Review and Giveaway of Flawless Ruins, by Kieryn Nicolas

In 2238, life in America is finally perfect. The Wars are over and the CommWall is in place, blocking communication with what remains of other continents. The women are content to have great education, choice careers, and glamorous hair. Best of all, when every girl turns seventeen she’s given her Like; an adorable, perfect spouse tailor-made just for her.

Everyone looks forward to the day she gets her Like, and Morgan Waters is no exception—until she accidentally stays out past curfew and stumbles across someone who appears to be a Like but claims to be a man. Morgan’s perfect world crumbles down around her in the midst of a forbidden romance, forcing her to deal with the realization that her life may not be so flawless after all. ~From GoodReads
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Kieryn Nicolas has built an entirely new world in her new book, Flawless Ruins. The year is 2238. After an all-out nuclear war, the world has been completely re-structured. No division may have contact with another. Almost everything we know about life has changed. All information is controlled by a government, run only by women. Which seems nice, right?  Well, not so much.  In this new world, men are now “Likes”.  “Likes” are companions to the women of this world. They clean, cook, and basically live to serve the woman they belong to.  They literally have no mind of their own.
Flawless Ruins is told from the point-of-view of Morgan and Neil. Morgan is a teenage girl who is happily living her life, oblivious to the lies surrounding her. She is anxiously awaiting the day she will receive her “Like”.  Neil is a teenage boy, forced to live a life of servitude to the women who rule his world.  When Morgan and Neil have a chance encounter, their whole lives are turned upside down.  Everything they have ever known will be put to the test.
Kieryn Nicolas did an incredible job writing this book. She did a well-rounded job of building a completely new world, with all the details neatly kept together. The emotions portrayed in her writing was pronounced, I felt them right along with the characters. They are two kids basically pushed to the brink of sanity. Neil’s utter frustration and desperation at his plight was tangible and suffocating.  Nicolas gave Morgan, whose world is completely shattered with each new revelation,  the appropriate responses of incredulity and depression.  The build-up of understanding, trust, friendship and ultimately, the relationship is beautifully paced.  In Flawless Ruins, the suspense is ramped up continuously and builds to a crescendo that left me frantically flipping the pages, wondering what will happen to Morgan and Neil.

When it comes to books, I am a stingy, stingy person. I hardly let anyone borrow books from me. When someone asks to borrow a book, I literally pretend not to hear them and change the subject as quickly as possible.  So, as much as this pains me, I am going to give my signed copy of Flawless Ruins to one lucky person. You should see my face while I’m typing this. Seriously, it’s scrunched up into a not-so-pretty scowl. But, I really enjoyed this book, and I want someone else to be able to enjoy it as well. My one stipulation:  Please review this book. You DO NOT have to be a blogger. Reviews can be posted on GoodReads (my favorite),  Library Thing, Amazon, etc.  Many authors rely on reviews and word-of-mouth to get their books to the masses. I feel so strongly about this.
So, here’s the deal-io. This giveaway will be up June 16-June 23. It is for US/Canada residents only (sorry). All you have to do is fill out the form. There will be no hoop-jumping (following on twitter, GoodReads, Facebook, etc.) for this (it’s exhausting, isn’t it?). But, you can earn an extra entry by following this blog.  Now, go forth and enter!