BOOK REPORT for Ruinsong by Julia Ember

Cover Story: Witchy Woman
BFF Charms: Caution!, Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Talky Talk: She Said, She Said
Bonus Factor: LGBTQ+
Relationship Status: Left Wanting More

Content Warning: Ruinsong features scenes of torture (through magic) and the gruesome death of a pet.

Cover Story: Witchy Woman
This cover is SO striking. It's got a modern feel, with her very on-trend baby bangs, but her dress and the sparkle elements, in addition to the gold border, give it a really magical feel. And I swear the girl's looking straight into my soul.

The Deal:
Cadence is a Singer, gifted by the gods with the ability to do magic through song. But her gifts aren't her own to use; Queen Elene is a brutal ruler who uses Cadence and other mages to keep her people in line.

Remi is the daughter of a noble family who fell from grace after Elene took the throne. She and Cadence used to be friends when they were young, but they haven't seen each other in many years. Until the day Remi's forced to attend a Perfoming—an event during which a Singer tortures the nobility through magic—and she recognizes Cadence as her torturer.

BFF Charms: Caution!, Yay
Although she's been put into a position she can't see a way out of, Cadence's gifts make her a frightening person. She doesn't want to hurt people, but she feels like she can't say no to Elene without serious consequences—and she knows from experience how terrible those consequences can be. She's a sweet young woman, but also extremely dangerous, which is a combination I'm wary of in a friend.

Remi's a bit naive, having grown up as a member of the nobility, but she has a definite grasp on right and wrong. She's willing to get her hands dirty, even if that means she has to put herself in danger. She's the right kind of tenacious and someone I'd give a BFF charm to in a hot second.

Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Cadence and Remi are both interested in people of the female persuasion, but neither have much experience acting on their interests. Being a mage, Cadence is able to love who she loves—mages in this world often have polyamorous relationships with people of all genders—but Remi's not so free to be herself; at least, that's how she feels—the nobility is old-fashioned and not exactly open to change. Their relationship is complicated, and the swoon comes more from them thinking about possibilities than any actual action, which is disappointing for all of us.

Talky Talk: She Said, She Said
Ruinsong is split into the POVs of both Cadence and Remi, which creates a well-rounded picture of the plot. But the story definitely gives more time to Cadence, which makes Remi feel like a secondary character. Ember's worldbuilding leaves a little to be desired—the explanation of Elene's rise to power, specifically, is really thin—but the magical system in which singing is vital to perform spells is fascinating. The ending of the story also seems a bit rushed and a little too easy. All in all, there are a lot of good things in this book that would benefit from being more fleshed out to create a more robust story.

Bonus Factor: LGBTQ+
It's becoming less and less of an unusual occurrence to read YA books that aren't focused on a heterosexual couple and include elements of the queer experience. Remi, unfortunately, has to deal with a fear of coming out to her parents, but her larger world is already cool with it. I am here for this kind of representation and inclusivity!

Relationship Status: Left Wanting More
We had a nice date, Book, but I can't help but feel like you were holding a lot back. I would have loved to hear more of your details, even if it took longer!

Ruinsong has Phantom of the Opera vibes, magic, strong female leading characters, a revolution, and a little bit of romance. The perfect mix for an amazing YA fantasy read! I enjoyed this story, because it really played on the power of using ones voice. You can use your voice for good or you can use it to harm. We’ve just gotta make the choice to do what’s right, even when it’s hard.

I received a free copy of this text in exchange for my honest review. I suggest all fantasy fan add this book to the top of your must read list! Magic, religion, social structure, and more that are unique to this world are tangible. The magic is so strong you can smell it (which is doubly impressive since I read it on my Kindle). The power of music has helped me throughout my life, this book takes that power and makes it leap!

I adored this book. From the prelude alone, I was like this is gonna be a great story. This story was dark and full of bones breaking and blood dripping which really added to the urgency of the rebellion. I liked the contrast between Remi who was willing to risk it all and went after what she wanted and Cadence who went with the flow and was scared of making too much of an impact. Cadence was tryna dismantle the master's house with the master's tools and that just doesn’t work.

Nolan was one of my faves and wish we could have seen more of him just because he seemed like a lot of fun. Also don't get me started on my complicated feelings about Ren. One of my favorite elements of the story was the history about the goddesses and how their power flowed through the people.

There was a lot of unexpected twists toward the end and the ending shocked me. I would definitely give this one a read if you like romantic fantasy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Our main characters are Cadence, a mage who is forced to sing powerful songs for the queen and Remi, a nobelwoman and Cadence's childhood friend. Throughout the story we switch between both of their perspectives. Each girl had her own personality and it was easy to distinguish who was talking in each chapter.

