About the Series
I’ve devoured this series. I’m crazy in love with Wes and Kiersten’s story! The main theme in the series is fear and conquering the fear fostered throughout all these different characters’ life-altering challenges. But as Wes always says, “Do it afraid.”
The review of the series includes reviews on each of the following books (listed in order of release):
Note: Each book in the series is Standalone (except for the novella Fearless, which is an extended epilogue to the first book in the series, Ruin).
Ruin (Ruin, #1)
Release Date: August 10th, 2013
I didn’t know that time wasn’t my all – that every second that ticked past was one step closer to the end of something that was beginning to mean that end of myself. He tried to warn me. He promised me all he was able to offer – each moment as it came – but it would never be enough.
Sometimes when you think it’s the end, it’s only the beginning. Wes thought he could save me, but in giving me everything, he ruined me. Because after one kiss, one touch, I couldn’t – I wouldn’t ever be the same.
And from that moment on, his heartbeat became my own.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• The Hero is fatally ill.
• Heroine’s parents died (off page)
• The heroine deals with depression; her medicine gives her night terrors
• No OW/OM (ex-gf of Wes’s mentioned once but she had no bearing on the plot).
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• No separation between the Heroine and Hero
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
“Wherever I am, whatever I’m doing, alive or dead, young or old, my heart will always be with yours. Every beat you feel against your fingertips …” His fingers tapped against my chest, once, twice. “… is me calling out to you. It’s you returning the call. It’s us talking, communicating, bonding, sharing, Living–Kiersten, it’s us living.”
If that’s not ominous, I don’t know what it is.
“Maybe it’s not in the perfection of life that things make sense, but in the chaos.”
This is basically the main theme of every single book in this series!
… one, two, three, four, six, Good Lord, eight? Eight packs? Furthermore, had I actually been feeling said person’s eight pack? And, dear God, I was counting, I had touched each muscle. And great, my hand was still firmly placed against the guy’s stomach.
I jerked my hand back and closed my eyes.
“Were you just counting my abs?” His voice sounded amused. It also sounded like a movie star voice, the type that makes you want to jump in the TV screen.
I had to include the above quote; I just love Kiersten’s naivety.
Ruin started off with a bang, with Kiersten accidentally feeling up Wes when she literally ran into him. From there, the two characters led us on a story of great love and second chances, but not in the way that you think.
The writing, the pace … everything flowed. And both Kiersten and Wes had such a connection that it flew off the pages. But there was one main problem: I felt that even though the reader experienced everything Wes and Kiersten went through, there wasn’t much of them bonding together as a couple. Like three months of it.
It’s understandable why the author didn’t include the little details of their relationship (the book would’ve been very long), but I think that the connection between Wes and Kiersten would’ve felt more robust and certain if I had that concrete base to build on.
Besides that, I loved every single aspect of Ruin, from Kiersten and Wes’s getting over their fears to the awesome supporting characters, although Gabe was really misleading in the first book.
Toxic (Ruin, #2)
Release Date: March 4th, 2014
Gabe Hyde is on borrowed time. He’s been hiding his identity for over four years-hidden from the world that used to adore him–obsess over him–driven to the edge of insanity by one poor choice.
But that one choice, altered the course of his life forever. Pretending isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when pretending means hiding your real self from the people that care about you the most. But if anyone ever discovered the truth it wouldn’t just be his life at risk–but hers.
Saylor doesn’t hate men.
Just Gabe.
Only Gabe.
He’s a reckless, happy-go-lucky, silver spoon fed pain in her ass. Everything about him makes her more and more confused. Unfortunately, they both donate time at the same Group Home. If she wasn’t afraid of flunking, she’d be long gone. She hates that she’s attracted to him almost as much as he hates that he’s attracted to her–and she can tell, especially since their first encounter ended up making her knees so weak she couldn’t form coherent sentences for weeks afterwards. But the closer she gets to him, the more confused she becomes. He isn’t who he says he is, and he’s hiding something big.
What happens when two worlds collide? Two worlds that never should have met in the first place? Some secrets are too big to be hidden forever–the only question? Will he destroy everyone he loves? Or finally, bring about the redemption he’s been craving for the past four years?
Everyone has a secret…What’s yours?
• Note: In the epilogue, Gabe’s house is still covered with photos of Kimmy (Gabe’s now dead fiancée) and are apparently talking kids names… including ones that reference Kimmy
• Suicide (off-page)
• Depression
• Alcohol and drug abuse (off-page)
• The Hero, Gabe and his fiancée, Kimmy are in an accident. Kimmy is still alive but is paralyzed from the waist down and lives in a group home.
• The Hero is an ASS to Saylor: he feels very guilty for being attracted to her when his fiancée lives in a group home.
• Does have OTT sad parts.
• Doeshave OW (After an accident which was Gabe’s fault), Gabe’s fiancée is paralyzed from the waist down and lives in a group home).
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• No separation between the Heroine and Hero
• The Hero does push away
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 3.75/5 stars
Everyone wears masks. They come in all different shapes and sizes. The only problem with trying one on is that it fits. How easily do we fall into the trap of not having to be who we are? How easily we convince ourselves that we must cover up what we were born to be. It’s a tragedy that fear keeps us from our destiny. It’s hell when the person you were created to be is covered up by some cheap impostor.
