Name: Beyond the Ruby Veil
ISBN: 9781368052139

Mara Fitzgerald

"After Emanuela Ragno kills the one person in Occhia who can create water, she must find a way to save her city from dying of thirst"--

Beyond the Ruby Veil

as if anyone is really staring at him when they have the option to stare at me.

His fingers are trembling and clammy, so maybe he won’t notice that mine are, too.

 I don’t even know what I’m going to do. I just know that if she’s going to hurt us, I’m going to hurt her.

”Look at her now, and then tell me—who’s really untouchable?”

“I’m not going to die,” I said. “Do you know why?”

I don’t want to struggle for normal. I want to look better than everyone else.

There are six other cities, and no one in them knows my name.

“I don’t care if people love me, or if they think what I do is 

. But rest assured, they’re going to know I was here.”

“So all you care about is whether or not you come out on top,” she says.

I shrug. “It’s where I deserve to be.”

If magic can be chosen, I want to choose the most powerful magic there is.

I want the kind of magic that belongs to me, and only me.

A dark, queer YA fantasy that's perfect for fans of the Three Dark Crowns series and Wicked Saints. After Emanuela Ragno kills the one person in Occhia who can create water, she must find a way to save her city from dying of thirst. Emanuela Ragno always gets what she wants. With her daring mind and socialite schemes, she refuses to be the demure young lady everyone wants her to be. In her most ambitious move yet, she's about to marry Alessandro Morandi, her childhood best friend and the heir to the wealthiest house in Occhia. Emanuela doesn't care that she and her groom are both gay, because she doesn't want a love match. She wants power, and through Ale, she'll have it all. But Emanuela has a secret that could shatter her plans. In the city of Occhia, the only source of water is the watercrea, a mysterious being who uses magic to make water from blood. When their first bruise-like omen appears on their skin, all Occhians must surrender themselves to the watercrea to be drained of life. Everyone throughout history has given themselves up for the greater good. Everyone except Emanuela. She's kept the tiny omen on her hip out of sight for years. When the watercrea exposes Emanuela during her wedding ceremony and takes her to be sacrificed, Emanuela fights back . . . and kills her. Now Occhia has no one to make their water and no idea how to get more. In a race against time, Emanuela and Ale must travel through the mysterious, blood-red veil that surrounds their city to uncover the secrets of the watercrea's magic and find a way to save their people -- no matter what it takes.

evil gay people turn cannibalistic. that’s the plot 

A dark, queer YA fantasy that's perfect for fans of the Three Dark Crowns series. After Emanuela Ragno kills the one person in Occhia who can create water, she must find a way to save her city from dying of thirst. Emanuela Ragno always gets what she wants. With her daring mind and socialite schemes, she refuses to be the demure young lady everyone wants her to be. In her most ambitious move yet, she's about to marry Alessandro Morandi, her childhood best friend and the heir to the wealthiest house in Occhia. Emanuela doesn't care that she and her groom are both gay, because she doesn't want a love match. She wants power, and through Ale, she'll have it all. But Emanuela has a secret that could shatter her plans. In the city of Occhia, the only source of water is the watercrea, a mysterious being who uses magic to make water from blood. When their first bruise-like omen appears on their skin, all Occhians must surrender themselves to the watercrea to be drained of life. Everyone throughout history has given themselves up for the greater good. Everyone except Emanuela. She's kept the tiny omen on her hip out of sight for years. When the watercrea exposes Emanuela during her wedding ceremony and takes her to be sacrificed, Emanuela fights back . . . and kills her. Now Occhia has no one to make their water and no idea how to get more. In a race against time, Emanuela and Ale must travel through the mysterious, blood-red veil that surrounds their city to uncover the secrets of the watercrea's magic and find a way to save their people -- no matter what it takes.

Rachel 

I actually really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed that our MC isn't likeable and seems irredeemable and I love the worldbuilding. I do feel like it was too short to fully get into. I feel like it ended a bit abruptly and while I know there is a sequel coming out this year, I do think that this first book could have benefitted from a few more chapters to flesh out the main cast a bit more. I'm excited to see where the story goes.

Jessica Williamson

2.75 stars

Oooookay. I'm really not sure how to feel about this one at all. The world building was interesting. 

The MC was an absolute shit show (I know the point was for her to be unlikable, but I'd like her to at least feel redeemable and I didn't get that), and there weren't any other characters that I particularly liked either. Part of that may be because we spend the whole book inside the MC's head and she thinks she's SOOOOOO much better than everyone else. She treats everyone like dog shit stuck on the bottom of her shoe. Even her "best friend" whom she yells at for basically being a waste of space who would be nothing without her. So yeah, it's hard to enjoy characters when you're seeing them through the lens of someone without any human qualities. 

Like I said though, the worldbuilding was cool. I'm interested to see where it goes so I'll probably pick up the next one.

cover 3; characters 2; plot 3; pace 3; writing 3; enjoyment 3.

Kayla Smith

This had a really cool world but that's about it. I like unlikeable characters but apparently I don't like characters THIS unlikeable. I wish I enjoyed this more because I'm curious to see what'll happen next within this universe but I just don't think I can put myself through reading the sequel.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this ebook from the publisher for Rockstar Book Tours. Thanks! All opinons are my own.

Book: Beyond the Ruby Veil

Author: Mara Fitzgerald

Book Series: Beyond the Ruby Veil Book 1

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: fantasy, revenge, romance, bully like romance

Publication Date: October 13, 2020

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 288

Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, sexual content, violence, gore, death, torture)

Synopsis: Cunning and unapologetic, Emanuela Ragno is a socialite who plays by her own rules. In her most ambitious move yet, she’s about to marry Alessandro Morandi, her childhood best friend and the heir to the wealthiest house in Occhia. Emanuela doesn’t care that she and her groom are both gay, because she doesn’t want a love match. She wants power, and through Ale, she’ll have it all.

But Emanuela has a secret that could shatter her plans. In her city of Occhia, the only source of water is the watercrea, a mysterious being who uses magic to make water from blood. When their first bruise-like omen appears on their skin, all Occhians must surrender themselves to the watercrea to be drained of life. Everyone throughout history has obeyed this law for the greater good. Everyone except Emanuela. She’s kept the tiny omen on her hip out of sight for years.

When the watercrea exposes Emanuela during her wedding ceremony and takes her to be sacrificed, Emanuela fights back…and kills her. Before everyone in Occhia dies of thirst, Emanuela and Ale must travel through the mysterious, blood-red veil that surrounds their city to uncover the source of the watercrea’s power and save their people—no matter what it takes.

Review: For the most part I liked this book. It was a fun, short read that kept me on my toes. The book is great for people who want something fast to get through in one sitting and the plot kept me intrigued from start to finish.

However, there were a ton of problems with this book. The book is way too fast paced and by 15% in I had already reached what should have been the climax of the book. The book is also confusing and spends very little time on developing the story. Nothing is explained outright and the reader is left to guess. The book also had very little world building and the character development was non-existent. 

Verdict: It was good and I liked it, but there’s some problems.

Beyond the Ruby Veil

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