Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Perfect Ruin
    Perfect Ruin
    Perfect Ruin
    Audiobook9 hours

    Perfect Ruin

    Written by Lauren DeStefano

    Narrated by Laura Knight Keating

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    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. Morgan Stockhour knows getting too close to the edge of Internment, the floating city in the clouds where she lives, can lead to madness. Even though her older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. If she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in her best friend, Pen, and in Basil, the boy she's engaged to marry. 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, he is the boy 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateOct 1, 2013
    ISBN9781470383060
    Author

    Lauren DeStefano

    Lauren DeStefano is the author of The Internment Chronicles and The 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.

    More audiobooks from Lauren De Stefano

    Related to Perfect Ruin

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Children's Dystopian For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The In-betweeners

      Nov 12, 2019

      Two years ago, during the Writing Popular Fiction MFA winter residency at Seton Hill University, a discussion broke out amongst my students in a critique workshop geared toward young adult (YA) writers: They didn’t think YA novels were really written

      6 min read

    • Article

      'Dread Nation' Is A Rollicking 'Gone With The Wind + Zombies' Adventure

      Apr 20, 2018

      But don't underestimate the latest YA novel by activist Justina Ireland – it's also a biting commentary on contemporary race relations in America.

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Stars Are a Comforting Constant: A poet blends the personal with the cosmic.

      Dec 1, 2016

      The first time I saw a meteor, I’d slipped outside to lie in the grass after everyone else had gone to sleep. The daytime commotion of my cousins’ and siblings’ games and my Poppop’s blaring polka music often drove me to tears. As an introvert, I wan

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Puzzle Of Nostalgia

      Aug 26, 2022

      A Puzzle Of Nostalgia
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Silence of Witches

      Dec 10, 2019

      The Silence of Witches
      6 min read

    • Article

      READER Reviews

      Apr 8, 2020

      One of my favourite parts of this book is the map because it maps out the routes that all the female adventurers took. Each of the women went on their own adventures and through this book, I got to explore with them. Most of the time, the journeys we

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Plague Legends

      Dec 1, 2021

      The Plague Legends
      12 min read

    • Article

      Same River Twice

      Feb 3, 2022

      Same River Twice
      8 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Jul 1, 2023

      People let themselves down so hard they took to clappingwhen the plane lands. Sometimes even at the creditsof a movie. Their funerals turned out to be for the livingall along. You wouldn’t know how much they hatedcrowded trains by the way they kept b

      3 min read

    • Article

      Red Kite Grey Shadow

      Nov 3, 2022

      Red Kite Grey Shadow
      6 min read

    • Article

      Oh, Corona

      Jan 1, 2024

      Books The Lights by Ben Lerner Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023 128 pp., $26.00 (hardcover) According to the latest Times article on the qualitative merits of bot art, Ben Lerner has lent excerpts from his new poetry collection to a group of venture c

      7 min read

    • Article

      Exploring The Boundaries

      Jul 29, 2019

      JULIA KOETS is the winner of the 2017 Red Hen Press Nonfiction Award, judged by Mark Doty, for her forthcoming book, The Rib Joint: A Memoir in Essays (November 5, 2019). She is a visiting assistant professor of nonfiction at the University of South

      16 min read

    • Article

      Sweet Fantasy

      Nov 20, 2021

      Sweet Fantasy
      8 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems by Rowan Ricardo Phillips

      Jun 15, 2018

      And, after the explosion, made spheres sing,A pure expression of pure poetry,Like rising rain or a nation with noFlag—. Something that whispers as the airDoes just before the lightning comes. A pureExpression of the breaks in the blank lakesOn Neptun

      2 min read

    • Article

      How the Lark Got Her Crest

      May 30, 2023

      How the Lark Got Her Crest
      15 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Jun 1, 2021

      Table Talk
      6 min read

    • Article

      Six Poems

      Feb 28, 2023

      Dear C, At first Virgil’s poem is quite dull; equivocalnames of products at The Container Store: Elfa White Medium Drawer, Mesh NarrowRolling Cart (Medium Solution), Narrow Classic Mesh Box and the number of pirouetting starseach product attained. An

      5 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Sep 1, 2020

      Five Poems
      4 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Feb 1, 2019

      Saanvi Chari, age 8 Avon, OH Did I really just notice this? Each side of All the flowers In the front Look the same. All of the roses, dandelions, And lavenders, and leaves. I noticed this today While I was walking down The driveway To take the garba