I absolutely loved this book! There was a perfect balance of magic, romance and thrilling suspense. This is the type of fantasy book I can just sink into like a hot bath. The imagery was absolutely fantastic and the writing was captivating. I was drawn into the book very early and remained entertained until it was over. The story is so dark and gripping I couldn't help but get lost in every page.

If you're looking for a dark, magical, LGBTQ story I would recommend giving this one a shot.

Ruinsong is a beautiful Phantom of the Opera retelling with amazing queer badass characters. As readers we follow Cadence, the Queen's new Principal singer who has a magical voice, and Remi, the daughter of a Viscount who wants to see changes in her world. Long ago Cadence and Remi were friends, but when they reunite at a Queen’s gathering where Cadence has to torture the whole room, Remi is met with a situation she never planned on being in, but also sees it a chance for change.

Ruinsong is a beautifully written book about morals and doing what you believe is right for the greater good. Cadence is forced into a situation where she has to torture people by the Queen’s request even though it pains her to do so. With the help of Remi, the two try to change the Queen’s ways before it is too late.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was all the powerful women in it. While some were good and some were evil, they were all a pleasure to read and learn about. This book also takes place in a Queendom and I have to say that I love Queendoms, even if the Queen is the villain, there is just something about them that I find so satisfying and this one was written so well.

I do wish we could’ve gotten to see more of the romance through the novel. While we did have good scenes between the love interests, we did not get to see a lot of their emotions and their growth in this new relationship. Without seeing many of their interactions it felt a bit insta-lovey. With that being said, I still have this book a 5/5 stars because it was outstanding. I think anyone who loves unique fantasy stories should absolutely pick this book up!

Ruinsong is delightfully dark and sapphic. I went into this book blind, as usual, and quickly caught on to the inspiration taken from Phantom of the Opera. The world-building and characters are absolutely excellent, and given the length, this book goes above and beyond in so many ways. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, absolutely devouring it. I'm not a musically inclined individual, but the way music was incorporated to this story had me absolute enraptured. My final rating is 4.5 stars and I will definitely be acquiring a physical copy.

🎶RUINSONG Review🎶

So, I originally was super excited about Ruinsong because I really like The Phantom of the Opera, and I seen multiple people talking about how it was a "queer Phantom of the Opera retelling." I was a little disappointed to find that it wasn't quite a Phantom of the Opera retelling... however I did overall really enjoy the book!

I thought the romance was really cute, especially because we have both Remi and Candace's perspectives. (The lack of insta-love was GREAT!) The magic system being connected to music was a really nice, creative touch.

The Queen was absolutely cruel, and she added so much to the story. My only (small) complaint was that I felt like the world could have used a little more development, but overall everything else was fantastic! It was a fast-paced, romantic, and sometimes heartbreaking story that hooked me from the very start. By the end, I found myself wishing there was more.

If you are a fan of books like Cinderella is Dead, I would highly recommend Ruinsong by Julia Ember.

Ruinsong comes out on November 24th!

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Ruinsong is a young adult fantasy by author Julia Ember. The author describes the book as a “queer Phantom of the Opera retelling with music magic”, which is a pretty good description, and sounded super unique to me. Overall the novel ended at a good stopping place, but I can see, and maybe hope for more trips to this world, because the world and it’s unique magic system were my favorite aspects of this story. The music magic is something that really appealed to me, and obviously it lends well to a Phantom retelling. It felt a little reminiscent of another new release, Divided Fire which also has a magic system based on the users voice, so I was really loving how different the authors made their magic systems.

In Ruinsong, we meet our two main characters, Cadence and Remi. Cadence is the Queen’s newest musical prodigy, who uses her voice to weave magic to do the Queen’s bidding. And Remi, is the daughter of nobles. Both girls are drawn together over their dislike of the Queen. Ruinsong is very much a book about choices. Choosing who you are, choosing what you support, and choosing what kind of a stand you want to talk against the things you don’t support. It felt like a magical singing version of a revolutionary novel, which I liked. I loved the magic system, but I did find myself searching for more detail on how it all worked within the world. Nothing major, just a few more details. The author does such a beautiful job painting pictures of the scenes, that I was hoping for an equally descriptive imagery of the magic system, mainly the how and history of the magic system.

The romance in Ruinsong was great, and I loved the character representation that was present. However both in the character development and in the plot, I felt like the pacing was kind of all over the place at times. It was either too slow and not much was happening, or it was sped up so quickly and abruptly that I had to reread pages to make sure I wasn’t missing something. The ending of Ruinsong felt a bit rushed. Overall, I liked this book and I was super intrigued by the world and by the characters, but I wish the pacing felt a bit more even throughout the story. Ruinsong was a solidly good novel, and I hope we get to visit this world again.

