November 14, 2013

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Perfect Ruin (Internment Chronicles, #1)
Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano
Series: The Internment Chronicles, #1
Source: Bought
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: October 1, 2013
On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.
I see no proof, only words, but words can be powerful. Words can be what puts a boy to death.

I really wish that I could give Perfect Ruin a bazillion of million stars. But I can't. Don't get me wrong at all - I quite enjoyed it! But I can't discount the fact that I just didn't love the characters. The atmosphere was wonderful, and the prose was superb; but I wanted the characters to have deeper personalities, and more motive.

Morgan was okay. Sometimes I liked her, but most of the time she was kind of meh-ish for me. I loved that there was an existing romance - I'm seeing this trend more and more often in YA books, and I'm loving it! Basil and Morgan were so adorable together; and I liked that their romance was more sweet than steamy. I have to admit that the whole idea of "betrothal" upsets me, though. It's just... depressing. The idea that someone else chooses who you're going to be with for the rest of your life - and you have no say. I mean, it's working so far in Basil and Morgan's case, but who knows if that'll last. We ARE talking about YA here. I hope that it lasts, though; because as I said before, it's adorable.

I'm not going to lie here - Morgan's best friend, Pen, kind of miffs me. I keep expecting her to betray them all and do something drastic, which so far hasn't been proven true. But I don't trust her. I just can't explain it any better than that. I feel like something about her is...off.

I liked the air of "mystery" (oooOOOOooohhh) that surrounded Judas. I never really thought that he murdered the girl, because he just puts off a good guy vibe, which I have to admit was pretty nice. I do wonder if there will be a love triangle later in the series, though. This both thrills and upsets me, and I'm not sure which feeling will win out in the end.

I have a few philosophical questions and theories about the book, but I won't delve into them. I'm afraid you'll all run away screaming "WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST ACCEPT IT!" LOL. The ending was fabulous - my only problem was that I felt like it could have gone on just a bit longer... I mean, it just... ended. What am I supposed to do with my life until the next book comes out?!

38 comments:

  1. I HATE when you can't trust the best friend! I just hate when authors portray the friend like that, its a pet peeve of mine. Otherwise this sounds like something I could probably enjoy. Great review!

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  2. I do too! It makes some of the reading awkward, because you're never sure what they're going to do! I think that you would! Thanks, Teresa! :)

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  3. Michele @ A Belle's TalesNovember 14, 2013 at 11:44 AM

    Ooooo! The blog looks SO pretty!!! I love the new design, and the trucks are fabulous!!! Okay, trying to concentrate on the review and stop petting the pretty blog. I actually picked this one up last week since it was such a great deal, and I was a big fan of Wither and Fever (still need to read the last one). I'm excited about everything you mention here -- from the atmosphere to the ending... but why, oh why, can't the characters be more lovable? That makes it tough. Brilliant honest review, Megan! *huggles*

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  4. I loved and loved and loved Lauren DeStefano's Chemical Garden series so I'm having high hopes for this one. I hope it doesn't come to bite me in the ass when I actually read it. It's really too bad you didn't love it, makes me kind of nervous for when I'll pick my copy up.
    Great review, girl! :)

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  5. So this ended up being a three star, after all. I wondered what will be your final rating (we talked and the book a little on twitter if you recall :>)
    Love triangle almost ALWAYS miffs me. I almost never like it. I hope this will end up a lot like the first book of Chemical Garden, where there was the possibility of a second romance interest, but it never went there.
    Also - what is it with Destefano and arranged marriages?!

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  6. The cover is gorgeous! When done right, I think the "existing romance" is great as well so I'm glad you liked this one. I SO get you on the character you think is off and you're waiting....and nothing happens. Also, the ending. I'm glad you're excited for the next one, but that does seem too abrupt. Great review, Megan!

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  7. AH! Sorry this one held characters that weren't that developed! I hate when I encounter books like that! I'm glad you enjoyed this one though, despite the whole lack of character development! Great review!! :)

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  8. I love the cover of this book.It's so pretty:)
    Anyway the blurb doesn't sound unique, but it looks interesting.I have never read Lauren Destefano's Wither, but this one sounds familiar. I never get why arranged marriages and betrothals are becoming popular in dystopia.
    I love existing romances too, but the problem with them is that most of them end up being love triangles.
    Great review Meg.