      4 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Jan 1, 2020

      How slow is all of this dying? Across the county linea fossil in the making, off-road exhaling last lightin nightmud. A small cat in a steel trap. Pendulous sparrows preen. Holding on for the last bluedark nightwe ate fruited scabs off each other’s m

      4 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Nov 1, 2022

      This is the time of year when stormsspin up from distant dustand sand and make their way to us,and we worry and adjust the scales we carry in our headsto account for luck and prayer.We buy batteries and candles, cordsand water to prepare. There are t

      5 min read

    • Article

      READER Reviews

      Jun 4, 2021

      by Peter van den Ende Pushkin Children’s Books, £16.99 Review by Amélie PW, age nine This book has loads of gorgeous black and white pictures, which all look like they took days each to draw, but no words. However, this book is not for babies! I

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Portrait

      Mar 1, 2018

      I WAS BORN almost completely deaf, and by the time I was seven I had already become a prisoner to my education. In the morning, I had speech therapy and tutoring with Mr. Bishop. We sat at my family’s long dining-room table, which was always covered

      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Perfect Ruin

    4/5

    138 ratings24 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      It took me too long to get this book finished. I thought it had great potential....part of earth risen to the sky where an entire civilization lives and is unable to see the world below. They know it's there, and have built scopes to see down, however they are not allowed to look over the edge. I thought the images of the trains running along the edges was interesting and the thought that each child is assigned a betrothed at birth was a bit disconcerting. However, bad things begin to happen on Internment and people begin to question the King and why they really are there.This dragged and dragged for me and I am not sure if I will pick up the next installment or just let it be.
    • 4/5
      Perfect Ruin is a very, very intricate YA Dystopia book, probably one of the most beautiful I’ve read so far. The world-building is incredibly stunning, the characters are lovely and absolutely likeable, and the book has a fabulous plot line. Although the story-line becomes a bit of mess in the end; regardless, I still enjoy the book a lot.Morgan is just another young girl in Internment, a floating city that was—according to its History—ripped off the Ground and placed in the sky by a “god”. She was taught to never go to the Edge, or to never have the slightest idea of wanting to go to the Ground. However, her peaceful life didn’t flow as well as she thought, when a murder was discovered, one of the things that hardly ever occur in Internment. And the place that she called home didn’t seem as safe as she thought.I love seeing the development in Morgan’s characteristic. She’s a dreamer, and a very soft-hearted girl. She’s ignorant to many things around her, but constantly question and improve herself. She cares a great deal about others, and always strive to be the best she can be to her family and friends (and her awesome, awesome betrothed.) She is a nice and absolutely lovable character.The idea of this book is super captivating. The writing is exquisite, and I feel myself falling in love with the book more page after page. This is one of the best examples of how young adult dystopian should be. The romance isn’t the center of the whole plot (but it’s toe-curling cute), and Morgan’s voice and the world of Internment really make Perfect Ruin special and real. I highly recommend this book for every fan of this genre.
    • 4/5
      Let's start with the cover. It has got to be one of my favorite book covers of all time. Not only is it perfect and pretty and eye-catching, the inside is just as beautiful. And I don't just mean her writing and her words. I mean, just look at this: [Taken out, sorry]

      But moving on. The concept was what originally drew me to the book. It's what made me request an ARC. It's new and fresh. It's interesting. I knew right away that it would be a book that I would enjoy as long as it was pulled off right. And it was. Some twists were easy to spot and guess, but it didn't detract much. I enjoyed the originality mixed with dystopian themes and ideas.

      Secondly, Lauren't writing BLEW ME AWAY. It is fantastic. She really has a way with words, and I'm so jealous. She can weave sentences together in such a beautiful way. There were so many quotes that I wanted to remember forever. There's a flow that is hard to break when you read her writing. That's what I loved most about this book, to be honest. The writing just captivates me, and it allowed me to enjoy the book in a different way.

      I also enjoyed the characters. There was a darkness to each of them, but at the same time, they were all so amazing. They all have to deal with so much, each handling their own problems, and then they all come together at the end to deal with a bigger issue. And they're all so unique. I know I say that about book characters a LOT, but it's true! I especially loved Pen and Alice. But all of the characters were interesting. They had different perspectives, and it was cool to see them come together and understand one another better by the end.

      However, there were a few things that kept this from being extremely amazing. The first is that it starts off pretty slowly. In fact, a large portion of the book was slow. It didn't necessarily feel that way while I was reading because Lauren's writing is so good, but as I thought back, I realized this. There's a lot that has to be set up and explained, so I guess having a slow beginning is better than a quick info-dump. It also allowed us to get to understand and know the characters more. So it wasn't bad, per say, but.

