artsy musings of a bibliophile

Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano
young adult science fiction published by Simon & Schuster on 1 October 2013
first book in the The Internment Chronicles series

On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 15-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan’s older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

THE RATING

THE REVIEW

At a glance, Perfect Ruin seems to have it all; from the cover to the concept and the occasionally stellar writing. Yet I was left in a very conflicted state. Some characters in books ruin you while others just ruin the book for you (no pun intended). Perfect Ruin fit the latter category.

The people of Internment were banished from the earth by the God of the sky and forced to live in a floating island over the ground. Living in such a place, it is only inevitable that those without absolute faith risk questioning everything. Why are they all mated at birth? Why are there queues if you want to start a family? Why only the Furlows are royals? Questions Morgan would be better off not knowing the answers to.

But then Daphne Leander is murdered. Supposedly after she wrote a controversial essay on Intangible Gods; snippets of which start each chapter in the book. The essay fuels Morgan’s curiosity; taking over her tinted beliefs which she developed after Lex, her brother, jumped off the edge of Internment and almost died.

I get it. I get the desire to want to walk right over the edge of the world, to dream about disappearing into the unknown. But something is always stopping us. Whether it’s our conscience or the need to be normal. Morgan knows she has to be the saner child but when she encounters Judas, it’s like she has found her purpose in life. First, her passivity oozed from the pages and then her beliefs are stripped away fully in a shocking realization but she’s just… okay with it all.

‘Now, when I think I should be crying, all I can think of is the ground.’

It’s no wonder that I wanted to shake Morgan into oblivion after that. Her world is crumbling in front of her and all she can think about is running away still. Yes, she is selfish, flawed and unsure of herself but all of it is to the point that it makes me question if she really is that dumb. Unfathomable.

Basil, her betrothed, is clearly devoted to her while Pen, her best friend, is the complete opposite of Morgan. Her mother copes with her depression by cooking excessively for her children while, her father is burdened with his job as a patrolman. Lex, her brother, is too preoccupied with chasing his demons away by writing about them and Alice, his wife, has accepted to live life as Internment has chosen for her to live.

Despite all the eyebrow-raising questions and the history behind the island and the God of Internment, Perfect Ruin fell short. Catching all those glimpses of Daphne in her essay and reading about Judas’ closed off personality, I so wish that the book was written from her point of view. I really would have loved it then. I can’t help but think that Morgan is undeserving of the ending in the book. But hey, we can’t have everything now can we.

THE QUOTES

‘Time was our very first king. We all live our lives to the aggressive ticking of the clock. We don’t question that our lives are a grid of seconds; even our pulses oblige. No succeeding king can hope to hold this kind of power.’

‘People die, and everything they’ve ever said just echoes around and around. There’s nothing new. Only the same nonsense from their lives.’

Top Ten Tuesday: Books for Starters in YA Science Fiction

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Science fiction is currently divided into a dozen sub-genres which means that there’s something for everyone. So I decided to pick up ten of the most popular titles that YA science fiction has to offer. There are no descriptions because it’s all pretty self-explanatory.

So have you read any of these? If not, do you plan to?

Essentials of Science Fiction

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There is no one universally-accepted definition of science fiction and as the genre develops more and more, sprouting new sub-genres; the present definitions are blurred even further. Today, I talk about the science of fiction that turns it into science fiction.
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A SENSE OF WONDER

The concept of space and time is as old as the Big Bang itself and cocooned in our own world, we often tend to forget how vast it really is. As children, we used to find wonder in the every little thing, our curiosity spilling out in the form of endless questions. But as we get older, that curiosity is curbed to a great extent. We become overwhelmed with living our lives where studying and working are the top priorities. We simply lose the sense of wonder so much so that we wouldn’t mind going through sensory overload once in a while. 
Good science fiction contains an element of wonder; there’s always something we haven’t come across yet., something that hasn’t given away wonder in order to become mundane. A new possibility. A beginning of what-if. Something that pokes at your beliefs. We know it isn’t real but entranced by the possibility, the implications of the action being taken, the immense plot revealed for the reader in all its glory; we develop a sense of wonder.