I asked to read to review this book via NetGalley is Ruinsong, by Julia Ember. I've seen Ruinsong on and off around Bookstagram, and have been hearing great things, so I was interested in checking it out. Plus, the cover is GORGEOUS, which definitely helps! I love beautiful covers - I think we all do, so no crap about judging a book by its cover, please.

Ruinsong tells the story of Cadence and Remi - but mostly Cadence. In a world where magical properties go through your voice, Cadence is powerful, and also not able to control her own life. She is just trying to survive. Remi is her childhood friend whose family is at odds with then new government that Cadence serves.

My biggest thought about this book is that it is very easy to have empathy for both of our narrators - we understand where they are coming from, and thought it heads in an obvious direction a reader completely understands the personal conflict that is involved and that the characters are trying to grapple. Additionally, his is one of my first LGBTQ+ narratives, and I am sad that I haven't jumped into them sooner. The romance builds, is honest, and is very interestingly acknowledged through explanations of relationships and politics of the novel. I love the childhood friends to lovers trope, and seeing the beginning of that was heartening and very sweet.

What I had a harder time with was the fact that in this world, the magic is not explained as much - a very soft magic - and so I don't think I always understood right away the importance or gravity of a situation because of my lack of knowledge of the magical system. I also think there was a ton of build up and narration for everything to end pretty quickly, and I wish there was more in the ending after how complex everything else was.

All in all, I opened the book to read a couple of chapters before bed and I ended up finishing the entire book. I enjoyed it, a lot. I am considering rereading in the future just to revisit the world - it truly is unique and the hierarchal societal structure and the history between our four groups is really interesting and I would love to know more about it.

I would put this book in my classroom for my students - I think it is a great example of finding empathy for others, and I know my fantasy enthusiasts would enjoy the magic that they see in the book! I recommend it for people who are interested in fantasy or friends-to-lovers tropes.

Happy reading, book dragons!

When I heard that this book was a genderbent Phantom of the Opera retelling, and a sapphic one at that, I was sold! I was praying that this will live up to my expectations and...it really did!
Ruinsong is my first Julie Ember book, but boy am I excited for more from this author. The book started out really strong and made me want to keep reading because of the lush storytelling.
Cadence is a mage who uses her voice and her song to punish the Queen's enemies and people who slighted her. There's a certain poetry in how Cadence's power literally comes from her voice and how, along the way, she learned to speak out against the Queen. And then she reunites with her childhood friend Remi, who is also filled with barely contained rage. And just like the author said, these ladies fight their enemies while looking darn good in their pink ballgowns. And the romance! It's the heart-clutching kind, which I really loved.
The themes of loss, injustice, class divide, and loyalty were tackled in this book really well. Though slow at times and had blunt depictions of characters' skin colours instead of poetic, overall, this is a truly captivating book and one that readers will definitely enjoy.

In the world of YA fantasy, it's hard to stand out. There are evil queens, lost princesses, repressive governments, and complex magical systems everywhere, and many of these stories often hit familiar beats. On paper, Julia Ember's Ruinsong is one in a long line of stories about oppressed girls with magical abilities who must learn how to fight back  In actuality, it turns out to be something much more - a compelling, fast-past read with remarkably dark themes and an inclusive love story.

Full link up at Culturess.com on release day!

***eARC provided by NetGalley & Macmillan Children's Publishing Group***

Ruinsong is a lush, beautifully queer story that I've been longing for for a long time. I also love that it was a stand-alone YA fantasy, something we haven't seen a lot of. I love a good series, but being able to contain the whole story in a single book is worthy of its own kind of praise. Plus, as a retelling of Phantom of the Opera there's a lot of love here.

Ruinsong by Julia Ember is a dark fantasy full of emotion and a slow burn sapphic romance that asks a question of its characters that has no simple answer.

How many are you willing to sacrifice to do what is right?

Ruinsong delivers rich imagery as we follow Cadence, a singer in the Queen's retinue. Song is magic in this world, and Cadence is forced to sing to torture the disgraced nobility of the country. She goes along with this, knowing that if she refuses it'll be worse for both her and the people she's hurting until her childhood friend Remi is suddenly thrust back into her life. With Remi as part of the nobility, Cadence realizes she can no longer make the easier choice of following directions.