      Secondly, a lot of my questions were never really answered. The main one was what was going on with Pen? Was there really something that was bothering her? If so, what was it? Or even how was Morgan able to take [SPOILERS] her parents' deaths so...easily? It's not that she wasn't upset, but she just seemed okay with it, in my opinion.[END SPOILERS]

      Lastly, back to some aspects of the book that I liked, I love how it made me think about society. I think that most dystopian books do this, and Perfect Ruin is no different. There can't ever be a perfect society, but it's interesting to see how the governments in all of these books interpret what perfection should be like.

      All in all, I thought this was fantastic and lovely. I wish I could just read the rest of the series already. I also wish I had enough money to buy a finished copy. If you're a fan of pretty writing, read Perfect Ruin. You won't be disappointed.
    • 3/5
      I can't decide how i feel about this book, I liked it, but at the same time it was a little boring. Cool concept and I liked the characters.
    • 5/5
      I am not a fan of young adult books but I loved the writing style and narrative of this book!! Performance was excellent as well :)
    • 5/5
      Lauren DeStefano does it again! The Chemical Garden trilogy was so good, I wondered whether her next book would live up to it and with Perfect Ruin she has set up the beginning of another truly unique dystopian future. On Internment, DeStefano deals with current issues which are often brought up in dystopian literature, in fact she seems to bring them all up: forced abortion, eugenics, population control, ageist euthanasia and a routinely medicated society. All the while for the inhabitants it might as well be a happy little place to live except for the disturbing lure of the edge which inevitably kills or maims those who get caught in its attraction. A quick, page-turning read with genuinely interesting characters. In this book there is no character defined as the "bad guy" as the King is just a ruler in his tower at this point. I really enjoyed this and while dystopian in nature as her previous books, the author ha gone out in a completely different direction making this series unique from the other. The only thing that annoyed me a bit is that the ending is decidedly a cliffhanger (literally ending with a jump, don't worry not a spoiler, just a pun for those who've read the book LOL). I like books in series to be individual stories themselves with a finite ending, yet remaining part of the whole series. Cliffhanger endings don't impress me but I didn't find this one frustrating as it was more anti-climatic so I'm not docking points. A good solid, unique, fun 5 star read.
    • 4/5
      This is one of the ones from earlier this year, when my write-up didn't go through and I left it *forever* out of being super crank about that write-up being super long and happy, in-depth about a ton of details. I really loved the new world this series took place in, the mysteries behind, the friendship between the two main girls (and how that, and the family relationships, were always more important than the girl-boy relationships).

      While there were some too-convenient pieces in the ending for me to watch without some cringing, I'm quite excited to see where this world and all of these people end up.
    • 5/5
      loved this! I can't wait till the next book comes out.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful. Just beautiful! If I overuse any adjective in this review, I can guarantee you it will be "beautiful". Though you can trust me when I say that it's totally warranted. I loved this book. The kind of love that makes you swoon over and over the further on you read. Okay, okay. I'll stop gushing so blatantly. I really think you need to read this one though. I really do.

      Morgan Stockhour is growing up on a floating island in the clouds. Intrigued? I was. I adored was the idea of the unknown world below. Imagine floating above the clouds. Unable to leave the small world you've come to know. I fell in love with the image that floated into my head while reading. Morgan's curiosity felt on point with what I'd feel. She wasn't unhappy in her life. Not entirely. Simply filled with wonder at what could be just beyond the barrier. Add in a King who isn't exactly benevolent and a violent murder, and you have a gorgeous mystery that is just waiting to unfold.

      I read Perfect Ruin cover to cover in a few days. I was lost in the beauty of Internment, and the grittiness that was lurking just beneath the surface. It's been a while since a book has so wholly immersed me that I didn't want to set it down. There was something about Morgan's innocence, about the way her eyes were slowly opened to the truth, that wouldn't let me go. I know I'm being vague, but trust me when I say that it's necessary. I don't want to spoil a single minute of this for you. Suffice it to say that Lauren DeStefano has built a world that is well worth your time.

      Oh, and the ending! Cliffhanger doesn't even begin to describe it, so don't say I didn't warn you. However, if you love Perfect Ruin as much as I do, you'll be chomping at the bit for more. Perfectly paced, hauntingly written, and utterly perfect. Thank you Lauren DeStefano for giving me a new place to visit in my head. This book is beautiful, and I am so ready for more.
    • 4/5
      Floating City in the Sky...

