Claudia Tan's Perfect Ruin is a sequel that delves into the love affair between Sienna and Jax, a vicious cycle of toxicity, power, and passion. The story is addictive and difficult to swallow, with each character being consistent and human, heartbreakingly lost in their self-destructive ways. Tan's strength lies in exposing one's character and decisions realistically, and her storytelling inspires heavy emotion.

However, it can be difficult to go back in time after reading Perfect Addiction, as the established impressions and judgments tainted the outlook on their younger selves and origin story. The trauma and imprint left by Jax's past were rarely noted in Perfect Addiction, which could have been better understood before witnessing his and Sienna's separation.

For those who are new to the Perfect series, it is recommended to read Perfect Ruin first, then Perfect Addiction to allow the awareness and open-mindedness to carry through. For those who have already lost themselves to the thrills and spirit of Perfect Addiction, Perfect Ruin offers a new appreciation for the battles waged between the two timelines.

4.5 stars! This is an exciting MMA romance that anyone who loves the sports genre will inhale this book. In my opinion, I would read this book before Perfect Addiction. This is the story of how Sienna and Jax get together. We get to see their flaws and their heat for each other. This is an emotional story about Sienna and Jax that shouldn’t be missed.

I really enjoyed this book. Thank you NetGalley and Claudia Tan. I enjoyed the different perspective, story line and point of view, i do with this would have come out sooner, as in maybe the first book or before we know what happens to the main characters relationships. Other than that, great writing style, very enjoyable to read. I will be reading more books from Claudia Tan in the future.

Perfect Ruin is quite the perfect title for this one, it will literally ruin your heart as your reading it, these two make you believe that they are destined for forever, but as their story unfolds you learn otherwise.

I loved Jax and Sierra and I was so invested in their story. MY STOMACH WAS HURTING OKAY

I absolutely love love love this series. I read it way back when it was a free book being posted chapter by chapter on Wattpad and to see what it has become is a dream come true. The plot of this story is just as good as the first time I read it, the tension between the characters is to die for, and it's the perfect new adult sports romance. Claudia Tan is an automatic buy for me and this is a book I expect I'll purchase many copies of.

This is a prequel to a series so in theory it should be able to be read first. Having not read the original series, it did feel like something was lacking and the writing was a missing chunks. Seeing the positive reviews by people who all say they were fans of the core series, I really think that you would be doing yourself a disservice by reading this one first. This is meant to be a novella accompaniment to the core series.

✨𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨? 𝙉𝙤. 𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠. 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨. 𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝙏𝙖𝙥 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚.”✨

Firstly this whole read felt so nostalgic!🥺 I swear i felt 16 again!

This is the prequel to Kayden and Sienna's story in perfect series. This follows Jax and Sienna's relationship and how things were before (before Jax blew it all🙄)

It felt a little weird reading it because I kept feeling like I was cheating Kayden by enjoying Jax's POV😂 but this story was soooooo good! It was good seeing how much Jax shaped Sienna, how he made her stronger as a person ❤️... something to remember is that some people in your life are temporary, they're there to teach you a lesson or help you build character 🤷🏻‍♀️

Go read this book ❤️

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A huge thank you to Rachel over at @wbywattpadbooks
For my ARC copy ❤️

Theirs was a vicious cycle of toxicity, power, and passion; all the makings for the Perfect Ruin, and Claudia Tan shakes things up with this prequel-sequel that ventures back in time, delving deeper into the perfect passion turned perfect destruction that was Sienna and Jax’s torrid love affair. Consumed by the push and pull, and the relentless fight against the pits that dragged them down, Sienna and Jax were every bit addictive and difficult to swallow, as one would expect, and readers will go wild for it!

It is in the domain of flaws and exposing one's character and decisions realistically, where Tan’s strength lies. Each of these characters was consistent and every bit human, heartbreakingly lost in their self-destructive ways. Their youthful voices and stubborn naivety were authentic and heavily influenced by the poor examples set before them. It’s no surprise these two met such a passionate demise. Tan has inspired heavy emotion with this narrative and excels at drawing the reader in until they’ve no choice but to watch every gritty detail play out.