This is the gist of Gabe’s problems. He has too many masks and doesn’t know how to deal with them, especially when they all meet.
Music plays a massive role in Gabe and Saylor’s life… and though it serves as an outlet to them both, there’s a reason why it’s so important to Gabe, yet he never plays anymore.
What Ruin lacked in the writing, background and overall drama was undoubtedly made up for in toxic. Toxic is the definition of an emotional roller coaster. Everything went together seamlessly; the emotions felt so tangible. Toxic would’ve been such a great hit, personally if, and yes, there’s an if, not for Gabe. Ultimately, I understood where he was coming from, but honestly? He created all of these circumstances himself. He thought he had to wear the masks and not face what was haunting him. He avoided everything to build the façade in his mind that everything was fine when, in fact, it was not!
I was so excited about Gabe’s story, and Rachel Van Dyken wrote it so well, but Gabe pissed me off so much! One of his comments,
“I was caught between wanting to comfort her and wanting to tell her to suck in her damn tears. There were bigger things in the world going on than her own insecurities.”
My mouth literally dropped to the floor. I know I’m coming off as very biased because, obviously, Gabe does (sort of) redeem himself in the end, but honestly, I couldn’t believe that he actually thought that! I was shocked and flabbergasted. Of course, there are more “important” things… like world hunger, war, genocides… things that have a global impact, but dude, get off your high horse because all I see and hear from you is a constant “poor me routine.” I know it’s a bit harsh, but seriously? Gabe ultimately created his own problems by hiding from everyone and everything and not facing his fears. It just pissed me off soooooooo much.
Gabe was possibly the most frustrating and uppity hero I’ve ever read. I think, even worse, was when Saylor got a talking-to from one of Gabe’s friends (I think Wes, but can’t remember for sure) about how she can’t judge him, given what he’s been through. Of course, Gabe’s past is horrible and sad, but it doesn’t excuse anyone’s behaviour. If Gabe does something that hurts Saylor, his trauma does not give him a free pass; he still has to apologize.
I was so done with all the excuses everyone in Toxic made for him. And I was so done that Gabe was comparing everyone’s baggage to his. As if people who experience trauma are in some sort of weird competition as if a person’s feelings are only valid if they are worse than Gabe’s turmoil (concerning his past). Biggest eye roll ever.
Basically, Saylor, the writing, and everything but Gabe saved Toxic for me. As I mentioned, I understand where he’s coming from, but ugh!
Fearless (Ruin, #2.5)
Release Date: March 9th, 2014
Nothing is ever certain in this life.
Which is why I’m about to do something crazy, impulsive, daring.
After all, what type of person would I be if I didn’t take my own advice?
I’m jumping off the cliff, I’m living fearlessly.
This is the continuation of Wes and Kiersten’s story.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• The Heroine deals with depression; her medicine gives her night terrors.
• Both the Hero and Heroine are dealing with the psychological effects of the Hero surviving his death sentence.
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• No Hero or Heroine pushing away
• No separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
“Girl runs into boy…” I read aloud.
Kiersten looked down at the card and read the next part, “Girl feels up boy.”
I chucked while Kiersten crossed her arms and scowled.
“Boy chases girl.”
“Girl–” Kiersten’s voice was hoarse, “–decides she wants to be chased.”
The next part was hard for me to read, I wasn’t sure why.
Kiersten put her hand over mine and slowly spoke for me. “Boy gets very sick.”
“Girl–” I held Kiersten tight. “–sticks by his side.”
“Boy and girl…” Tears streamed down Kiersten’s face, and she sniffed softly before she continued. “… fall asleep holding hands, and he tells her that even death couldn’t keep him from a lifetime of her smiles.”
A tear fell from my face onto Kiersten’s head as I murmured, “Boy lives.”
“Girl lives,” she whispered.
“They lived,” we said in unison.
The last line was a picture of us together with a giant heart drawn around it. Under the picture, Gabe had written … So LIVE.
Fearless is a novella continuing Wes and Kiersten’s story after Wes’s operation. I seriously loved Fearless–it had all the feels!
I felt Wes and Kiersten’s relationship was more descriptive and realistic in Fearless compared to Ruin. In this book, Wes and Kiersten had to cope with the idea of having their whole future in front of them–the world was no longer ending. For Kiersten, it was getting over and getting used to the fact that Wes is healthy and for Wes… it was living without an expiration date hanging above his head.
Fearless was so romantic and just overall adorable! You go to see both Saylor and Gabe, although I’m not sure if Fearless takes place before or after the Toxic epilogue.
A big surprise was that Fearless was told in the POV of Wes, Kiersten, and Lisa. Yes, ladies and gents, you get some pretty telling narratives from Lisa and I can tell you right now that her book will be amazing… and probably one of my favourites. I love the idea of a straight-laced guy with the “bad girl.”
Preview the Book I Haven’t Reviewed on Amazon Kindle
Shame is the last book in the Ruin Series.
Lisa and Tristan
300 pages
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