Thursday, January 16, 2014

Review--Ruined: The Eternal Balance (Book 1) by Jus Accardo

Summary

Hell is looking for a way to break loose...

Jax lost the genetic lottery. Descended from Cain, the world's first murderer, he's plagued by a curse that demands violence in exchange for his happiness. He left everything behind, including the girl he loved, but thriving on the pain of others is lonely... And it's killing him.


After a series of heartbreaking losses, Samantha put rubber to pavement and headed for college as fast as her clunker could carry her. But she can't outrun her problems. When an attack at school drives her back home, she's thrown into the path of a past--and a guy--she's been trying to forget.

Sam strains Jax's control over his darkness, but running isn't an option this time. Someone--or, something--followed her home from school: a ruthless monster with a twisted plan centuries in the making. Forced together to survive, and fighting an attraction that could destroy them both, Jax and Sam must stop a killer bent on revenge (from Amazon).

My thoughts…
I found this book because it was recommended by one of my all time favorite authors, Jennifer Armentrout. When I looked it up on Amazon, it had four and half stars by 60+ reviewers. Obviously, I was really excited for it, and was disappointed to find that it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. I’m not really sure what to say about this one. On the one hand it kept me entertained, but on the other, it had some major issues with it.

Plot
This is where my major issues with Accardo’s book lie. I liked the whole demon aspect to it and the general flow, but it wasn’t perfect. I noticed a huge plot hole that is revealed in the end. I’m kind of wondering how the author missed it during edits.

I also have to mention the grammar issues, as well. I will admit that I’m a bit of a stickler when it comes to having the correct grammar in novels, but I’ll ignore the minor slip-ups. The problems in this novel were more than negligible, though. Accardo must have switched the perspective from third person to first person after the first draft, because near the end of the novel the point of view would change in the middle of sentences. It was jarring and didn’t allow me to enjoy it as much.

Characters
I generally liked the characters. Sam was funny and sarcastic, and I liked her with Jax. They had that exciting and cute little banter going on. I will admit, however, that there were some decisions Sam made that I couldn’t exactly get behind. The part where Jax and Sam got together for the first time was a little…weird. I may have cringed.

My Recommendation?
I know what I said here is mostly negative, but it’s really not an awful book. You wouldn’t be wasting your time if you decided to pick this one up, but wait until you have nothing else to read. It will keep you interested, only keep in mind that it’s in need of another edit or two.

You can find it here:

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