The Jewel by Amy Ewing - ESSENTIAL

Ewing, Amy The Jewel, 358 pages.  Harper Teen, 2014.  $17.99. Language: G (0 swears 0”f”); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG.

Violet Lasting just wants to live in the Marsh with her family, but when she finds out she is a surrogate and has to serve the royalty, everything changes. Violet gets sold into the beautiful Jewel to be the surrogate to the cruel Duchess of the Lake. She soon finds out the Jewel is a place of backstabbing and cruelty.  Her world lightens when a forbidden romance comes to be with a companion named Ash. Violet will do anything to finally get her freedom from the gorgeous but frightening Jewel.  

I liked this book a lot; I thought it was very exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.  I gave the Mature Content PG-13 because there was some but they didn’t go into serious detail. I gave the Violence PG because when there was violence they did go into some detail.  I would definitely recommend the book The Jewel. It was a little strange how the surrogates had to have the babies for the royalty and the companions’ job was a little strange also, but other than that I thought it was a great book.  If you liked the Selection series you will most likely like this book. 

MS-HS ESSENTIAL. Student Reviewer: RR, 7th grade