Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano
Series: Internment Chronicles #1
Release Date: October 1st, 2013
Goodreads: Perfect Ruin

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.

A couple of years ago, Wither, DeStefano's debut novel and first installment in her The Chemical Garden trilogy, found its way onto the top of my to-be-read list. I didn't exactly like it, but I'd be lying if I said that it was because of DeStefano's writing. The woman can certainly write, but her world-building had holes everywhere, there was not much of a plot going on and the characterization didn't do much for me. So I called it quits on TCG trilogy. When Perfect Ruin first came to my attention, I had decided to pass on it as well. I can't honestly say what was it that made me give it a chance, but I'm kind of glad I didn't choose to give up on everything DeStefano writes.

Perfect Ruin is a really beautiful book when it comes to its craft. Like I said, DeStefano's prose is gorgeous, with a sort of dreamy, poetic quality that I find hard to resist. It makes her narrators compelling and profound. It was like that with Rhine and it definitely worked again with Morgan. The only difference between the two is that I actually liked Morgan and felt for her. In Wither, I never connected with Rhine. I couldn't help thinking that her problems were shallow and superficial, that her plights were over-dramatizations for the sake of creating a problem and a conflict were there was none. I also though that, in spite of everything, Rhine was pretty darn pleased with herself and looked down on all the people around her. In Perfect Ruin, with Morgan, I found her inner conflict a lot more interesting and believable, her real-life problems a lot more important and compelling. I was drawn into Morgan's life and, soon enough, I was caring about her and her problems.

There were a lot of very interesting secondary characters in this novel. I really appreciated DeStefano's effort in creating characters like Lex, Morgan's brother; Pen, her best friend; and Amy, the mysterious little girl running around Interment causing trouble. They were fascinating, complex and given their fair amount of presence in the novel. Unlike my previous taste of DeStefano, I didn't feel like the secondary characters were there for show or filler.

I was pretty satisfied with Morgan and Basil's relationship, even if not completely with Basil himself. He was a really sweet and honestly good guy, but I don't think he transcended that. He didn't jump out of the page for me and he didn't feel that fleshed out. I did like their relationship, like I said. I don't think I've read about a perfectly stable, uncomplicated, sweet and strong romantic relationship in YA in quite a while and it was a great change of pace to come across one that grew and developed without the need for dramatics. It was simple and lovely, and I really enjoyed that.

When it comes to the actual world of Internment, I can't help thinking that it was a strange mix between Skyloft in Skyward Sword (my favorite game ever) - down to the floating island thing, the winds that block the sight of the ground and push people back from the edge, the academy and the strict professor Nowlan (in SS there's one that's called Owlan), and the market -, the world of the novel Matched and the world in The Giver. I'm not taking credit away from DeStefano for the creation of her world, but they did have a lot of elements from other places, and, ultimately, I did enjoy them. I would've liked a bit more detail, but I was pleased and comfortable with it. 

I was in love with the first half of this novel, which had an atmosphere of mystery and a bit of claustrophobia. But then the second half came along, with actions a bit out of character, daring escapes and crazed royalty, and it lost me a bit. I was a bit let down by the route the book took in the final half of the story, but that is not to say it wasn't good overall; it just went from fantastic to good for me on the scale. 

All in all, I enjoyed Perfect Ruin. It is a nicely-written dystopia with an engaging, thoughtful protagonist, sweet and simple romance and a pretty nice cast of secondary characters. It's not exactly a hard-pounding, action-filled dystopia, the type we are used to in YA, but it is a really good one, one of the smartest ones I've read recently, to be honest. I look forward to seeing where else DeStefano takes this new series.