Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

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?!