Have you ever read a book that is simply impossible to put down? If you have not, read The Jewel and if you have, read The Jewel.  It is a phenomenal book full of love and passion.  It uses very high vocabulary that gives it a very well written view into the lives of the people.  It begins with a young girl, Violet Hastings, and her life becoming a royal surrogate.  The expectations of the surrogates is almost magic.  They have to pass “agurys” to become suitable for the job.  These auguries include changing an object's color, making it grow, and change shape.  Violet is auctioned into a royal house, and so is her best friend Raven.   Though the two are in royal houses they certainly do not receive royal treatment. 

Raven is constantly operated on in attempts for the child she will carry to be perfected.  She is not fed and can hardly think on her own now that the duchess has her in her grasps.  VIolet on the other hand is not as poorly treated but is still under extreme pressure to have the perfect child and not die like the surrogates before her.  Her care taker wants her to use the auguries to make the baby grow faster but this is extremely dangerous and very very hard to do.  The girls are neighbors but only get to see each other when their houses meet for dinners, they are both on leashes, though, and do not get to actually talk to each other.  This makes their relationship that much more special, and the author made them perfectly developed and the relationships between Violet and Raven very well thought out and displayed. 

It is a wonderful summer read and the series does not cease to inspire.  The story line is impeccable and really makes the reader understand the book's essence.  Amy Ewing's use of imagery really allows the reader to be one with the book and to be placed right there in the setting and action.  When I read this book I was immediately in love, I needed a book that could really hook me and one that I could not put down, and The Jewel did exactly that.  It was the perfect book to bring to the beach or  to just simply pass time reading.    It is an easy and great read for teenagers all the way to adults.   So, if you are looking for a simply brilliant book that you will not be able to put down, read The Jewel by Amy Ewing.