I'm not really convinced by this conclusion. I enjoyed reading The Jewel and The White Rose and was quite excited about the final book in the series. I was disappointed. I think my main problem was that it was written for a younger public (still, it is harsh for a young public with the surrogates and the companions... So I'm not so sure it is the main reason).

The concept of this book is really interesting. The fact that young women are captured to carry a child for a rich woman is really disturbing but not so far from the truth. Money can buy anything. And if you cannot have children, why not ask someone to do it for you, and to make it look how the hell you want. It is really scary but believable.

However, some parts of the book were too childish for me. The ending scene with the battle was a disaster. I could not take the Paladins seriously when I read Violet shouting "Paladins" all the time. It looked more like a girl scouts troop trying to capture the flag than an epic bloody battle.

The ending was interesting and a good closure to the series. But no more than that. I think this was not a bad book, but it was not for me. I’m glad I finished this series but I won’t re-read it.

As usual, I find myself not really liking the second book of a trilogy. It's always difficult for me to rate them or to know what to think of them. This one was particularly not to my liking. I mean, I liked to learn more about this world and the plot was great but it just felt flat. There was no real dynamics in the book; I was not captivated by it.

The plot was great: the truth about the Surrogates and about the creation of The Lone City was quite a surprise and I found the idea really good, it quite surprised me, I was not expecting that. But the book was too slow, by the time Violet and her friends find the truth and decide to do something about it, the book is over. I felt like nothing happened during this book and that was the problem with it.

However, there is this really great plot twist at the end that was just amazing! I will definitely read the third book and I hope I will like it more than The White Rose.