All this said, I did find it difficult going back in time after reading Perfect Addiction, as those already established impressions and judgments I’d formed tainted my outlook on their younger selves and origin story. Having already read how things ended for these two, I knew what to expect in terms of the toxicity and manipulation that fuelled their flames, however, it also meant that those few moments of understanding and vulnerability delivered in this book came a little too late in bringing the depth I came to appreciate with Jax’s character. The trauma and the imprint his past had left on him were factors rarely noted in Perfect Addiction, and something that I would have preferred I’d understood before witnessing his and Sienna’s separation.

For those for whom Perfect Ruin is their first encounter with the Perfect series, I would recommend reading this first, then following it up with Perfect Addiction to allow that awareness and open-mindedness to carry through. And for those who have already lost themselves to the thrills and spirit of Perfect Addiction, you may just find yourself with a new appreciation for the battles waged between these two timelines.

An explosive outlook on MMA and the wars waged on one's heart, Perfect Ruin is the ideal read for fans of the sports romance genre, and narratives that inspire a love-hate so passionate you can’t stop reading.

Thank you to Netgalley and W by Wattpad Books for the advanced copy.

Now this is what I called a PREQUEL.

I think this is a great prologue before Perfect Addiction, where we can see how Sienna and Jax met for the first time to the blooming relationship they had until it all went down pretty fast. They loved each other passionately just like how they had the capacity to hurt one another. The cycle is vicious; both being stubborn-headed, very toxic, yet still dont want to let go.

I feel like the characters were perceived well, like Sienna's family and her friends, how things connected to the events on Perfect Addiction. It all makes sense now. Sienna in Perfect Ruin is so toxic, irrational, stubborn, yet I was amazed at how she held herself. Her flaws were presented like a movie theater in this book. Jax was also being potrayed, badly. He's just straight up red flag. If I didn't read Perfect Addiction, I would totally hated this book since I had no idea why Sienna is so stupid and dumb to still stay with Jax after all this time. That's why I said this is a perfect prequel, it made me want to reread Perfect Addiction again so that I can see Sienna got her happy endings.

Not only that, I think Sienna's relationship with Jax has some correlation with how her mom and dad's was. It was thoughtful to put Sienna in her place when she also encountered the same situation as her mom and dad; the things we did despite our loved ones hurt us.

Overall, I enjoyed tremendously this prequel, totally recommended for those who enjoyed Perfect Addiction and want to know the backstory of Si and Jax.

Claudia Tan does it again! In this book we get an insight into what Sienna's relationship with Jax was before he cheats on her. Sienna really deserved better. Jax dragged her into his complications and clearly she fell in love with him even after he kept his distance, but she never deserved to be cheated upon. That wasn't fair for her. And i really feel that her sister didn't really care about her otherwise she would have never done that. The perfect sequel to the Perfect Series.

Sierra Lane thought she found the guy that would be her forever, but she learned the hard way that Jax Deneris is not meant for forever's! Everything started out so perfect, he was there for her during the worst time in her life, made her believe that he cares... but when it comes to love, he's not so good at that.

Perfect Ruin is quite the perfect title for this one, it will literally ruin your heart as your reading it, these two make you believe that they are destined for forever, but as their story unfolds you learn otherwise. My heart broke for Sierra, she invested all this time and effort into a relationship with Jax and then he decimated her heart in the end.... in epic fashion!

If you like those romances that hurt to read then I have no doubt this one will hit its mark, my heart felt like it was in a vice the whole way through. My poor heart is still recovering two days after the fact... and I'm not so sure it'll ever be the same. Highly recommend you get your hands on this one it's bound to hit you right in the feels!

I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, via NetGalley request, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.

New to me author brings forth a story of toxic relationships that start out well and spiral downwards over a few years. The way this book is written, it reminds me of Pulp Fiction in that the sequence of events is not exactly linear. We know upfront that Jax and Sienna are not going to end up together. This is about how they first found each other and proceed to do things that make each other crazy.

