I have some mixed feelings about this finale. I wholeheartedly love this series, the atmosphere is immaculate- 1870s New Orleans vampires mixed with a fae world brimming with political intrigue, betrayal and the like (all my faves) and each book seemed to be even better than the last, adding more intricate world building, setting the stakes higher, and making me fall more and more in love with the characters.

And for the most part The Ruined was just that but somewhere along the way one of the characters started acting in a way that was completely off from their actions in the previous books and it threw me off. A very different mindset altogether. This felt like it was done to move the story along which I more or less get but wasn’t too entirely keen on.

The ending also felt very sudden. To be perfectly honest I feel like we didn’t get the closure that was needed. Either The Ruined should’ve been a bit longer to fully flesh out the resolution and some character arcs or the pacing from beginning to end should’ve been different.

Overall I find myself thinking about this ending and feeling unsatisfied with how it all tied up. However, for the most part I’m still very much in awe with Renee’s creativity with incorporating many elements and her stunning prose!

Renée Ahdieh’s The Beautiful Series comes to its conclusion today (December 5th) with the release of the fourth book in the quartet. The Ruined picks up where its predecessor left off and drops readers right back into the world of the Fae and other supernatural beings!

I honestly felt my expectations for this novel were pretty moderate, but unfortunately, the book ended up falling a bit flat.

I liked how fast-paced the story was and how easy it was to fall into the plot again. I also enjoyed seeing all of our favorite characters again and seeing how the events in The Righteous would all combine into a masterful conclusion.

However, there wasn’t any clear ending to certain plot lines and half of the minor characters became completely obsolete as the story went on. The story got bogged down with so many random bits of plot that nothing seemed fleshed out enough to leave any real impact on me as a reader.

I feel like this book could’ve been much longer and allowed for a more robust story with a great ensemble cast of characters rather than trying to squeeze so much plot into 400 pages and casting aside what could’ve been amazing subplots for the sake of a bizarre and semi-inconclusive ending.

I can understand what Ahdieh was trying to achieve with this book and the themes of love, loss, trust, and sacrifice; however, I feel like many fans of this series, including myself, would’ve preferred a more adventurous, thrilling, and more romantic ending for a book that is branded as a YA vampire/supernatural fantasy romance.

While I enjoyed my time with this series, I was just hoping for this story to play out in a different way. Ahdieh had the potential to create a wonderful conclusion to this ethereal series, but I ended up finishing the series with way more questions than answers.

*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’ve been waiting for this book!

Reading and owning the first 3 books, and waiting for this one to finally come out felt like torture!

So glad I was able to read this though!

I enjoyed it, and I can finally relax lol

This is the emotional conclusion of the Beautiful quartet. The book takes you through the growth and lessons learned about the lengths you will go to for those you love.

Is this a joke? You can't just end it like that! As a whole, I loved this series, but the fact that I stuck around and we were given a "finale" like that makes me pretty disappointed. The further it went the further it strayed from the first book and the less I began to care. I especially lost hope for Celine and was on the fence about Sebastien by the end. Honestly my favorite characters were Pippa and Arjun and I'll just say they were done dirty. They deserved so much better. Renée Ahdieh's writing is still just as mesmerizing and captivating as ever, the action was fast-paced and intense, otherwise it would have been two stars. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

So I didn’t read the beautiful, so I’m not sure if it’s something that I should’ve read before I read the ruined, but I love a good fantasy book and I just can’t seem to one that has such an interesting cover. The plot was a little confusing for me, and it was a little difficult to kind of get through. I might go back and read the prior book in order to see if it helps me flush out the story.

A massive thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!! I really enjoyed this book; definitely something I will tell my friends about!

"The Ruined" by Renee Ahdieh presents an intriguing blend of fantasy and romance within a lush, culturally rich setting. Ahdieh's writing style is beautifully descriptive, transporting readers into a world teeming with political intrigue and magical elements.

