Captive by Aimée Carter

Captive by Aimée Carter is the second book in the Blackcoat Rebellion trilogy, following on from Pawn, which I reviewed about a year ago. This review (and the blurb) contains some spoilers for the first book in the series. This is my first review of 2015, but the fifth book I've finished this year.

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?

I really enjoyed this book. It does not suffer from middle book syndrome and takes some unexpected turns along the way. Things seeded in the first book are developed further, most notably the rebellion of the series title. Captive takes the story to the next level, shows us more of the world (well, more of the dystopic US, no word on what's happening in the Rest of the World) and sets up the last book for the dramatic conclusion.

I like Kitty. She does have a tendency to rush headlong into danger without a huge sense of self-preservation, but it does certainly push the plot forward, even if things don't always turn out the way she hoped. She can be a little too trusting — and there's one point in particular that really drives that home — but given that she has so few people that know who she is, let alone anything else, I found it understandable. I still cringed when her actions led to bad things. But then, if you live in a world that doesn't give you access to accurate history books (and forget about subversive dystopian novels), I can see how you might grow up without immediately understanding your own social context.

In Captive we also learn more about the ominous "Elsewhere" which was introduced in stages in Pawn. It turned out to be part less bad than what I expected, and part worse in some aspects than expected. I know that's pretty vague and sort of requires mind-reading to make sense, but I want to avoid spoilers.

Captive was a captivating read (sorry, couldn't resist) which made a good reward/break book in between some heavier stuff. And whenever I say things like that, I always have to pause and wonder how oppressive regimes, torture and war can feel like a "light" read. I think it must be in the writing style and pacing. Anyway, The Blackcoat Rebellion trilogy is a great read and I'm looking forward to the last book which is not coming out until November, alas. Highly recommended to all fans of YA and dystopias.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2014, Harlequin US
Series: Blackcoat Rebellion book 2 of 3
Format read: Hardcover of dubious American quality
Source: Purchased from a non-Amazon-owned online book shop

Pawn by Aimée Carter

Pawn by Aimée Carter is the most plausible dystopia I've read in a long time, possibly ever. It would be easy from the blurb to dismiss it as "just another dystopian future for the USA", but I'm glad a decided to give it a shot anyway.

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.

You don't have to look too hard to see Pawn as a scathing indictment of American classism masquerading as a meritocracy. Really, you don't have to spend more than ten minutes on any vaguely social justice-aware Tumblr to see where Carter is drawing inspiration.

The meritocracy Kitty lives in is not really as "equal opportunity" as it is advertised to the people. Although everyone takes the same test at age 17, the rich kids get better schooling and much more support from tutors etc, while the poor kids are lucky if they get any one on one time with their teachers. Taking the same test doesn't mean much if you're not taught the same things. (And the most privileged few children don't even have to take the test to acquire their inherited ranks — the oddest thing in this universe was the dictator being an inherited prime ministership.) To compound the have/have-not gulf for Kitty is the fact that she is dyslexic. Although she is quite smart and spends extra time studying, she can't read. With no one to read the exam questions to her, she can't finish the exam in time and does not get assigned a position that would utilise all her abilities.

After luck brings her to the world of the highly-ranked (and supposedly smart), Kitty starts to see the propaganda she and other low-ranked people are taught is nothing more than that; propaganda. The world of the already privileged is completely different and practically inaccessible to lower ranks. This world probably has the most plausible links to the real world that I've come across. Although the world of, for example, The Hunger Games also has some parallels with the real world, I can't quite see it actually coming to pass, unlike Pawn, which is less of a stretch from the real world and has more parallels, albeit unsubtle ones. (Although one would hope that some aspects wouldn't literally come to pass, even in a dystopic version of present-day USA.)

Pawn was an engaging read albeit not a terribly unpredictable one. But so long as you don't mind not being surprised by world-building plot twists, you shouldn't be disappointed. And although it is very US-centric, there is a mention of the Rest of the World. Well, one country is mentioned in passing. But! The fact that the Rest of the World exists and exists as something that the US government has to bother interacting with, is definitely a plus in the scheme of recent YA dystopias.

I picked up Pawn because it looked interesting enough and the blurb had potential. I'm glad I did, because I ended up enjoying it more than I expected. This is the first book of Carter's that I've read and I will definitely be picking up the sequel, Captive, when it comes out. I highly recommend it to fans of YA dystopias and to anyone else who finds the premise interesting.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: December 2012, Harlequin Teen
Series: Yes. Book 1 of ?
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher, sort of via NetGalley