RUINED, by Amy Tintera

The story: Em is on her way to the kingdom of Lera, disguised as Princess Mary of Vallos, and determined to marry Prince Casimir...and then kill him. Ever since her parents were hunted down and her sister taken captive, she's thought only of exacting vengeance on the people responsible. She never realized that the son of those people might be different; she never dreamed of the possibility of falling for him. But in love or not, Em's mission remains unchanged. She could never betray her people, the Ruined, just to save one person. Not even if he's a handsome prince. Not even if he seems to be falling for her too.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; Violence R; Sexual content PG-13; Nudity PG; Substance abuse PG-13; Magic & the occult PG-13; GLBT content PG; adult themes (torture, political killings, blood and gore everywhere) R; overall rating R.

Liz's comments: Booklist very rightly lists this one for grades 9-up. Although it is primarily a love story, the first glimpse we get of our heroine is her murder of Princess Mary in order to assume her role. The violence is unending, and even in a world of first-person shooter games, one has to wonder if/how 17-year-olds could ever get so inured to killing that it become de rigeur. I found this extremely off-putting, and although I like a great fantasy/romance as well as the next person, I couldn't get past the violence to believe in the love story. I feel that a killing machine such as Em would have very little heart left for a first love.