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Book Review: Ruined by Amy Tintera

Jun 19, 2016

Ruined by Amy Tintera

Pages: 355
Publish date: May 1st 2016
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9781760290641
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks – Publisher

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 everyone 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.

Ruined:

I received a review copy of Ruined by Amy Tintera from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

A couple of years ago I read Reboot by Amy Tintera and enjoyed it, I was fascinated by the world that she builds and how unique the characters were so when I heard she was writing a high fantasy, I knew I had to read it, and I was not disappointed. Actually I was quite surprised with how much I liked it. It’s been hit or miss for many people so I was nervous going into it, but like I said I was so surprised by how much I did like it.

Ruined follows protagonist Emelina Flores as she begins her revenge on the kingdom that murdered her parents and kidnapped her younger sister. She infiltrates the royal family, impersonates a royal and marries Prince Casimir, the next in line for the throne.

Ruined is told in a dual point of view, one being Emelina who is thirsty for blood, ready to deceive and kill anyone that stands in her way. And then Casimir, who is sweet and sometimes naive, but as the story goes on he sees that everything isn’t always what it seems and maybe things that you were taught aren’t always true.

I adored the world of Ruined, it was captivating and I wanted to know more and more as the story went on. The magic was fascinating, but also terrifying. There is no real ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in Ruined. The Lera Kingdom kills a ruined they see on site or hold and torture them, they have basically persecuted them. However the Ruined have such strong powers that they have tortured the humans of the world.

Emelina is a ruined, but without powers and even she does some pretty horrible things throughout the novel, and even thinks about doing some more, yet you sympathised for her as the story goes on and you understand what happened.

And even though Emelina is full of revenge, I loved being in her point of view. She was intriguing and I wanted to know more and more about her. She cares for all the ruined and wants to be able to make them proud, and nothing will get in the way. When she was dancing with Casimir at their wedding, she thinks of ways to kill him and I could not help, buy laugh – because of the contrast.

I also enjoyed Casimir as a point of view – he is the total opposite of Emelina, but they click with each other in a way. Casimir has been brought up to think that the ruined were horrible people, but with the help of Emelina and a few others he sees that might not be the case.

There was many twists and turns in Ruined and I was kept on the edge of my seat, you didn’t know what was going to happen next and I managed to read it in a couple of hours.

I disliked Casimir’s family with a passion all of them. They are controlling, annoying and I wanted to hit them all across the head. They never took anything Casimir said into account and anything that he said or did was automatically wrong.

The romance in Ruined was slow burning and sweet and even then they didn’t truly get together. They both are so strong and as the novel goes on we get to see them care for each other even when secrets were revealed.

The ending – holy moly. It was so intense, I was turning page after page. I cannot believe the way it ended and I am in so need of the next book – like now. I need to know what on earth is going to happen.

Overall, I loved Ruined. The world was fascinating, the characters, both intriguing and entertaining. Ruined explores what people would do for revenge, how our thoughts are created by our surroundings and how our feelings can change for people they you think that you hate. It was a brilliant, high fantasy and I am ecstatic to read more.

Book Review: The Leaving by Tara Altebrando

Jun 9, 2016

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando

Pages: 432
Publish date: June 7th 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 1619638037
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Six were taken. Eleven years later, five come back–with no idea of where they’ve been.

Eleven years ago, six kindergarteners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to.

Until today. Today five of those kids return. They’re sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn’t really recognize the person she’s supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they’re entirely unable to recall where they’ve been or what happened to them. Neither of them remember the sixth victim, Max. He doesn’t come back. Everyone wants answers. Most of all Max’s sister Avery, who needs to find her brother–dead or alive–and isn’t buying this whole memory-loss story.

The Leaving:

I received a review copy of The Leaving by Tata Altebrando from Bloomsbury Australia, in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

It’s rare that I pick up a book I am not sure about. I find it hard to finish books that I have no interested in, so I normally just pick up books that I am pretty sure that I am going to like. However, there are times that I can be misled and that is what happened with The Leaving.

The Leaving was one of my most anticipated books of the year, ever since I heard the premise I just knew that I had to read it, so to say that I am disappointed would be an understatement.

The Leaving follows five teens as they return to the town where they were born. The thing is, they had been missing for eleven years and now have no recollection of where they were, or what happened during that time. Another problem there was six of them taken.

I loved the idea of this book, six taken and only 5 return with no memory of what happen. The plot was the only reason that I kept on reading the book, I wanted to know what happened. Who took them, why were they taken? I was pleasurably surprised with how it panned. There were a couple of things that I guessed, but other than that what had happened did take me by surprise. Little hints were given through the novel and everything came together in the end.

The Leaving follows three protagonists. Scarlett and Lucas were two of the children that were stolen and Avery, the sister of the missing victim.

