ARC Review: Ruined by Amy Tintera

Ruined

Author: Amy Tintera

Series: Unknown

Pages: 316

Publisher/Source: HarperTeen

Release date: 3^rd May 2016

Synopsis: (Goodreads) 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.

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

I am a huge fan of Amy Tintera’s debut series Reboot so I was eager to read Ruined which is the first book in her new YA high fantasy series.

Our MC is Emelina Flores who is from Ruina, she is a Ruined that has no powers but wields a sword with ease. On a quest for vengeance for the family that killed her parents and kidnapped her sister Olivia, she journeys to the kingdom of Lera in order to infiltrate the royal family and exact her revenge.

When Emelina, acting as Princess Mary Anselo of Vallos arrives the first task in her plan is to reluctantly marry Prince Casimir Gallegos as part of the treaty marriage, it’s the only way in which to salvage her kingdom but he is not what she was expecting and they come to share a sweet bond.

I really took a liking to the main characters; Emelina was strong, confident and determined to bring justice to her family no matter the cost. Cas was a little innocent, I didn’t see any real future king traits from him until towards the end of the book but I did like that he was logical, was kind and took care of Emelina/Mary. All of the side characters were written well and played a pivotal part in the overall story; my heart did break for Damian, I liked Galo, Aren and Iria, I didn’t trust Jovita at all and I am most curious about what has happened to Olivia.

The plot was interesting and flowed well but there were a few aspects I still questioned; I found parts of the background history especially about Ruina were lacking, I needed to know more about the world they were living in and also about the Ruined and their powers, but despite this it was thrilling with some fabulous and at time gruesome action sequences, I thought the way the planning and plotting took place and the key players in it was well done; I didn’t quite know who at times could be trusted and during some scenes things seemed a little rushed but I liked the revenge theme.

Amy Tintera’s writing is wonderful, her setting, the storyline and the characters all kept me entertained and wanting more. I can’t wait to read the sequel.

Overall, if you are after a story filled with deceit, character progression, ongoing action, enjoyable writing and an intriguing plot then you would quite enjoy Ruined by Amy Tintera.

About the author: (From authors website)

Hi! I’m Amy Tintera, and I write novels for young adults. I grew up in Austin, Texas and graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in journalism. After receiving a masters in film at Emerson College I moved to Los Angeles, where I promptly discovered I didn’t enjoy working in the film industry, and went back to my first love, writing.

REBOOT and REBEL are published by HarperCollins/HarperTeen.

Waiting on Wednesday - Ruined by Amy Tintera

Hi everyone!! thank-you so much for stopping by today.

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine which spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My WoW for this week is Ruined by Amy Tintera

Author: Amy Tintera

Series: -

Amazon pre-order

Pages: 368

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release date: 3^rd May 2016

Goodreads

Synopsis

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. 

ARC Review: Rebel (Reboot #2) by Amy Tintera

Rebel

Author: Amy Tintera

Series: Reboot

Pages: 352

Publisher: HarperTeen

Amazon

Release date: 13^th May 2014

Synopsis:

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.

Review: 4 ½ out of 5 stars

Contains spoilers from the first book.

Rebel is a book I have been eager to read after the escape and rescue in Reboot; we learnt in the first book that the longer you remained dead the more strength and respect the reboot held but the emotions were lacking, HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation) also seemed to be the ones controlling them and causing chaos so I was keen to see how Amy Tintera ended the war between reboots, HARC and humans; I have always found the concept intriguing and Amy Tintera has ended her duology with an edge of your seat and exciting thrill-ride.

Rebel is the second book in the Reboot series by Amy Tintera about undead teenagers and begins where the first book ended. Wren and Callum have escaped HARC, rescued reboots from the Austin facility and are making their way to a supposed safe haven for reboots in the hopes of finding their freedom.

The plot is thrilling and fast-paced with some fabulous and at time gruesome action sequences; the Reboot Reservation, run by Micah showed the plotting of his plan to eliminate the humans and outside of the reservation is where everything came together – I was eager to see if the reboots and humans would ever find peace to work together and I’m satisfied with the outcome and how it all panned out.