      First off, the covers for this series are just gorgeous! But what I fell in love with the most, was the concept -a floating city in the sky where you can be anything you want to be as long as you follow one rule. Don't go close to the edge!

      The world building was really unique and well thought out. I enjoyed learning about the city of Internment and the society that they live in. The main characters were also really likable and I even enjoyed the romance between Morgan & Basil. The story though was a little slow moving and I felt like it was just missing that extra spark to make it a 5 star read for me. I also found several grammatical errors which I was very surprised by since this series is contracted under a well known publisher. I've been going back and forth on whether or not to rate this 3.5 or 4 stars. The ending though was very good and really what finally pushed me over to 4 stars. Either way, I am definitely going to continue the series. I am thoroughly invested in the characters and want to see how the story plays out for them.

      *I want to again thank my blind valentine, Rachel the Book Harlot, for this wonderful gift which allowed me to escape to an amazing floating city in the sky for a few hours!
    • 2/5
      Morgan Stockhour is a resident of Interment, an island that has been separated from Earth and now floats above it in the sky. Internment possesses the ideal conditions of a Utopian society until the shocking murder of a young girl leaves everyone feeling unsafe.‘You have all heard the warnings about the edge. We have been told its winds are a song that will hypnotize us, and by the time we awaken from the trance, it will be too late.’The warnings to not peer over the edge, to look down on Earth’s people, have been drilled into all residents since before anyone can remember. Those that chance this danger are known as Jumpers and Morgan’s brother Lex is counted among the few to have survived, except he is now blind. Here lies my first issue. We end up meeting another of these ‘Jumpers’, a young girl, yet she ends up with a mind that isn’t “quite right” (something sounding a lot like epilepsy). No reasoning behind the differences in their injuries is given. But you’d think an island floating in the sky would have severe winds especially near the edge and you wouldn’t be able to be anywhere close to it.The world-building is spent mostly on the culture of these people, rather than explaining the actual reasoning behind why an island just randomly detached from Earth and floated to a still livable position in the sky and not straight out into space. But basically the way the society works is there’s the evil group of leaders, a King and Queen, that seek to control all aspects of the residents lives including arranged marriages from birth. And then it goes off on a typical tangent with the evil plot being discovered and the subsequent plan to escape/overthrow those evil doers. It was hard to get a feel for the time period this is set in. The society seemed technologically advanced yet had the feel of a medieval type era with its arranged marriages and King/Queen rulers. But you would think it’d have to be set in a distant past since one would expect the people on Earth to fly up and make contact with the ‘island people’, no?The slow, meandering pace of the introduction was an interesting first look into this strange society and could have worked were it not for the continued slow, meandering pace even after the murder mystery aspect was introduced. Even during moments when you would expect a certain level of excitement or tension were made inexplicably dull. Unfortunately, what could have been an interesting dystopian tale turned very predictable and far from original.
    • 3/5
      This is a very unique take on the YA dystopian genre. The imagination that came up with it is pretty amazing. For the most part I liked the characters (although I never really trusted any of the side characters) and I thought the plot was interesting and at times intense. Yet for some reason it just didn't grab me. I liked it, but I didn't think it was earth-shattering. It started out pretty slowly and took me a long time to get into it, and then at the end it had some really weird twists that I had a hard time buying into. But all in all it was pretty enjoyable. I doubt I will read a sequel, although I am a little intrigued as to what will happen to the characters in the next book. Maybe I will skim a sequel :) . I do believe teenagers will really like this book, and a lot of other adults have loved it as well, so give it a try.Areas of concern:I don't remember much bad language at all. There is a very sweet and tender romance that involves kissing. The children of Internment are betrothed at birth, and there is some discussion of girls starting to take a pill to prevent pregnancy at a certain age because no one can have children without permission.This author has written another series (The Chemical Garden trilogy) that I don't have in my library because all the reviews I saw said ages 14+ or 9th grade and up, but this one is really very appropriate for middle school.
    • 4/5
      This is one of the most original stories I have read in a long time. It was completely unexpected for me and I thought it was wonderful!

      One of the most refreshing things about it was that the MC didn't magically meet the perfect boy for her at the beginning of the story - she was already with him. I know there are impressions of a love triangle forming, but I can also see it being taken in a number of different directions, so I will just have to wait to see what happens.

