The Book:
The Perfect Ruin by Shanora Williams
Published July 27th 2021 by Dafina
Date read: August 8, 2021
The Characters:
Ivy
Lola and her husband Cory
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
A brutal tragedy ended Ivy Hill’s happy family and childhood. Now in her twenties and severely troubled, she barely has a life—or much to live for. Until the day she discovers the name of the woman who destroyed her world: Lola Maxwell—the mega-wealthy socialite with a heart, Miami’s beloved “first lady” of charity. Accomplished, gorgeous, and oh-so-caring, Lola has the best of everything—and doesn’t deserve any of it. So it’s only right that Ivy take it all away . . .
Little by little, Ivy infiltrates Lola’s elite circle, becomes her new best friend—and plays Lola’s envious acquaintances and hangers-on against her. But seducing Lola’s handsome, devoted surgeon husband turns into a passionate dream Ivy suddenly can’t control. And soon, an insidious someone will twist Ivy’s revenge into a nightmare of deception, secrets, and betrayal that Ivy may not wake up from.
The Ending:
Lola had killed Ivy’s parents in a car crash when she was racing to the hospital to check on her baby. She miscarried the same night. A dirty cop blackmailed her to keep her name off the report.
Georgia overheard her talking to the cop about it and promised to keep her secret. Lola grew to resent Georgia over the secret. She wouldn’t let Georgia break their ten-year contract to go live with her husband. Georgia’s husband wanted a divorce because Georgia was never there for him.
Lola was a terrible employer and wouldn’t even let Georgia go to the hospital when she was losing her baby. After years of resentment, she was ready to destroy Lola. She poisoned both Lola and Cory and framed Ivy.
Faith suspected Georgia, so Georgia killed her too. Dr. Mariette knew what Georgia had done and promised Ivy that she’d get her acquitted.
The Review:
Thank you so much to @kensingtonbooks for the gifted copy.
I really enjoyed this twisted tale of obsession and revenge. It was compulsively readable, and I absolutely cruised through it. The Perfect Ruin is set in Miami, and I loved this look into the lives of the ultra-rich. The story is told mostly through letters between the characters, but I’ll let the reader figure out why! I thought this was a really interesting device through which to convey the story. I was anxious to figure out what happened to Ivy and why she hated Lola so much.
I don’t want to give anything away, but just know that everyone is lying, everyone is up to something, and the twists keep coming up until the very final page.
QOTD: Have you ever wanted to get revenge on someone from your past?
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