Review: Ruined by Amy Tintera

Title: Ruined (Ruined #1)
Author: Amy Tintera
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: May 3rd 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

A revenge that will consume her.

A love that will ruin her.

Emelina Flores has nothing. Her home in Ruina has been ravaged by war. She lacks the powers of her fellow Ruined. Worst of all, she witnessed her parents’ brutal murders and watched helplessly as her sister, Olivia, was kidnapped.

But because Em has nothing, she has nothing to lose. Driven by a blind desire for revenge, Em sets off on a dangerous journey to the enemy kingdom of Lera. Somewhere within Lera’s borders, Em hopes to find Olivia. But in order to find her, Em must infiltrate the royal family.

In a brilliant, elaborate plan of deception and murder, Em marries Prince Casimir, next in line to take Lera’s throne. If anyone in Lera discovers Em is not Casimir’s true betrothed, Em will be executed on the spot. But it’s the only way to salvage Em’s kingdom and what is left of her family.

Em is determined to succeed, but the closer she gets to the prince, the more she questions her mission. Em’s rage-filled heart begins to soften. But with her life—and her family—on the line, love could be Em’s deadliest mistake. 

Ruined is a fantasy novel, where the main character is trying to rescue her younger sister, whom was kidnapped when the Kingdom of Ruina was attacked by the Kingdom of Lera and their mother the Queen was killed, so Emelina is not only in a rescue mission but also seeking revenge, so with the help of her best friends she manages to pass as the betrothed of the Crown Prince of Lera, their enemy and her main plan is to marry Prince Casimir and found out the place where they have her sister Olivia and rescue her. But what Emelina didn´t saw coming is that Prince Casimir is nothing like she expected, there is much more of him and she begins to feel attracted to him, even though she really should be planning his death.

Emelina is princess of the Kingdom of Ruina, a kingdom where most of the inhabitants have powers that sounds a lot like telekinesis, but Emelina was born without any power, so even as a child she was trained in combat, trying somehow not to be so helpless. Something that will help her in her plans of revenge.

Casimir is the prince of the Kingdom of Lera, he´s a good fighter, but he´s not very interested in politics although he´s the future King of Lera, but it isn´t until he meets his fiancee that he start to wonder about the war against Ruina, he never asked his father the King why he attacked the Kingdom of Ruina, and why they still hunting and killing the survivors, he simply accepted his father reasons, but now he ins´t too sure about this war.

Something I liked about the story is that there isn´t good nor bad in this war, because depending on which side you're on, the villain can change ..... because Emelina's mother was not a good person nor is Casimir's father.

Ruined is a fantasy novel with plenty of action, romance and has an ending that leaves you hooked for the next book in the trilogy.

Book trailer

Review: Rebel by Amy Tintera

Title: Rebel (Reboot #2)
Author: Amy Tintera
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: May 13th 2014
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of Reboot - here

The sequel to the action-packed Reboot is a can't-miss thrill ride, perfect for fans of James Patterson, Veronica Roth, and Marie Lu.

After coming back from death as Reboots and being trained by HARC as soldiers, Wren and Callum have finally escaped north, where they hope to find a life of freedom. But when they arrive at the Reboot Reservation, it isn't what they expected. Under the rule of a bloodthirsty leader, Micah, the Reboots are about to wage an all-out war on the humans. Although Wren's instincts are telling her to set off into the wilderness on their own and leave the battle far behind, Callum is unwilling to let his human family be murdered. When Micah commits the ultimate betrayal, the choice is made for them. But Micah has also made a fatal mistake . . . he's underestimated Wren and Callum.

The explosive finale to the Reboot duology is full of riveting action and steamy love scenes as Wren and Callum become rebels against their own kind.

I read Rebel a week after I read Reboot, almost back to back and I was dying to read what would happen with the main characters - Wren and Callum. Also I had two really good surprises with this book, the first being that I didn´t know that this book was with dual point of view, alternating between Wren and Callum. And the second, was that I didn´t know that this was the last book, I had the idea that it was a trilogy; so these were really good surprises for me.

Rebel is more violent than its predecessor, but the story is fast-paced, the story flows and is quite gripping, so I read it relatively fast, it has a lot more action (a little gory), more romance (NO love triangle), is more intense, and with a very good and satisfying ending.

The story begins moments after Reboot ended, so I got to see their reception in the Reboot reservation, get to know Micah the leader of the reservation and his minions, the only one that stood out was Jules, which I didn´t like at all. And Micah is the trigger for a big decision that Wren makes, that maybe otherwise might never have happened.

Something that I really liked was the romance between Callum and Wren; and although it isn´t the main plot, it´s really important (at least for me it was); and I really enjoyed Callum´s POVs, because he´s really funny, and we get to see how he thinks, how he feels and his feelings for Wren. I liked that even though he knows that Wren can defend herself and she doesn´t react emotionally like most reboots, he really wants to protect her and he sees her for who she really is and not only for her number 178, which is what the rest of the reboots and humans see in her. Something that I like about him is his sense of humor (he made me laugh).

Overall, I LOVED this book! and I recommend this book to all fans of YA dystopian fiction.

Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Title: Reboot (Reboot #1)
Author: Amy Tintera
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: May 7th 2013

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

I really liked the idea of ​​Reboot, I felt it fresh and new in the world of dystopian novels.

Reboot takes place in a world where a virus known as KDH killed the entire population and the only place that survived was Texas, with the help of HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation) and one of the consequences of virus is that the people dying from the virus have the possibility of returning as a reboot. The reboots are dangerous (at least that's what the HARC says), because they´re stronger, faster than humans, have the ability to heal and are hard to kill, so all reboots are captured by the HARC and trained to work for them as soldiers but with many restrictions; they´re more like their prisoners and if they disobey an order they´re eliminated. And the longer they stay dead, the better are their skills, but they´re less emotional than humans.

Wren 178 was dead for 178 minutes, making her the most lethal of the reboots, so all of them humans and reboots alike give her a wide berth, which is funny contrasts with her appearance because she´s petite in height and she doesn´t look like a threat. She doesn´t have as many emotions as others, so she doesn´t have inhibitions about killing people, because she follow the HARC orders. Wren is okay with the kind of life she has led for the past 5 years at the mercy of HARC, she had never disobeyed orders and agree with them; this until she meets Callum 22, with all his questions makes her start to rethink everything that she thought was okay.

Callum is a new reboot that was only dead for 22 minutes, making him more human and not a good reboot because he doesn´t obey orders. He´s very cheerful, always smiling, he asks a lot of questions and is the new rookie that Wren must train, so she sees him as her responsibility.

Reboot is a book with an interesting and original idea, is fast-paced, action-packed, with a gradual romance (the couple is really cute), with a very satisfying ending without a cliffhanger. I liked it a lot!. This is a good book for fans of dystopian novels.

Favorites quotes

“It was true that all Reboots were attractive, in a way. After death, when the virus took hold and the body Rebooted, the skin cleared, the body sharpened, the eyes glowed. It was like pretty with a hint of deranged. Although my hint was more like a generous serving.” 

"Try not to scream when I break your bones. It bothers me. You can cry if you want; that´s fine."

Book trailer