The White Rose

Title: The White Rose (The Lone City #2) 
Author: Amy Ewing
Genre: YA Fantasy/Dystopia
Pages: 308
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In this continuation of the Jewel by Amy Ewing, Violet Lasting is running from the Jewel with her two closest friends.  Ash Lockwood, former companion, is a wanted fugitive. Violet, escaped surrogate, is said to be the victim of rape. Raven Stirling, pregnant surrogate, is half-crazy.  Despite the attention the three are receiving, they manage to evade the royals and get to safety with other people who want to overthrow the royalty. Unfortunately for Violet, she has a very, very special role in this rebellion.  But will she be strong enough to prove that she is more than just a surrogate, or will she fall to the limits the royalty have set? 

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If you read my review for the Jewel, you know that I did not enjoy it.  I only read this one because I already owned it. I was hoping that this one would get better, and I'm sorry to report that it did not fulfill these hopes.  

I mean, it wasn't bad, really.  But it just wasn't good.  And I still don't like the romance between Ash and Violet. 

The main reason I didn't like this novel was the plot.  It moved really fast.  Whenever a complication came up, the characters would get out of the problem without having to do anything. Does that make sense? Probably not... What I'm trying to say is everything was too easy.  They got out of problematic situations too easily.  

And the writing didn't get much better.  I mentioned a problem with antecedents and their pronouns in my Jewel review, and Ewing hasn't improved.  There is still confusion about which "she" is being referred to, or which persons are being included in the "they". 

Also, I felt the Raven's character was very inconsistent.  Her mind is supposed to be messed up, yet how aware she is changes so much that it's hard to keep track of when she's talking nonsense and when she's serious.  Violet, our narrator, doesn't mention if Raven is acting any differently. 

However, I must applaud Amy Ewing's ending.  It left off at a cliff hanger, and now I have to know what happens next. Siiiiiiigh. 

So yeah, I probably will be reading the third installment because- darn cliffhangers!! That being said, I'm still giving this three out of five stars, as it wasn't all that great.