miocenemama's review against another edition
3.0
This is the sequel to Ruined. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first book. Some of it seemed too predictable with many of the standard YA fantasy tropes. It did contain some interesting twists and ends on a cliffhanger that is worth pursuing.
bookishstone's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 out of 5. This was an interesting follow up to Ruined. I'm curious to see where Tintera goes next with it. For some reason I had difficulties getting into the book, but I still liked it.
frog_bud's review against another edition
5.0
oh my god! this series gets better with every book. this was one of the best sequels I've ever read. although Cas kind of annoyed me at the beginning a little bit, but I loved him. He came around.
clarynathanwill's review against another edition
5.0
This was a phenomenal sequel! Oh my god I was not expecting this to be as good as it was.
I had loved the concept, world, and characters of the first book, but I was worried the sequel would lose momentum.
Instead I fell in love more with the characters and became so heavily invested in the romance. Wow. I just love Em and Cas together so much. And Ahren was a new fave character for sure. Olivia is also just such an interesting character.
Definitely an underhyped YA series! Read this!
I had loved the concept, world, and characters of the first book, but I was worried the sequel would lose momentum.
Instead I fell in love more with the characters and became so heavily invested in the romance. Wow. I just love Em and Cas together so much. And Ahren was a new fave character for sure. Olivia is also just such an interesting character.
Definitely an underhyped YA series! Read this!
pencilknot's review against another edition
3.0
Three stars! I am so happy that the second book turned out to be better than the first. Though the plot still isn't very unique, I got to see more of the world and I finally understood why the Ruined were so feared. Avenged has multiple POVs, so the side characters were finally more fleshed out and realistic. We also got a new romantic pairing in this book, though I wasn't really interested in it.
The second book starts with Em and Olivia returning to Ruina. They decide to established a diarchy, with the sisters becoming queens together. Within the first few pages, I started to realize that my predictions from the first book were correct. Olivia is becoming increasingly unstable and vengeful. She is determined to get revenge on the countries that hunted the Ruined, and she will kill and destroy everything in her wake. On the other hand, Em balances out her sister, using diplomacy and tact to smooth over Olivia's mistakes. However, it soon becomes apparent that Olivia is heading down a dark and thorny road. She kills anyone that is not Ruined, no matter who they are or what they were doing. This leads to an inevitable attack against Ruina from the neighbouring countries. Em soon realizes that she can no longer make excuses against Olivia's cruel actions. This is the kind of sisterly angst I'm looking for.
Read my review of the trilogy on my blog!
https://artofreadingwithpencilknot.blogspot.com
The second book starts with Em and Olivia returning to Ruina. They decide to established a diarchy, with the sisters becoming queens together. Within the first few pages, I started to realize that my predictions from the first book were correct. Olivia is becoming increasingly unstable and vengeful. She is determined to get revenge on the countries that hunted the Ruined, and she will kill and destroy everything in her wake. On the other hand, Em balances out her sister, using diplomacy and tact to smooth over Olivia's mistakes. However, it soon becomes apparent that Olivia is heading down a dark and thorny road. She kills anyone that is not Ruined, no matter who they are or what they were doing. This leads to an inevitable attack against Ruina from the neighbouring countries. Em soon realizes that she can no longer make excuses against Olivia's cruel actions. This is the kind of sisterly angst I'm looking for.
Read my review of the trilogy on my blog!
https://artofreadingwithpencilknot.blogspot.com
ashton_reads_'s review against another edition
4.0
I’m going to put everything after this in a spoiler bracket just in case there are any spoilers from the first book… I repeat, there is a first book. If you have not read the first book, VENTURE NO FURTHER.
Now, onto the good stuff.
I’m going to make this short-and-sweet, because if you’re here, I really think you should continue this series. The characters are deep, the forbidden romance is just so good, and the world and magic system are so interesting!
