Ruined: 1

I've read some really gritty stuff lately, so when this opened with a murder on page 1, I was on board. And then it switched POV which I hate... but I preferred Cas to Em. She was so tough, yet cried about the same things over and over without a trigger.I'd heard that the romance develops slowly, but they have about two awkward scenes, they fulfil their arranged marriage, they're understandably annoyed about it, she asks some questions that only a spy would ever ask, he smiles at her a few times and tells her he doesn't like killing people, she shows great empathy for a group of people that her stolen identity is supposed to hate for killing her parents, they fall in love... Somehow?I didn't get to know any of the characters, and for me that's a major deal breaker. On the plus side it took me about 4 hours to finish this. I'll probably end up reading the second one because it's only a duology and I'll no doubt forget how average this first one was.

All of these YA have just become generic now, a cardboard cut out of each other. The main characters were very 2 dimensional- nothing really popped out and tbh it was far too long for such a simple plot

This was a quick and fast paced read, something was always happening and I deeply regret waiting so long to actually read this.

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WOW. I fell in love with the characters, especially Cas. One of my favourite books I've ever read.

Awesome series and loved every page x

Stupid characters. Same story. Nothing authentic. Cas was stupid. Em naive her sister creepy. I couldn't like not even one of the characters

“I certainly have never had to pretend to be weak. But your mother is right. There's a benefit to being underestimated.”* * *3 / 5Ruined has a lot of classic fantasy tropes: warrior girl, dead parents, sisterly love, revenge plot, oppressed magical people, enemies to friends to maybe-lovers; the list goes on. This isn't necessarily bad, in fact Ruined was quite a fun read, but it's certainly nothing new. It's got some decent writing, a decent main character, and some moral nuances, but most importantly, lots of stabbing. It's definitely a better book than the synopsis suggests..."I've seen so many people killed and never given it a second thought. I've killed. I planned to kill more. I don't think this is who I want to be"Emelina Flores is Ruined but without the magic that her people are vilified for. The Kingdom of Lera has persecuted the Ruined for years, out of fear, out of hatred, and it culminates in the execution of Emelina's parents and the kidnapping of her younger sister, Olivia. Em has lived among the Ruined "resistance" for a while now, but she's come up with what she thinks is a master plan: to pretend to be the fiancee of Prince Casimir, heir to throne of Lera, and to open the gates to the city to the army of an allying Kingdom and get her sister back in one fell swoop. Emelina gathers her two closest soldiers, gets her blade, and sets off to carry out her (definitely terrible) plan.Prince Casimir is trying to come to terms with himself, his father who is a bit (a lot) tyrannical, and the atrocities his country has committed, but also with the fact that the Ruined are dangerous. He's got a sharp wit on him, but he's not an annoying sass-bag, which is a great balance for any author to manage to strike. When he meets Emelina, she isn't exactly what he thought she would be - his fiancee is praised for her beauty, but this girl is a little bit savage? But you know where this story is going - violent, assassin girl with all the wrong intentions and a soldier prince with a softer side - can I make it any more obvious?"We should ask the priest to say that at the wedding. And now we unite Casimir and Mary. They both could have done worse"Ding, ding. They start to fall in love. Despite the obvious cliches, it's well done and sometimes sweet. Beyond the whole betrayal thing, they have a mature, sensible relationship most of the time. The emotional impact of Em's "shall I tell him shall I not" angst is pretty muted due to the predictability - you just know what is going to happen. Thrown in to add some spice is the capture of one of Em's soldiers, one of her childhood friends who is very much in love with her (love triangle you say? Surprisingly not so). The plot was enjoyable and had a couple of twists and turns, and I enjoyed Casimir's development from a bit innocent to aware and thoughtful.Remarkably average was the world that Tintera has developed. There's the "oppressed magic people", the "slightly wild militaristic people", and the "oppressing magic-hating people", and whilst Ruined has some nice moral ambiguity, the world is bland. To like this book, you really have to like Em and Casimir.

Rating: 4.5*HOOOOOOOLY dude. What a wild ride! I’d heard a few mixed views on RUINED, which is why I didn’t read it straight away after getting it in a FairyLoot box a few months back, and now I regret that decision. Because it was AWESOME. It’s been so long since I just sat for hours and read a book from start to finish. I just had to keep reading.There’s so much I love about this book. First of all, the plot was exciting as hell. The pace was pretty brisk, with things moving quickly, but I liked it. It wasn’t too quick, and it kept things interesting without lingering too much on irrelevant information. At one point, I even messaged Jamie to lament over the fact that my eyes wouldn’t read the words fast enough. I just wanted to squish the book into my face and absorb it all in a moment. But then I wouldn’t have had the experience of just reading all day, something I’ve sorely missed since I started my MBA.I also loved the romance. Cas and Em were so not in the mood to marry each other, but the gradual progression of feelings on both sides set sail to an epic ship. Then when poop hit the fan, and everything got confusing and mixed up for both of them, the feelings were so strong and hurt my heart. MY HEART, GUYS. I loved these characters so much: Cas with all his guilt and determination to understand and be better, Em with all the rage that she tried to channel into leading her people, even when they thought she was useless.My heart was definitely a target in this book, as plenty of terrible things happened that tried to rip it to pieces. The violence was pretty graphic for a YA book. No mercy. And there was death. SO MUCH DEATH. And one death in particular left me sobbing and having to take a break (while I did the laundry, because that’s what adults sadly have to do on weekends).You know what else I loved? The world. One where women were just as badass as men and allowed to fight, BUT ALSO ALLOWED TO WEAR DRESSES AND ENJOY IT. They could be girly and also be considered equal to men when sparring. (Which led to one of my favourite kinds of scenes: the guy and the girl training together, getting all sweaty and pushing each other physically. Mmmm.) Women could dance together, men could kiss each other, and it was no big deal. Just what I needed after spending the week alternating between sad and angry because of the election results, where America voted in a homophobic poophead.The ending was INTENSE and now I have to wait for the next book, which will be torture. But at least I didn’t end up like a certain someone in the last few pages, right? I’m honestly very, very scared of the person responsible for that act of violence. (Bee Tee Dubs, the women are the scariest bunch in this book. They are women, hear them roar.)