A review by angieinbooks
Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge
4.0
Ren "Jackal" Segura is the Hope of Ko, and honestly I'm still not sure what that exactly means, but what I gathered is that Jackal has been set apart from birth and has been provided a sort of celebrity status, special training, and special treatment. Expectations are grand and it's stressful for her, but she's up for the challenge. She wants to do well--for her and for Ko. And then everything goes to hell.. She's convicted of a crime she didn't commit, and in her conviction, she's stripped of her Hope status, expelled from Ko, and sent to prison, where she undergoes a virtual reality solitary confinement for what feels like 6 years.
Basically, this book is everything I try to avoid, but I read it (for reasons) and I liked it way more than I expected I would.
The story is broken into three parts:
1. Jackal's life in Ko and training to be the Hope
2. Jackal's sentence
3. Jackal's life after her solitary confinement
I had a really hard time getting into this book and trying to figure out the world building that was happening and, I mean, I still don't quite understand what it means to be a Hope. It was a chore to read and I forced my way to get through, and I'm I'm glad I did. Jackal is likable; her girlfriend, Snow, even moreso, but everything else was hard to figure out: the relationship to her webmates, her relationship with her parents, how Ko operated.
Everything picks up after the crime. Jackal's solitary confinement is fascinating, and thankfully didn't drag on. And then she's completed her sentence, and she tries to figure out what happened to her, how not to become a guinea pig in some government science experiment, and how to go on living her life now that everything is gone.
The ending was mostly satisfying, but I was left with questions unanswered, but it was Jackal I was most interested in, along with Snow and their relationship, and she seemed to get an ending that was good for her.
A note for those interested in the f-f aspect of this book: This isn't a romance, per se. The story doesn't revolve around Jackal's relationship with Snow, but it does play a big part. And I love a cute romance more than anyone, but it was quite refreshing to have a queer heroine whose relationship was completely normalized and not the story's central focus.
Basically, this book is everything I try to avoid, but I read it (for reasons) and I liked it way more than I expected I would.
The story is broken into three parts:
1. Jackal's life in Ko and training to be the Hope
2. Jackal's sentence
3. Jackal's life after her solitary confinement
I had a really hard time getting into this book and trying to figure out the world building that was happening and, I mean, I still don't quite understand what it means to be a Hope. It was a chore to read and I forced my way to get through, and I'm I'm glad I did. Jackal is likable; her girlfriend, Snow, even moreso, but everything else was hard to figure out: the relationship to her webmates, her relationship with her parents, how Ko operated.
Everything picks up after the crime. Jackal's solitary confinement is fascinating, and thankfully didn't drag on. And then she's completed her sentence, and she tries to figure out what happened to her, how not to become a guinea pig in some government science experiment, and how to go on living her life now that everything is gone.
The ending was mostly satisfying, but I was left with questions unanswered, but it was Jackal I was most interested in, along with Snow and their relationship, and she seemed to get an ending that was good for her.
A note for those interested in the f-f aspect of this book: This isn't a romance, per se. The story doesn't revolve around Jackal's relationship with Snow, but it does play a big part. And I love a cute romance more than anyone, but it was quite refreshing to have a queer heroine whose relationship was completely normalized and not the story's central focus.