Let's just get this out of the way. I didn't realize it was a YA or I should say NA book. Had I known, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. Oh the drama...Sienna's home life is imploding as she had major daddy issues. This leads her to find a man who is totally different than her dad but let's keep in mind, Sienna is only 18. At 18, she is but a mere baby and not quite an adult. To expect her to be able to have a healthy relationship when she has no role model to imprint from, it is asking a lot.

Most of Sienna's relationships in this book are a complete train wreck. This is from her family to best friend and ultimately with Jax. One could say that Jax is a horrible person. Many may hate him. I'd like to point out this child is only 21 and barely a functioning adult himself.

Ms. Tan exposes the flaws of each character to make them more relatable and human. All I can think of is, I am so glad I am no longer young, dumb, and full of c...There will be haters for each of the characters in this book. I find myself feeling empathy for each of them. Because none of them are particularly bad. What is sad is that they make the wrong choices and instead of course correcting, they double down and continue to go on a self destructive path. Sadly, this story reflects the life of way too many people I have seen in real life.

The erotic scenes in this story are filled with young love and hormones. I love the edging and teasing Jax puts Sienna through. Their sexy times are exuberant and a bit exhausting for an old lady like me to read. They are little energizer bunnies and it is too cute. Recommended to the YA readers who love their drama.

Thank you to Wattpad Publishing for reaching out and providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Overall I’d give this book a 3.5-3.7/5; I think I had a lot more complicated emotions over it than I did the first book.

I think there’s a lot of great backstory here in terms of old friends (though I don’t think characters like Dakota featured in Perfect Addiction and were only briefly mentioned? Unless I’m misremembering there, so it was a bit jarring to see Dakota mentioned here as a deeply special best friend for Sienna) but I’m going to be honest, reading this story with Jax and Beth is rough. Jax and Sienna are horrible with each other - Jax isn’t a good boyfriend, period, or even that great of a person at times, and sometimes I felt like Sienna’s struggle with the information she finds out was overblown (I’m sorry but Jax and Jackson are very much not that much of a stretch it’s literally a nickname lmaoo not a sign of hiding your identity).

However it’s also very obviously the point - we KNOW this is a toxic relationship, and that even though Sienna won’t fully grasp it here, that she will in the next book. I very much like that these realizations come outside of Kayden - the problems were there long before she met him and I appreciate that a lot. We also see that Jax isn’t just a black and white figure - I still don’t particularly like him, but I can understand that he has a lot of trauma that he clearly isn’t ready to deal with, and that it affects his relationships.

Something that stood out to me that I think I just straight up ignored in the first book though, is that these characters are so wildly YOUNG. I realize their ages are not going to change, and it’s probably because of how young the author was when she wrote these, but there’s really no reason why the characters these age are where they are at and at the levels of fame they’re at. These things take a lot of time and while I was able to ignore it before I think it was just so abundantly clear to me in this book how much these characters are barely adults!

I’m still probably going to check out the other books in this series though; I see there’s a Jax book and it’ll for sure be interesting seeing how that one turns out! While she wasn’t at her best in this book - with reason, because again, intentional - I still adored Sienna, and her dynamic with Dakota and especially Julian! Those were heartfelt and sincere and I loved reading those scenes.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've been reading the perfect series ever since it's been on wattpad, and surprisingly growing older did nothing to tame that obsession. This was an interesting fast paced read that was a perfect next step to the series.

This is the first book I had read in the perfect series and I thought it was really beautifully written and because from the very beginning you know they won't end up together everything you read feels slightly heart-breaking which to me adds an extra layer of connection to the characters. Overall it is a really nice read and I really want to check out more from the perfect series.

I wish I had read this before reading Perfect Addiction but I still loved seeing this side of Jax and Sierra's relationship!

I remember years ago being obsessed with Perfect Addiction on Wattpad and then years later finding out it was going to be adapted into a movie. After watching the teaser trailer I felt like I was back in my younger years and decided to give it a re-read at it still hit. So while I was browsing through NetGalley and say Perfect Ruin I needed that book in my hands and boy did it deliver.