Buddy Review by Jen and April
I was in need of another book to read and was searching the newsfeeed of our blog Facebook page and happened to come across this book. I had passed it a couple times before and it caught my eye, which is why I think I was drawn to it when it was time for me to choose. Coincidentally, April had also read this book last week! (See, we bloggers sometimes read so many books that we forget to tell each other the books we are reading!) Anyway, we decided since it was still fresh in our minds that we would do a joint blog about this book. This is our first one, so bear with us....
We start the story with Kiersten who is attending college. She is a beautiful red-headed co-ed (this happens to be my second book in a row with red-haired female characters-odd...) with a smokin' bod and a lot of interrupted sleep. You see, her past has been troubling her and she isn't really living her life and has been plagued with nightmares. At something that I assume would only be comparable to school orientation for all the fresh meat freshman, she happens to bump into Weston (quite literally actually-his 8 pack and all). Wes is the star football quarterback, a hottie, and just happens to be the son of one of the wealthiest men on the west coast. He is immediately smitten with her adorable questions and overlooks her obnoxious staring at his amazingly toned abs. The trouble with Wes is that he is keeping a secret from the entire campus that would most likely change the way everyone sees him.
Wes, wanting to get to know Kiersten more, tells her to talk to her dorm RA about any further questions....and it just happens that Wes is her RA! They form a quick friendship and spend lots of time just being "friends."
We are also introduced to her roommate Lisa and her cousin Gabe (which Gabe was actually my FAVORITE character in the book!) who are like the funny sidekick and humor relief. As Wes and Kiersten get closer and closer, Gabe steps up as Kiersten's good friend to make sure she will not get hurt.
Kiersten and Wes take off on a journey to try and live their lives to the fullest while trying to fight their demons both past and present. While the book does have areas that could be unbelievable, if you are willing to look past that and just enjoy where the story takes you, you will be gearing up for what you see coming for chapters and holding your breath to see how the ending plays out.
I went to bed that night thinking about the book (and luckily the auther had published an extended epilogue to the book right before I finished reading, so I jumped up at midnight and downed that as well), and woke up the next morning still thinking about the book. There is a slight spiritual aspect towards the end of the book that I truly appreciated, which I love the quote she wrote:
I loved this book, I read it very quickly (like in 2 days) and would recommend it to any of my friends!
April:
When Jen suggested a buddy review of this book because we'd both read it recently and we felt a little differently about it, I thought it was a great idea! But after staring at this computer and having to erase everything I want to write because it gives away too much, I'm quickly realizing I drew the short straw on this one!! Ruin would make an excellent book club choice for this very reason, there is a lot of good discussion to be had with this one, once you can talk about it in full disclosure!! There's that, and then there's also the cover picture in case you need another convincing reason!
Van Dyken does fun loving flirty banter well, and it makes for a great opening to her books as the characters get to know each other. Earlier this year I read The Bet by Rachel Van Dyken and the character quips was the one thing that stood out for me in that book and I would say that remains true with Ruin as well. Some authors do back and forth banter so well it makes you want to grab your popcorn and head to their real house to be a fly on the wall around their family dinner table!
While Jen and I agreed that this book grabs you hook, line, and sinker right away, our opinions started to part ways around the middle of the book. The point at which we began to uncover Wes' secrets is the point I found myself starting to detach from him and my excitement for the book started wane. I told Jen that even though I know I'm reading fiction, I don't necessarily want a constant reminder that it is fiction {with the exception of paranormal stories} and instead want to be able to feel the emotions of the characters as their story unfolds because they are written to be so real and their story so believable. In the absence of that believability, even in fiction, I am left keeping a book at arm's length, enjoying it for the creative story it is, but not really losing myself in it so much that I can physically smile, laugh, gasp, or tear up with each turn of the page.
Jen mentioned that there is a spiritual element entwined to bring Wes and Kiersten's story full circle, and ironically that is actually not what I am referring to with regard to believability, it was more trying to reconcile the life Wes leads with the struggles we learn he is facing and the impossibility of that, along with the timeline of events. Again, like I said, I don't even know that this makes much sense at all because I'm purposely not discussing specifics so that I don't ruin Ruin {ha, you knew that was coming at some point!} because it was definitely an entertaining read from the very talented Rachel Van Dyken!
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