PLOT REVELATIONS

There’s always the question of whether the plot will manage to leave us in shock and awe. This is a turning point in any science fiction because it tests the reader as much as it tests the character because both are experiencing the full force of it for the first time (usually). It can end either way. Probably why there are so many things one can simply love or hate, there’s no inbetween with them. It’s like the fate of the world depends in the hands of an 11-year-old Ender and everything is alright in the world again.

Or not.

The worst case scenario is when the revelation just leaves you indifferent. You cannot bring yourself to care no matter what you do. All you can think is why would any reasonable person do this. The fate of the world cannot depend on an 11-year-old Ender because duh.

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THE MYSTERY ELEMENT

Science delves into mysteries all the time whether it’s testing out a new technology or developing a cure for cancer. Science fiction works the same way. Sometimes it’s better to tell the backstory than to show it. The mystery can either be about what’s going on with the story of the characters in it as long as the reader doesn’t lose interest. If the execution is done right, our curiosity is fed.

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PLAUSIBILITY

It’s always been said that there’s only so much you can read about until it turns into a cliche. Science fiction hasn’t escaped that fact but this doesn’t mean that readers don’t want plausibility. I’d like to think that there’s a reasonable explanation, a science behind it all. Questions are just the beginning. As a reader, I want the book I’m reading to make me curious and not just gloss over the details to get to the romance or the main conflict.

Scientific plausibility is a plus in science fiction. Sometimes, TV shows and movies ignore it which only angers hardcore sci-fi fans. We all know time travel isn’t possible (yet) but if there’s a possible explanation of it, I’d like to know!

(This is not to say that I will hate a book if it doesn’t explain the science properly because a chance of it really happening on earth is really no comparison to teleporting but that doesn’t make teleporting any less awesome.)

EMOTIONAL PUNCH

You’re reading a science fiction book which has everything. An absolute sense of wonder about the setting, the plot reveal shatters your illusions about life, the mystery is too hard to handle and it feels like something that could totally happen right now- but the main character is a drab. Instead of the book giving you the emotional punch, you want to give the main character a kick in the gut. You’re baffled because the concept is out-of-this-world good but the character is ruining everything for you. You’re not emotionally invested, there’s no moment happening and you feel like you don’t care about the stakes because you don’t know their importance.
That’s the power of emotion; it can make or break a science fiction for you. Pixar knows it.
Oh, WALL-E… *goes into a corner and sobs* Source

Two Full Circles

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I’ve been blogging for two years. I never thought I’d say that.

Blogging gives me a feeling of content; it’s something I do and want to keep doing. During my first year of blogging, I pretty much did what I saw others doing because I was learning. But this past year has definitely made up for all that. I’ve made friends, I’ve read books I never would’ve otherwise and I’ve discovered awesome blogs.

For all of this, thank you. I’m grateful to be a book nerd. Despite everything that goes wrong in our bookish world, we somehow pull through it.

As for shininess of the blog, I should admit that I’ve been working on and off on this since July. I’m in no way a professional but let me tell you, tweaking is hard. I wanted to give up so many times and I’m still not really done because I feel like I need to uh, tweak some more.
But the difficult part is done. This look is more me: an introvert, a little askew and a lot more bookish. I love shapes (I still hate math) so you’re going to see them on the blog more often. I still love textures. I was going for a crayon look but I’m happy with what I ended up. I used the barn tones palette by Jessica because I wanted the blog to look more put together but with a pale pop of color.

Now that I’ve got the hang of it all of it (okay, pretty much), here’s to another year of improvement, accomplishment, books (!) and bookish friends.

P.S. A shoutout to Eve for making sure that I was not going crazy with the redesigning.

Top Ten Tuesday: Sci-Fi Cover Redesigns That Should Exist in Print

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Covers matter. Sometimes it so happens that an absolutely gorgeous cover is redesigned to target a different audience. Sometimes they’re just bad. But sometimes, someone decides to redesign a cover which turns out to be absolutely perfect. As it’s Sci-Fi Month, I’m focusing on sci-fi cover redesigns that should exist on this planet in print. Till that happens, I’ll just gaze at these:

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