Ruined
Juvenile Fiction
HarperTeen
May 3, 2016
Hardcover
368
Amy Tintera’s new 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.
WrensReads Review:
What would you do to free your people? Kill a princess? Mary a prince? Plan the downfall of a monopolizing kingdom?
Well, Emelina Flores will do anything.
She is the daughter of a once all-powerful queen, but she doesn’t have any of the powers of her people. The Ruined, as they are called, have super-human powers that basically scare those who don’t. That is, besides Emelina, because she just doesn’t have any like the rest of her family does.
Well, when the kingdom of Lera kills the King and Queen of Ruina (where The Ruined live) and kidnap the future queen, Emelina’s younger sister Olivia, Emelina is ready to do whatever it takes to get her back and protect those she loves. But when she starts to fall for man she is suppose to end up killing, she starts to doubt herself.
I absolutely love the slow-burn and the non-instalove. They end up realizing they may have more in common than they thought.
So, Emelina poses as Mary, the princess betrothed to Prince Casimir, and marries the prince in order to learn where her sister is being kept and about the people she loathes. Little does she know that she will become more understanding and will realize her plan isn’t the only plan.
I love this because it is political, and politics never come in black and white. You understand why Lera did what they did, but you also understand why Ruina is doing what they are doing as well. You kind of feel yourself torn between the two and asking yourself why we can’t compromise and all get along and skip in the fields of flowers together while holding hands.
What I really want to talk about is how men and women are equal in this book. The women are guards just like the men, the love-relationships are not defined by gender and no on freaks out about anything. Like seriously anyone can do anything and it isn’t weird no matter what your gender is. Like it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary at all and I absolutely love it.
I’m anxious for the next book!
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