      I will definitely be watching for the next installment. Lauren DeStefano has never gone wrong for me!
    • 4/5
      I am so happy Ms. DeStefano is writing another series. I loved Chemical Garden and I know I am going to continue to love this series just the same. An chunk of land where people live in their own little "perfect" world up in the sky? Come on, how do you come up with this? Freaking fabulous!
    • 4/5
      Morgan Stockhour lives on Internment, a mysterious floating city with no connection to the world below. Ever since her older brother was injured approaching the edge, Morgan has tried not to think about what lies beyond the train tracks circling the city. However, when a girl from Morgan’s class is found murdered and left on the tracks, Morgan finds herself questioning the very nature of Internment itself.This was a surprisingly unique read despite the current abundance of YA dystopian lit. At first the world of internment seems to only have a few generic elements, such as controlled birth and arranged marriage, but the society becomes more horrifying as more and more rules are revealed. It’s also nice that the nature of the this floating city is the true central mystery of the novel. Internment itself is actually well developed; any knowledge of the world is only limited because Morgan’s knowledge of the world is limited.The dystopian “betrothals” also eliminate any of the annoying love triangles that are pervasive in YA. Morgan and her betrothed, Basil, seem pretty committed to each other and actually show that they care for each other.Perfect Ruin doesn’t avoid all YA tropes, including the fact that it is only book one in a series. The story ends on a massive cliffhanger, but the central premise more than enough to want to know more.A review copy was provided through the goodreads.com first reads program.
    • 5/5
      Morgan Stockhour lives on Internment, a floating island in the sky that allows any person to be whomever they want--just as long as they don't try to peer over the Edge to see what's on the ground below. Morgan tries to follow the rules, but finds herself more and more attracted to the thought of the world below, so different from her own. In the end, her curiosity may be even more dangerous than she ever realized. "Perfect Ruin" is another intriguing and clever dystopian study of what happens when a faith-based government has too much control over its people. Fans of "The Giver" will enjoy this book.
    • 5/5
      Sixteen-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives in Internment, a floating city utopia. But when a murder occurs, everything she knows starts to unravel
    • 4/5
      My Rating – 4 StarsI am a big fan of the Chemical Garden Trilogy so I was very excited to see the author was starting another series and I’m glad to find out my excitement wasn’t misplaced.Internment is a floating city in the sky. No one really knows why it was ripped from the ground (at least everyone says they don’t know) but they believe it was because the Sky God chose their city. It’s a small city, with a King and a pretty well functioning government. Only so many people can live on Internment at a time so life and death is regulated through the government and people are betrothed to each other when they are born. There is little crime and well everyone seems happy.Well almost everyone (dun dun duuunnnn).Internment has what they call Jumpers; people that try to jump off the edge of the floating city. When a person tries to jump, they are thrown back by the powerful winds that circle the city. A lot don’t survive, and if they do, there is usually something mentally and/or physically wrong with them.Morgan Stockhour is the sister of a Jumper. She doesn’t want to be like her brother, Lex, though she fears she may be. She wonders about the ground far below them. Wonders why they are forbidden from it. She has doubts. She knows the label that being related to a Jumper puts on her family and she keeps her wondering to herself.Morgan is quite naïve though I sometimes wonder if it’s by choice. She understands her father’s absence, her mother’s depression, and her sister-in-law’s sadness. She has a wonderfully eccentric best friend, Pen, that has an amazing level of faith. And her betrothed Basil the perfect fiancé, he is protective without being overbearing, he knows about Morgan’s daydreaming and her doubts and her wondering and loves her still and will stick by her not matter what.Really, the side characters are quite developed and I love them.So life on Internment is fairly picturesque (at least on the surface) until the unthinkable happens. A young girl is murdered (pretty brutally) and her betrothed, Judas, is accused. By chance, Morgan runs into Judas after he escapes from jail and her gut feeling is that he did not kill the girl.Though the King assures the citizens of Internment the murderer has been caught, Morgan knows different. Which makes her see there are a lot of things about her floating city that are not quite right and soon everything begins to unravel.I very much enjoyed this book. Morgan is a little too sweet but I wonder if that’s for the benefit of everyone else. Her family is changed by her brother jumping and a loss her sister in law, Alice had to suffer. There is a bit of a cloud of sadness that surrounds them.I loved Pen with all her secrets and her unbreakable faith, and her strange relationship with her betrothed, Thomas (she loves him. She does!) Basil is definitely getting put on the book boyfriend list; because he clearly loves Morgan even if she is strange and being her fiancé turns out to be a bit dangerous (Please don’t break them up Ms. DeStefano! PLEASE)There were a lot of question raised and just enough were answered to not frustrate you but enough were left unanswered to make you not want to wait for the second book. Also there is a cliffy ending but not an evil one.The descriptions are beautiful; I can see Internment in my head and if there wasn’t some shady business going down, I’d certainly love to live there!I highly recommend this book.You can read this review and more at Punk's House of Books
