The Ruins (The Union #2)by T.H. Hernandez
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Synopsis:
Heartbroken, grief-stricken, and wracked with guilt, seventeen-year-old Evan Taylor returned to the Union, leaving behind the boy she loved.
Now, she and her friends must find a way to do the impossible – warn the citizens of the Union about an impending rebel attack without alerting the government and risking retaliation against her friends in the Ruins.
When every move Evan makes is thwarted, it soon becomes clear she's being watched. Faced with a daily fight to stay one step ahead of her pursuers, she returns to the Ruins. But life in the Ruins has its own dangers, and soon she’s fighting a different battle – to stay alive long enough to discover the truth.
Review:
*Spoilers for The Union #1
The Ruins had me run the gamut of emotions. I laughed, I cried, I squealed and I yelled horrible, horrible words to my poor kindle (thank you Bryce!)! You see, this was everything I was hoping the second book would be, and then some. Not only were there the characters and relationships that I fell madly in love with in the first book, The Union, but this time around I found the peril I was desperately seeking. I love getting sent into freak out mode where I can’t breathe and my hands are sweaty. Where I’m terrified about what is going to happen next. So of course I had a blast reading The Ruins, but now I have to wait for that third book, ack! I must know what happens next!!
I absolutely love when a second book contains my favorite elements from the first! Evan still has a ton of fire in her, even though her heart is in pieces. The last she saw Cyrus, he was escaping with his family and she has no clue where he is going, how she’ll ever contact him, and if she’ll ever see him again. So Evan puts all of her energy into trying her hardest to find a way to help the citizens of both The Ruins and The Union. Because she has an impossible task in front of of her. With the help of her friends (love, love, love Colin!), they are to somehow warn The Union citizens about an attack from the uprising, while keeping the innocents out in The Ruins safe. They come up against so many unknowns, and in the midst of trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, they end up placing themselves in grave danger. Their lives have been marked, and nothing will ever be the same again.
Another thing that I absolutely loved was the relationships and friendships that Evan surrounded herself with. They felt so real. As though they could easily exist and play out in the real world with you and me. A dominating part of this story was the characters and their interactions, so it’s intricate to enjoy and become immersed in their everyday lives and interactions. I truly became obsessed with all of them! Well…..technically not all of them lol. So there’s a character in this story that I love to hate and his name is Bryce. He is the undercover detective that ultimately led Evan to be kidnapped in the first book, because of her association with him. She liked him, he still likes her, and now they are stuck spending a lot of time together. And I didn’t want Evan spending her time with him. I know, I’m being so petty. But that’s because I became loyal to Cyrus…..ohhh butterfly inducing, made me smile and swoon Cyrus! He was utter perfection and Bryce just isn’t. So I literally kept yelling at my kindle for Evan not to be nice to him. I don’t fault Evan in the least, because this is his area of expertise but ahem, I know it’s probably horrible to say but can he just die already? It could be doing something heroic? I know, I’m so bad at loving to hate characters. Bad Jen bad!
But what I want to talk about the most, I can’t. You see the story starts off with a few bumps here and there for Evan, but then things start to pick up and spiral into intense situations that had me glued to the pages. The scenes that Evan’s finds herself in become more dire and even at times horrifying. I loved every moment of what I can’t talk about! The situations, the decisions, the people, the places, oh it was SO good!
It was so much fun being back in a story where I adore the characters and felt invested in what was going on. Having the banter, friendships and commodore made me feel all warm and cozy being back in this familiar world. I loved trying to put the clues together and I’m extremely proud that I figured one out before it happened. By the way, best part ever!!!!! But I felt a little confused at the end of the book. I did not grasp a characters “interactions”, but since Hernandez does an excellent job of plotting out the reasoning behind why characters do what they do, I’m almost positive that my questions will be answered in the third book. And speaking of that third book, I can’t wait to read it! You’re not left in a perilous ending, but with so many things up in the air I’m excited to see what is going to come crashing down!
***ARC was kindly provided in exchange for an honest review***
| Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), & Book Depository (click on book #) |
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 The Union #1 Reviews: Jen |   The Ruins #2 Reviews: Jen |  The Uprising #3 Reviews: Jen |
 The Invasion #4 Reviews: Jen |
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T.H. Hernandez Bio:
When not visiting the imaginary worlds inside my head, I live in San Diego, California, with one husband, three children, two cats, and one dog. In addition to my day job as a technical writer and editor, I write young adult fiction. I love the intensity of teen emotions and the way they’re still figuring out life. When I’m not writing, you can find me with my nose in a book, hanging out with family and friends, hiking, or knitting. I’m obsessed with Facebook, young adult novels, bad lip reading videos, pumpkin spice lattes, microbrewed beers, and the San Diego Chargers. Links: Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram
#aminterested. Skipped the entire post because at the beginning you said “spoilers” and now I’m intrigued about this book so…
Vane recently posted…2015 rereads: How my tastes have changed
The second book was everything I wanted and then some. It’s a very different dystopian because it feels as though the characters and relationships are the driving force of this series. I love the characters (except one, but I don’t think we’re supposed to like them?) so it’s a lot of fun. 🙂
Great review. I really appreciate how well you covered this book
Thank you, Shannon!