#The Bones of Ruin

[lottiesoka]

i know that next to no one has read the bones of ruin series by sarah raughley but i enjoy it a lot so here are some rin sketches and an uma one because they're my favorites and their designs go hard

[wereadtoliveathousandlives]

“This body is mine. Why won’t they let it belong to me?”

The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Bones of Ruin | Author: Sarah Raughley | Publisher: Simon Pulse (2021)

[curlyhairedbibliophile]

Cover Art | The Song of Wrath by Sarah Raughley

Penny Dreadful meets The Gilded Wolves in this captivating sequel to young adult historical fantasy The Bones of Ruin that follows immortal Iris as she desperately tries to thwart her destructive destiny. Iris Marlow can’t die. For years, she was tormented by her missing memories and desperate to learn her real identity. So when the mysterious Adam Temple offered to reveal the truth of who she was in exchange for her joining his team in the Tournament of Freaks, a gruesome magical competition, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. But the truth would have been better left buried. Because Adam is a member of the Enlightenment Committee, an elite secret society built upon one fundamental idea: that the apocalypse known as Hiva had destroyed the world before and would do it again, and soon. But what the Committee—and Iris—never guessed is that Hiva is not an event. Hiva is a person—Iris. Now, no matter how hard Iris fights for a normal life, the newly awakened power inside her keeps drawing her toward the path of global annihilation. Adam, perversely obsessed with Iris, will stop at nothing to force her to unlock her true potential, while a terrifying newcomer with ties to Hiva’s past is on the hunt for Iris. All Iris wants is the freedom to choose her own future, but the cost might be everything Iris holds dear—including the world itself.

Artwork by Khadijah Khatib

Release date | Apr 18, 2023 Goodreads

[chloesimaginationthings]

Happy 1 year anniversary to FNAF ruin!!

[pink-pages]

The Bones of Ruin

Spoiler warning. Also mentions of colonialism, racism, and ethnocentrism

Wow!! Oh my god!! Wow!!! This book deserves far more than 5 stars. Sarah Raughley is a master storyteller. First of all, the way she explores social issues and morality in this book is incredible. I love how Raughley combines fantasy with very real aspects of the past to discuss themes like colonialism, racism, and ethnocentrism. Also, somehow she managed to write a story in which there are little to no good guys but you still love the characters.

I’ve got no clue how Sarah Raughley even conceptualized this book, much less write it. Like, both the main character and the reader go into the book completely blind. We’re all trying to put together the pieces and figure out what the hell is going on. I can’t imagine the organization it would’ve taken to break such a complex plot and world together into little pieces and then scatter those little pieces throughout the book in a way that didn’t give things away and made things make sense at the end while keeping some questions unanswered for the next book. Honestly, the story is just incredible.

If I’m being quite honest, it’s a bit hard to write about this cause my mind is still completely blown. There are still some things I don’t understand like why the massacre at Club Uriel. Did Max orchestrate that with Gram and Jacques cause it really doesn’t seem like his style. I loved the pacing of the story. I loved the dialogue (Max and Jinn’s bantering just straight up reminded me of the beach off scene from the Barbie movie). I loved the characters. I loved the references to mythology with the Norns and Cerberus. I loved the in universe lore like the Naacal civilization. I liked the Victorian setting. I liked that the book made me think. Sometimes, it hurt. Sometimes that book made me despair for humanity. That’s the mark of a good book, though. A good book should make you feel, and not disappointed or angry at the writing but feel for the characters and the world created. That’s what this book did.

Characters

Iris: I’ll admit it, I wasn’t expecting to like Iris as much as I did. In the first chapter, when it was talking about how good her instincts are and all that, I was like here we go again, another main character who’s tragically suffering from Mary Sue syndrome. As things went on, though, I saw more bits of her personality, her sarcasm, her banter with Jinn. I still think there’s some Mary Sue-ism about her, but I found that I could push that aside because I liked her sarcasm. I liked her independence. I respected the way she took charge of the team. I also liked how she tried to get to know the competitors in the competition and how she treated them like people and less like obstacles.

