bookishbellee 's review for:

The Ruined by Renée Ahdieh

3.5

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I have some mixed feelings about this finale. I wholeheartedly love this series, the atmosphere is immaculate- 1870s New Orleans vampires mixed with a fae world brimming with political intrigue, betrayal and the like (all my faves) and each book seemed to be even better than the last, adding more intricate world building, setting the stakes higher, and making me fall more and more in love with the characters. 

And for the most part The Ruined was just that but somewhere along the way one of the characters started acting in a way that was completely off from their actions in the previous books and it threw me off. A very different mindset altogether. This felt like it was done to move the story along which I more or less get but wasn’t too entirely keen on. 

The ending also felt very sudden. To be perfectly honest I feel like we didn’t get the closure that was needed. Either The Ruined should’ve been a bit longer to fully flesh out the resolution and some character arcs or the pacing from beginning to end should’ve been different. 

Overall I find myself thinking about this ending and feeling unsatisfied with how it all tied up. However, for the most part I’m still very much in awe with Renee’s creativity with incorporating many elements and her stunning prose!