201 reviews for:

Exquisite Ruin

AdriAnne May

3.41 AVERAGE

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

maxime_reads's review

3.25
adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Queer rep: implied bi/pan mmc; nonbinary & genderfluid side characters 
adventurous challenging medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I forced my way to 50% but this was unbelievably boring

I have no clue what the point of this book was, and when it started info dumping at like 40%, my brain shut down and my eyes glazed over.

There is a really uncomfortable sexual tension between Sadare and Daesra, with an amnesia trope that means Sadare does not remember the history between the two and it is unveiled slowly through flashbacks. But the flashbacks are just revealing how toxic and sexually manipulative these two are.
They are working together but also competing while navigating the labyrinth but I don't care about either of them or their objectives.

I'd rather personally enter the labyrinth and face the horrors within than finish dragging myself through this book.

On the plus side, the audiobook is done really well and was certainly the best element of this reading experience.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Not a fan if the narration, will read ebook instead
dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really really liked 3/4s of this book, but the ending did not work for me.
Sadaré being Good, Actually was less satisfying than a turn would have been, I think, and I did not need the Freaky Friday thing at all.