Reign of Ruin

This is about Danielle who is having to live every day over and over in Eden or Hell she can’t remember why and how she ended up here. All she does know is that she’s constantly being used, beaten and raped repeatedly at the hands of evil to only wake after being baptized in the water to live it over again.

I first read this and loved this story when Jennifer had it in the Twisted Sacrement Anthology. We asked for more on Danielle and how she came to be in Eden and Jennifer delivered in the story of The Day the Sky Burned. This just shows this lady has one dark,twisted and dangerous mind. It’s pretty scary to think about of the thing’s that could happen and if thing’s could lead up to a version of Eden.

With that being said if you have triggers do not read this book the arthur plainly gives this warning but if you don’t you need to pick it up.

This is just my opinion and my review.

That story was EPIC!
OMG what Danielle endured with these corrupt and sadistic men! How did she survive the beatings, brutality, and the baptisms? She is the strongest heroine I have ever read about.
The day the sky burned was so apocalyptic and devastating. It’s a great preview to Reign of Ruin but I’m so glad it was read after learning about what Danielle went through in Eden/Hell.
Jennifer Bene you are a master story teller! Your books always pull the reader in, sometimes kicking and screaming, but always invested!

Danielle woke to a world gone mad and no memory of the past.
A world ruled by religious fanatics, a malignant, deformed twisted version of religion based on a bastardized form of the bible. It’s flock made up of rapists, murderers, psycopaths and the lowest of the low. These members are founders of a religion based on hate, control and abuse in it’s darkest most depraved forms. All of this aimed at women only, blamed for the ills of the planet and mankind.
There is no light, there is only more darkness to consume and control her. A darkness that takes her for it’s own, offers power and a possibilty for freedom and revenge…….but at what cost… Does she have anything left to give, or has it all been taken from her.
Be warned this is a fantastic book but it will haunt you.

Abandon all hope ye who enter this book. This story was absolute hell and I couldn’t put it down if I wanted to. The author needs to go sit in a corner and think about what she’s written. Absolutely nothing but torture all for the sake of forgiveness and order. And if you read the prequel at the end, learning how the world got to this point is absolutely devastating because it’s something you can imagine actually happening. The story was absolutely horrible in all the best ways. Not for the faint of heart or the week of stomach. There is no HEA so don’t expect one. And you may need to remind yourself of this while reading the book.

A deeply depraved, dystopian horror story. There is a prequel called The Day the Sky Burned that helps give you the backstory to Eden and I found that made the story fuller and even more dramatic. This is not a HEA- don’t be confused. This may be the darkest, most horrific story I have read by this author. Mostly because it is possible.

I read the prequel to this, The day the Sky Burned and I was completely intrigued, but very fearful for what was going to happen to Danielle. I was justified in my fear! This book is probably the darkest and most brutally graphic I’ve read, but I have to admit to being enthralled. I couldnt put the book down and stayed up very late until I had finished, despite the horror on the pages that made at times very difficult reading. The really scary thing is, I could actually see this kind of thing happening in reality. There are sadly enough psychopathic nutters in this world who would take that action and blame women (Eve) for the evil in the world all in the name of religion.

This book is absolutely not for the faint hearted or those on the fringes of liking it dark. It is violent, raw and full of the evil that can be human. There is no HEA, but there is something……something very compelling and intriguing. I am wary of calling it hope, but that ending has such potential with what happened to Danielle and who/what she was with.

Jennifer Bene certainly knows how to write a flowing story with depth and detail and isn’t afraid to let the darkness out! I hope there is more coming from this world, this scary potential future, as I would love to know what happens to Danielle and “the other” in the aftermath of Eden.

A dark story with no HEA. It’s the perfect mix of tantalizing torture and mind games. Definitely a must read if you love reading dark stories.

Dystopian novels by the very nature of their subject matter are bleak.

Then there is Reign of Ruin.

