Title: Ruined
Author: Amy Tintera
Date Started: January 4
Date Finished: January 8
Format: ebook from Bookshout
Emelina Flores has nothing. Her home in Ruina has been ravaged by war; her parents were killed and her sister was kidnapped. Even though Em is only a useless Ruined—completely lacking any magic—she is determined to get revenge. Her plan is simple: She will infiltrate the enemy’s kingdom, posing as the crown prince’s betrothed. She will lead an ambush. She will kill the king and everything he holds dear, including his son. The closer Em gets to the prince, though, the more she questions her mission. Her rage-filled heart begins to soften. But with her life—and her family—on the line, love could be Em’s deadliest mistake.
Straight up, I was given a code to this book for free when I participated in one of Epic Reads surveys. Okay. I really don’t know what to say about Ruined. At first I added it to my reading list a few years ago, because I liked the premise of the book. Combine The Selection with the Red Queen series? Sounded wonderful. And of course, since I’ve added it I’ve read a lot of books since then and completely forgot about this one until it came time to start reading it. And I think that this was actually good? I might still be coming down from the high that was the ending, but… A former princess to a land that was taken over by force, decides to infiltrate the enemy by marrying the son. I liked it a whole lot, even more when Em killed off Mary, the girl who she was supposed to be impersonating.
And really, Em is a complete bad ass with a soul. At first, I thought she was just hellbent on revenge for her parents and trying to find her sister. But when she started to show that she had developed feelings for Cas, I was losing my shit. Even more so when Cas and his family found out that ‘Mary’ wasn’t Mary, but Em. I have to admit that I didn’t really see that revelation happening so soon. But that being said…should the book really have continued on after that? I mean, I liked that we get to see Em reunited with her sister again and that we got to see Em/Cas meet up again as the enemies that they were supposed to be, and then not, but…that whole interaction with Olivia. I have a bad feeling about that girl. I really do.
Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed myself with this novel. It’s not quite The Selection meets Red Queen like the blurb makes it out to be, but at the same time there is a nice bit of everything in here that one won’t get too bored. Even the concept doesn’t take too long to set up. Will definitely be reading the next book.
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