A review by emleemay
Ruined by Amy Tintera

2.0

She slipped her hand into his, and when he laced their fingers together, her entire traitor body flushed. She ducked her head, pretending not to notice the bursts of happiness exploding in her chest.

This is absolutely nothing new. Recycled characters and story, with a plot driven by romance.

Yes, part of the problem with this book is that it feels so familiar. Emelina Flores disguises herself as someone else and infiltrates the palace of her enemies (this also happens in some way in [b:Throne of Glass|7896527|Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)|Sarah J. Maas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335819760s/7896527.jpg|11138426], [b:Shadow and Bone|10194157|Shadow and Bone (The Grisha, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1339533695s/10194157.jpg|15093325], [b:Red Queen|22328546|Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)|Victoria Aveyard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1449778912s/22328546.jpg|25037051] and [b:The Orphan Queen|18081228|The Orphan Queen (The Orphan Queen, #1)|Jodi Meadows|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402927856s/18081228.jpg|25389909]). Despite being hardcore and all about revenge, she quickly gets caught up in definitely not thinking about Cas, and sashaying in front of the mirror in pretty dresses.

But let's forget about all those identical books that have come before this for a second and view [b:Ruined|26074185|Ruined (Ruined, #1)|Amy Tintera|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1445240167s/26074185.jpg|42794689] on its own.

Well, firstly, the world-building is incredibly vague. There are four kingdoms in this land and I have no idea where they are in relation to one another, what they're doing, what makes them different, and why everyone wants to kill the Ruined. Seriously, everyone hates them and we are never given a real reason.

Emelina Flores is one of the Ruined and she wants to a) find out where the Lera king is holding her sister captive, and b) stop everyone from killing the Ruined. So she blows in with a sword, murders Princess Mary of Vallos, and assumes her identity so she can marry Prince Casimir of Lera and find the information she needs.

Infiltration!
Badassery!
Revenge!
Oh, wait.... is that a hot prince?

And that's when our sword-wielding warrior heroine's plans come crumbling down beneath the unconvincing romance. For one thing, she goes from hating Cas to being all googly-eyed in almost no time at all. For another, Cas's personality is... virtually nonexistent. He seems to exist simply as a love interest for Emelina and every thought he has is either about her or influenced by what she says.

It's like he never thought anything about anything until she puts ideas in his head. And also, he's a little bit stupid. Emelina is really not that good at being someone else, or at subtly finding out information. It's quite amazing that Cas never thinks something might be up when she openly sympathizes with the Ruined and literally comes out and asks where her sister is being kept. She's basically got "impostor" tattooed across her forehead.

Almost as soon as it is introduced, the plot becomes driven by the romance. Other dramatic discoveries and events are only explored in relation to how this affects the relationship between Emelina and Cas. Side characters remain undeveloped, as do the world and wider politics.

[b:Ruined|26074185|Ruined (Ruined, #1)|Amy Tintera|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1445240167s/26074185.jpg|42794689] is a surface story with kissing and sword fights, reminiscent of other, often better, works. The ending is cliffhanger free, but still necessitates a sequel.

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