3.5 stars This is a story of revenge and manipulation, with many twists and turns and characters that you can’t decide who to root for. The story is fast paced and covers a lot of time, as the fall takes years to perfect. Ivy is the main character and has had a loss at an early age. The story mostly follows her life but there are other points of view that are shocking. There are parts that feel a little disconnected, but the end is a fantastic ride.

This was such a great surprise for me. This book starts off under the pretense of a normal revenge thriller but then the twist makes it completely unique and satisfying. Ivy finds out name of the person who ruins her life, Ivy then sets out to ruin that 9ersons life by first infiltrating every aspect of her life. Ivy thinks she is going to get revenge... and she is so wrong. What Ivy doesn’t know us that she's the weapon and the scapegoat of someone else's revenge plan. The title is absolutely perfect for the story and has multiple layers to it once you get to the end. This was also a quick read and I enjoyed the author's writing style. I look forward to more from her!

ishy, diabolical and delightful! This is a first domestic thriller book by a romance author, and it shows in the tone, which is gossipy and fun with a few sizzling sex scenes. I would call this one more of a domestic drama than a mystery — even though it has a good central mystery theme and some murder, it feels more like a dishy book about revenge between women. Which I enjoyed.

Ivy, who narrates most of the book, is out for revenge against Lola for reasons we don’t learn until much later in the book. Her plan of revenge is fun to follow from the beginning, even as we begin to see that Ivy is a pretty terrible person. And we wonder if what Lola did can really be so bad as to warrant this plan? The reveals are fun and the audiobook is well-narrated. This is the kind of book to read or listen to when you don’t want to think too much and just want to sit back and be entertained. And entertained I was! Things get a little outlandish and soap-opera like towards the end — yet Williams totally pulls it off and the book is unputdownable from start to finish. Oh the drama and the craziness!

Thanks to Kensington Books, NetGalley and the author for this fun thrill ride. I hope Shanora Williams keeps writing thrillers. I will keep reading!

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Shannan – ☆☆☆
THE PERFECT RUIN is a suspenseful thriller focused on revenge. These characters are written to be disliked. You don't want to sympathize with them and as soon as you do, they do something to again make you dislike them. I couldn't find any redeeming qualities in the characters, which makes for a hard read for me. I'm not used to reading like that. I think that's my reasoning for the three-star rating. It wasn't a bad read but not one of my favorites.

Ivy is required to see a therapist and she's writing what happened since the last time they saw each other. Ivy had a horrible time with life as a teenager, which requires her to see a therapist weekly. The therapist finds out the name of who made Ivy's life miserable. Ivy plots revenge against Lola by weaving herself into Lola's life and destroying it from the inside out.

Like I said, I didn't find it a bad read but the characters written like they were (which I get was necessary for the plot), were extremely unlikeable. The pace was fast, the suspense was high. Overall, a fair thriller read.

The Perfect Ruin

“You are just a woman. A woman with hate in her heart and darkness in her soul.

You hate yourself, so you take it out on everyone else. You are scorned. Broken. Pathetic.

You will suffer at my hands.

I will ruin you . . . and you won’t even see me coming.”

With a prologue like this I knew I was going to be in for a wild ride and this book did NOT disappoint!!! This story was told in dual points of views with shocking twists and revelations that I DID not see coming. At one point I felt like was catching flies with the way my mouth was hanging open while reading. I love a thriller that can keep you entertained and on the edge of your seat while reading and this book did just that and then some.

The characters in this book in my opinion are all trash. The moment I tried to feel sorry for one of them they would go and do something lowdown or a twist was revealed. I didn’t like anyone of them which made the story even more entertaining for me!

I’m shocked that this is Shanora Williams first attempt at writing a thriller because this story was solid. The pacing was on point and definitely a favorite read of mine for this month!

DNF.

I was much anticipating The Perfect Ruin, ever since I first learnt of its inception, and therefore am disappointed that it ended up being a let-down for me. In my opinion, there was such an obvious discord between its actual plot, its every characterisation, its writing, etc. that I was left feeling unable to enjoy anything I was reading.

The Perfect Ruin is a twisted tale of revenge, heartache, and a sadistic way to make sure someone pays for their past misdeeds. However, the one getting revenge isn't always the one you suspect! Everyone has secrets and no one can be trusted - NO ONE! The saying is also true - keep your friends close and your enemies closer! While each character thought they had everything under control there was truly only one who is truly in control. Shanora Williams debut thriller keeps you memorized to the last page and then stays with you long after. I'm in love with this side of Shanora Williams and can't wait to see more of her suspenseful side. I don't want to go into the characters and plot of the book too much because I don't want to give away the slightest bit of details. You Need To Read This Book Now (that's all I will say)!

