Review: Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I received this book via the publisher, Inkyard Press. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L Armentrout
Series: The Harbinger #2
Published by Inkyard Press on 2020-06-09
Length: 608 pages
Reviewing eARC Rating:
Reading Challenges: #NGEW2020, 2020 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge, 2020 New Release Challenge, COYER All Year 2020

Dangerous secrets and forbidden desires lead to shocking consequences… Don’t miss book two of the fantastical Harbinger trilogy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout.

“Jennifer L. Armentrout’s intoxicating new fantasy is her best yet!” —New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter on Storm and Fury

Half-angel Trinity and her bonded gargoyle protector, Zayne, have been working with demons to stop the apocalypse while avoiding falling in love. The Harbinger is coming…but who or what is it? All of humankind may fall if Trinity and Zayne can’t win the race against time as dark forces gather.

As tensions rise, they must stay close together and patrol the DC streets at night, seeking signs of the Harbinger, an entity that is killing Wardens and demons with no seeming rhyme or reason. Forbidden to be with each other, Zayne and Trinity fight their feelings and turn to unusual sources for help—the demon Roth and his cohorts. But as deaths pile up and they uncover a sinister plot involving the local high school and endangering someone dear to Zayne, Trin realizes she is being led…herded…played for some unknown end. As anger builds and feelings spiral out of control, it becomes clear that rage may be the ruin of them all.

I don’t even know where to begin! My heart hurts, my head hurts – pretty sure it exploded around chapter 40 – and I’ve cried til I can’t cry anymore. My emotions are all over the place as I write this. I’ve waited about two hours since finishing the book to see if I can come up with the words to describe just how awesome it is. Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L Armentrout is the second book in her spin-off series The Harbinger and picks up the day after the events of the first. So if you haven’t read Storm and Fury consider this your spoiler warning. Read at your own risk 😉 Trinity and Zayne are adjusting to their new bonded status and are now on the hunt for the Harbinger, the unknown baddie killing demons and Wardens alike. Rage and Ruin left me breathless and at the edge of my seat all the way to the end. 

Trinity is everything I came to love about her in the previous installment and more. She is really struggling at the beginning of the story. Waking up the day after killing Misha, she is coming to terms with her actions and his. What made him turn? Why did he hate her so much? These are just a couple of the questions she asks herself over and over again. It shapes her, reminds her to think of others instead of herself first. I love seeing her character grow through these trials. But it isn’t just doubt she suffers from, Trinity is also angry and that rage fuels her. She wants revenge and retribution, and her grace is coming out to play. Only one person can reach through this haze….Zayne.

Zayne is still the fictional love of my life. For real, though this boy is everything. My heart aches for him. In the first book, we see just a glimpse of his own struggles from the fallout of The Dark Elements series. His heart was crushed, he lost his father, he lost his clan. But now he has a purpose again. He is Trin’s Protector. She makes him feel again, and that is so confusing for him. Like Trinity, Zayne’s own character grows, and I love seeing this after five full books with him being in the background. I love that we are finally getting to see him live to his full potential. (Yes, I know he’s fictional, but he’s real to me 😄)

The plot here deals with so much. This book can be described as both character driven and plot driven. As much as we see the struggles Zayne and Trinity face, we also get a big conflict they must deal with. These two are tasked with hunting down and stopping the Harbinger by Michael, Trin’s archangel father. However he gives them nothing to go on. They have no idea where to start, and while they are trying to find him, he continues to kill indiscriminately Wardens and demons alike. Because the Harbinger is this big, unknown factor, the story moves at a fast-pace. I was on the edge of my seat, not breathing at times, while Zayne and Trinity patrolled. This is not a book for the faint of heart, that’s for sure. 

And the romance. I can’t NOT talk about the romance. Trinity has locked away her feelings, refusing to cross the line because she doesn’t know the consequences and refuses to risk Zayne. And Zayne, I don’t know what he is doing. Typically I’m not a big fan of angst, but it works here. It is so clear their feelings for one another (from the first book) and that just ratchets up the angst level. Forbidden love yall! My heart bled for them. I wanted to reach through the pages, give their heads a good smack and say “Kiss already!” But the wait is oh so good!

Overall, if you can’t tell, I loved Rage and Ruin! I’m not sure “love” covers it in all honesty. The world-building, which I truly wasn’t expecting since this is a spin-off series and the world is mostly built, is astounding. I love how Armentrout has incorporated the angels into the mix, and I cannot wait to see where she takes us in the next book. And that ending….I just can’t with that ending. My head is going to explode again thinking about it. I have so many thoughts and questions so if you’ve read the book and want to discuss, by all means send me a message 😉 If you are an urban fantasy lover, I highly recommend you grab this book asap!

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