    • 3/5
      Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.I see no proof, only words, but words can be powerful. Words can be what puts a boy to death.I really wish that I could give Perfect Ruin a bazillion of million stars. But I can't. Don't get me wrong at all - I quite enjoyed it! But I can't discount the fact that I just didn't love the characters. The atmosphere was wonderful, and the prose was superb; but I wanted the characters to have deeper personalities, and more motive.Morgan was okay. Sometimes I liked her, but most of the time she was kind of meh-ish for me. I loved that there was an existing romance - I'm seeing this trend more and more often in YA books, and I'm loving it! Basil and Morgan were so adorable together; and I liked that their romance was more sweet than steamy. I have to admit that the whole idea of "betrothal" upsets me, though. It's just... depressing. The idea that someone else chooses who you're going to be with for the rest of your life - and you have no say. I mean, it's working so far in Basil and Morgan's case, but who knows if that'll last. We ARE talking about YA here. I hope that it lasts, though; because as I said before, it's adorable.I'm not going to lie here - Morgan's best friend, Pen, kind of miffs me. I keep expecting her to betray them all and do something drastic, which so far hasn't been proven true. But I don't trust her. I just can't explain it any better than that. I feel like something about her is...off.I liked the air of "mystery" (oooOOOOooohhh) that surrounded Judas. I never really thought that he murdered the girl, because he just puts off a good guy vibe, which I have to admit was pretty nice. I do wonder if there will be a love triangle later in the series, though. This both thrills and upsets me, and I'm not sure which feeling will win out in the end.I have a few philosophical questions and theories about the book, but I won't delve into them. I'm afraid you'll all run away screaming "WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST ACCEPT IT!" LOL. The ending was fabulous - my only problem was that I felt like it could have gone on just a bit longer... I mean, it just... ended. What am I supposed to do with my life until the next book comes out?!
    • 4/5
      A Brilliant Introduction to Internment Lauren DeStefano has written a wonderful book in the Perfect Ruin as the first part of The Internment Chronicles. Having read Perfect Ruin I can see this series running and becoming a very popular fantasy with not only young adults but us older adults too. DeStefano writing is wonderfully fluid and descriptive so that you can build clear images of the characters, the places and more importantly of Internment itself. The publishers hype that these chronicles would suit fans The Hunger Games and Delirium and having read the opening book in The Chronicles there is no argument against that from me. In fact I have all ready cast the film, with Dakota Fanning playing the star role of Morgan Stockhour.Morgan Stockhour lives in an apartment with her mother and father who is a patrolman and her brother and wife lives in the apartment above theirs. Internment is a City in the sky above the clouds and is cut off from the ground and it has been like that for many centuries. Everybody knows that you cannot go to the edge of Internment as it may lead to madness or at least suspicion by the King and his patrolmen. Pity that Morgan’s brother Lex has been to the edge and is referred to like others as a Jumper.Nothing unpredictable happens in Internment you are born allotted a betrothed go to academy do a job allocated to you, marry, join a queue to have a baby, get old and at the designated age you will be dispatched. You can also be dispatched if you go to close to the edge or commit any other offence the King deems wrong. Morgan loves her betrothed Basil, her best friend Pen. She becomes quite concerned when for the first time in many generations a murder has been committed and later the accused she is convinced is innocent. She is constantly quizzed by one of the King’s Specialists but tells her very little as she does not trust her. Then one day her world is turned upside down as she starts to discover some of the answers to the many secrets that Internment has. Morgan will no longer feel safe in Internment as she starts to look towards the ground that may bring her safety as she loses all things that she held dear in Internment.Perfect Ruin is a wonderful introduction to The Internment Chronicles and is a brilliant teaser for the next book as you are left wanting to know what happens next. This is a fantasy novel with suspense thrown in for fun. A great book I cannot recommend highly enough.
    • 4/5
