Review: He Will Be My Ruin - K.A. Tucker



Synopsis

"Twenty-eight-year-old Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a bottle of Xanax and a handle of Maker’s Mark, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers secrets in the childhood lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man who Celine herself claimed would be her ruin.

On the hunt for answers that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered." (Goodreads)


A New Genre For Me

I've heard of K.A. Tucker's books (she writes a lot of New Adult romance, similar to Colleen Hoover) and own her first, but I remember being surprised when this particular book came out. He Will Be My Ruin was located in the Romance section of our Barnes & Noble and it was released in hardcover, something that seems to be a rarity in the genre. On top of all that, it is also categorized as a thriller. A sexy romance thriller is something I haven't really encountered before, so I was excited to try something new. The description of this novel is quite vague, and so I feel like my review should sort of follow suit. I'm going to post a spoiler-y review on Goodreads, though! 

Keeping Me On My Toes

This premise of this book reminded me a lot of Gayle Forman's I Was Here, a YA novel about a girl who tries to figure out why her beautiful friend killed herself. Unlike IWH, He Will Be My Ruin is filled with dark secrets of all kinds and I was genuinely surprised throughout the novel. Every character that had interacted with Celine while she was living became suspicious to me, even as Maggie befriended or feared them. This book is good at keeping and revealing secrets in a way that will keep the reader guessing, something I genuinely appreciated. The book didn't turn out as I initially predicted, which is a nice change of pace. 

The Writing

This is Tucker's first thriller and you wouldn't doubt that from reading it. For me, it was somewhere in the middle of Paula Hawkins' writing in The Girl on the Train and Kate White's writing in Eyes on You. I adored The Girl on the Train and I found Eyes on You to be soooo cheesy. The mystery was sharp, but there was still something Lifetime movie-esque about the last 1/4 of the book. That being said, I think Tucker did a great job for her first venture into the genre and would absolutely read another mystery by her. 

Overall

3 stars (Maybe 3.5?)

I definitely enjoyed reading HWBMR,  but I felt that Tucker didn't know how to properly close the story. I was also a little disappointed by the lack of romance in the book. I was expecting a love triangle and a bit more sexy time. I feel that heightened sexual tension or interest would have really upped the book a few notches. This was a good page-turner/slump-buster for me, but it didn't blow me away. 

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