I will say, the first half wasn’t nearly as good as the second half. I started losing interest a little, and the characters were acting insane! I was getting fed up with how dumb they were. They were making mistakes left and right, and I wanted to pull my hair out. bUT it all turned around, and then me was happy again :)
Also, my least favorite thing happened. One of the characters told another character he had thought something since they had met. NOOO you didn’t, I was in your head since you met them. You were not thinking that. Period. That gets me so fired up haha.
Ok, honestly I’m done. I’m still catching up on reviews, and it’s been a while since I read this one. Overall, I still recommend this series, and I can’t wait to pick up the conclusion and see how it all turns out!
Oh, and if you enjoyed this review, be sure to follow me here on Goodreads or on my bookstagram @ashton_reads for more of my craziness and book recs! Thanks a bunch!
Now, onto the good stuff.
Spoiler
YAYYY I’m so happy you’ve decided to read the second book of this awesome, entertaining series!!I’m going to make this short-and-sweet, because if you’re here, I really think you should continue this series. The characters are deep, the forbidden romance is just so good, and the world and magic system are so interesting!
I will say, the first half wasn’t nearly as good as the second half. I started losing interest a little, and the characters were acting insane! I was getting fed up with how dumb they were. They were making mistakes left and right, and I wanted to pull my hair out. bUT it all turned around, and then me was happy again :)
Also, my least favorite thing happened. One of the characters told another character he had thought something since they had met. NOOO you didn’t, I was in your head since you met them. You were not thinking that. Period. That gets me so fired up haha.
Ok, honestly I’m done. I’m still catching up on reviews, and it’s been a while since I read this one. Overall, I still recommend this series, and I can’t wait to pick up the conclusion and see how it all turns out!
Oh, and if you enjoyed this review, be sure to follow me here on Goodreads or on my bookstagram @ashton_reads for more of my craziness and book recs! Thanks a bunch!
literarydelirium's review against another edition
5.0
Whoa Whoa Whoa. This series just keeps getting better and better. A fantastic fantasy series so far and Im so ready for the next book. Too bad it comes out next year (insert crying hysterically emoji). Em is just so full of surprises and there's a new ship sailing! Aren and Iria are just so right for each other. At first I thought August was a 2 faced bitch but clearly it's Olivia. Man, that girl has got major issues. But I really like where this series is going so 5/5 stars!!!
justmeandmybooks_'s review against another edition
4.0
Need. Sequel. Now.
That is all I have to say about this. No just kidding, but ummm... I do need it. Preferably right this second.
I really love this series! I love the characters! I love the political intrigue! I love the characters! I love the world building! I love the characters! Oh yeah, and did I mention I love the characters?
Honestly I really don't have much to say about this book. It was great to be back with these characters again, and the plot just got even more interesting.
But ummm... what else is there...?
I don't think I liked this one as much as Ruined. It was still very good, but it lacked the spark of something that made Ruined so wonderful. I don't quite know what, but this one felt like something was missing.
It also just felt... a little unpolished. I'm not one hundred percent sure this is the book's fault, seeing as I read it on the iPad, and therefore the formatting sucked. So that might have been why I felt this way, I'm not sure. But I did feel that way, so either the book was a little unpolished, or it just wasn't quite good enough that I wasn't distracted by the sucky formatting.
Also they added in a bunch of unnecessary different perspectives... It wasn't bad later on, but at first it was SO frustrating, especially since all the new ones were at the ruined camp, so I would get three or four chapters of them before I got back to Cas, and well... Cas was who I really cared about. I mean, Em and Aren and Olivia are great and all, but... Too much of them, not enough Cas. Why couldn't we have gotten, like, Galo's perspective? or Violet's? That would have been MUCH more interesting.
Still though, I loved this, I really did. I loved the chance to see Em and Cas and Galo and Iria and Aren again, and I loved the new characters as well. Er, well... character at least. Violet was amazing, and I hope to see more of her in Allied.
Overall, this book really was great. I would highly recommend this series, and seriously, where my copy of Allied?! I needs it. Needs it, needs it, needs it. (And yes, 'I needs it' is proper grammar, don't question me, oaky?)