      Having never read Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden Trilogy, I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy Perfect Ruin or not. She was basically a brand new author to me (even though I’ve been following her on social media for years now–if you don’t follow her on Instagram you totally should, her cats are adorable). So I was extremely excited to win an ARC from Goodreads, and let me tell you I was hooked from page one. This book is all kinds of wonderful.The StoryWe follow Morgan through the novel as she begins to question the world she’s been brought up in. She’s constantly torn between what she knows she should do and how she should act, and where her imagination takes her–the ground. When a girl is murdered Morgan can’t help but get involved, and learns secrets that will change her life forever.The reason I didn’t give Perfect Ruin a complete 5/5 is because while I loved the story, there were times where I felt like there was just a little something missing in the pacing. I was missing an urgency. I felt this mostly in the first two-thirds of the book, because once I reached that last portion I was flying through the pages. There were also times, however, where I felt that there was some information repeated a few more times than necessary. While I suppose they weren’t completely unnecessary (they were far enough apart that I could shrug it off), there were times that I did feel like I wanted to tell Morgan, “Okay, I got it, you wished that ______.” While I’m taking the time to note this, just know that these were small, very minute irritations.The CharactersI really liked Morgan, though I almost wish we had gotten to see more of her imagination. Throughout the story her friends comment on her daydreaming about the ground, and she says they tell her she could be a novelist, but she wouldn’t have the patience for it. I thought this was a very interesting characterization. I’m not really sure why, but it obviously stuck with me. On a whole I loved her. I enjoyed seeing her struggle and battle with her feelings and thoughts. I felt her arc in Perfect Ruin was believable and I enjoyed journeying with her. She’s a strong character, and I loved seeing her show it in different ways throughout the book.Pen is a complex character, and I’d kind of love to see a short story from her perspective. She’s strong in her faith, which creates an interesting dynamic with Morgan because throughout the story Morgan is questioning their way of life. Pen is also an artist, and it’s through the scenes where we see her with her art that I think the readers really get to see her insecurities, and that maybe she has some questions she needs to work through on her own. Morgan and Pen’s friendship was a really great to see–I’ve missed strong friendships in YA.The love interest is Basil. What I loved about this was that he’s Morgan’s betrothed since birth… and yet there was no struggle with this fact. There was no “other guy” introduced. It was just simply Basil and Morgan, and they are simply adorable. While they have been betrothed since birth, you see a lot of their romance grow in Perfect Ruin. They were cute and sweet, and I loved that. Basil is there for her, and accepts her completely–even when Morgan feels she’s going over the edge. He loves her and supports her. Really everything about their relationship just made me smile a lot.Lastly I want to comment on Lex. He’s another character I’d love to see a short story from. I don’t want to say too much about him because he’s important and it’s interesting to discover things about him as you read the novel. I absolutely loved his character, though. He’s probably my favorite, and I want to give him hugs (though he’d probably never let me near him because Lex is Lex). I’m really interested in what he’s going to be like moving forward in the next book.The WorldbuildingI felt that the worldbuilding in Perfect Ruin was utterly fantastic. I felt like I understood the world of Internment extremely well–both the physical and societal structures. The lore/religion/history is woven into the story so well. You never feel like you’re blatantly being told information at all. It’s done smoothly and in sensible ways. What I think really made it stand out was that each chapter opens form an essay from a student that questions Internment and its Sky God. This essay adds more context and structure to the story and the world Morgan is living in. I just loved it, that’s really all I can say.In The End……I really, really enjoyed this book. I loved the idea of a floating city in the sky, and the world of Internment was built so well. While I felt like I was missing urgency, once you hit a certain point the novel just goes and goes and you flip through pages without realizing it till you reach the end… and then it hits you that it’s the end and it leaves you craving the second book.Also, I just want to fawn over the cover for a moment. It’s so beautiful and unique. The designs continue inside as well–each chapter page having branch-like patterns on them. The cover makes sense, and matches well. I’m also in love with the title’s font. Well done, cover designer/illustrator. If I could get a print of this cover for my wall, I totally would.
    • 4/5
      My Summary: Sometimes perfection is not all that it appears to be.Morgan is a resident of Internment - a floating island in the sky, separated from Earth. At first glance, Morgan's home seems like the perfect place to live... but if that's true, why are there still people tempted to 'jump'?Why would anyone want to leave Utopia? Morgan doesn't understand what inspired her brother to jump, but when a senseless murder shocks their perfect community, she has no choice but to wonder: what lies below? And what do you do when Utopia is revealed to be anything but perfect?My Thoughts: First off, that cover is absolutely stunning! It fits the story so well and adds to that quality that I can't properly describe but this novel has in doves.I've always been a huge fan of Lauren DeStefano's, and the first in this series does not disappoint. Just reading the premise on Goodreads a few months ago made me want