Nastassja's Reviews > Ruined

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

Make people fear you, Emelina. Her mother’s words echoed in her head. Stop worrying about what you don’t have and start focusing on what you do. Make people tremble when they hear your name. Fear is your power.

Sorry to disappoint you Mom, but, well, fear and Emilina are not compatible. One moment the girl's a highly trained assassin, the next moment she's an uncertain girl who barely knows what to do with her body. This constant state of ambivalence got on my nerves quickly: when you can't understand what the MC is made of and changes faces quicker than you can blink. I really tried to understand Em, but she barely understood herself if at all. It's not a case where a person is trying to find her true self, no, it's the case where author gave her character a personality but forgot to concretize how that personality operates. In other words: underdeveloped. The only thing I liked about Em is how every time she entered a room, she counted ways to kill people in it:

There was one knife on the tray, and Em studied it, trying to judge how sharp it was. Three quick steps across the room and she could reach around Davina for the knife to jab it in her throat before she knew what was happening. Five seconds, tops.

But in the context of the book, this skill looks like a joke, because it feels like characters are playing games they don't understand. Kids got swords and knives and they are plunging them into enemies' (?) bodies, but it looks like kids are playing war in a sandbox. They don't really understand what they are doing, they simply have fun, because it's hilarious.

Cas - the hero of the book is a blank page anyone can fill as they wish. He doesn't have a personality; he acts regarding other people's wishes. He doesn't have an opinion about a war that is raging on in his Kingdom for years now. When Em appears and starts to sympathize with the enemy, Cas doesn't think it's suspicious. He easily gives her secret military information, because he trusts her. Seriously? The prince is supposedly the best swardman in the Kingdom, but it seems he never made a step out of his sandbox. (view spoiler)[When Em's cover was blown and she ran, Cas chased after her, all he wanted to know is her name. Seriously?! How clever or strategic that is? (hide spoiler)] Again, I blame this on author and the lack of character development.

The romance was... dull. I want to blame insta-love, but I've encountered insta-love in books before and in some of those book it was processed quite believably. Here everything is so rushed (not only romance but action either) I didn't have time to feel anything toward characters or notice when and how they developed feelings for each other. Whether they die or live, I don't care.

“You could at least pretend to be excited.”

I tried, I really did. This book was on my list of highly anticipated releases, and I was sure I'll like it. But when there's no depth to plot or characters, it's hard to make oneself feel. This book is simply generic: been there, done that. Nothing new. It's not bad either (compared to my disappointment with ACOMAF, everything is better), there were nice moments, when it felt like one more page and I'll like the book. Alas, I reached the end but that feeling never came. I blinked, closed the book and forgot about the story.