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  9. Aww, thank you Michele! I love it too - the trucks are definitely my favorite part! <3 Haha, I picked it up when it was on deal too - a REALLY good one! I really need to continue that series - I wasn't such a huge fan of Wither, but I hear that the rest of it is good, though. I just have a hard time with characters, LOL. Thanks, girly! *huggles*

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  10. I'm glad to hear that! We were talking about it on twitter, so now I know that I'll try to continue the Chemical Garden! :) I hope that it doesn't too - I bet you'll like it. Definitely don't worry to hard about it! Thanks, Steph! :D

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  11. I do recall! It was really hard to rate this one, actually. I was stuck on it, LOL. ("3 star, 4 star, I love the writing but the characters weren't that great....3 star, 4 star") I had a wonderful argument with myself over it. :P


    I have actually found that I'm kind of a fan. Sometimes I hate it, but sometimes I'm totally in love with the trope, LOL. That's interesting - I read it, but I didn't read the next book. O.o


    I don't know! Arranged marriages are interesting, but I have like a thing for them. I don't know. They're really neat to read about. ;)

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  12. It is, I totally agree! Existing romance is fun for me - sometimes it doesn't work out fabulously, but most of the time I'm a fan! :) THANK YOU. No one else seems to get it! I was just waiting for the impending doom. Who knows, though - there's still a few more books, right? I am excited for it! The ending was WAY abrupt. Thanks, Sunny! :D

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  13. I'm sorry too, but I enjoyed it other than that! :) Thanks, Magen! :)

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  14. It's totally beautiful! :)


    It was really interesting - blurbs are so hard, though. I think it's to make the society seem more corrupt, maybe? Because it serves pretty well for that. I didn't really care for Wither - but I think I'll continue the series, because I hear it gets better!


    This one didn't really have a love triangle - but there's definitely a bit of an open bit for that. Thanks, Mishma! :D

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  15. I agree with that.It's actually tiring to see that most of the dystopian worlds are similar.The significance of dystopia is the fact that the universe of each book is special and unique but nowadays they are losing their significance.
    Well what's a YA book without a love triangle?(Note my sarcasm:)

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  16. I was trying to add your button to my blog but it doesn't work. I think maybe something is wrong with the code on it?

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  17. Oh, that is always so frustrating when you can't decide with yourself how to rate a book *sigh*


    I think there were 2 books I liked the love triangle in. And I can't remember their names, so... LOL
    I only read the first, too.


    I hate arranged marriages (unless I'm reading an historical) - they make me shiver (in dystopian settings, I mean. Less I guess in contemporary, though still.)

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  18. I don't think so - I tried it on my blog tour blog and it worked?

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  19. Love it, it's super cute!!

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  20. Oh my gosh, yes it is! i go back and forth with myself with some books - it's nice to know that I'm not the only one! :D


    Well, that's unfortunate. I was hoping that you would remember! ;) Um, it's kind of different for me like that - I like lots of them, but then others are absolutely ridiculous. Oh, okay. I need to read the rest, apparently. I hear that they're good. :)


    Haha I actually like them. I don't know why - but historical too - if an author can make arranged marriage work, it's pretty much epic. :P

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  21. It is kind of tiring, but I'm totally in love with it as a genre. Hahaha well, maybe they'll figure out that it's really good to be unique one day. :) I have noted your sarcasm - and I agree. :D

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  22. I love the background! Colors are really pretty :)

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  23. I love your design - stars are always awesome :-D

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  24. I like it! Love the color choices! ;)

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  25. I love the new background and its colour- not too dark but quite wonderful! love the pretty car button and car motifs everywhere :)

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  26. I'm not sure I saw the old one but i'm loving this one!

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  27. Congrats on the new design, I like the dreaminess vibe of it :)

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  28. LOL you're not the only one. I often struggle trying to figure out how I felt about a book, or how to reconcile my feeling's against reasoning (for example, a book I have no complaint about, but for some reason I don't really feel much toward. Does it get a three, because of my feelings, or does it get a four because really - book wise it's a good book. I have no complaints.)

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  29. i like ur design..very fresh and easy to enter :)
    thx u..

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  30. I am in love with the color combination!

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  31. I love the background. ^_^

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  32. Emily @ Falling For YaNovember 26, 2013 at 4:27 PM

    I really like the design! The stars are gorgeous and the quote at the top is adorable =)

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  33. It is beautiful, the stars are awesome and I love the quote. Thanks for the giveaway

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  34. I love the new design! I love the background, the color combination, everything is gorgeous i must say. :)

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  35. First impression: Gorgeous colors! Love the sense of wide space it gives.
    Easy navigation and good readability too. :)

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  36. I love it! I feel like I can touch the stars ;D It's absolutely gorgeous!


    @tibiux

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