to get my hands on the book ASAP, and you can bet I was excited when I opened my mailbox and found it waiting for me. I loved the idea that all the cracks were revealed in the Utopian society when something went wrong, and I really liked that the realistic breakdown of Morgan's 'perfect' family paralleled it so well. If there's one thing Lauren knows how to do, it's write amazingly complex characters. She managed to make them all so relatable, despite them growing up in a completely different societal structure. Morgan's phenomenal character just cemented that for me - she goes from almost naive and blindly believing to doubting everything she's ever been told about Internment. The supporting characters were pretty great too: I loved Pen, Lex, and of course Basil. I also really enjoyed that the romance aspect was not the main plot focus - it's refreshing to see a YA that included romance but doesn't ignore the rest of the plot elements. Lauren's writing style has always been one of my favourites in the YA genres. I adore the way it flows almost lyrically, and a few of the words she used made it into my notebook for future use. And of course, it wouldn't be a Lauren DeStefano novel without a cliffhanger that makes you desperate for the next installment!Final Thoughts: I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dystopian YA, as well as romance and sci-fi. Fans of Icarceron will definitely love it, as well of fans of Lauren's Chemical Garden trilogy!
    • 5/5
      Wow. If you guys thought the "Chemical Garden" trilogy was good, "Perfect Ruin" will absolutely knock your socks off. DeStefano has improved in her craft so much, it was almost as if it were someone else writing - though it did have her familiar prose landmarks here and there. "Perfect Ruin" is the question of the divide between dystopia and utopia, and whether the two really can be the same thing, or if they're just two sides of the same coin. Can humans as they are now (or at least, by the time Internment exists) really create a fair utopia for all? "Perfect Ruin" delves into these questions and more with a murder mystery and a curiosity that may destroy all of these characters. Absolutely gorgeous, even if you haven't read the previous trilogy, this is one 2013 release that simply cannot be missed.Instead of a terrible dystopia like we saw in the previous trilogy, "Perfect Ruin" is the picture of the perfect civilization as DeStefano sees it - all with the deliciously dark lure of "the edge" - literally, the edge of Internment, where you can see down to the ground. Internment floats above it, and though we don't know where we are in our current history as we know it, it's obvious that Interment is far in our future with the small clues DeStefano drops throughout the book, after a catastrophic natural event that heaves a large chunk of ground into the sky - not unlike the real life Second Extinction event that gave us our moon. I loved all of these compact little hints, telling us how old not only the culture of Internment is, but possibly how old Internment itself is. These geographical details really enriched the world, along with the tiny hints of backstory that we know are coming in future books.The worldbuilding: if you've read the past trilogy, you know that DeStefano is amazing when it comes to worldbuilding. "Perfect Ruin" is no exception, using the relationship web school of worldbuilding this time to link our main cast together, along with linking our main cast through backstory to the murder mystery at hand - an act that is very rare on Internment. Through some big reveals that happen through this relationship web and general backstory hints and tidbits that come tumbling down onto the reader (much like how Internment starts to unravel around our main cast) in delicious, small bites. The sensory imagery and language was glorious, and I wanted to wallow in it. I had to force myself to read slowly, because I just wanted to know the answer, to know the whodunnit. At the end, I'm still not entirely sure we got our answer, but we do get an absolutely explosive climax and resolution that has me salivating heavily for book two.The characters: even the most minor of the main cast are richly detailed through the relationship web tactic that DeStefano uses to not only construct the world but really weave the tale closely and tightly with backstory, current story, murder mystery, and the allure of the edge to those who want more from the tiny island of Internment than it can give them. Morgan, Lex, Judas, and the rest of the main cast, through their foibles and follies, give us one of the most sympathetic tales I've read in YA that's fantasy in years, no matter how beautiful Internment is, or how unbelievable it may be. Absolutely stellar.Final verdict? Even if you may not have clicked with her previous trilogy, you guys simply cannot miss "Perfect Ruin". DeStefano has grown so much, and I love it when I can track an author's growth like that. "Perfect Ruin" is out October 1, 2013 from Simon & Schuster FYR in North America, so definitely check it out when you get a chance. It's on my best of 2013 list for a reason.(posted to goodreads, shelfari, librarything, and birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com)
    • 3/5
      An interesting theory- here is a first book in a trilogy/series that is world-heavy up front so the subsequent titles suck less. There's a lot of exposition here and, I must say, I would have been happier if this book was condensed and we got to the *action.* And when we finally do, end of book. I like the premise enough that I will check out book two but the pacing of this left something to be desired.