I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The book follows a general travel book format. The biggest problem is that there are multiple points of view to go with the multiple main characters.

Gosh, I wanted to like this book so much and yet I just couldn't get into it. I'm a hardcord dnf'er if something doesn't hold my interest and this was a quick DNF for me. Because of that, I'll give a 3 star review, but boy this was not for me.

If you love the magical and the fantastical then this tale is for you.

A witch war is coming. This is a tale about changing your fate and ultimately accepting the role you were born to play.

https://wakelet.com/wake/TaeviJZrgKcC0eCkLZEGY

I love Calliope! She's an unlikely heroine who goes from underdog to bad** witch! I was cheering for her the whole time! She struggles to balance her two magics, two guys and two besties. I love her struggles and victories. Her quest into the Neverending forest was epic.

Calliope starts out in trouble. She's about to be auctioned off after being kidnapped, but that doesn't dim her sassy spunk. I love how action packed the start of this novel is. And it stays pretty fast paced the entire time. I was super immersed in the entire story!

Calla's found family is everything. She's besties with a siren and witch who won't practice her necromancy magic. She also has a thing for a thieving and deceiving witch (and possibly his super brooding, yet super appealing brother Gideon).

The story ends with a cliffhanger and I can't wait for book 2!

Ruinous Fate was a bit of a disappointment for me. I was truly sad to discover that this book was not the epic fantasy I thought it would be. I was so hopeful that it would be a wonderful work that could sit beside other excellent YA fantasies like Six of Crows, and The Rithmatist.

Ruinous Fate is really just a romance. Its nod to fantasy is that it’s set in a fantastical world where there is magic. There was no true world building. The plot mostly focuses on the multiple love triangles and angst ridden emotions that develop as the characters wander through a magic infested forest.

If you’re looking for a romance with solid LGTBQIA2S+ representation, then this book is for you. If you’re looking for a new fantasy with excellent world building, epic battles, and legendary adventures, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#RuinousFate #NetGalley

Fate does not choose the weak. Fate chooses the ready.
By the time I hit the 25% mark of this book, I couldn't REALLY tell you what the heck was going on. I was vaguely intrigued by the magic system, the world seemed interesting enough. But by the time our main character was being slutted up to sell in a magic-trafficing market? And the yucky feelings the way everything was written around that? I'm calling it quits. I'm out man.

#RuinousFate #NetGalley Thank you to NetGalley for the Audio copy of Ruinous Fate. The narrator is really good and keeps your attention. The overall book itself is a solid young adult story which tweens and young adults will enjoy due to it's fantasy elements and quick pace.

Calla is living the life of an outcast witch with some fellow outcast magical creatures. One wrong move sets her in the path of a handsome prince and together they and their friends set out to change the fate they were dealt. I love a good quest and this had all the best parts. It had intrigue, action, a double cross, magical encounters both prophetic and humorous. I very much liked the characters, though at times it felt like there were too many. I would have loved to have delved deeper into some of the side characters and I hope we will get more of that in subsequent books. Also, I found the magic and fates to be interesting, but really don't feel like I was left with a decent grasp of how they truly work. I kept waiting for more explanation, and I am hoping we will get a firmer idea of how magic and the fates work in the next book. This is a wonderful book to kick off this storyline.

Calla, a thief and con-artist, attempts to win a big haul and set her and her family up for life- but it all goes south. Quickly. She's now stuck on a quest with said family, her ex-almost-lover and her new possible love interest. They have to find some ingredients and magician to cast this really tough spell all before the next full moon. The plot is original, the way magic works in this universe is unique and the characters are unforgettable. There is some passive diversity among background characters but Calla reads as a white, cis-het woman.

Unfortunately after a few chapters I had to dnf. The worldbuilding was non-existent right from the start. There were way too many adjectives describing every single action or movement. But the magic system wasn’t properly explained! This wasn’t for me. I read YA fantasy often and it just wasn’t at the level of others. Also, I have the audiobook and the narrator is not great. The male voice was very similar to the female voice so there was no differentiation between them. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

ALC provided by Netgalley and the publisher post-publication.
I purchased a hardcover of this title independently.

Yo. Listen. As a librarian who interacts in an innumerable amount of titles annually (and someone who reads approx 500 books a year), all I can say is that this book came out 15 days ago and my soul is desperate to find out what is going to happen next. This book had me so invested in the world, the characters, and the story that I don't know what I am going to do with myself as I wait for the next volume to come out.

This has a lot of things that teen readers love: found family, magic/magical beings of all types, quests, complicated relationships (straight and queer), curses, warnings of magical war to come, heir/spare drama, queens on power trips that need to be dealt with, fates and destiny ... I am feral for the next volume that will likely not be published until at least a year from now.

Librarians, Put this in the hands of your teen TOG readers. Put this in the hands of your teen Serpent&Dove readers. Put this in the hands of your teen Six of Crows/Shadow and Bone readers. Put this in the hands of your teen Kingdom of the Wicked readers, your Elfhame readers, your Crave readers ... you get where I am going with this ...