I was really disappointed with how this book turned out after enjoying it so much before.
The miscommunication trope is my least favorite ever and this whole book was one miscommunication after another, one lie and misheld piece of information after another….
Celine, who had once been this strong female MC, took a major turn for the worse in this one. I thought her character devolution was truly disheartening in this book. You saw it in the 3rd book but I thought it was so much worse in this one.
I also thought the ending was super rushed and feels really unresolved. I’m not even totally sure how it all happened and it was all just kinda weird.
Super disappointed in this one

Life got in the way and I could not finish the book. Thanks to the publishers for the chance to read the book.

Cannot believe this series is over!! This was such a good and intense finale, I am satisfied with the turn of events. This series is amazing if anyone is looking for vampires, secrets, betrayal, redemption and love in between!

As a whole I loved this series. This one was my least fav but definitely still a good read. Make sure you read all of them to get the full experience

This wasn’t my favorite. Celine never seems to learn and can be quite insufferable. The ending was fine but the story to get there seemed kind of all over the place.

4 stars 🌟

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the arc through netgalley and a finished copy in exchange for an honest review!

I think that I am in the minority in terms of enjoyment for this book, as many reviews on GoodReads and other platforms show that this was disappointing for a lot of people. However, I actually had a fairly good time reading this book, though it likely helped that I saw some of those reviews and may have lowered my expectations a little bit for that reason. I do think though that in the end that helped me enjoy the ending to this book more, because it's certainly interesting and unique.

So much has happened in this series that I wasn't expecting, and this book takes the cake for that. There were so many events that I did not think would happen, that actually did, and so I have to give Renee Ahdieh props for that with her writing. I do also think that this book was fairly fast-paced and that kept me interested, beyond just needing to know what happens to all of these characters. The ending of this book is also something that a lot of people had problems with, and while I won't spoil anything be warned it is NOT a happy ending. First of all, I do think that it was a little rushed, and things were left unresolved that I wish had gotten more detail (maybe like another 100 pages would've done it), so that was disappointing. However, I really thought the ending was fitting for this series as a whole, and I know everyone loves happy endings but I also enjoy endings that aren't happy, that are sad and heartbreaking and you see the ways it could have been prevented. This series gave me that, so even if it wasn't perfect I think the ending did fit well with what the rest of the series was building up.

As for the setting and worldbuilding, I enjoyed being in the Sylvan lands again, as in the last book the story split its time between there and New Orleans. I know that there was some more worldbuilding exposed in this book, but I wish there had been even MORE. I am an absolute sucker for world info dumps (not everyone's cup of tea), and so I definitely think this world could have benefited a bit more from that. There is some history of the Sylvan world that feels glanced over, or pushed to the side, that I think could have been helpful in understanding some characters and their motivations as well. There are some moments where it also feels like this story has lost the roots or the bones of the original book that I loved, and I wish there had been a bit more balance. Ahdieh's writing style however blends New Orleans and the Slyvan realm very well, and her writing for this series was as always deliciously dark.

Celine Rousseau is at her worst in this book, while I've never absolutely loved her in the previous books I've always found her very interesting and a good mirror to Sebastian. This is completely untrue for this book however, she constantly got on my nerves and basically unraveled as a character to become something so much worse than what I thought she could be. It's really complicated and full of spoilers so I won't really get into it, but it just wasn't it. I see what Ahdieh was trying to do with her story, but it didn't feel genuine to me and I really just did not like it. She was my least favorite part of this book.

Sebastien St. Germain is my favorite character of the series and always has been, he is also incredibly interesting and I loved seeing him grow as a character here. While he had to try to balance out some events happening in the world (thanks Celine) I think he was doing an excellent job with everything he could. He's dark, mysterious, and honestly the perfect character to be leading this series which makes it so much better.

Arjun and Pippa, the main characters of the last book, were pushed into the background a little bit again. However, I would still consider them main characters with how much attention this book gave them compared to other side characters (that I wanted to hear about). Their stories, especially Pippa's were very....uh interesting? I'm not sure how much I enjoyed them thinking back on the stories now, but at the time it was intriguing enough to keep me invested. I still love both of them and think they deserved their own series.

Other side characters felt like just that in this book, extremely side characters which I have to admit was a little disappointing. I know that the series has shifted its focus to include Arjun and Pippa now as well, so it took on two new main characters, but it's still sad. I missed Odette and the rest of Sebastian's friends and confidants. I think again, this book would have benefited from being a little bit longer and including more of the characters I've come to love during the series.

