Avenged Review: The Pros and Cons of a Solid Sequel

April 12, 2021 by Bec | 4 stars, Books, Reviews

Avenged Review: The Pros and Cons of a Solid SequelAvenged by Amy Tintera
Series: Ruined #2
Published by Allen & Unwin on May 2nd, 2017
Source: Purchased
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fantasy & Magic
Amazon | Book Depository | Publisher | Angus & Robertson | Booktopia | Barnes & Noble
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Emelina Flores has come home to Ruina. After rescuing her sister Olivia from imprisonment in rival kingdom Lera, Em and Olivia together vow to rebuild Ruina to its former glory.

But their fight has only begun. Olivia is determined to destroy everyone who acts against Ruina, but Em isn’t as sure. Ever since Em posed as Prince Casimir’s betrothed in Lera, she’s started to see another side to this war. And now that Cas has taken the throne, Em believes a truce is within reach. But Olivia suspects that Em’s romantic feelings for Cas are just coloring her judgement.

Em is determined to bring peace to her home. But when winning the war could mean betraying her family, Em faces an impossible choice between loyalty and love. Em must stay one step ahead of her enemies—and her blood—before she’s the next victim in this battle for sovereignty.

This book is the sequel to Ruined, which was first reviewed by Aila on the blog back in 2016. My thoughts were similar (if anything I enjoyed it more overall). You can read my review on Goodreads.

The Good Things

  • The sequel to Ruined, a fast paced YA fantasy.
  • The pace was slower than the first book, but it had more political intrigue as the main characters dealt with the fallout from events in the first book.
  • This delivered all the things I wished were in the first book! We got to know the secondary characters really well and explored more of the world.
  • I particularly enjoyed Aren’s chapters and character arc.
  • It was nice to see characters being responsible with their priorities straight and not letting their romance get in the way.
  • Some really exciting plot developments happened in this book. It’s set up a really interesting situation I cannot wait to explore in the final book.

 

The Not-So-Good Things

  • I’m not sure how I feel about Olivia. She is written to be an evil/ messed up/ bad character. Which is usually fine, but she’s so completely bad that it feels like that’s all she is. She hasn’t shown any sort of growth at all, positive or negative.
  • Occasionally there was a time skip or major plot point that felt rushed. I feel like if it had a bit more time to be fleshed out, even a little bit, the events would have had more of an impact.
  • I still have a lot of questions about the Ruined. We saw more of their powers, but I still don’t know much about them. They’re apparently not human, but they’re humanoid and the only thing that seems to separate them from humans are their powers and their marks. I feel like there are more details there that we’re missing.

 

This was a great sequel that delivered everything I thought was missing from the first book! It was slower, and I still have some questions about aspects, but the plot and characters were fantastic overall. I cannot wait to read the last book!

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Bec is an Aussie blogger and reader who loves all types of novels. Fantasy, sci fi, and historical are my usual go-to genres. If I’m not binge reading, I’m usually gaming, trying to take decent photos for bookstagram, or freaking out about silly things.

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