Ruin Road is social commentary reimagined as YA horror. A supernatural manifestation of exploiting and profiting from the suffering of Black communities through housing. Cade is a character that you root for and you grow with him throughout the story, you empathize with his grief, the pressures and the racism he experiences daily. Compounded with the storyline of wishes gone awry with a twist this is a engaging read until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3.5/5 ⭐️ I thought this story was good about a young boy being the only black boy in school and playing on a football team with a dream of trying help his family leave the hood! The supernatural element was surprisingly good and worked well in the story especially dealing with the racism and discrimination happening on an everyday basis with Cade! Brady is on a whole another level chile! You have to read to understand! I predicted the twist very early on and was right! Overall enjoyed the book but I love The Getaway more! But you’re always rooting for the MC’s and that’s what matters!

This is my second book by Lamar Giles and while I thought it became a bit convoluted in the middle it was a really good read. For readers who enjoy Tiffany Jackson, this book is for you. I love the way the author weaves together fantasy and reality.

Lamar Giles does it again! If you enjoy YA horror that incorporates elements of social horror, racism, classism, etc., definitely give this a read. Huge thank you to Scholastic and Netgalley for my review copy!

**4.5-stars rounded up**

Do I think Ruin Road will work for everyone? No. Was Ruin Road for me? Absolutely. This intriguing and heart-wrenching YA Horror was right in my lane. Lamar Giles has quickly become a new favorite!

I first read from Giles when I picked up, The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power, a few weeks back. His story, The Protege, stood out as one of my favorites of that collection. I knew after I read it, I would need to pick up more of his work as soon as possible. As luck would have it, I already had a copy of his latest Ruin Road, but with this absolutely STUNNING cover, I knew I wanted to save it for closer to Halloween, which is exactly what I did.

In this story we follow high school student, Cade Webster. Cade is star wide receiver, with the hopes and the potential to eventually be drafted into the NFL. Cade works hard and stays humble. He lives with his parents and little sister, all of whom he loves and adores. Cade also attends a private school, where he is one of only a handful of Black students.

He's sort of a guy living between two worlds; the one he grew up in, and the one of his peers at the posh private school. His quarterback drives a 911, or something insane like that. It's quite different from the world Cade came up in. Cade tries not to let those details phase him though. He just needs to stay focused, follow his father's life advice and achieve everything he can in order to make an easier life for himself and the rest of his family.

No matter how hard he works, however, no matter how much he achieves, Cade always has some people judging him incorrectly. Y'all, can guess. He's big, he's fast and he's Black. People keep their eye on him on the bus, let's say. With that in mind, one fateful night, when his helpful actions are misjudged, Cade is forced to flee a sketchy situation and ends up ducking into a pawn shop to avoid further altercation.

It's there that Cade makes an impulse purchase, and utters a poorly-worded wish, that will change everything. I loved this. It was such a perfect blend of hard-hitting Contemporary mixed with intense, brain-scrambling Horror-Thriller elements. The content and themes explored were so well done, but the character work was really the star of the show for me.

I can't tell you how much I appreciated Cade as a main character. First, I loved the fact that he was such a serious football player. Football is one of my passions and I've never really read any YA story that had that rep done so well. Additionally, everything else about Cade was impressive. I loved being in his head, and getting his perspective, as this story played out.

The Webster family is so fantastic. It was nice to read about such a close-knit group, with both parents engaged and involved and with Cade loving on his little sister so much. You could tell he felt the responsibility of being a big brother, and I felt like that was such a special thing to read.

I also loved the set-up of the detour into the pawn shop being the match that really lit this fire. It was giving me Needful Things, or The Auctioneer vibes, which I loved to see. Overall, this story was completely my style. If I am picking up a YA Horror-Thriller, this is what I am looking for. I would absolutely recommend this, particularly if you are a fan of Tiffany D. Jackson. IMO, this is giving the same level of quality as a Jackson work. In other words, top-freaking-notch!

Thank you to the publisher, Scholastic Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. My next task is to deep dive into this author's backlist. I'm looking forward to it, and whatever he has coming next!!!

"Needful Things" mixed with "The Purge", this all too real suspense/thriller, dare I say horror, leaves you gripping your seat. Cade is a likable character from the start, and you will find yourself cheering him on...despite what seems like some crazy and terrifying twists and turns.

This author Lowe’s how to write a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I never knew what was going to happen next.

2.5 stars

In this book, Giles takes readers on one of the most sinister rides.

Hits:
- Short chapters
- The Blackness - from the character interactions to the dialogue, I enjoyed how black this book was.
- The book's message - the message of this book was powerful and illustrated in such a dark and ominous way that left me to reflect.
- The important issues this book touched on - systemic racism and gentrification.
- The eerie and supernatural element that was put on the highlighted issues.

While I enjoyed those aspects of this read, I still struggled greatly with this one.

Misses:
- It took way too long for anything to actually happen in this story. For the first 60%, nothing of substance occurred. In other words, there were eyebrow-raising moments, but no *gasp* moments. Moreover, the book really doesn't start to pick up until the last 40%. Additionally, during the first 60%, the plot was jumbled and all over the place. It seemed like we were getting a lot of information, but none of it connected. Furthermore, it was like we had a 1,000-piece puzzle with no corner pieces. On the other hand, the book's ending did add some redemption for me as it was action-packed and intriguing.

Overall:
While I think I understand what this book was trying to do, I don't think it was executed well. I will continue to read from Lamar Giles as I love the sinister and dystopian touch he puts on real-world issues. However, this one just wasn't my favorite.