Overall, I definitely still had a fun time reading this sequel and it made me feel all the emotions, but there are ways it could have been greatly improved upon. I will look forward to reading more of Renee Ahdieh's books in the future, even if this sequel wasn't my favorite of the series.


- wish more focus on pippa and arjun - stories were strange
- Sebastian is still my favorite
- celine completely got ruined as a character for me

[TW: violence and gore, murder, loss of loved ones, war themes]

I have some mixed feelings about this finale. I wholeheartedly love this series, the atmosphere is immaculate- 1870s New Orleans vampires mixed with a fae world brimming with political intrigue, betrayal and the like (all my faves) and each book seemed to be even better than the last, adding more intricate world building, setting the stakes higher, and making me fall more and more in love with the characters.

And for the most part The Ruined was just that but somewhere along the way one of the characters started acting in a way that was completely off from their actions in the previous books and it threw me off. A very different mindset altogether. This felt like it was done to move the story along which I more or less get but wasn’t too entirely keen on.

The ending also felt very sudden. To be perfectly honest I feel like we didn’t get the closure that was needed. Either The Ruined should’ve been a bit longer to fully flesh out the resolution and some character arcs or the pacing from beginning to end should’ve been different.

Overall I find myself thinking about this ending and feeling unsatisfied with how it all tied up. However, for the most part I’m still very much in awe with Renee’s creativity with incorporating many elements and her stunning prose!

Renée Ahdieh’s The Beautiful Series comes to its conclusion today (December 5th) with the release of the fourth book in the quartet. The Ruined picks up where its predecessor left off and drops readers right back into the world of the Fae and other supernatural beings!

I honestly felt my expectations for this novel were pretty moderate, but unfortunately, the book ended up falling a bit flat.

I liked how fast-paced the story was and how easy it was to fall into the plot again. I also enjoyed seeing all of our favorite characters again and seeing how the events in The Righteous would all combine into a masterful conclusion.

However, there wasn’t any clear ending to certain plot lines and half of the minor characters became completely obsolete as the story went on. The story got bogged down with so many random bits of plot that nothing seemed fleshed out enough to leave any real impact on me as a reader.

I feel like this book could’ve been much longer and allowed for a more robust story with a great ensemble cast of characters rather than trying to squeeze so much plot into 400 pages and casting aside what could’ve been amazing subplots for the sake of a bizarre and semi-inconclusive ending.

I can understand what Ahdieh was trying to achieve with this book and the themes of love, loss, trust, and sacrifice; however, I feel like many fans of this series, including myself, would’ve preferred a more adventurous, thrilling, and more romantic ending for a book that is branded as a YA vampire/supernatural fantasy romance.

While I enjoyed my time with this series, I was just hoping for this story to play out in a different way. Ahdieh had the potential to create a wonderful conclusion to this ethereal series, but I ended up finishing the series with way more questions than answers.

*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’ve been waiting for this book!

Reading and owning the first 3 books, and waiting for this one to finally come out felt like torture!

So glad I was able to read this though!

I enjoyed it, and I can finally relax lol

This is the emotional conclusion of the Beautiful quartet. The book takes you through the growth and lessons learned about the lengths you will go to for those you love.

Is this a joke? You can't just end it like that! As a whole, I loved this series, but the fact that I stuck around and we were given a "finale" like that makes me pretty disappointed. The further it went the further it strayed from the first book and the less I began to care. I especially lost hope for Celine and was on the fence about Sebastien by the end. Honestly my favorite characters were Pippa and Arjun and I'll just say they were done dirty. They deserved so much better. Renée Ahdieh's writing is still just as mesmerizing and captivating as ever, the action was fast-paced and intense, otherwise it would have been two stars. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

So I didn’t read the beautiful, so I’m not sure if it’s something that I should’ve read before I read the ruined, but I love a good fantasy book and I just can’t seem to one that has such an interesting cover. The plot was a little confusing for me, and it was a little difficult to kind of get through. I might go back and read the prior book in order to see if it helps me flush out the story.

A massive thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!! I really enjoyed this book; definitely something I will tell my friends about!

"The Ruined" by Renee Ahdieh presents an intriguing blend of fantasy and romance within a lush, culturally rich setting. Ahdieh's writing style is beautifully descriptive, transporting readers into a world teeming with political intrigue and magical elements.

