Ruined by Amy Tintera

Ruined (Ruined, #1)

by Amy Tintera

New York Times bestseller

Amy Tintera’s YA fantasy trilogy blends the romance of Kiera Cass’s Selection series and the epic stakes of Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen in a story of revenge, adventure, and unexpected love.

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.

Reviewed by Jordon on

2 of 5 stars

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Review originally posted at Simply Adrift.

I expected Ruined to be along the lines of the Fire & Thorns series by Rae Carson, maybe even the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. It missed the mark by quite a lot to be honest, but I did still enjoy it for what it was.

The Ruined

Em is the eldest daughter to the Queen of Ruina, however she herself is not a Ruined with powers, she has no Ruined powers like her younger sister Olivia does. Making Em an outcast with her people, and useless. When her parents are both murdered by Princess Mary for the bargain of marrying into the Kingdom of Leera, and the King of Leera kidnaps Em's sister Olivia, Em knows she has to do something to save her sister and save her people.

The Ruined are feared by the rest of the world because of their powers and Em's mother was power hungry and brutal. The Kingdom of Lera has been sending hunters into Ruina for years, trying to kill off all of the Ruined so they don't pose a threat.

The Story

Em kills Princess Mary and assumes her identity. She will marry Prince Cas instead, find out where her sister is and save her, and then carry out an attack on Leera with her Kingdom and the help of Ruina's neighbouring Kingdom.

What Em doesn't expect is to find that Prince Cas is nothing like his father or his mother, yes he is young but he also has a heart and doesn't believe things should be the way they are. But her plan must go on because there is more at stake than herself. Even if she starts to gain feelings for her now husband.

I liked the idea of this story, but I felt like it fell a little flat. Everything was obvious, the readers pretty much knew what was going to happen already, and I felt like the story didn't give us much more than what we were expecting already. I didn't feel a strong enough emotional connection to Em or to Prince Cas. This story lacked depth and character growth, which I so very much wanted.

Ruined felt more like a light fantasy with the story revolving around romance. The characters felt too shallow to really make an impact on me, and the story didn't feel strong enough to hold up without the romance. I enjoyed this but I just wanted so much more.

Always,
Jordon

This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 9 December, 2016: Finished reading
  • 9 December, 2016: Reviewed