Actual Rating 4.5 stars 
 Originally posted on my blog, Zach's YA Reviews (zachsyareviews.com) 
 Review: 
 Protagonist: While Kira is a really strong heroine, she is lacking in a few other areas. First off she's really indecisive and that really hurts her strong character when she is constantly debating her choices and various elements of her life. This is a flaw that is easy to overlook from time to time as it doesn't really affect the plot all that much, but at the same time there are moments when Kira is debating her relationship with Marcus and it just falls flat due to Marcus' poor character development which I'll get to more later. Overall, I really like Kira as a character and was really impressed with the author's depiction of her and I can't wait to see what comes next with Kira. 
 Romance: So... the romance. I was expecting a lot more out of this romance, which for the record isn't that I expected more romance. So there's a little bit of a love triangle, though I don't know how developed it will become, between Marcus, Kira, and Samm. At the beginning of the novel Marcus and Kira are already dating, which isn't inherently bad, but since there's no real look back at their romance, Kira's confusion of her feelings for him, and no real development for Marcus as a character I had a hard time getting on board with them as a couple. Samm however isn't completely in the running as my choice favorite either. It's not that he's a bad character, in fact he's a great one, but I'm not to sure if his relationship with Kira will cross that thin border to a romantic one. I'm hoping it does because they would work really well together, but I'm not going to go into a shipping rant right now. I think if the author developed Marcus and gave us a glimpse at what drew Kira and him together I would feel like there was something tangible for their relationship to cling to but at the moment it's kind of hanging by a loose thread. 
 World-Building: As usual the world-building was my favorite part of this book. At the beginning of the book the genre is very obviously post-apocalyptic but the further into the book you go the more little themes and plot points from dystopian show up all while keeping the original genre's theme in tact. The circumstances in which this world is set are incredible and very unique. There are plenty of post-apocalyptic novels in which robots have taken over or nearly wiped out the human population but the fact that they are genetically manufactured organic beings is interesting and all of the intrigue and secrets in this book are truly amazing.This is definitely a book in which you shouldn't trust anyone except the protagonist. 
 Predictability: So, I'm not sure how to rate the predictability of this book. Since this is one of those books where I didn't really trust anyone there were so many conspiracy theories going on in my head that some were bound to stick. There were also moments that were so convoluted and out of the blue that I was so utterly shocked, and contrary to many novels where things seem to just come out of the blue, in this one they seemed to really make sense and work well for the book and story. So I guess after working that out the predictability is well written, but then again it's all really a matter of how you approach what's happening in the story. 
 Ending: The last chapter probably threw me off most of all. This book ends in a way like most other first books in series where the biggest hurdle of the book has been overcome and there's an, albeit brief, time of peace, but in this there's a bit of a difference. Most first books in a series end in a plateaued way, making it easier for the reader to wait between installments, but this book ends in a spectacular cliffhanger. I loved it and really added an extra layer of mystery to the story. 
 Rating: 
 This book was phenomenal, but I did find a few problems with it from poor character development to a couple small plot holes. Overall however it was a great read and if you want to enter to WIN an ADVANCED COPY of Ruins, the third and final book in this series ENTER HERE: http://www.zachsyareviews.com/2014/01...