ARC REVIEW From Breath and Ruin by Carrie Ann Ryan

Elements of Five #1, debut YA book Carrie Ann Ryan's newest series might not be for everyone and as someone who doesn't typically read young adult I loved it. It didn't feel like a young adult at times I even forgot that Lyric was just eighteen and as per usual Ryan played with my emotions it seemed like I was reading one of her PNR books just without the sex. There is romance in it and I think I know where she's going to go with it but I always expect the unexpected with Ryan. But the story has grabbed my attention and now I won't be happy until I've read them all.

Lyric is just your average teenager who's good at so many things but nothing she wants to do forever. She stuck trying to figure out what she wants to do for the rest of her life when a classmate and her cute older brother ask Lyric and her friends Braelynn and Emory to go hiking. But when something happens on that hike it sends Lyric's life into a tailspin of events that will forever change her life.

The Maison Realm and the wielders remind me of several things from my childhood, specifically The Dark Crystal, and I loved it, it was like The Last Airbender meets The Dark Crystal and Alice in Wonderland. A once happy kingdom now divided into light and dark and one person with all the combined powers is destined to reunite the kingdom. Lyric is said to be this Spirit Priestess with the combined powers of all the elements. Whether or not Lyric actually believes she is is another matter, for now she just wants to help Rhodes get his sister back.

I loved the characters in this book. Lyric is the main character and narrator so we see first hand how she reacts to everything going on around her; her feelings for Braelynn her best friend, Rhodes her crush, Emory her ex-girlfriend and all the others they meet on their journey. Lyric is very conflicted and is unsure about almost everything she's at a crossroads in her life and throw in the fact that she's some prophesied priestess that will stop a war and fix what's broken just compounds on to her insecurity and her self worth. Everyone believes in her but herself so there is quite a bit of internal struggle going on with Lyric along with fighting off bad guys.

Overall, outstanding book. From the start this book pulled me in and kept me entertained the whole time. Engaging characters and descriptive narrative, I can't wait for more Carrie Ann Ryan knows how to set the hook.