However, while the narrative is engaging and the world-building is vivid, the pacing at times feels inconsistent, leading to moments where the story loses its momentum. Additionally, some character motivations and developments could benefit from further depth and exploration to fully connect with the reader.

Despite these drawbacks, Ahdieh's talent in crafting vibrant settings and her knack for creating chemistry between characters cannot be denied. Fans of romantic fantasy may find enjoyment in this tale despite its pacing issues and character depth.

After the ending of the last book I was definitely anxiously waiting for this finale! And while I did enjoy the book, I was kind of let down of the overall vibe. By the end, I sort of hated the two main characters and it felt like it dragged too much. I felt like it didn't have the elements of intrigue and politics like the other ones and this sort of just felt like an ending just for the sake of an ending.

Of course the standouts were Arjun and Pippa but as for the rest, we're on thin ice. As for the story, I definitely think it had its good moments with angst and surprise, but having every POV was very jarring for sure!

I think as a conclusion, it was just difficult to have the same feeling as teh rest of the books because of how this was set up. I'd definitely still recommend the series, but I'd probably set my expectations just a little lower for the last book

I'm so thankful I had the chance to finish this series. It was an interesting ending to say the least. First, I've seen all the disappointment over how this went, but for me I thought it gave a bit of interest. This did not wrap up easily, and happily. IFYKYK. It did go on too long, and maybe too much more was added to the whole storyline, but I enjoyed it. It almost felt like a standalone book, with a whole new twist to the plot. I did love the ending and that there's still a lot of time to fix what was broken.

I might be in the minority, but this was a good book overall, even if some things were not happily finished, and some left unanswered.

"The Ruined" proved to be a letdown, particularly with its concluding chapter, leaving me dissatisfied and questioning the overall journey. The finale failed to meet the heightened expectations set by its predecessors, and rather than providing closure, it left crucial plotlines hanging without resolution. As someone who once held affection for the central character, Celine, I found her development in the concluding chapters to be jarring and unconvincing, leading to a complete disconnection from a character I had formerly admired. Ultimately, the lackluster ending and unresolved narrative elements left me disappointed and unable to appreciate what should have been a satisfying culmination to the series.

2.5 stars rounded up

This was...disappointing as an ending to a series I have adored so much. It mostly didn't read like a series finisher, and then the last few pages rushed to tie things up, but only sort of? It felt like there might have been a lot more potential story and this wasn't well-planned. The romance of the other books was lacking, we were jumping around a lot, and it just wasn't very satisfying as a conclusion. If this was just another installment in the series it would be fine if not my favorite, but as the end of the series it was a bit of a let down. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This one was not for me. I didn’t particularly enjoy any of the books in the quartet and The Ruined was my least favorite of them all. One of my biggest issues with it is what happened to Celine. She started off as a strong, independent, largely rational person and ended up as a completely delusional a**hole. There is no logical explanation for the devolution of her character.

I also hated how the entire plot relied on the misunderstanding trope and how it was never resolved.

I've given myself a solid 24 hours to digest this book and I've come to the conclusion that this book ruined the entire series for me.

The Beautiful was one of those books that was so beautifully written that you felt like you were truly in New Orleans with Celine. You felt all of her emotions and you rooted for her and Bastien.

You know who I actually ended up hating the most in this series? Celine. I loved Celine's no nonsense attitude in the first three books. She loved danger and she didn't care how she dressed or who liked her... but I truly don't know where that Celine went in the fourth book. Her actions absolutely ruined anything good about this book. She was a self centered spoiled brat who didn't care about literally anyone BUT herself.

Let me not get into a rant about Celine though. Let's talk about the major disappointments in this book. Not only did I wait years for this ending... but I ended up wishing I had never read it. I should have stopped at The Righteous because now I will never be able to reread The Beautiful.

The plot honestly was all over the place, we as the readers were still learning SO much and this was the last book? Why were things not getting wrapped up? Where were all the OG characters from The Beautiful? Where was THE ROMANCE? Why did this end the way it did? I truly can't justify anything from the entire book.

Also, Renee, you did us dirty with not only the ending, but with two side characters that we all ended up loving. IYKYK.

I honestly wouldn't recommend this book to a single person. If you could learn one thing from my review is to save yourself from this utter disappoint and end the series with The Righteous. Make up an ending in your head.

This book is titled The Ruined because it literally ruins the entire series.