Jinn: There’s always gotta be at least one love interest of the MC that I fall in love with. Lol. Usually it’s not the stoic one though. I think what I liked about Jinn that made me like him so much was A) his banter with both Iris and Max. It’s just plain hilarious. B) the fact that doesn’t really seem to go too far over the line with his grump behavior. He doesn’t act like an ass to random people, just those he sees as competition (like Max and Adam). And C) his loyalty to Iris. He is the only character in the entire book besides Granny who stays unfailingly loyal to Iris. He doesn’t even question her when it’s revealed that she’s meant to destroy the world. The one thing I don’t like about him is his overprotectiveness and insistence on fighting for Iris’ affections or some shit like that.

Max: Most of the time, I loved Max with all my heart. The one time I questioned my affections for him was when he seemed to be very close to siding against Iris after her raison d’etre was revealed. I can’t blame him for that, of course, but I still don’t like it when characters I think should be friends don’t get along. For the most part, though, I adored Max. I want him as a friend. His humor was always a delight to read about and he really lightened the mood. Max’s drive and his loyalty to his sister was also incredible. I can understand that, I wouldn’t want to be unsure of where my sisters are or even if they’re alive or not. That love triangle thing though. I honestly feel bad for Max there cause it’s clear Iris likes Jinn a bit more. But oh my god. The brothel scene. I felt so uncomfortable there. Like, I was just thinking oh shit. How could Iris diffuse the situation without breaking Max’s heart? Then she kissed back and I was like whoa girl, stop playing with his feelings like that. Anyways, yeah. I love Max and I kind of hope that he winds up falling for Cherise in a “I can’t believe I never noticed how beautiful you are before” moment cause I really don’t want him to get his heart broken but I’m pretty sure Iris and Jinn are endgame.

Adam: I really don’t like Adam. I hate how he seems to try to portray himself as so much better than the other members of the Enlightenment Committee. Oh, I’m so much more of a humanitarian. I’m so against the evils of humanity. I don’t agree with all this greed for power. I treat everyone as people. I’m just a better person. I’m trying to protect you Iris. I’m on your side. Bullshit, buddy. Your POV chapters betray your true nature. Adam might treat Iris and his champions better than the other Enlightenment Committee members but he only does that because he needs Iris for his own goals. Honestly, that one bit at the end where he refers to Iris as his Iris. Adam might not call Iris a beast or try to measure her head, but he still thinks he owns her. And the only reason he gives a damn about Max and Jinn is because they might help protect Iris.

Cherise: Cherise may only be in here a little bit, but I love her. I love her chaos gremlin energy. I love how much she reminds me of Toph from ATLA. I mean, a petite girl using her special abilities to run schemes on the street. That’s SO Toph. I also love her friendship with Iris. They both were surrounded by boys for as long as they could remember and the fact that they finally get to have friends that are girls is pretty cool.

Hawkins: I don’t have as much to say about Hawkins. I do like him, but since most of what I know about his personality is in reference to his relations with other people, most of my opinions about him involve the way he interacts with other people. I love his flirtatiousness. Also his obsession with clean toilets. His relationship with Jacob is pretty interesting considering the hinted at previous romance with Chadwick. I really hope we get to see more of their dynamics in the later books.

Jacob: I loved seeing an Inuit character!! I have almost never seen an Inuit character in YA Fiction so I loved having one here!! Also, I love Jacob’s mediator character. I love how kind and warm he seems. Also, I kinda wonder what the extent of his powers are. Like, can he deal with languages he doesn’t even know the name of? In the scene where they spy on the envoy, Jacob gives Hawkins the ability to understand Yoruba but I’m pretty sure Jacob doesn’t know what language the envoys would be speaking.

Rin: Rin is another character that I really liked. I respect her warrior skills. I also really liked that she didn’t try to be likeable. She did what she was meant to do I loved her purpose and her drive and her power. I think she’s more powerful than Iris in a way. She’s able to hold her own against Iris and while Rin is a fanciful freak, she’s still only human. Iris is some form of immortal supernatural being with a crystal heart and regeneration abilities. I really like her character the way it is, but I also recognize that that’s not much of a character. Like, there’s not much personality there because of how mission oriented she is. I do hope we get to see more of her personality in later books.