Amazing Thriller!

I've been a lover of all Shanora's books for years, and when I heard she had a Thriller coming out I jumped on the chance to read it.

This story is insanely good.... Ivy has been seeing a therapist for over 10 years to try to help with PTSD from the tragedy that befell her family leaving her alone. Revenge is what Ivy has dreampt of for years, to get back at the person responsible, and it is handed to her on a silver platter. This story of revenge is suspenseful and will keep you glued to your seat reading to find out what happens.

The ending throws in a total plot twist that had me reeling..... Omg I was like WHHHATTTTT???

I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read more thrillers from Shanora Williams!

I received an ARC for my honest review.

Ivy was a girl living her best life until tragedy struck and now she knows who caused it. Will she get her revenge? Lola is a woman who has everything but she’s hiding things. What will happen when the past comes for a visit?

WHAT A RIDE!!! I don't read thrillers so this is totally my first one. However, Shanora Williams is not a new author to me. I LOVED her books. They're some of my favorites so I decided to gave this book a try.

To be honest, I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters, and I had a hard time liking them. None of them was likeable. BUT since it's a thriller and based on revenge, I tried to look at the book from a different point of view. Be very open minded!!

Ivy's life was destroyed at a young age, and Lola was the caused of it. It was not revealed to what happened until later in the book. Ivy came up with these ideas to bring down Lola by becoming a close friend. Things happened, and I just couldn't help but gasp at things that happened. AND THAT TWIST!!!! I'll have to say, if it wasn't for this twist, I probably would have give it a 3 stars, but THIS TWIST knocked me out of my chair!!! I am totally shocked. I TOTALLY didn't see it coming. It changed my feelings towards Ivy. I ended up pitying her so much that I hope Shanora would continue this world.

If you love thrillers, give this one a try!!! You'll be surprised.

This début thriller from Shanora Williams was a really riveting read. The author normally writes romance novels.

Ivy Hill had a happy childhood but all of that ended when her family tragically died. Enter Lola Maxwell; the person who killed Ivy's nearest and dearest. When Ivy's therapist, Dr Marriott Harold reveals Lola's identity to Ivy, so begins an elaborate plan of revenge...

Set in Miami, this was a compelling and engrossing tale. Very swiftly paced it had many twists I did not preempt. The characters were well created and developed and mostly an abhorrent group of individuals, though they were good in their respective roles. With plenty of drama, there was certainly no room for tedium or boredom. The Perfect Ruin is definitely a novel where the reader is better off knowing as little as possible going in, so vagueness is key. Suffice to say I found this well worth reading and I'm glad I opted to read it. I hope the author continues to write psychological thrillers.

Disclosure: Thank you to Kensington Books/ Dafina via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Perfect Ruin by Shanora Williams for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Happy release day to this mind-chilling tale of a revenge so unfair that will make you want to wash your hands after finishing this book.

No matter what you do, you never mess with limited knowledge, you never underestimate someone’s passion to be cruel, to be vengeful so you always treat people with kindness. This book captures the maddest, saddest and the most horrifying parts of revenge and of innocent tragedy. I’ve read my fair share of cruel crime novels like these but this had that cruel factor a notch high.

The writing of this book is beautiful, the characters are so diverse and have growth throughout the book, the humanity is missing, the basic necessity of the right and wrong is broken in every page, the plot has a slow start and a one that isn’t explained from the start and that made the start a little vague for me.

The intensity of the story only started after half the book was done. I started reading it at a faster pace and wanted the book to be done in a way that I expected but alas! I knew what was coming and I still tried to reason with my hopeful self that something would change. This book does exactly that, it’ll make you want an ending that you build in your mind so bad but I don’t think the one in our mind will ever happen, so giving all of you a fair warning.

This book isnt for the weak hearts! There are a ton of triggers and those who do not like malicious thrillers are being warned. Well on the whole this book is quite fabulous and I’d recommend it for a quick, intense read. Consider reading the full review on my blog, link in bio ✨
Thank you @valentine_pr_ @greyspromo for the ARC.

The. Perfect. Story!
This is a book that once I start started I couldn’t put it down.

Brutally raw, intense and suspenseful, this psychological thriller is on a league of its own.

The build up, the suspense, the trying to figure out what direction the story was going to take, only to find out…oh snap…no she didn’t! The scary part of this story is the not knowing and the anticipation of what was going to happen.

