Perfect Ruin

Lauren DeStefano

Oct 2013 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Chemical Garden trilogy: On the floating city of Internment, you can be anything you dream. Unless you approach the edge. Children’s Literature says “shades of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984 inspire DeStefano’s sci-fi/murder mystery page-turner.”

Morgan Stockhour knows getting too close to the edge of Internment, the floating city and her home, can lead to madness. Even though her older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. There’s too much for her on Internment: her parents, best friend Pen, and her betrothed, Basil. Her life is ordinary and safe, even if she sometimes does wonder about the ground and why it’s forbidden.

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially once she meets Judas. Betrothed to the victim, Judas is being blamed for the murder, but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find—or whom she will lose.

Ratings and reviews

to start, this book is written in present tense, first perspective. Not my favorite and that usually takes me a few pages to get accustomed to it. the book starts out slow. Very slow. Turtle's pace slow. and it never really picks up until around page 230. Yes, you read right, it's painfully slow until about halfway through the book. And while the pace picks up after that, the writing is very stilted and confusing. I get the impression this author wants to be a poet. Because all of her writing is wistful, lengthy descriptions of memories, surroundings, emotions. It's written in a very poetic way which would be fine if it was a poem. But it's not. I love dystopian books but I will not be reading the other two in this series. In addition, while I was reading it I was left with a lot of questions. Not so much unfinished segments of the story that were left open ended, but more like paragraphs where something is described and then that moment takes a sharp left turn with no segue.

Love Internment Chronicles! It starts a little slow and confusing as you slowly work through the bits and pieces to figure out what is happening in the book and why it has happened. The writing style is a little different than anything I've ever encountered before. But that's what I love about the books. By the time you get to the end of A Perfect Ruin you are fascinated and hooked into the story. I love how completely unique the series is. It's really one of a kind, nothing else like it. I get tired of reading the same old plot lines with slight variations, which happens a lot in YA fantasy. Definitely recommend a Perfect Ruin, you will not be disappointed!

Loved all the characters, good start to a gripping journey

About the author

Lauren DeStefano is the author of The Internment Chronicles and the New York Times bestselling Chemical Garden trilogy, which includes Wither, Fever, and Sever. She earned her BA in English with a concentration in creative writing from Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut. Visit her at LaurenDeStefano.com.