Summary
Being the only princess without magic, Jane is the last person you expect to do secret missions. Especially ones that could get her killed easily. However, she is the one going out to train and learn magic differently, all while trying to figure her way out of a wedding, she was told to go through. Jane takes these missions seriously and even though her mentor sends his brother, and a paster lover of Jane, to keep an eye on her, Jane is slowly realizing, that she is only being manipulated to get whatever her mentor is wanting. In this case, it appears that he wants her out of the picture since he cannot control her anymore.
The Review
Ruin and Roses by Deanne Ortega is a pretty decent book. The story plot was amazing and hard to put down. I will say it could have used some more editing, especially in the beginning. I say this because some things weren’t capitalized and made me wonder if I had missed pages or words at some point. I didn’t understand what was going on until it happened in the middle of a page. Minus that little error, causing me to fret for a while, I didn’t really find too many other big issues. I loved how the story progressed and even saw changes in characters as they learned and grew into better people. I think the only other real issue I have will be solved in book two, which doesn’t look like it will be released until the end of August. I just have so many questions about the secrets and who is really doing what.
Enough with my negatives there, I will say that I was enjoying the plot extremely. It was filled with twists and turns and even a forbidden romance that kept you going, will they or won’t they. I have to say this is the first book I would not predict anything in. Every time I thought I understood what was going on, it turned out there were more secrets ad hidden things just out of our reach. I felt like I was trying to figure out a puzzle without all the information. It is clear early on a few things, but it gets confusing the more you read. You can’t help but wonder what are we missing. There were even scenes in this book that seemed to be out of the blue at times but made sense later on. I will say I was pleasantly surprised throughout the entire plot and in the end, leaving you wanting more. I cannot wait until book two is out.
Rating this book was almost easy for me. I loved it to pieces and devoured it in two days. I was reading it on beaks at work, before work, and after work. I couldn’t get enough of it. As far as the few things in the beginning, one only adding to the story, even if it infuriated me not having a conclusion, I rater Ruin and Roses four out of five stars. Simply because those early on errors drove me insane, thinking I somehow missed pages or sentences from the previous page. I had to reread it a few times. So if you can look past that, the plot is truly an amazing piece of work.
As much as I would love to say this could be for readers of all ages interested in fantasy worlds and action, I can’t do that due to a handful of scenes that are for a mature audience. Granted they don’t last more than a few pages each, but it is still graphic enough to suggest this book to mature audiences. The scenes don’t take away from the story and don’t seem important most of the time, but add to some character-building and curiosity in the story. However, for those who should not be looking at that kind of stuff.
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