This book isn’t just terrifying. It isn’t just bleak. It isn’t just horrific. It’s like one of those turducken memes you see at Thanksgiving every year. It’s all those things crammed into each other.

Reign of Ruin is a terribleafic story, one which will suck you in, leave you wondering if you should go on, and by the end you will be gutted emotionally.

Before you even think of diving into Reign, you are going to want to head over to the author’s website or Facebook page, and pick up the *free* prequel When the Sky Burned. This prequel provides, in my opinion, some necessary backstory into what takes place before the beginning of Reign. When Reign first came out as the shorter story Baptized in Eden in the anthology Twisted Sacrament this prequel wasn’t available, and in some respects the story suffered for it. This is not to say it was bad, but it did require the reader to make some assumptions and build their own backstory up to the point where Danielle is when Baptized in Eden begins. Now, with Reign being an extended version of the original shorter story, and with the addition of the prequel, much of that has been negated, and in my opinion the story overall is stronger as a whole.

Reign is dark romance horror, plain and simple. What makes it even more shocking is just how realistic it is given current events of late. Setting aside the obvious The Handmaids Tale comparisons, there is much more here having to do with religious zealotry, and the perversion of religion to serve a nascent power structure that really strikes home. Add to that the patriarchal system in the story that subjugates women to hold to help bolster a belief system that puts men in a position of power based on the flimsiest of rationales, and you have a scenario that slips easily from today’s headlines into a fictional scenario. And one which is far less fantastical than it would appear on the face of it.

There is one traditional, Lovecraftean horror element to this story, but put into context it only makes the story as a whole more terrifying than its component parts. In the extended sections of the novel this ‘monster’ plays out as a sort of anti-hero, and in much more depth than took place in the original short story. This really helped the plotting story, because it gave this creature a much fuller and fleshed out inclusion into the story, which was somewhat lacking in the original.

I am not an aficionado of the horror genre as a whole, but given the analogies to current events taking place (some of which, it is eerie to note, have only started in the last few weeks, some time after this novel was written), and the quality of writing that the author consistently delivers on, this book kept me captivated from beginning to end. While I wouldn’t place it as one of my all-time favorites, I still would recommend it to any reader, and especially if horror is a genre that you *do* enjoy.

I first read this one in the Twisted Sacrament Anthology and I absolutely loved it. When I found out the story was going to be expanded, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I was not disappointed! This is not a romance in any sense of the word. It is dark, depraved, destructive, devastating, devious, and absolutely delicious. No idea why I used only words beginning with D… Reading this story is like looking at a train wreck; it’s horrible but you can’t look away. If it had been a movie I would have been watching it through the cracks of my fingers while I mostly covered my eyes. It reminds me of the terror I felt as a child when I was the last one in the basement and I had to run as fast as I could up the stairs so the monsters wouldn’t get me. From beginning to end this one had my heart racing and I still can’t get it out of my mind. There is no light in this one, but you still won’t be able to put it down.

It so hard to say something when a book doesn’t offer a happy end.

Jennifer Bene always offers you an out before you digging, but all the warnings, bells or shout could ever prepare myself for how unprepared I was for this book, and I’m glad.

For so long, I’ve been reading books so predictable, safe and “happy” and sometimes diving in the dark makes you feel more appreciate about light.

Jennifer Bene writes with her core, soul and wicked mind, and every book leaves me breathless.

The Day the Sky Burned is a prequel of Rein of Ruin a let me tell you this precious little book is full of action packed on the go!!!
You can get a feel what was like before, what was a healthy life for Danielle, her family, boyfriend, and why life it is now.

Reign of Ruin is a new and expanded edition of Twisted Sacrament Anthology, and holy moly I love read all over again with extra spice on top of everything, my skin felt electric and alive reading this book, and I love every single bit of each passage.

I would love to give more, but won’t be fair with others, but the only thing I suggest at the end of the book do something light, laugh, love and be kind.

All the Stars.