[amaramiyu]

[Review] The Bones of Ruin

Author: Sarah Raughley

Synopsis: As an African tightrope dancer in Victorian London, Iris is used to being strange. She is certainly a strange sight for leering British audiences always eager for the spectacle of colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret that even “strange” doesn’t capture…​ She cannot die. Haunted by her unnatural power and with no memories of her past, Iris is obsessed with discovering who she is. But that mission gets more complicated when she meets the dark and alluring Adam Temple, a member of a mysterious order called the Enlightenment Committee. Adam seems to know much more about her than he lets on, and he shares with her a terrifying revelation: the world is ending, and the Committee will decide who lives…and who doesn’t. To help them choose a leader for the upcoming apocalypse, the Committee is holding the Tournament of Freaks, a macabre competition made up of vicious fighters with fantastical abilities. Adam wants Iris to be his champion, and in return he promises her the one thing she wants most: the truth about who she really is. If Iris wants to learn about her shadowy past, she has no choice but to fight. But the further she gets in the grisly tournament, the more she begins to remember—and the more she wonders if the truth is something best left forgotten.

Spoilers ahead!

The Bones of Ruin is the first book in a series that will be a trilogy of books and for the most part it doesn’t disappoint. I think it was a solid series opener. However, there were some aspects that fell short.

What I Liked:

The dual perspectives. I liked experiencing the story from Iris’s and Adam’s perspectives.

The historical setting of the Victorian era in London allowed for the author to showcase some of the dark history during this period of time in regard to human zoos, etc.

In quite a few of the other reviews for this book many people disliked the romance in this novel, but I actually enjoyed it. I didn’t expect the reverse harem angle at all. Furthermore, by the end of the novel it becomes abundantly clear that the only viable romantic option for Iris is Jinn.

The plot twist at the end about what Iris actually is and how the mystery surrounding her true nature was slowly unveiled throughout the novel.

What I Disliked:

The middle part of the novel meandered quite a bit and pacing wise it was somewhat difficult to get through.

I felt the story kind of fell apart towards the end of the novel and was rushed.

Recommend: Overall, I would recommend checking this novel out. I’m looking forward to reading the next entry in the series.

[lotus-pear]

these losers again

[forecast0ctopus]

[jazzkrebber]

rip shadow and bone. we would have loved to see dark alina. we would have loved to see matthias finally get out of jail. we would have loved to see kaz learn to love. we would have loved to see zoyalai on screen. we would have loved to see wylan's story. we would have loved to see the ice court heist. we would have loved to see colm fahey. we would have loved to meet kuweii. we would have loved to see jesper get over his gambling addiction. we would have loved to see matthias relearn all he knew for nina. we would have loved to see inej find her family again. we would have loved to see mal find out what life is like without alina. we would have loved to see nina learn to live for herself, instead of her country.

we would have loved to see more of the characters we all know and love.

[trek-tracks]

Episodes of TOS where the solution is to get the crew drunk or high: The Tholian Web, Wolf in the Fold

Episodes of TOS where the solution is to get the crew to stop being drunk or high: The Naked Time, This Side of Paradise

[artepti]

Lovingly led to Ruin (LLR)

"Taken and Torn" - Part 3

Previous │ First │ Next Episode

Ayyyyy, just finished the first,,, let’s call it a "mini-episode."

There's gonna be a small time-skip to the next episode so that we can get right into it! Excited to see what y'all will think about it!

[belle-keys]

there is something just stunning about how freddy managed to hit the bullseye with kaz this season like from his chilling monologue in episode 4 to his packed silences while just looking at inej to the sly humor in “everyone has lost their minds” to his facial expressions when getting the shit beat out of him??? he completely took over the season and aced every hidden kernel of kaz

[thecrxwclub]

shadow and bone as @ao3-crack posts 1/?

[ekbelsher]

Alina and Mal. This is the last of the images I did for the Litjoy crate Shadow and Bone series, and my favourite. The heartrending moments are where I live 🖤

[arkarti]

Monty was trying his best!!

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