Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

"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."

Title: Perfect Ruin

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Type: Young Adult

Genre: Dystopian/Sci Fi

Tea: Black Cinnamon Tea, traditional on the surface, but has spice to it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This was my first novel by Lauren DeStefano and I really enjoyed it. The premise of Perfect Ruin is really interesting. A piece of the world is taken and put up into the sky. This novel picks up hundreds of years after that. One reason this really intrigued me is it reminded me of the movie Elysium that was released this summer. I really enjoyed that movie and was curious to see how it compared.

In Elysium you see the perspective of the people still living on Earth. In Perfect Ruin you get the perspective of the people living on Internment (their floating city). Internment, while sounding idyllic, has its faults. Including murder. That’s how the story starts off and just keeps running from there. I can’t imagine living somewhere that small and confined. It would be especially scary when horrible things start happening.

The monarchy on this floating city intrigued me as well. The city of Interment embraces some new advances, but takes advantage of older practices, such as having a king and queen instead of Democracy. It is also interesting to see how the royalty is affected by their isolation from the populace.

Ms. DeStefano has so many neat ideas in this novel that I can’t wait to see fleshed out in the next one. I would say more, but I don’t want to ruin anything! Let’s just say the ending left me wanting more!