However, while the narrative is engaging and the world-building is vivid, the pacing at times feels inconsistent, leading to moments where the story loses its momentum. Additionally, some character motivations and developments could benefit from further depth and exploration to fully connect with the reader.

Despite these drawbacks, Ahdieh's talent in crafting vibrant settings and her knack for creating chemistry between characters cannot be denied. Fans of romantic fantasy may find enjoyment in this tale despite its pacing issues and character depth.

After the ending of the last book I was definitely anxiously waiting for this finale! And while I did enjoy the book, I was kind of let down of the overall vibe. By the end, I sort of hated the two main characters and it felt like it dragged too much. I felt like it didn't have the elements of intrigue and politics like the other ones and this sort of just felt like an ending just for the sake of an ending.

Of course the standouts were Arjun and Pippa but as for the rest, we're on thin ice. As for the story, I definitely think it had its good moments with angst and surprise, but having every POV was very jarring for sure!

I think as a conclusion, it was just difficult to have the same feeling as teh rest of the books because of how this was set up. I'd definitely still recommend the series, but I'd probably set my expectations just a little lower for the last book

I'm so thankful I had the chance to finish this series. It was an interesting ending to say the least. First, I've seen all the disappointment over how this went, but for me I thought it gave a bit of interest. This did not wrap up easily, and happily. IFYKYK. It did go on too long, and maybe too much more was added to the whole storyline, but I enjoyed it. It almost felt like a standalone book, with a whole new twist to the plot. I did love the ending and that there's still a lot of time to fix what was broken.

I might be in the minority, but this was a good book overall, even if some things were not happily finished, and some left unanswered.

"The Ruined" proved to be a letdown, particularly with its concluding chapter, leaving me dissatisfied and questioning the overall journey. The finale failed to meet the heightened expectations set by its predecessors, and rather than providing closure, it left crucial plotlines hanging without resolution. As someone who once held affection for the central character, Celine, I found her development in the concluding chapters to be jarring and unconvincing, leading to a complete disconnection from a character I had formerly admired. Ultimately, the lackluster ending and unresolved narrative elements left me disappointed and unable to appreciate what should have been a satisfying culmination to the series.

2.5 stars rounded up

This was...disappointing as an ending to a series I have adored so much. It mostly didn't read like a series finisher, and then the last few pages rushed to tie things up, but only sort of? It felt like there might have been a lot more potential story and this wasn't well-planned. The romance of the other books was lacking, we were jumping around a lot, and it just wasn't very satisfying as a conclusion. If this was just another installment in the series it would be fine if not my favorite, but as the end of the series it was a bit of a let down. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This one was not for me. I didn’t particularly enjoy any of the books in the quartet and The Ruined was my least favorite of them all. One of my biggest issues with it is what happened to Celine. She started off as a strong, independent, largely rational person and ended up as a completely delusional a**hole. There is no logical explanation for the devolution of her character.

I also hated how the entire plot relied on the misunderstanding trope and how it was never resolved.

I've given myself a solid 24 hours to digest this book and I've come to the conclusion that this book ruined the entire series for me.

The Beautiful was one of those books that was so beautifully written that you felt like you were truly in New Orleans with Celine. You felt all of her emotions and you rooted for her and Bastien.

You know who I actually ended up hating the most in this series? Celine. I loved Celine's no nonsense attitude in the first three books. She loved danger and she didn't care how she dressed or who liked her... but I truly don't know where that Celine went in the fourth book. Her actions absolutely ruined anything good about this book. She was a self centered spoiled brat who didn't care about literally anyone BUT herself.

Let me not get into a rant about Celine though. Let's talk about the major disappointments in this book. Not only did I wait years for this ending... but I ended up wishing I had never read it. I should have stopped at The Righteous because now I will never be able to reread The Beautiful.

The plot honestly was all over the place, we as the readers were still learning SO much and this was the last book? Why were things not getting wrapped up? Where were all the OG characters from The Beautiful? Where was THE ROMANCE? Why did this end the way it did? I truly can't justify anything from the entire book.

Also, Renee, you did us dirty with not only the ending, but with two side characters that we all ended up loving. IYKYK.

