The Ruining, by Anna Collomore

The Ruining, by Anna Collomore

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Mystery-Thriller-Murder

Rating: 5/5 stars










Goodreads Summary: Annie Phillips is thrilled to leave her past behind and begin a shiny new life on Belvedere Island, as a nanny for the picture-perfect Cohen family. In no time at all, she falls in love with the Cohens, especially with Libby, the beautiful young matriarch of the family. Life is better than she ever imagined. She even finds romance with the boy next door.

All too soon, cracks appear in Annie's seemingly perfect world. She's blamed for mistakes she doesn't remember making. Her bedroom door comes unhinged, and she feels like she's always being watched. Libby, who once felt like a big sister, is suddenly cold and unforgiving. As she struggles to keep up with the demands of her new life, Annie's fear gives way to frightening hallucinations. Is she tumbling into madness, or is something sinister at play?

The Ruining is a complex ride through first love, chilling manipulation, and the terrifying depths of insanity.

Review:

 Okay seriously, this book was some

'

 From the summary, who'd expect this to be a jaw-clenching, spine-chilling thriller? I was totally expecting an average contemporary novel with a few secrets in between, but I got something more and deep.

  Here we have Annie, who is living in horrible conditions with her mom and stepfather, Dean, in Detroit. All she wants is to get out of there and never come back. When a spiking new job opportunity in sunny California pops up to be a babysitter for the Cohen family, she decides that she will take it, and go to college at the same time. When she meets the Cohens, she is absolutely in love with her new life and everything they have to offer. Soon enough, Libby, the woman/wife of the family, begins to act strangely and treats her differently than her than the usual, and Annie begins to question what's really going on and about the truth.

  Anna Collomore hooked me in from the first page, honestly. I felt like I was in a realistic world, and Annie definitely made us be a large part of it. She told us her story, and we were the listeners. There must be some sort of story behind this because it's so deep, and intriguing. 

  It's very rare to read a book that never makes you bored once. And that's what The Ruining did to me. I was hooked in, and I inferred about what would happen next so many times, but I was always wrong. Anna Collomore creates the best plot twists, no joke.

  If you react to books the same way as I do, then you will be thinking that you're losing your mind while reading this book. I was shaking, and I felt so many spine-chills and my heart felt like it was going to come out of my chest when I was reading this, especially towards the end, and when we found the truth and all. This never would be expected to be a thriller, but it definitely was, as well as a contemporary-mystery.

  These characters were stupendous. I loved Annie- she went through so much and the best thing was that her voice was real. She was involved a tragic accident, and things didn't seem to get better for her when she expected a new and brighter life. That's what I love about this book- it's not perfect, and you won't expect everything to be all happy and smiles. It's reality, and how some people live today in the world. And the catch is, all throughout the book I never thought that she was crazy and that something was going on in her head, I just didn't know the truth.

   Owen and Annie's relationship added something good and happy to this book. He never judged Annie, he believed her and went out to search for the truth. I love guys like that- and especially to read about ones like him. The romance was something extra, but it was good because the whole book didn't revolve around the romance, it wasn't all about that.

   The ending to this was quick and spectacular. It all happened so fast and I never expected for what happened to happen. In fifty pages or so, the plot was drifting in a whole other level and we were in a whole other setting.

  This is a unique read that will grip you and send shivers down your spine. Also take a note to self: make sure you have a lot of time to read this (2-3 hours all in one) because you will be hooked and you will NEED to find out what the truth is.