Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - The Ruins

I wanted to like this book way more than I actually did, the premise is good but the execution is shockingly bad. I didn’t care about ANYONE, so I had no stakes in how the book went. All the characters are paper thin and two dimensional, and I just don’t find plants scary.

Maybe I would, but this book doesn’t sell it at all. Also, there’s NO RUINS. That just makes me annoyed, they’re mentioned but never actually a plot point in the book at all.

I did cringe (positively) at some of the stuff that happened, but even the body horror wasn’t that good. It wasn’t convincing or compelling enough for me to be grossed out- I can’t feel/enjoy the main attraction of this book. I would rate it lower but I enjoyed parts of it.

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ssummar's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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popham05's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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hails_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely loved this book.

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madicastle's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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rissasreading's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

3.7 - This was definitely exactly what I expected but also exactly what I didn't expect. I really enjoyed this one and every page was a different experience. I also found the characters easy to get into and enjoy reading. I also got so invested in this I was feeling so angry at Any for drinking the water, it was such an enjoyable reading experience. Even with what Eric went through.... My chest hurts thinking about it.

The ending was exactly what I expected unfortunately but it still had great twists and I didn't really know how it was going to end but I was so engrossed in the story I needed to know and it kept me reading.

Would recommend!

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