I honestly wouldn't recommend this book to a single person. If you could learn one thing from my review is to save yourself from this utter disappoint and end the series with The Righteous. Make up an ending in your head.

This book is titled The Ruined because it literally ruins the entire series.

I am so disappointed by this ending. Like...what even happened? Three amazing books leading up to this and it kind of feels like the author didn't care how it ended. I can even see her building up to this depressing ending, but it was not well done because there was sooo much rambling in this book and the ending was so rushed that I had to relisten a few times. Basically we get to know all these characters in the series just so they can be collateral damage in Celine and Bastien's toxic love story. I used to love Celine as the strong interesting character and in this book she was completely different and doesn't use her brain and just acts better than everyone. And the jumping around between POVs was just too chaotic.

I'm sorry, but this book was so disappointing. There were too many POV's and it was confusing to keep up with what was happening. Also, this book did not even remotely feel like part of the same series. And I loved the first three books so much. New elements of the mythology and lore were introduced and I felt like I was so lost. Some things also happened so randomly with no context or explanation and it seemed like chunks were missing. This book was fast-paced which I liked for a bit, but I would have also been okay with a drawn-out conclusion. The ending made absolutely no sense and I do not feel satisfied with it whatsoever. It's funny though because I couldn't stand Pippa in book one and she was my favorite character in the last couple of books. Ugh, but so many things weren't resolved and certain characters just fully disappeared and I think I was just rage-reading it to finish it. Thank you to Penguin Teen for the e-ARC to read and review!

Well here we are, at the end! This series was a joyride of a creature fantasy. There were things I loved and things I didn’t, but it’s bittersweet we’re at the end.

This story picks up where we left off and some things were just a bit ridiculous as the story progressed. I loved book one bit than book 2 was meh. Than I loved book 3 and this one was also a bit meh. It was almost a breather that it’s finally over. Some of the plot was just a bit tad over dramatic. I can’t really say how I feel. I think the ending being rushed is what made me not love it, especially with it being the last story.

All in all, give this quartet a try if you love vampires and a story of friendship and self discovery, but it really is a YA fantasy at best.

I am devastated but also I wanted more??? This could’ve been longer and more fleshed out

I think after being with these characters for three books now, I needed more closure on their endings. That being said, I liked Bastien and Celine's individual character development and the continued world building and additions to the magic system. It just didn't read like a conclusion to a series until the last 20% which felt super rushed.

🦋The Ruined 🦋
Author: Renèe Ahdieh
Pub Date: December 5, 2023

Thank you @penguinteen for the #gifted copy of this book.

Welp I am going to say this is totally a fail by yours truly. 🤣 I didn’t realize before I started that this was the 4th and last book in this series. I do think this would have worked out to be much better had I started with book one. All of that being said, I did find this book enjoyable and entertaining. I don’t often read vampire books so this was a little out of my normal comfort zone. I liked watching the conflict between the two groups trying to follow what happens between the allies and rivals. I think my favorite part was the traveling mirror. What a cool concept! This book had a great mix of many genres, fantasy, romance, paranormal, vampires and young adult. I would say after having finished this book I took the time to look at the first 3 books and they certainly sound amazing. So don’t do what I did and start at the end. 🙈

WHAT DID I JUST READ?!! The only positive thing I can say about this book is that it is aptly titled. She has ruined the entire series with the book. The entire book felt off to me but the last 25% was like a bomb went off. What happened to these characters? Especially Celine who first is a weak shade of herself, then slightly mentally unstable, then becomes a crazed spoiled brat who doesn’t listen to anyone or stop to assess a situation. I think Ahdieh was trying to really push a message of power corrupting, but her story got lost in the message. The plot and characters are unrecognizable in this installment. New plot points are brought in and then never resolved. There are so many questions that are still unanswered….how is this the last book? I honestly feel like this is some kind of a prank. This cannot be how this series ends. I’m shocked, sick to my stomach, and so sad about one of my favorite YA vampire series.