Allied Review

    Emelina and her sister, Olivia, are both determined to bring peace to Ruina. As their war carried on, though, their ideas of peace began to change. Olivia is focused on hatred and violence, leaving the more diplomatic Em to pick up the pieces. However, now some of the people of Ruina no longer support Olivia. Two sides in Ruina begin to form- Olivia and her supporters, and Em and supporters. The sisters are now in their own war, and only once can come out.

    Keep in mind that everyone has their own opinion. This review is only my opinion, and you may have your own, different one. I would take into consideration what I say, but do not make a decision about the book solely based off of this review. Let's begin:

    This was a strong finale to the trilogy! The plot was very good and kept me interested the entire time I was reading. The book had some unexpected twists that I really really enjoyed. I especially loved the main twist with Olivia. At first, I couldn't understand the reasoning behind the decision, but the more I thought about it, the more I understood. I feel like some people will be upset with it, but I respect the author for doing what was right for the characters and think it worked out for the best, so props to Amy Tintera! I am not going to specify anything from that to avoid spoilers, but you will probably understand what I am talking about after reading.

    The relationship between the sisters was phenomenal! I seriously cannot get enough of the inner conflict and struggles they faced and was not disappointed by the relationship's climax. The characters were once again very strong and had some interesting developments. I loved loved loved Aren and Galo and their relationship. All of the characters' relationships were riveting, though. I thought it was clever how Tintera took many of the more side characters and put them front and center in this book. I really liked getting to know them more and seeing how they altered the story. The romances were pretty swoon worthy, but once again, realistic in the best of ways. The conflicts between the couples only added to the story and my love for them.

    Unfortunately, we still did not really get more of an explanation of the Ruined powers, but like I said before, it does not truly hinder the reading experience so it is not a huge deal.

    Overall, I highly recommend this book and series in general. It is worth the read, and I wish more people have heard of it. I will definitely be mentioning this book as a YA fantasy recommendation from now on. The characters and their relationships really drive the story and are at the heart of the book whether they seem like a less consequential character or not. Therefore, if you like character driven books, then I'd give this a try.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars (-0.5 for powers confusion)

Author: Amy Tintera

Publisher: HarperTeen

# of Pages: 416

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance

Series: Ruined Trilogy (Book 3)