Ruined by Amy Tintera Series: Ruined #1
Published by HarperTeen (5.3.2016)
Genres: Young Adult
Format: eARC, 368 pages
Source: Edelweiss
Emelina Flores has nothing. Her home in Ruina has been ravaged by war. She lacks the powers of her fellow Ruined. Worst of all, she witnessed her parents’ brutal murders and watched helplessly as her sister, Olivia, was kidnapped.
But because Em has nothing, she has nothing to lose. Driven by a blind desire for revenge, Em sets off on a dangerous journey to the enemy kingdom of Lera. Somewhere within Lera’s borders, Em hopes to find Olivia. But in order to find her, Em must infiltrate the royal family.
In a brilliant, elaborate plan of deception and murder, Em marries Prince Casimir, next in line to take Lera’s throne. If anyone in Lera discovers Em is not Casimir’s true betrothed, Em will be executed on the spot. But it’s the only way to salvage Em’s kingdom and what is left of her family.
Em is determined to succeed, but the closer she gets to the prince, the more she questions her mission. Em’s rage-filled heart begins to soften. But with her life—and her family—on the line, love could be Em’s deadliest mistake.
My thoughts
Good freaking lord, am I the ONLY person who didn’t like this book? I don’t understand the hype this book has. It was like Red Queen and Snow Like Ashes all over again. This book was SO generic. It was not memorable at all and doesn’t stand out in the sea of other High Fantasy books. Actually, as far as HF goes, this one was a terrible one. There’s so many other, better HFs out there! There was NO world building in this book whatsoever. Ruina and the Ruined were a cool concept, yes, but there was no backstory and no culture! Nothing at all but vagaries and the occasional passing mention of them. There wasn’t even hardly any magic use in this book! Talk about disappointing. It’s really a shame, too, because I enjoyed Reboot a lot. I had such high hopes for this book.
Let me just specify one thing: THIS IS A LOVE STORY. It is NOT a High Fantasy. It is a romance masquerading as a High Fantasy. And a crappy romance at that. The romance was just…ugh. It was WAY too lovey-dovey toward the end, and I was already fed up with the story at that point. I just wanted to throw my Kindle at a wall.
I didn’t give a crap about the story or any of the characters. The characters were cardboard cutouts, and it was just boring to me overall. Even the prose was bland and uninteresting. View Spoiler »
Ok very funny guys, now give me the real book – the awesome magical revenge story I was promised, that everyone was raving about – rather than the generic, bland, romance-masquerading-as-a-high-fantasy book that I just read. Black sheep again… *sigh*
Overall Assessment
Plot: 2.5/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 2/5
Originality: 1.5/5
Characters: 1/5
World-building: 1/5
Pace: 2.5/5
Feels: 0.5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 1.5/5
You’re not the only one to dislike this book. I’ve seen several negative reviews for it and I kinda don’t even feel bad for not getting to it while I had the eARC of it. XD
A really crappy romance!
When I first heard about this book, I thought it was going to be an exciting read. then reviews started coming in and no you aren’t alone in not liking this book. I do love how strong your opinions are–it makes your reviews fun to read. I also liked that you bring up other comparison /contrast books too to help me decide my reading choices.