost like she was detached from her situation. She didn’t fight for anything, she just let it happen to her. I mean, being a good girl and behaving kept her alive, but all she did was complain about how she hated it and didn’t want to be a pawn and yet.. She didn’t fight. It wasn’t until the last twenty pages or so that Kitty finally started to stand up and rebel. She finally stood up for herself and what she believed in, and she did it with everything she had. At that point, I finally, finally liked Kitty.

Other characters I liked: Celia, Knox and Greyson. Celia was a bit crazy and intense, but she was also strong, brave and feisty. She believes so strongly in the things she fights for, even if her judgement is slightly clouded. And, above all, she stands up to Daxton and doesn’t let him shut her up.

While the love interests in this book weren’t exactly in a love triangle, I definitely felt myself taking sides. Benjy was okay, but I really, really loved Knox and I totally wanted him and Kitty to end up together. And finally, with Greyson… I can’t explain it, but there was just something about him. He was detached from his family and their craziness and he just wanted to be friend’s with Lila and be left alone to invent things.

Clearly, I hated Augusta and Daxton. Augusta was just crazy and insane. And Daxton was a manipulative jerk who.. Well, I don’t want to give anything away, but the revelation with his character was very intriguing!

Overall, despite the flat MC and predictability, I did still enjoy Pawn. I would have rated it a 4, had it not been for those things. I’m still looking forward to the second book in the series, especially since Kitty showed some promise at the end of Pawn. I’m excited to see what happens next.