Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Book: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Series: The Internment Chronicles #1

Released: October 1, 2013

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Pages: 369 (Kindle)

Rating:4.5

Goodreads

From Goodreads:
On the floating city of Internment, you can be anything you dream, unless you approach the edge. Morgan Stockhour knows getting too close can lead to madness, like her older brother Len, a Jumper. She takes solace in her best friend Pen, and in Basil, the boy she’s engaged to marry. When she investigates the first murder in a generation, she meets Judas. The suspect was betrothed to the victim, but Morgan believes he is innocent. Nothing can prepare Morgan for the secrets she will find – or whom she will lose.

Quick Summary: First I was like ugh, then I was like what? Then I was like Huh? And finally I was like Nooooo. Or this (No major spoilers, but  there are a couple of comments that discuss parts of the book):

I really didn't know a whole lot about this book other than what the synopsis told me, plus that it had great reviews from some of the bloggers I trust. It definitely did not disappoint. While it had a couple minor things I didn't like (which I'll address in a minute), overall I really loved it. 

The world-building DeStefano does is great. The world she creates on the floating island (I guess? I don't really know what else to call it) of Internment is wonderfully deep and complex, but it never felt too complicated and was still easy to understand. The entire city could be circled by a train in 2 hours, so it's small or "roughly the size of the king's fist." Which yeah, it's ruled by a king who is a little crazy. 

So quickly to the parts I didn't enjoy as much. In order to control the population the king has done a few things I HATE. (1) Citizens are only given a certain amount of time to live, roughly 80 years. And (2) People basically have to sign up to have kids YEARS in advance-and here's the part I really hated, I mean, really, really hated: if they get pregnant without permission they are forced to have a "procedure" to abort the baby. HATE HATE HATE. Did I get my point across on that one?

We hates it. Much like Gollum hates the nasty hobbitses

The other thing I didn't enjoy as much was the main character, Morgan. She fell a little flat for me, at least for the majority of the book. She was just kinda blah. I did like her best friend Pen, the mysterious Amy, and her brother Lex, as well as Lex's wife Alice. Lex, in particular, I wanted to learn more about. 

While some people aren't fans of the fact that people are betrothed from birth, I didn't have a problem with it. Especially since Morgan and Basil legitimately liked each other. It seems like they made the best of the situation, and I appreciated that. The concept actually worked for me. 

I also wasn't sure what Morgan's relationship with Judas was supposed to be... just friends? Or is it supposed to be a love-triangle thing that never really developed? Not sure, but it did just seem like they were just going to be friends.

On to more things I loved. There is mystery around the murder and we get to unravel it along with the characters. Which I totally dig, as I love to speculate and make wild theories about what things are happening (why I loved Lost, you guys, so much). 

The characters get more complex as the story goes on. They develop more and become much more complicated and show growth. Always the sign of a good book. Even Morgan who was rather bland at the start becomes rather fabulous by the end. Growth people!

So to sum up, while the first 200 pages or so were kinda slow (but not unbearably so, at least for me), the book really picks up the last 150-ish pages. So much action and THINGS happen. THINGS that I liked. THINGS that made the book and the characters so much more interesting. And sadly, THINGS that I can't talk about because they'd be too spoilery. So you'll just have to read it yourself. :)

BUT THE ENDING IS AMAZING AND CLIFF-HANGERY. AND I WANT THE NEXT BOOK NOW.

Do you hear that DeStefano?! NOWWWWWWW!