(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Ruby deVarre is Rootkin – the granddaughter of the most revered clanmother in all of New Haven.
For Kin, nothing comes before family, and it's about time for Ruby to start thinking about settling down and starting one of her own. But settling down is the farthest thing from wild-child Ruby's mind. All she wants to do is drive fast with her friends and run free through the woods with Hunter and Thorne, two of her favorite boykin. But Ruby knows that if she keeps disobeying her Gran's wishes, she might end up being Collared – the worst punishment and disgrace in the kin community.
Then Gran announces that they'll be hosting a guest – a handsome boy named Conrad Tiercey from a kin family across the Waste. Ruby accompanies Gran to the train station, and sparks fly immediately. Conrad is gorgeous. Maybe settling down with someone like him wouldn't be so bad . . .
But as Ruby gets to know Conrad more, she starts to realise something's...off. First, he snaps at her for being late. Then, she talks on the phone with a boytoy, and he grabs her arm so hard it bruises. Just when she feels ready to walk away, Conrad apologises – she's so beautiful and he just loves her so much, is all – and Ruby forgives him, chalking it all up to passion. She stays with Conrad, and hides everything from her friends Cami and Ellie, from whom she's becoming increasingly distant.
Then the murders start. First, heartbreakingly, it's Hunter – found dead in the woods, an axe at his side. Then three girls disappear, one by one, all of them with red hair like Ruby's, who eventually turn up dead all over New Haven. And then the villain strikes Gran. She's not dead, but she's been dangerously poisoned and admitted to hospital in a coma.
Weaker than ever and rudderless without her friends, Ruby must find the strength to confront Conrad, whom she now suspects more than ever. But he's got a plan of his own, and his secrets go deeper than she could have ever imagined...

*3.5 stars*

This is the third novel in the Tales of Beauty & Madness trilogy by Lili St. Crow. Sadly, I hadn't read the previous books before picking this one up (I wasn't aware it was a trilogy until after I started reading.) This review is based on this book only - taking into consideration my lack of knowledge about the trilogy.

I think I have had enough of YA fiction for a while. This is the fourth novel I have read recently that has a dreadful MC (Ruby) - one that is either just so naïve it is unbelievable...or just unbelievably stupid. Either way, it makes for hard reading...

But before I make it sound like a dreadful book, let me say that it is certainly not that. The world that the author has created, the re-telling of the fairy tales and the mystery aspect of this book were fascinating. I do enjoy a good fairy-tale retelling and this book loads us up with them: Ruby (Little Red Riding Hood), Ellie (Cinderella) and Cami (Snow White) - all three bring a uniqueness to the storyline and fill the pages with a real sense of friendship, loyalty to each other, and a real connection between the stories of these three characters.

The story-telling was, at times, a bit slow, but once it got going, it just exploded and took me by surprise. A false sense of security, I guess. Once the murders start happening, and the real dark nature of this story takes over, the sense of brooding - of something much worse to come - is palpable...and I loved that.

But back to Ruby - when a strange and mysterious man comes into your life, is violent towards you, and you are supposed to marry him cos Grandma wants you to? Totally well off base. Other reviews I have seen said she was such a stronger character in the first two books - well none of that is evident in this book. So much so that I was tempted to be a DNF just because of her. Thankfully, the rest of the story was enough to carry me through but not enough to save the rating...

I am going to eventually go back and read the other two books just to see what went wrong...


Paul
ARH