Ruin - Review

Ruin

By: Rachel Van Dyken

Published: August 11, 2013

250 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library

(Goodreads / Amazon)

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Summary:

I'm not your typical girl. I've been running away from the memories that haunt me for so long that depression has become my only comfort. I was content in the darkness...until Wes Michals offered to be my light.

I didn't know that time wasn't my ally -- that every second that ticked past was one step closer to the end of something that was beginning to mean the end of myself. He tried to warn me. He promised me all he was able to offer--each moment as it came--but it would never be enough.

Sometimes when you think it's the end, it's only the beginning. Wes thought he could save me, but in giving me everything, he ruined me. Because after one kiss, one touch, I couldn't--I wouldn't ever be the same.

And from that moment on, his heartbeat became my own.

MY REVIEW:
This is the third book of Rachel's that I've read and honestly they keep getting better and better.  Perhaps this one touched me in a special way because I have a dear friend who is in stage four breast cancer.  I said while reading this story that the author should dedicate this book to those who are suffering or love someone who is suffering from such a sickness and lo and behold, she did at the end!

This is a fantastic touching story about a girl who is a freshman in college, scared and timid and dealing with her own anxieties over losing her parents several years before.  Kiersten literally runs into into the hottest guy she's ever seen.  All 6 ft 4 inches and an eight pack of ab muscles (she knows, she counted) known as Wes Michels during registration for classes.  Their unusual meeting turns into intrigue on both parts and a friendship blossoms.  Their friendship will bring about great healing for both of them.

Get your tissues ready because this one had me tearing up a lot, smiling a good bit and yes, swooning. Surely, surely there'll be more in the story of Kiersten and Wes.  I NEED more!!!  I highlighted so many lines that I loved but I'll try to narrow it down to my top 5 favorites.

Favorite Quotes:
His eyes held my ruin.

"I can tell you have a good heart...because the minute I met you, I wanted to fight for it."  "That's how you can tell when someone has a good heart." ... "When you want to be the one to make it beat."

His kisses didn't give - they ruined.

She's my medicine, my cure, my everything.  If only hearts could heal that way - through someone else's beating.

"Life isn't fair, but living?  Living is heaven.  Living is a gift.  Every gift is different - every path is different - for some reason this is ours, and the sooner we accept it, the sooner we can stop crying and start living."

Final Rating - 5 stars!