The Jewel

First-time author Ewing adds to a genre saturated with stories of poor, beautiful girls forced to live among the upper class. Sixteen-year-old Violet Lasting is from the direst sector of the Lone City. It’s an island run by powerful royals who can no longer bear their own children and must hire surrogates, like Violet, with unique powers called auguries. In an annual auction, Violet is sold to the powerful Duchess of the Lake, who parades her around in fine dresses, but demands that Violet deliver a perfect daughter quickly. As Violet begins to realize the dangerous political machinations at play, the plot becomes further complicated as she falls for an off-limits guy. The idea of forced reproductive slavery provides an attention-grabbing hook, but thin worldbuilding and some narrative missteps (at least four chapters end with Violet falling into darkness after being drugged, and there are unfortunate references to characters’ almond-shaped eyes or skin “the color of dark brewed coffee”) don’t help the story stand out from the pack. Ages 14–up. Agent: Charlie Olsen, Inkwell Management. (Sept.)