This book immediately delivers hopelessness to us readers, but in a way that made me want to keep reading to the end. It's interspersed with sweet scenes of Cadence and her dog or of Remi and her father - reminders that no matter how bad things are, we have these moments that seem small, but are really what make the fighting worth it. Cadence is tortured by what she's forced to do, and Remi is terrified for her family and what is to come their way. Luckily, they find each other.

The romance is a very slow burn, but the soft moments of wanting are what really make it for me. Just a note of a curve of hip or of wanting to trail fingers down a spine felt so genuine to me. It speaks of wanting someone so thoroughly, but of thinking, you don't deserve them and that they won't want you back anyway. The queerness in the book is approached in a conflicted way. Remi wishes she were a commoner so she could be with whomever she prefers, as the nobility look down on same-sex matches. Remi herself, however, has no qualms with wanting girls. It's part of who she is and she accepts that part of herself wholly, only wishing everyone else could accept it as well. It's less complicated for Cadence, who is a mage and therefore not beholden to the same rules, and it's refreshing to see girls who love girls and are okay with that.

The overall story and concept are interesting. My only note on this would be that the ending felt a bit abrupt. The conclusion felt tied up a little too quickly and neatly, and I would've loved to see more about the motivations of the queen from the queen herself. This is a stand-alone book, so I understand the need to put a bow on it, but I would've taken more length for more story!

Overall, this was a great fantasy read with a sweet sapphic romance, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys both those things!

Such promise: sung magic, evil ruler, potential rebellion. Sadly, the author doesn't build the world enough. While we learn how Cadence's magic works, there are other kinds of sung magic that are hinted at but not explained; the shift from Cadence's life before and her life under the harsh rule of the queen, forced (as the Principle) to sing harm to the royalty unfortunate enough to still live in the kingdom is too abrupt and needs more fleshing out. More about the kingdom itself, rather than a few shops and hospitals, would also have built the world. Cadence's relationship with Remi is one of the things that is very well done, as is how the society as a whole views same sex relationships.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

Ruinsong was one of my most anticipated releases for 2020, and it did not disappoint. I love when books don't assume sexualities and It was so refreshing to see the main characters be able to love whoever they want without clarifying. This sapphic slow-burn was filled with fantastic world-building, loveable characters, and a fascinating magic system. I will definitely be buying a copy on November 24th.

Ruinsong is a LGBTQ+ fantasy novel which was a fun read! It tells the story of Cadence, a mage who can sing to heal (or hurt) people and Remi, a noble who is trying to survive in a kingdom where nobles are punished. The childhood friends are reunited when they are teenagers and starting to discover how dire their situation is, but also that they have the power to change the world. I liked the world building and the characterization.

I appreciated that it is a stand-alone novel, I enjoy reading series but sometimes it’s nice when the plot is wrapped up in one book. This is the first time I’ve read anything by Julia Ember, but I would definitely read her other work.

3.5 stars

In a world where magic is sung, Cadence is a mage who is forced by the ruthless queen to do her bidding. Then she is reunited with her childhood friend Remi when she and her father are captured by the queen’s forces under suspicion of treason. Now Remi and Cadence must try to work together to take a stand against the queen, all while struggling with their developing feelings for each other.

I really enjoyed this story. The magic system is really unique and interesting, and while the story is quite brutal (there is torture and death throughout the book) it’s still a beautiful world. It’s billed as an LGBTQ romantic fantasy, but the romance is almost nonexistent. The two main characters don’t even kiss until the end of the book. Even so, I really enjoyed this book and I was going to give it 4.5 stars. That was until I got to the last 20 or 30 pages of the book. The ending is so rushed, and so unrealistic, that I automatically had to deduct a star. I wonder if this was meant to be a duology & the author changed her mind. I do still recommend the book, even with my misgivings about the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for your kindness and generosity for sending me a widget to read and review!

This book has one of the most unique premise I have come across. With song as the magic system? Really sounds enchanting. And that holds true to Ruinsong.
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Going into the book, it was quite a slow start for me but it is nothing that has deterred from gaining my attention right from the beginning. The reading experience was so surreal that it felt like I was prancing through a path made by musical staff surrounded by fields of musical notes. From the way it was written, I can say that I felt the author's passion for music radiating through the words and characters. With that said, my only criticism for it is that the world building could have been done a bit better and the pacing could have been quicker.
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Overall, it was an enjoyable read with a unique experience. I recommend it if you love music, fantasy, and want a more unique magic system played out by queer characters!

I won an eArc of Ruinsong in a Giveaway. I thought the concept of the plot sounded interesting. Unfortunately, the book hasn't kept my attention so far. But Phantom of the Opera fans and retellings will be sure to enjoy it.