First and foremost, I pretty much hated Avery. I just didn’t know how to deal with her, she changes her mind every two seconds and she is all over the place. She drove me up the wall. I understand the things that she did, regarding her brother Max. He was still missing and she wanted him back, she wanted closure. But, everything else that she did. Her obsession with Lucas was horrible and I could not stand it. It was like 3 days after they had returned and she was having daydreams of walking the school halls with him.

Lucas, like Avery could not make up his mind. At first he thought he loved Scarlett, but then he started like Avery – let me remind you that the book spans over about a week – so it was all ‘insta love’and just I didn’t like it.

Scarlett I could tolerate. She was probably the most sensible of the three and didn’t fall for someone that she has just met. She feels that she has this connection to Lucas and she can have that, since she spent the last eleven years with them.

I felt that a great deal happened in this book and sometimes it was hard to wrap my head around everything, especially because we were with three protagonists.

I also wasn’t a massive fan of the writing style of The Leaving. Scarlett was all over the place and while it could have worked it was different for both Lucas and Avery. So each protagonist had a different writing style in a sense and it was just confusing and took from the novel.

Overall, The Leaving is a thrilling novel about what happens when people return having no memories of where they have been. They have come back into a life where they don’t know what is going on or even who people are. I didn’t like most of the characters and the writing style hindered my reading, however, the plot is engrossing and kept me reading.

Have you read The Leaving? Did you enjoy it more than I did? Are you going to read it? Why, why not? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Jun 6, 2016

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Pages: 343
Publish date: April 27 2016
Publisher: Hot Key Books
ISBN: 1471405109
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times – although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix’s father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix’s existence rather dangerously in question…

Nix has grown used to her father’s obsession, but only because she’s convinced it can’t work. But then a map falls into her father’s lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it’s that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.

The Girl From Everywhere:

I received a free copy of The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig from Hot Key Books in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I heard quite a bit of conflicting thoughts about this one, some people didn’t like it, and some loved it. It’s one of those books that you just need to pick up and make the decision yourself. In saying all this, I truly did love The Girl from Everywhere and I am so excited to read more.

The Girl from Everywhere follows protagonist Nix Song as along her father and his crew time travel around the world. They are all aboard The Temptation, a pirate ship that is filled with treasures from all around the world, from all different times.

First, I adored the world of this book. Time travelling on a ship, through maps; yes please. I was just so intrigued and that alone kept me wanting to know more. I thought that the world building was well written and didn’t give everything away, but just enough that we had an idea of how the world worked.

The thing is that you can only travel through a map once and Nix’s father only wants to go to one place; Honolulu 1868. Where Nix’s mother is alive and she doesn’t exist. But no one knows what would happen if they go.

I enjoy Nix as a protagonist in The Girl from Everywhere. She was easy to get along with and I sometimes laughed at her naivety, because it got her into situations that were entertaining. I loved her characterisation and seeing her grow throughout the novel. She is quite strong at the start, but she learns how to stand up for herself and the people that she loves.

I loved the dynamic of all the characters and how they interacted with each other. The banter was perfect and I could read scenes with just the characters talking and bouncing off each other.

Though I loved a lot of the character’s I wasn’t the biggest fan of Nix’s father, but I didn’t hate him. He has his reasons for what he wanted to do and he was too blinded by love, grief and even guilt to think any other way. However, we also see him grow through the novel. We see him realise things that he didn’t know or what to believe before and that was nice to see.

Another problem that I had with Nix’s father is that he is referred as different names throughout the novel by Nix herself. Sometimes she calls him father and other times by his name and this confused me a little.

The romance wasn’t my favourite thing in The Girl from Everywhere. I am not a massive fan of love triangles, like I hate them most of the time. But it was different in The Girl from Everywhere. It was a love triangle of sorts –ish. It is hard to explain. I didn’t hate it, but then again, I didn’t love it.

Kash was my favourite character after Nix. He’s just so loveable and I want to give him a big hug. He was full of sass and banter, and made light of situations, but was also good to have a talk with. The friendship that he has with Nix was truly nice to see and yes, you do end up shipping them eventually, but I loved that we got to see a friendship first.

One of my favourite things about The Girl from Everywhere is that it’s set in Hawaii. I love that place to bits and I am so intrigued and interested in its history, that this was just perfect to read.

The Girl from Everywhere is also hella diverse. I LOVED it. It was so great to see such a diverse cast that were intriguing, fun to read about and didn’t slip into stereotypes.

There were some parts that did drag and I may have gotten a little bored, but overall it was an entertaining and fun read.

Overall The Girl from Everywhere is about friendship, family and love, about what would you do for those that mean so much to you, and that sometimes you have to give up one thing for another.