Read more reviews at my blog, Words and Tea Bottles. 
 I will fully admit that I haven't read any of the books that are apparently being compared to it, though I do have The Selection in my queue once I get through a bunch of books I requested from authors and all that fun stuff. My first impression of the book was that it was a bit unsettling; I mean, why wouldn't it be? It seems to go back and forth on its impression of surrogates, whether they're slaves or they're girls who've gotten a great opportunity in their life. 
 I really did enjoy most of the book, mostly because the problems Violet faces and the ways she reacted made sense to me. She's torn on her life in the Jewel, one she feels like she should hate and yet, every time the Duchess gives her something for acting good and staying in line, she can't help but think, "Well, maybe this isn't so bad." I have to admit that I didn't really like the fact that she started right off with thinking how unfair it all is; it's becoming a cliche in dystopian, I think, for characters to be Rebels From the Start. One of the things some people seem to have a problem with is that she's special, as in has "better" or "more" as far as other surrogates (as in her Augeries, in this case) but I'm one of those people that's of the opinion that in a lot of cases, main characters do have to be special in some way. If they don't have special powers, or a "tragic" background, then they're just some random person thrown into the events for no reason, and I'd find that boring. 
 A part I can honestly say I enjoyed was the Duchess. I didn't find myself hating her, even though we probably were supposed to. She has her obviously mean moments, of course, such as when she threatens to break Violet's hand, and when she has Annabelle drug her so they can try to impregnate her again without even telling her it was happening. But in the grand scheme of things, it's obvious that she's not the worst person ever. The reveal about what the Electress is trying to do as far as surrogates makes that clear, if it's true (though I personally am a bit skeptical, considering the Electress came from the Bank, not the Jewel, and so wasn't raised like the royalty). 
 One of the problems I did have with the book, however, is the "instalove." As in she's in love with Ash as soon as she meets him. And I was actually fine with quite a lot of the book after they met, however... I couldn't help but slam my head on the nearest hard surface sometimes. When she sees him and Carnelian kissing in the ballroom, for instance, even after she heard during that very first encounter that he might be obligated to kiss her or even have sex with her, if that's what she wishes, she freaks out and thinks that he's a traitor. I mean, seriously? I know you're smarter than that, Violet. It seemed like it was just put in there to create drama and, in the end, the same ending could've been achieved by a lot of other means. 
 Also the ending is a cliffhanger and the worst kind too, where you're left thinking "Where's the rest?" as in "That's more like the end of a chapter not a book," and people who've read some of my past reviews would know I hate that device. It doesn't stop me from being interested in the next books, but I still hate it because I find it sloppy. 
 Still, I think it's worth a shot, so happy reading!