I have never read from this author but I really enjoyed this one. It was a little different and took me a while to get into but once I did, I was hooked. The story was a maze and I found myself thinking a lot through this book. If you like different and crazy in the best way, read this one!

Great dark horror from a perspective different from my own. Will written and easy. to understand. Regardless of who you are and where you come from. These characters are very easy to identify with. Great story.

This is not a genre I would typically gravitate to. However, I liked many elements of this story. The “gore” or “horror” was kept to a minimum. There was som pe parts of the story that I wish were more fleshed out. Good themes but could’ve hit the nail on the head a little bit better.

Ruin Road delivers a gripping, high-octane mystery that pulls you in from the start. The story revolves around a chilling crime in a tight-knit community, with the protagonist caught in a web of secrets and deception. The twists are relentless, and each revelation ups the stakes, keeping the tension high. The characters are well-drawn, with layered motivations that add complexity to the plot. The pacing is sharp, and the action doesn’t let up, making it a page-turner until the very end. I’d give it 4 stars for its intriguing storyline, strong character development, and the way it keeps you guessing.

I didn't know what to expect when reading Ruin Road, but I'm glad that I did because it was really good. The best way I can describe this book is to say that it was a rollercoaster of suspense with a well-developed plot. I liked the characters and found myself genuinely interested in the outcome. I also see similarities in this story and others written by Tiffany Jackson. I'd recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic for the eARC.

Fast paced supernatural YA horror. I did not know I needed a book like Ruin Road in my life, but I sure did. Fantastic.

A great read to start the season of ghouls. A young man with a bright future deals with the harsh realities of spoken and unspoken racism. He's a tool to be used at an elite prep school with his gifted athleticism, and he has to battle two different worlds. The world at home with his family and the world at school where he cannot take the words of his team and classmates at face value. Packed with the supernatural, this is a fast paced read.

Special thanks to the author @lamargiles @coloredpagesbt & @ireadya  for my gifted copy‼️

This book was really good first thing that came to mind was the 1986 movie Crossroads. It’s not completely similar aside from the making a wish/deal with the devil aspect. But in so many ways they both portray the same concept of “Be Careful What You Wish For.”

Cade Webster lived between two worlds and didn’t really have the best in either. With his dreams so close in reach his way out of hell was a football scholarship and soon the NFL so he could take care of his family. One night while on the way home he got involved in a situation and to avoid confrontation he ran into a pawn shop. His experience that night would be one to remember and would lead him straight to Ruin Road.

It was such a thrill seeing everything unfold and wondering how Cade would break his wish. The author was very detailed in painting a vivid picture of how fear can hold you back, the horrors of simply being a Black man/boy, the consequences of being mislead, and how greed can consume you. I also like how the author created Skinner’s character he was the grantor of tainted wishes and the collector of souls. The people of Jacob’s Court feared him and I felt their fear was what kept him alive.

Overall, the book was great and the pacing was fair enough to keep you engaged. He did an amazing job blending the eerie paranormal elements into the narrative. Nothing about this book was too scary to imagine. It also explored themes surrounding racial profiling, social acceptance, self-sacrifice, grief, family dynamics, and selflessness. Here’s another great book to add to your TBR.

Rating: 4.5/5⭐️

Cade Webster finds out that you should be careful what you wish for.

Being a star athlete at a wealthy school, and coming from a poor neighborhood, Cade knows what it’s like to feel like he doesn’t belong. After being racially profiled resulting in an encounter with the police, he wishes that people would stop being so scared around him … and it happens. This sets off unintended and terrifying consequences as reckless, fearless behavior spreads and Cade is up against a dark force he could have never foreseen.

This book was fantastic! I loved the way that the wish was circumvented and spins out of control. The background story of the evil forces at play was really interesting, and how it was all worked into the modern world played well. This is a book that is firmly grounded in real world issues with social commentary, but doesn’t feel like it’s preaching to you or lecturing you.

Cade is a promising teen football player when he encounters a mysterious pawn shop. He unwittingly makes a deal with the devil wishing that people wouldn’t be so afraid around him. I loved getting to know Cade and his family, crying along with him. Such a great story!

Thank you to @coloredpagesbt @ireadya and @lamargiles for the physical finished copy of this fantastic book perfect for Halloween being right around the corner.

This is my first book by Giles and it didn’t disappoint! I was able to put this one down, it started off a bit slow building the scene we’re out main character, Cade is not only a black kid in a vastly white majority school but he’s a big black kid at that on a scholarship at a prep school. The micro aggressions mentioned in the book were all too familiar, one quote that has stuck in my head was said by a minor character regarding our MMC “they should be happy to be here.” Now Sheila if you don’t take several seats. When questioned she said she was referring to the athletes but not sure if I buy that. This book was unputdownable and I flew through it so quickly. I loved the pacing and the character development of Cade and the connection between his family and his childhood friends. For me, this book was the perfect blend of horror and supernatural elements. Highly recommend for anyone wanting to dip their toes into horror like me.

Cade is playing football at a great high school, but his home is in the wrong neighborhood. No matter where he goes, people steer clear of him … he is a large, black, teenage boy. One night after his game is canceled, he ducks into a pawn shop and feels drawn to buy a ring. A statement told in jest is taken as a wish and Cade’s life is turned upside down. Will Cade be able to get out of his wish? What price is too high?

Ruin Road is a stand-alone blend of fantasy and thriller as readers try and discover where the story is going next and what side stories are related to the main tale. Giles has created relatable characters that pull at threads that link to issues in the news today and the story explores dark twists to many of our thoughts. A fast-paced read for all thriller fans.