** spoiler alert ** 
 Here a clone, there a clone, everywhere a clone, clone? 
 Mini spoilers ahead about the confusing nature of the characters, but no big plot reveals. 
 The only thing more disturbing than a clone scenario would have been clowns. 
 So... a girl takes a placement test and ends up getting put on the bottom tier of society advantage. She gets the opportunity to become a higher class if she hides the truth of how she got there. This is when everything goes to hell in a handbasket. 
 You know how high fantasy books have a map in the front? I felt like I needed a spreadsheet just to keep track of which people were supposed to be doing what, and who was actually telling the truth about their persona. 
 It's not like Pawn was a difficult read because it wasn't. I zipped through this in less than a day and had no trouble following the story itself. My only hurdle had to do with characters coming and going, and a bunch of dangers which were retracted, then acted upon again. 
 In a way, I think this book should have been shortened a touch and made into a prequel, simply because it laid a lot of character groundwork without really moving the story along. It wasn't really until the last 25% when we started to find out about the rebellion, instead of being privy to one huge game of "invasion of the body snatchers." 
 By body snatchers, I am referring to the process of being "masked," in which one person has surgery to look like another. Plastic surgery - all the cool kids are doing it. I wasn't buying the ease of how things such as height and skin were so easily changed, but whatever. 
 There is a potential love triangle alert. I don't know how far the author is going to go with it, but I found my heart sort of sinking when I realized that the "other" guy was being set up to be infinitely more interesting that the current love interest (who I liked at the start, but ended up becoming a bore far too quickly). 
 Knox (the other guy), with his reading glasses and secretive ways, amused me frequently. 
 "I have a boyfriend." 
 "Yes, you do," he said. Me." 
 "One I actually like." 
 "You'll learn to like me eventually," said Knox. "Most people do." 
 Benjy (the faithful boyfriend) was cute like a puppy dog to start, but his personality didn't get much of a chance to develop. This is really too bad, because we don't see many lead characters with long reddish hair. It's kind of unique. 
 I was getting sort of a vibe similar to The Selection with the class building and love interests both being set up in the current location of the house of government, which made me sort of nervous. 
 What makes this story readable is potential of rebellion to come. Kitty, our lead character, is going to have to choose between the safety of herself and her loved ones, or making a difference in the world. 
 Readers who want to move away from the heavy focus on romance will eventually find a few scenes to be disturbing and eerie. Violence does come into play when citizens are shown as nothing but dispensable objects to be moved around as pawns by the people who rule the roost. 
 We went around in circles a few times before we finally started getting somewhere, but I'm intrigued enough to see what happens next. 
 This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All quotes taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy.