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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
2.5 stars.
Meh. All in all this book was pretty pointless. We're right back to where we started. The majority of this book was just banter back and forth between characters. The Elsewhere scenes were a bit more interesting.
Meh. All in all this book was pretty pointless. We're right back to where we started. The majority of this book was just banter back and forth between characters. The Elsewhere scenes were a bit more interesting.
Kitty is an insufferable heroine. She makes the stupidest possible decision at every turn, screws over every person in her life, and can't seem to fathom why people don't trust her after she has betrayed their trust time and time again. Rinse and repeat for 300 pages.
In [b:Pawn|10838787|Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion, #1)|Aimee Carter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374097236s/10838787.jpg|15753006], the plot was able to distract from Kitty's terribleness, but the plot of this one is pretty much exclusively Kitty being a trainwreck. Oh, and her relationship with Benjy is utterly chemistryless.
The side characters are well-written and I'm intrigued by the overall plot, but damn it Kitty, pull yourself together. I want to like you. I really do.
In [b:Pawn|10838787|Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion, #1)|Aimee Carter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374097236s/10838787.jpg|15753006], the plot was able to distract from Kitty's terribleness, but the plot of this one is pretty much exclusively Kitty being a trainwreck. Oh, and her relationship with Benjy is utterly chemistryless.
The side characters are well-written and I'm intrigued by the overall plot, but damn it Kitty, pull yourself together. I want to like you. I really do.
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Kitty Doe's life has been built on deception for the past two months. Compelled to pose as the Prime Minister's niece, she grows increasingly frustrated as her sham relationship with her fake fiancé crumbles, her true boyfriend remains forbidden, and the secretive Blackcoats withhold crucial information.
Amidst the unsettling realization that her placement in the Hart family might not be coincidental, Kitty finds herself accused of treason, triggering her worst nightmare: Elsewhere, an inescapable prison. As a cascade of shocking revelations unfolds, Kitty discovers the harsh truth that she can trust no one, not even those she believed were her allies. With her options dwindling, Kitty is determined to support
And it continues. I started out the book like, wait, what?!?! But then I got more into it as the story progressed. It was an exciting actioned packed story and I can't wait to see how it ends.
Amidst the unsettling realization that her placement in the Hart family might not be coincidental, Kitty finds herself accused of treason, triggering her worst nightmare: Elsewhere, an inescapable prison. As a cascade of shocking revelations unfolds, Kitty discovers the harsh truth that she can trust no one, not even those she believed were her allies. With her options dwindling, Kitty is determined to support
And it continues. I started out the book like, wait, what?!?! But then I got more into it as the story progressed. It was an exciting actioned packed story and I can't wait to see how it ends.
Istyria book blog ~ B's world of enchanted books
4.5 stars
Damn... Well, it's safe to say this book doesn't suffer from Second-Book-Syndrome. Far from it even. Captive is intense and full of twists you'll never see coming. There's no shortage of action scenes and I was glued to the screen of my eReader until the very last page.
To avoid spoilers, I won't give you a summary. Though if you've read the blurb, my efforts here will be wasted, lol. In any case I won't give away anything that might ruin the first book for you. Captive starts a bit after the events of Pawn and that's all I'll say about it.
This time around the stakes are even higher for Kitty. There's a lot on the line and her life is in more danger than before. I loved how the author wasn't afraid to reveal a shocking twist. Well, a couple of them actually. They were heart stopping, seriously. One twist fairly early in the story literally made my heart skip a beat. And I gasped. I rarely react to a book, normally I'm just reading in silent so when a book makes me react in any way, whether it's gasping, laughing, crying or something else, it means it's doing something right. I'm glad I forced myself to stop reading after chapter 1 yesterday evening because I would've stayed up all night finishing this one. For sure.
As usual, we're introduced to a couple of new characters and I liked all of them. I won't give too many names here either, because of the spoilers and stuff. I was a bit sad I didn't see Greyson as much, because I like him a lot. Benjy still is a great character, I love him so much! I love Knox too, despite everything. I really do like Kitty as a main character, I was just a bit frustrated with her in this book. She knows how high the stakes are and she still does so many stupid things without thinking. Even when she promises to not do something because that is the safest way, she still goes out and does it, risking a lot of lives in the process. But in the end she still does it for a good reason. She wants to protect the ones she loves and is willing to give her life for them if that's what it takes. And I love her for that.
Captive is a great sequel and I can't wait to read the third and final book, Queen! If you liked Pawn, you will like (or even love) Captive too. I personally liked it better than Pawn even though my rating is the same. Fans of dystopian should like this series too! It's one of the better ones out there for sure.
While I wasn't completely sold on [b:Pawn|10838787|Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion, #1)|Aimee Carter|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1374097236s/10838787.jpg|15753006], the first book in the Blackcoat Rebellion series, I thought that the series seemed intriguing enough. I really wanted to know where Aimee Carter was taking the series and how Kitty was going to grow into her new role as Lila Hart. Unfortunately, this book was a bit disappointing because there seemed to be a huge disjoint between Kitty's personality in the first book and her character in this one.
Captive continues two months after the events of Pawn, with Kitty learning how to take over Lila's role in the Hart Empire. It seems like a lot has happened since her adopting Lila's personality but nothing much has changed. Kitty and Benjy are no closer to reuniting with each other and have to be careful about being spotted in public. Kitty wants to help the Blackcoats but is too busy having to play People's Princess of the Empire and Knox, her supposed financee, and the leader of the Blackcoat refuses to let her into his plans for their future.