The characters are all fabulous! Wren lacked emotion in the first book as she was meant to due to the amount of time she had been dead and because of her training but in Rebel we see a more carefree, kind and emotionally engaging character who I adored and respected but still did some major ass kicking. Callum, only having been dead for 22 minutes still held on to his humanity and wasn’t as kick-butt as the other reboots but I gained a lot of respect for him in this book for his determination and understood him wanting/needing to protect the humans, his family in particular – he is an adorable sweetheart. Micah was a villain I love to despise, his mindset was set in that the reboots were the better race and all humans should be eliminated – he was written to perfection and I absolutely adored Addie, she was the perfect friend to Wren.

The romance isn’t at the forefront of the story and Wren and Callum do unfortunately have to spend some time apart in this book but they were always on each other’s mind; there wasn’t a lot of declared feelings in the first book but things definitely progressed in Rebel which I loved!

Amy Tintera’s writing is engaging and highly entertaining, I thoroughly enjoy the dialogue and interactions between the characters and we get both Wren and Callum’s POV’s which I always enjoy, they both had clear and distinct voices and her descriptive setting draws you into  story with the dangers the characters faced.

Overall, Rebel gave me the ideal ending to the Reboot series, I love that it ended with a duology and wasn’t dragged out; the characters progressed perfectly, the world is established and the plot was fast-paced and brutal. I am definitely eager to read more books written by Amy Tintera.  

Thank-you kindly to HarperTeen for the opportunity to read and review Rebel by Amy Tintera.

  

About the author: (Goodreads) 

Hi! I'm Amy Tintera, young adult author. My debut novel, REBOOT, comes out May 7, 2013. Film rights have been optioned by Fox. 

I don't log on to Goodreads often, so if you'd like to get in touch with me please e-mail me: amy at amytintera dot com.

Twitter - website - facebook

  

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ARC Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Author: Amy Tintera

Series: Reboot

Pages: 352

Genre: Young Adult – Sc-Fi

Publisher: Harper Teen

Amazon pre-order: Reboot

Release Date: 7^th May 2013

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

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.

Review: 3 out of 5 stars

Reboot is Amy Tintera’s debut novel and was kindly provided to me by Harper Teen/Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Seventeen year-old Wren Connolly was dead for 178 minutes after being shot in the chest at the age of twelve before coming back as a Reboot; with limited emotions and enhanced abilities she is now the property of a government agency known as HARC.

Wren wasn’t a character I immediately connected with, she was feared by other reboots because of the amount of time she remained dead and had lost part of her humanity as a result; but I think with the life she held as a human it didn’t seem any different, her emotions were lacking but she still ‘felt’, especially with the arrival of newcomer Callum.

Callum had only been dead for twenty-two minutes before becoming a reboot so his survival rate was quite low, we are often told about his beaming smile which was completely not the norm, he was adorable and had retained a lot of his humanity and often questioned his orders now he was a reboot, his abilities weren’t as enhanced as the others, he lacked the speed and strength needed for certain tasks so a target had more or less been painted on his head and it was up to Wren to train him, a hard task with that constant smile and his knack for making her feel things she shouldn’t be feeling.

The romance was sweet and was definitely a focal point, we get Wren who was quite cold  and distant and Callum who was touchy feely with great charm and charisma – they were complete opposites but I felt Wren progressed from the emotionless character we meet in the beginning to someone I quite liked.

The plot was interesting and flowed well but there were a few aspects I still questioned; despite the initial reboot and character information dump, I found parts of the background history were lacking, I needed to know more about the world they were living in, the KDH virus & why it only affects a certain few; we are given tidbits but nothing concrete about their scientific purpose for actually being - I find with sci-fi & dystopians I need more information about how everything came to be to fully grasp the world they are now living in so I hope we get more in the next book.

The mystery surrounding HARC and the humans/reboots is something I am keen to also learn more about in the next installment, we see a few things happen to other reboots, including Wren’s only friend, Ever so I am curious to learn more about what is going on.

Overall, if you are after a story with character progression, ongoing action, enjoyable writing and an intriguing plot then you would quite enjoy Reboot.

Thank-you to Harper Teen for the opportunity to read and review Reboot.