4.5 stars

Need. Sequel. Now.

That is all I have to say about this. No just kidding, but ummm... I do need it. Preferably right this second.

I really love this series! I love the characters! I love the political intrigue! I love the characters! I love the world building! I love the characters! Oh yeah, and did I mention I love the characters?

Honestly I really don't have much to say about this book. It was great to be back with these characters again, and the plot just got even more interesting.

But ummm... what else is there...?

I don't think I liked this one as much as Ruined. It was still very good, but it lacked the spark of something that made Ruined so wonderful. I don't quite know what, but this one felt like something was missing.

It also just felt... a little unpolished. I'm not one hundred percent sure this is the book's fault, seeing as I read it on the iPad, and therefore the formatting sucked. So that might have been why I felt this way, I'm not sure. But I did feel that way, so either the book was a little unpolished, or it just wasn't quite good enough that I wasn't distracted by the sucky formatting.

Also they added in a bunch of unnecessary different perspectives... It wasn't bad later on, but at first it was SO frustrating, especially since all the new ones were at the ruined camp, so I would get three or four chapters of them before I got back to Cas, and well... Cas was who I really cared about. I mean, Em and Aren and Olivia are great and all, but... Too much of them, not enough Cas. Why couldn't we have gotten, like, Galo's perspective? or Violet's? That would have been MUCH more interesting.

Still though, I loved this, I really did. I loved the chance to see Em and Cas and Galo and Iria and Aren again, and I loved the new characters as well. Er, well... character at least. Violet was amazing, and I hope to see more of her in Allied.

Overall, this book really was great. I would highly recommend this series, and seriously, where my copy of Allied?! I needs it. Needs it, needs it, needs it. (And yes, 'I needs it' is proper grammar, don't question me, oaky?) ( )

I listened to this on audio, so I'm not sure if I would have liked it better if I'd read it or not. It can be hard to live up to the first book and I think that's what happened here. The first book was interesting because Em was pretending to be someone else and carrying out this plot to rescue her sister and kill the royal family. So you had spying and assassinations and such. This book was a little slower I thought and dealt with the aftermath of the crazy ending from Ruined. The political maneuvering and alliances were kind of cool and I liked that we got a few different points of view. I definitely understand where Olivia is coming from, wanting to kill Cas and take over. She's been tortured by his family for years. But we have seen Cas' good side and I just want Em and him to be together! I'm also happy that Aren got more scenes and a love interest.
Overall, the book was okay. I think I would have payed more attention if I had read it instead of listening. I will for sure be reading the third book. ( )

This was an interesting book. I don't even know how to explain my feelings. There was a lot of frustration, disbelief, and utter lack of understanding of some of the characters behaviour and complete lack of reasoning. Mainly Olivia, she was a psychopath. Seriously, I get she had some trauma, but not enough to be so fucking insane.

The plot was very fast paced, the writing was easy to follow, but I felt like something was lacking. The characters just didn't seem to have much depth, and I wasn't as into Cas and Em as I was in the last book.

Overall, it was fun and basically entertaining, but also just a little too much for me. ( )

Avenged is the sequel in the Ruined series written by Amy Tintera. You start off this book looking at the story from Em's (Emelina Flores) point of view. This book switches the views of the character so you can see everyone's side of the story as it progresses. Em and the rest of the Ruined have returned to their once beautiful home of Ruina, it is now nothing but a wasteland and trees. After being surprisingly put into the post of queen after Olivia introduces a diarchy, the Ruined people must train and heighten their skills because Lera is going to attack. Em not only has to watch her people but she also has to watch herself as she goes back to thinking about her previous husband and King of Lera, Casimir (Cas for short). She murdered his true wed and took her place and took King Casimir's heart, though all of this came with consequence, now that her identity is out and Lera has fallen, she must band together with the country of Olso that has more than just a peace treaty in mind. They want their youngest Prince to marry one of the sisters and he has sadly set his eyes on Emelina. Can she forget Cas and marry the prince of Olso? What does the Prince of Olso want with her? And what are his intentions after they have kids...will he kill her or banish her?

This book is an amazing read and I promise once you start you won't be able to stop. I like how they switch the points of views to see how it affects all sides of the story and to see how each side feels about the other. Honestly this series combines everything I like in a book. It has fighting yet romance yet humor and all the things in between. I say if you like books such as the Selection, Wonder, or Three Dark Crowns this is definitely a book for you. It also hints at different things in society such as racism, one example is the Ruined themselves, they are shunned from society and aren't even considered as human beings because of their special gifts and powers, they are hunted by patrol guards and sentries for sport and treated as though animals or slaves. It gives great insight to modern society and also a sort of forbidden love between Casimir and Emelina. This book is overall amazing and I encourage reading it. ( )

Avenged is a fast paced, easy to read novel for young adults. I would recommend this book for older teens that enjoyed The Winner’s Curse, Cinder and The Hunger Games. While this book is very easy to read and understand, I would still recommend it for an older teen audience as there are a few scenes of excessive blood, violence and mentions of sexual relations. This book is the second in the series and readers will need to read Ruined in order to properly enjoy Avenged. It ends on a cliffhanger with promises of a third book in the author’s acknowledgments. ( )