When Kitty gets caught carrying out an ill-conceived plan, Daxton Hart uses the opportunity to accuse her of treason and Kitty's sent to Elsewhere, a prison where nobody has ever escaped and where there's no humane treatment for the prisoners. Kitty thought that life as a III was bad but she has no idea how miserable prisoners in Elsewhere really have it. As Kitty fights for her chance at survival and adapts to Elsewhere, shocking truths about her past are revealed.
Like I said before, I don't know what happened to Carter's characterisation of Kitty! While Kitty was a little bit impulsive and too self-sacrificial in the first book, she still seemed rational and had her head together. But she really lost it in this one. Kitty's peevish about having to stay on and pretend to be Lila as well as frustrated at Knox's secrecy and I found myself really annoyed by how childish she seemed here. Kitty was bullishly determined to prove to everyone that she had the ability to be part of the Blackcoats and really didn't care about Knox's (well-justified) worries. What happened to looking at the big picture? And Kitty, you chose to stay on and be Lila. It's only been two months since you agreed to that. What did you expect? That everything was going to fall into place immediately?
And it didn't help that Carter decided to introduce many new characters in this book either. The problem with having to build up an all-new cast for a book under 300 pages is that the characters don't get properly fleshed out and I didn't end up connecting with any of the new characters. I can't believe that I'm saying this but I actually missed Benjy a little bit in this one because at least I felt something about his relationship with Kitty (even if that something I feel is annoyance). And poor Knox, he was the only person that I actually felt had some complexity and depth to his personality. I really would've loved to see more of Knox, more of his rationality and intelligence and less of Kitty's impulsivity and rashness.
As for Elsewhere, this was a place that we barely got to explore in Pawn. While the prison seemed a bit cartoonishly evil in the first book, I thought that Carter did a relatively good job at describing the horrors of the prison and how people are forced to adapt and change in Elsewhere. The problem is that not much else happens in the book. There's hardly any conflict and everything important is packed in the last third of the book!
And I'm starting to realise that introducing a "twist" at the end of the story is Aimee Carter's style, because there's another one included in this book to get us to keep reading. I'm really not sure if I want to keep going with the book, given my disappointment with this one, and there are A LOT of other good books out there in the world. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens.
Spoiler
Especially since by the end of the last book, we figured out that Daxton Hart was also an imposter and was faking his amnesia.Captive continues two months after the events of Pawn, with Kitty learning how to take over Lila's role in the Hart Empire. It seems like a lot has happened since her adopting Lila's personality but nothing much has changed. Kitty and Benjy are no closer to reuniting with each other and have to be careful about being spotted in public. Kitty wants to help the Blackcoats but is too busy having to play People's Princess of the Empire and Knox, her supposed financee, and the leader of the Blackcoat refuses to let her into his plans for their future.
When Kitty gets caught carrying out an ill-conceived plan, Daxton Hart uses the opportunity to accuse her of treason and Kitty's sent to Elsewhere, a prison where nobody has ever escaped and where there's no humane treatment for the prisoners. Kitty thought that life as a III was bad but she has no idea how miserable prisoners in Elsewhere really have it. As Kitty fights for her chance at survival and adapts to Elsewhere, shocking truths about her past are revealed.
Like I said before, I don't know what happened to Carter's characterisation of Kitty! While Kitty was a little bit impulsive and too self-sacrificial in the first book, she still seemed rational and had her head together. But she really lost it in this one. Kitty's peevish about having to stay on and pretend to be Lila as well as frustrated at Knox's secrecy and I found myself really annoyed by how childish she seemed here. Kitty was bullishly determined to prove to everyone that she had the ability to be part of the Blackcoats and really didn't care about Knox's (well-justified) worries. What happened to looking at the big picture? And Kitty, you chose to stay on and be Lila. It's only been two months since you agreed to that. What did you expect? That everything was going to fall into place immediately?
And it didn't help that Carter decided to introduce many new characters in this book either. The problem with having to build up an all-new cast for a book under 300 pages is that the characters don't get properly fleshed out and I didn't end up connecting with any of the new characters. I can't believe that I'm saying this but I actually missed Benjy a little bit in this one because at least I felt something about his relationship with Kitty (even if that something I feel is annoyance). And poor Knox, he was the only person that I actually felt had some complexity and depth to his personality. I really would've loved to see more of Knox, more of his rationality and intelligence and less of Kitty's impulsivity and rashness.
As for Elsewhere, this was a place that we barely got to explore in Pawn. While the prison seemed a bit cartoonishly evil in the first book, I thought that Carter did a relatively good job at describing the horrors of the prison and how people are forced to adapt and change in Elsewhere. The problem is that not much else happens in the book. There's hardly any conflict and everything important is packed in the last third of the book!
And I'm starting to realise that introducing a "twist" at the end of the story is Aimee Carter's style, because there's another one included in this book to get us to keep reading. I'm really not sure if I want to keep going with the book, given my disappointment with this one, and there are A LOT of other good books out there in the world. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens.
Worse than the first one, which reluctantly got me to read to the end. Shallow, nasty, and not recommended.
This book was good, though not as good as the first in the series. I found the main character a little annoying in how often she refused to listen to other people's directions. I'm still looking forward to the next book!
ARC from NetGalley
Kitty/Lila acts SO dumb in this book she is frustrating
Kitty/Lila acts SO dumb in this book she is frustrating