Name: The Ruining
ISBN: 9781595144706

Anna Collomore

Still feeling guilty over the death of her little sister leaves eighteen-year-old Annie vulnerable when she takes a nanny job in beautiful Marin County, California, and meets her very controlling employer.

The Ruining

Shawna Gavas

I LOVED this book. It sucked me in from the beginning and didn't let go until the very end.

The book followed Annie, a young girl with a troubled past looking for a fresh start in life. She finds this by becoming an au pair for Libby and Walker Cohen in an upscale neighbourhood in San Francisco. By taking this on, it will allow her to live with them while attending college in exchange for watching their 2 children Zoe and Jackson part-time. But it's the old saying....if it seems to good to be true, then it probably is.

With frequent references and parallels to "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the book takes us on a disturbing journey as Libby appears to slowly drive Annie mad. At times I wanted to scream, punch a hole in the wall....how can this happen? Why can't she see what's going on? This Libby woman is crazy!

Is it "Annie" or "Nanny" or both? The mind games are infuriating....but in SUCH a good way. I felt like I was heading to the asylum right along with Annie. Or Nanny. Gah!!!

And just when you thought the entire book was full of maddness, there is a mystery woven through it all waiting to be unraveled.

The only issue I had with this book was the rather rushed ending. I felt a little more time could have made the conclusion even better. I wanted revenge.

A wonderful debut from Anna Collomore that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good book that questions what is in fact real, and what is not.