A review by xariesmoonx
Exquisite Ruin by AdriAnne May

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I am not surprised by some of the comments for this book. May took a risk in deciding to convey the story in the way she did, especially because the narrative is so disjointed and slightly repetitive. 

I mean I get why—we learn in time with the MCs (wink)—“both” of which have issues with their memory. It’s character-dense, in the sense that not much happens externally, but more internally. Plus, unreliable narrators tend not to mesh well with the average reader (imo)

I do think many readers were confused (rightfully) until the very end. I didn’t mind being confused as I do think there is pay off and it only drove me to continue reading, but I will say that I am still a bit caught up on the FMC’s backstory. I think it would have helped with the flashbacks to establish who she was (I honestly thought she was a priestess caught up on some daemon dick) towards the beginning of the book rather than the end.  I feel like we don’t know her at all (which is ironic considering what we know at the end). 
 
For me, I just think this is one of those books that gets better once you re-read it.