That is all I have to say about this. No just kidding, but ummm... I do need it. Preferably right this second.
I really love this series! I love the characters! I love the political intrigue! I love the characters! I love the world building! I love the characters! Oh yeah, and did I mention I love the characters?
Honestly I really don't have much to say about this book. It was great to be back with these characters again, and the plot just got even more interesting.
But ummm... what else is there...?
I don't think I liked this one as much as Ruined. It was still very good, but it lacked the spark of something that made Ruined so wonderful. I don't quite know what, but this one felt like something was missing.
It also just felt... a little unpolished. I'm not one hundred percent sure this is the book's fault, seeing as I read it on the iPad, and therefore the formatting sucked. So that might have been why I felt this way, I'm not sure. But I did feel that way, so either the book was a little unpolished, or it just wasn't quite good enough that I wasn't distracted by the sucky formatting.
Also they added in a bunch of unnecessary different perspectives... It wasn't bad later on, but at first it was SO frustrating, especially since all the new ones were at the ruined camp, so I would get three or four chapters of them before I got back to Cas, and well... Cas was who I really cared about. I mean, Em and Aren and Olivia are great and all, but... Too much of them, not enough Cas. Why couldn't we have gotten, like, Galo's perspective? or Violet's? That would have been MUCH more interesting.
Still though, I loved this, I really did. I loved the chance to see Em and Cas and Galo and Iria and Aren again, and I loved the new characters as well. Er, well... character at least. Violet was amazing, and I hope to see more of her in Allied.
Overall, this book really was great. I would highly recommend this series, and seriously, where my copy of Allied?! I needs it. Needs it, needs it, needs it. (And yes, 'I needs it' is proper grammar, don't question me, oaky?)
rsarnelli's review against another edition
3.0
Total crack fantasy. I blazed through this in a day, which is pretty amazing considering how average this story is.
Much like the first book, there’s not a whole lot of substance here, but it’s super fast-paced and ridiculously entertaining. It’s definitely a filler book, and to be honest I’m not quite sure what the point was? There seemed to be a distinct lack of plot, just a lot of maneuvering and rearranging characters and stuff. And I kind of don’t really care how the series ends? I'm just not super invested in the characters, even though my hatred for Olivia (and Jovita) knows no bounds. But whatever, it’s super breezy and requires zero brainpower, which is kind of what I needed right now.
Much like the first book, there’s not a whole lot of substance here, but it’s super fast-paced and ridiculously entertaining. It’s definitely a filler book, and to be honest I’m not quite sure what the point was? There seemed to be a distinct lack of plot, just a lot of maneuvering and rearranging characters and stuff. And I kind of don’t really care how the series ends? I'm just not super invested in the characters, even though my hatred for Olivia (and Jovita) knows no bounds. But whatever, it’s super breezy and requires zero brainpower, which is kind of what I needed right now.
kylielovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I think this is more of a 3.5 star.
It was a good solid sequel, but it didn’t grab me like the first one did. There wasn’t that secret of Em not being who she said she was which is what made the first one so exciting for me.
I did like that there was more than one villain. In fact, there ended up being like 3 and you never knew who was going to do what.
It was fun getting to see places that were only mentioned in the first book and explore their landscapes. The new characters were fun and added a lot to the story and the old characters grew and changed.
It ended at such a good spot where some things were all tied up, but others were just beginning and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
It was a good solid sequel, but it didn’t grab me like the first one did. There wasn’t that secret of Em not being who she said she was which is what made the first one so exciting for me.
I did like that there was more than one villain. In fact, there ended up being like 3 and you never knew who was going to do what.
It was fun getting to see places that were only mentioned in the first book and explore their landscapes. The new characters were fun and added a lot to the story and the old characters grew and changed.
It ended at such a good spot where some things were all tied up, but others were just beginning and I can’t wait to see what happens next!