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A review by kayceereads
Ruined by Amy Tintera
4.0
Rating: 3.5 stars
I have conflicted feelings about Ruined which leads to me lisitng what I liked and did not like.
The Good:
* I loved the main supporting characters the most: Galo, Iría and Aren were at the top of that list.
* Casimir is a good, solid character. His growth is one that I am much looking forward to.
* Emelina's lack of magical powers makes her story arc and her characterization much more interesting. We don't see that often in a fantasy book that deals directly with magic. Usually, your main character is the most powerful or has the ability to be the most powerful when given a chance to use powers. Emelina doesn't have any powers but her ability to lead, fighting skills, and ultimately, her intelligence gives the character great potential.
* I appreciated that all the different groups are shown to be both good and bad. The Olso, the Lera and the Ruined. No one is simply the bad guy or the good guy. They each have good people and bad people in their ranks.
*The second half of the book is the main reason I gave it more than 3 stars and am going to continue to read it. The action was so good and you really felt like someone you didn't want to die might die any second. It felt like their were stakes in the end. I hope that continues as the series progresses.
*Olivia is a scary as hell villain.
The Not-So-Good:
*The writing feels a bit uneven. There are times when it really gets you connected and gives you great turns of phrases. And other times it reads like a painfully tropey YA fantasy novel.
*At the first part of the book, Emelina had all this inner narrative that consisted of detailing how she could kill a character. And that was fine? Except that it happened like EVERY FEW PAGES for at least the first 10 chapters. It just became annoying and unnecessary. Yes, I know she hated the Lera. Yes, I get she wants them all dead. Yes, I know she is a badass. Show, though, don't tell.
I feel like Tintera could have found much subtler ways to show Emelina's hate and anger then just having think over and over in her head ways to kill people.
*Sooooo many tropes. Sooooooo many. Some worked. Some did not.
*The main characters are all between the ages of 16-20 and that just - oh boy. The main romance doesn't offend but not the reason to read this book at all.
*Pacing. We have a problem. It felt very just sloooow to start and then suddenly shifted and got real fast at the end. Most of the action is in the last 75 pages of the book.
The Love:
*Representation, baby. Ruined has leads that are all POC and main characters that are LGBTQA+ and that isn't made a big deal. It just is what it is because that is how it should be.
*The rising action and climax of this book was super well done.
While I did end up enjoying the end I think the pacing took me out of the story a bit. I do recommend reading it though and will definitely be reading the next part.
Recommend: 3.5/5 stars
***This completes my third exam - Defense Against the Dark Arts -which had the prompt "Reducto: title starts with an 'R'"- for the O.W.Ls Magical Read-a-thon!***
I have conflicted feelings about Ruined which leads to me lisitng what I liked and did not like.
The Good:
* I loved the main supporting characters the most: Galo, Iría and Aren were at the top of that list.
* Casimir is a good, solid character. His growth is one that I am much looking forward to.
* Emelina's lack of magical powers makes her story arc and her characterization much more interesting. We don't see that often in a fantasy book that deals directly with magic. Usually, your main character is the most powerful or has the ability to be the most powerful when given a chance to use powers. Emelina doesn't have any powers but her ability to lead, fighting skills, and ultimately, her intelligence gives the character great potential.
* I appreciated that all the different groups are shown to be both good and bad. The Olso, the Lera and the Ruined. No one is simply the bad guy or the good guy. They each have good people and bad people in their ranks.
*The second half of the book is the main reason I gave it more than 3 stars and am going to continue to read it. The action was so good and you really felt like someone you didn't want to die might die any second. It felt like their were stakes in the end. I hope that continues as the series progresses.
*Olivia is a scary as hell villain.
The Not-So-Good:
*The writing feels a bit uneven. There are times when it really gets you connected and gives you great turns of phrases. And other times it reads like a painfully tropey YA fantasy novel.
*At the first part of the book, Emelina had all this inner narrative that consisted of detailing how she could kill a character. And that was fine? Except that it happened like EVERY FEW PAGES for at least the first 10 chapters. It just became annoying and unnecessary. Yes, I know she hated the Lera. Yes, I get she wants them all dead. Yes, I know she is a badass. Show, though, don't tell.
I feel like Tintera could have found much subtler ways to show Emelina's hate and anger then just having think over and over in her head ways to kill people.
*Sooooo many tropes. Sooooooo many. Some worked. Some did not.
*The main characters are all between the ages of 16-20 and that just - oh boy. The main romance doesn't offend but not the reason to read this book at all.
*Pacing. We have a problem. It felt very just sloooow to start and then suddenly shifted and got real fast at the end. Most of the action is in the last 75 pages of the book.
The Love:
*Representation, baby. Ruined has leads that are all POC and main characters that are LGBTQA+ and that isn't made a big deal. It just is what it is because that is how it should be.
*The rising action and climax of this book was super well done.
While I did end up enjoying the end I think the pacing took me out of the story a bit. I do recommend reading it though and will definitely be reading the next part.
Recommend: 3.5/5 stars
***This completes my third exam - Defense Against the Dark Arts -which had the prompt "Reducto: title starts with an 'R'"- for the O.W.Ls Magical Read-a-thon!***