This book was just sadly not for me! I was hoping for something different but it turned out to be something I was not expecting, which is okay and I'm sure someone else would love it!

I'll be brutally honest, I was so excited for Ruinsong. I finally found the time to read it and wish I didn't... it just overall turned out to be such a major disappointment. The world-building was missing something for me. The plot dragged. The characters lacked depth. The absence of character development was glaringly obvious. The antagonists were merely evil for the sake of being evil. This book just felt flat. It felt like I was waiting for something significant to occur, for it to captivate me and make me care about the characters or their fate but that obviously didn't happen. I DNFed this at 48%

Lush, romantic, and beautiful. I love this book and I loved these characters. Can't wait for the next one from Julia Ember.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars

I tried my best to like this book, but I found it incredibly boring and lacking in what was promised. The main character had a lot of qualities that did not appeal to me. I was so excited for this premise and what it offered. Queer characters are my favorite to read about, but this book just did not deliver on the romance like I thought it would. I was definitely disappointed by this.

I think I'm on rival royal overload- there have been so many! I couldn't get into this one and I think it is more due to burnout than the book.

This was quite unique in the way that magic is used through song. The current queen invites two from every household to a yearly event where a mage sings a song and the torture that it brings gets now ruthless every year. Many people die. They are constantly watched for any small infraction which can result in a song being sung at them. The magic songs are rarely used to help heal.

Cadence is a mage singer forced to do the queen's bidding. Remi is from a wealthy family and was once Cadence's friend as a child. When Remi and her family are threatened, she is forced by the queen to be a companion to Cadence. Little does the queen know..... People are about to come for her...

It was a nice story that was easy to get through and I feel like there should be a sequel because I want to know what happens after that ending.

Glorious Sapphic dark academia. Perfectly paced, clear character voices and an exceptional twist on an enemies to lovers trope.

Unfortunately, this one was just not for me.

I tried to pick it up and I could not connect to the story. But, I don't read much from this genre anymore.

You guys don’t understand how obsessed I am with this book. The magic system- divine. The characters - exquisitely complex. The plot- unreal. The world building- lush. The banter- lives in my mind. Themes and messages- dark but so so important.

I could easily read twenty more books set in this world and would love to see so much more!! Highly highly recommend to fans of darker fantasy with amazing representation!

I picked up Ruinsong as soon as I saw that is a Phantom of Opera with queer romance, while I haven't seen too many similarities between the two as advertised, I definitely enjoyed the aspects of music and magic , elaborate ball gowns and masks. The coolest thing about this book is how it mixed magic and music together where Cadence singing voice is used as a form of torture device by the Queen- to be honest I thought it came off as a twisted little Mermaid story. When Remi another POV and a childhood friend of Cadence is captured and subjected to her torture for an alleged treason, Remi's heartbreaks because she reckons she no longer knows her friend. However a chance encounter makes them realize they have similar end goals, the girls need to rely on their alley-ship to stand up against the queen!

The story is dark and abundant with plot twists while the characters are complex and layered, the author did not hesitate to open a dialogue about gender and sexuality in the prejudiced society which I thought was well done.However I thought readers would have enjoyed more world building given how lush it is as well as wished for more development in regards to the relationship between Cadence and Remi. Overall it is an enjoyable read!

Rating-3.5

This book had two really well-drawn heroines, incredible worldbuilding, and fantastic fat rep. I was utterly hooked from the first scene. I loved how the magic was connected to song, and all the history of the goddesses and revolution.

Totally not what I was expecting but I loveeee it! I was so happy it was a stand alone and I was delighted to see that it dealt with sexuality so wonderfully! I loved Cadence's character and her arch from cowed to conqueror. Ember is a deft writer and the pacing was incredible. Highly recommend this one!

In Ruinsong by Julia Ember the power of song takes on a whole new meaning. Cadence grew up with the power to heal or hurt with just the power of her voice, but when the Queen takes interest in her growing power she becomes little more than a puppet. Remi is from one of the noble families that is tortured every year by order of the Queen for how the nobles used to hold power over everyone else. These girls were best friends when they were small, but it has been years since they saw each other. A chance encounter brings they both together. They hate the world the Queen has created, but are they strong enough to help change their world? This is a fantastic fantasy novel!

3.5 Stars

A fresh retelling of a story that is finally not a fairytale retelling.

Darkly magical. Musical. Sapphic.

While this book is not perfect, and I always struggle with the lack of world-building in YA fantasy, I think this book is going to be very easy for me to recommend to my YA customer.

I am always looking for more books with a magic system that has even just a little bit to do with music, and this was a nice start!

Beautifully written and super engaging! This book kept me excited all the way through.I will definitely recommend it to my students who enjoyed Divergent or Vicious.

I love the world building in this book, and that it was based on Phantom of the Opera. However, I thought the pacing was a bit slow, so I struggled with reading it at times. I did enjoy the characters, and I found the magic system very interesting. I also loved the F/F aspect of the book. Overall I enjoyed the book, but I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would.

Also, please note content warnings for:
Animal/Pet death
Abuse
Torture

I think the first thing that comes to mind after having read this book, is that if I hadn't been told it was a Phantom of the Opera retelling I don't think I would even have noticed. I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. And I don't think that it was written poorly, it just happens to be forgettable.

The main character, Cadence, is essentially a prisoner to the ruthless wants of the Queen of her country. In a bit of a turn, said Queen was not born into nobility. In fact she overthrew the system to get to where she is. But once she was in power, she became so hell bent on punishing those who once at the top that everyone in her country suffered.

This book had a bit of former best friends to enemies to lovers in what would have been a rather wonderful bit of Sapphic romance in this fantasy world. But to be quite honest, while I was rooting for them, I also wasn't too emotionally connected with them either.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Publishers for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved everything about this book. The world building was done so well. I couldn't get enough of this world. It was lush and the magic system was fantastic. While the romance was insta-love it was done good and I was ok with it. The characters where morally grey and I love that. This book definitely gave me Phantom of the Opera vibes.