Chapter one reveals a secret name of someone that ruined our heroine Ivy’s life. This discovery has Ivy embarking on a twisted journey that literally had me on the edge of my seat.
Getting even take on a whole new meaning when Ivy starts to plot her revenge for the person who ruined her life years ago. It made me wonder who would do that, and I was surprised at my answer. It made me rethink about what we put on social media.
How Ivy begins plotting to get close to the antihero was perfectly executed. The twists the surprising revelations. The secrets, the need to know what happened, who are these people and WHY?

Well written, the scenes were so well developed and so vivid I felt like I was watching a movie.

This story has no heroes, these characters are not nice and for the most part they’re not likable and that was refreshing for me.

Finding out the Why and all the secrets at the end was frustrating but it knocked me sideways with the best book hangover!
4.5 stars!

Ummm wow. I was thoroughly engaged with this book and could not put it down until I found out what happens at the end. There were so many little twists and turns in each moment that kept me on the edge of my seat (metaphorically as I was reading in bed, although I did sit up a couple of times because it was so compelling).

Williams did a great job of pulling me into Ivy’s revenge plan, and I really enjoyed reading it from the point of view of Ivy writing to her therapist. It’s crazy (pun intended) to see what a person can twist to justify their actions. Lying...cheating...maybe even murder?

We all want what we don’t have, but then sometimes you realize it's all a façade. That life is always sunshine & roses. While there are innately not-so-good humans out there, those we idolize or put up on a pedestal may be just as broken, twisted, or consumed with appearances as the rest of us.
•••••

Thank you @valentine_pr_ for the book.

The Perfect Ruin was amazing...it rocked me to the core. It's a gripping, twisted, fast paced, intense dark thriller wrapped into one epic and suspenful masterpiece. The depth of the entire storyline and the writing is STELLAR!! Bravo!! #ThePerfectRuin #NetGalley

Wow did I love this story! It was so different from what I'm used to by Shanora but it was just as captivating. The twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved that the story was from various characters' perspectives and you could really get deep into their mind, understanding what was going on. Great story!

I am completely obsessed with this story! It was absolutely nothing that I thought it would be and every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. Shanora Williams wrote the most twisted story and I am desperate for more!! This truly is The Perfect Ruin because it ruined me!!!

Wow! The Perfect Ruin was exactly the kind of book I didn’t know I was looking for. I’m mostly a romance reader, but also like to venture into other genres from time to time. Shanora Williams being one of my favorite authors, it was a no brainer that I was expecting great things from this thriller. The plot was really interesting and the twists surprising. The writing was a so different, yet refreshing: the main heroine Ivy describing the action as a letter to her therapist. She was such a difficult protagonist to connect with at first, but I couldn't help being invested in the action happening, even if she was clearly mentally unstable. Her only focus was set on her revenge plan to the point she appeared apathetic. I so wasn’t expecting the big twist toward the end and was completely flabbergasted by it! If you're looking for a read that will keep you on the edge of your seat, don’t look too far and try The Perfect Ruin. The ending is still open and I feel like a sequel should be written.

Ivy’s childhood ended when a tragedy ended her happy family life, and now that she has a name for the person responsible, she gains wealthy socialite Lola’s trust and slowly infiltrates into her life, friendships, and marriage, on her missions of vengeance. Will Ivy’s obsession with revenge be her downfall? This talented author has done a wonderful job in weaving this psychological thriller, which is filled with lies, deception, revenge, secrets, betrayal, twists, suspense, mystery, and passion, which all leads to a riveting and addictive page turner which had me totally hooked and intrigued throughout. I look forward to reading more from this talented author whose work I highly recommend.

This was a suspenseful thriller that had me hooked from the very beginning. I could not put this one down, reading it well into the night and diving right back in first thing in the morning before the kids woke up, just to finish it. It was about as un-put-down-able as anything I’ve ever read.

Ivy has just been given the name of the person who ruined her life. Instead of acting quickly and irrationally, Ivy takes her time with that information and hatches a plan for total destruction of Lola Maxwell, the woman who completely and utterly destroyed everything good in her entire world.

Lola is a mega rich socialite with a handsome surgeon husband and the perfect life. Ivy infiltrates her life and begins to, step by step, dismantle her beautiful world. She becomes her new bestie and causes rifts in Lola’s friend group. It’s when she gets caught up in a spicy affair with Lola’s husband Corey that things start to veer into the realm of uncontrollable.

But, with the life that Lola lives, it turns out that she may have ruined more than just Ivy’s life in the past… and Ivy will just have to get in line in the path of taking Lola down.

This book is dark and sexy and completely addictive. You will go through parts of this book not knowing who to root for or how to feel, but it is all part of the genius process of author Shanora Williams. This one will keep you in the edge of your seat from beginning to end!