Reviews

The Perfect Ruin by Shanora Williams

thevirtualbookmark's review against another edition

5.0

Wow!!! I absolutely couldn't take my mind off this book or keep talking about it to others. I'm so glad you don't find out about the tragedy until further into the story, and then you get the point of view of Georgia (household manager), which was a bonus to me. I was hooked from beginning to end.

passionyoungwrites's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think that if the writing style would have been different, the first half would have been more enjoyable. It started as if Ivy was telling / journaling the story to her therapist instead of the story actually being told. 

Also, the repeating of information from the same POV was weird. 

Overall, the ending was the best part - and that was only because I had invested enough time to want to know what really happened and how the revenge would play out. 

And anytime I can just put a book down and not think about it.. umm 🫤

shellysbookcorner's review against another edition

4.0

Thank you Kensington Books for my finished copy.



“You are just a woman. A woman with hate in her heart and darkness in her soul.

You hate yourself, so you take it out on everyone else. You are scorned. Broken. Pathetic.

You will suffer at my hands.

I will ruin you . . . and you won’t even see me coming.”

With a prologue like this I knew I was going to be in for a wild ride and this book did NOT disappoint!!!

This story was told in dual points of views with shocking twists and revelations that I DID not see coming. At one point I felt like was catching flies with the way my mouth was hanging open while reading. I love a thriller that can keep you entertained and on the edge of your seat while reading and this book did just that and then some.

The characters in this book in my opinion are all trash. The moment I tried to feel sorry for one of them they would go and do something lowdown or a twist was revealed. I didn’t like anyone of them which made the story even more entertaining for me!

I’m shocked that this is Shanora Williams first attempt at writing a thriller because this story was solid. The pacing was on point and definitely a favorite read of mine for this month!

Triggers: Mention of miscarriages and death.

jenrickey's review against another edition

4.0

It started off on the slow side but it started to pick up about the halfway mark. I would recommend.

lbaggy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

nixbix_reads's review against another edition

2.0

You hit the ground running with the crazy in this story - there's no easing you into it! No-one in this story is likeable, and I do feel that the author has done well with this. However, I felt that no-one was redeemable & it just turned into a story about horrible people foing horrible things to each other. It also takes quite some time before we find out the exact details of why Ivy wants revenge on Lola, and I found this frustrating.

Thanks to Kensington Books & NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.

katheub's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

libraryjen's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

All the characters were thoroughly unlikable and I figured out the twist one-third of the way into the story.
2.5 stars

stephaniehayden's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ladyro54's review against another edition

3.0

Dammit this book was good up until we got the house managers POV towards the ending. I was really surprised by Lola's character, didn't see any of that coming. Suspend your disbelief, get some popcorn and enjoy this Lifetime movie.