Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
October 1, 2013
356 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon
On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-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.
Perfect Ruin is a very intriguing start to The Internment Chronicles. While this first book in the series did feel, in a lot of ways, like an introduction to the Internment world it is definitely its own story as well. We meet the characters: Morgan, her best friend Pen, Morgan's betrothed Basil, Pen's betrothed Thomas, Morgan's parents, her brother Lex and his wife Alice.
Internment is very much like our own world, but also very different. How their society functions is quite different - and in some ways reminded me a bit of Matched, actually. Those things that can't be decided by people, leaders are part of the Internment people's belief systems. Things they see as decided by the God of the Sky.
The more we find out about the island, the more I wanted to know. The focus stayed on Morgan, her internal struggles and everything she encounters after the incredibly shocking murder throws everything she knows - or thinks she does - off its axis.
I liked the story sticking with Morgan, with everything being so personal, but it kept something from really clicking for me. It seemed there should have been more about Internment; it was hard to imagine it as a whole, physical thing. I would have loved if it had felt more fully realized.
Morgan is not an emotional character. At points it does make connecting with her character more difficult, yet it also fits with what we know of Internment.
I really loved some of the secondary characters (one seemed to have potential to be a little like a character from Legend) and the turn the plot took toward the end. I have some high hopes for the second book in this series. Although I am a bit torn as to just how I feel about Perfect Ruin, it did remind me that I enjoy Lauren DeStefano's storytelling and I plan to finish the Chemical Garden Trilogy very soon!
Rating: 7/10
Happy early (maybe) New Years'!
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