Ruinous Ends: A Good Morning America YA Book Club Pick

The Souls of Blackwood Academy #2

by I.V. Marie

The Decennial is over, but for the students of Blackwood Academy, the fight for the afterlife has just begun.

The infamous school was hiding more secrets—and lies—than any of the Decennial’s participants could have imagined. And there’s still so much that remains buried beneath its ancient foundations. Now the future of the academy, and all the souls within it, rests in the hands of six former
The charmer and the golden boy . . .
The traitor and the girl desperate to save her . . .
The Chosen One and the one who would choose her over and over again . . .

Any of them could be the hero the afterlife needs . . . or the villain who will destroy it for good. Because the truth is, Blackwood’s biggest secret has yet to come to light—and when it does, it will shake the institution to its core.

Genres: Fantasy, Dark Academia, Romantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Paranormal

463 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication July 14, 2026

About the author

I.V. Marie is the instant New York Times, USA Today and Indie Bestselling author of Immortal Consequences. She was born and raised in Miami to a Peruvian mother and Chilean father, where she acquired a penchant for afternoon cafecitos and developed an all-consuming obsession with books. Her writing ambitions began behind her grandparents’ computer, where she spent her childhood crafting spooky and fantastical short stories. When she is not writing, you can find her rock climbing or watching atmospheric Youtube videos with her dog, Mr. Darcy.

Reviews

[Liana Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

4! So much happened, the YA readers will love this.
FULL REVIEW TO FOLLOW!!



And I'm back at Blackwood Academy where more secrets and lies are hidden within its walls and 6 students (in the afterlife) will either become villains or the heroes.

This is one of the most gorgeous covers I've seen, I'm beyond grateful to receive an early copy. Immortal Consequences was a total hit, great concept, great execution, appropriate for anyone in any age group (yes even 12+!). Check out my review of book 1 if you're interested in starting this duology!



Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's Books/Delacorte Press and the author, I.V Marie for the early copy.

Publication date: July 14, 2026

[jae ⟡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

⊹“i will find you. wherever we go. wherever we end up. that is my promise to you, wren loughty. i will find you. i will find you.”

omfg that ending made me go through the five stages of grief. i’m so glad i decided to reread book one before starting this and i definitely recommend doing the same for the full experience (and emotional damage) 🥹

in all honesty, the first half of this book didn’t fully sell me. the constant switching between the six povs was confusing especially with so much of the world being expanded. fortunately, it picked up by the second half and i was able to invest myself in the story. i do wish our main six had spent more time together though! it didn’t really feel like a found family apart from masika, emilio, and olivier, whose dynamic i ended up loving a lot.

i also want to point out irene’s character arc because it was simply so, so stunning. i.v. marie did an exceptional job writing her. and my beloved augustwren :’) if i think too much about them i will start crying again. the way they love and care and protect each other both broke and healed me at the same time. i truly adored them beyond words.

each of their endings was unbearably bittersweet, and yet it somehow felt… inevitable. true to who they were and the choices they would make again and again. really, at the end of it all, love is not a feeling of happiness. it’s a willingness to sacrifice, to hope, and this story drove that home in the most moving way.

ⓘ thank you to netgalley and random house for the arc!

[ellie]

don’t mind me, just waiting for wrenaugust to come home to me.

[Becky (sirensongreads)]

I have never needed a sequel so fast.
I need to know what happens next.

[Val ୨୧ (hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to netgalley and Harpercollins publishing for this ARC !

Good job I.V. Marie. You broke my heart again. Never have I cried so hard at the ending of a book. This was such a bittersweet, cute ending, and it felt like such a perfect wrapup to the series. I also loved that each pair/couple’s stories were so nicely wrapped up. WrenAugust my loves, they deserved so so much better, but their ending was honestly inevitable. I think if anyone enjoyed Our Infinite Fates by Lauren Steven, they’ll really love this.

⋆·˚ ༘ * August ⋆·˚ ༘ *
August my king of yearning. He’s my favourite tortured MMC, and his loyalty to Wren is genuinely the most heartwarming thing ever. I mean this man LITERALLY gave Wren a piece of his soul to save her in the first book. There were definitely plot twists I never would’ve seen coming, and my jaw was ON THE FLOOR more than once. I think it’s very obvious that August would follow Wren to the ENDS OF THE EARTH. Soulmates in every way.

𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚ Wren 𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚

JUSTICE FOR WREN. It was so sad to read and see the progression of the prophecy, and some of the things she remembered and went through. I really hope we get to see her life before Blackwood in the novella when she was HAPPY, not the heartbreaking snippets we got in this book 😭. I also love that unlike some books, she very clearly loves August just as much as he loves her. They will forever hold such a special place in my heart.

𐙚⋆.˚ Masika and Irene 𐙚⋆.˚

BEFORE anyone comes for me, I want to say I never hated Irene. What she did in the first book was wrong, but in the end, she was just a girl who’d never truly known love. Irene deserved so much better. Masika never truly gave up on her, and I love her devotion to both Irene and their friendship so much. Masika deserves all the goodness in the world, and I love that her relationship with Catherine slowly healed throughout the book and that she was abl to forgive her.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Olivier and Emilio ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

I CRIED THE HARDEST DURING THEIR ENDING. My babies deserve everything and so much more. They’re my favourite couple (after wren&August.). I cried so many times watching Olivier go through the forgetting, but hiding it from Emilio because he didn’t want him to worry. I love them so much, and I hope that they get their happy ending.


Preread: If anyone was woken up by screaming this morning i apologise that was me because i GOT AN ARC. AHRIFHIWJDNEHFIEUFHDNWIEUFHDNS I GOT AN ARC. YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT ME ? I GOT AN ARC OF RUINOUS ENDS EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE


Prerelease: WRENAUGUST MY BABIES COME HOMEEEEE COME HOMEEEEEE

[hater ★]

🧍‍♀️

[shreya‎ ‎ ‎ ⋆‎ ‎ ‎ hiatus ‎ ‎ ⑅‎ ‎ ‎ ֺ · Rating 5 out of 5]

rtc. basically one of my favorite 2nd book. actually this was sososo good and im so grateful to have recieved the second arc!



⌗ ρrє-rєα∂ ⭑.ᐟ
⤷ ᯓ GUESS WHO GOT THE ARC!! IM SO EXCITEDD!! ive been in need of such a good romantasy that im like so desperate for this omg.. eternally grateful to have received this one!

𓏲⋆ ִֶָ ๋𓂃 ⋆ if you know you know, i loved the first one so much that im genuinely sososo happy 😭 no one talk to me until im done btw.. rooting for august and wren 🤞🏻🥲

[angela]

I don’t know what this book is called, I don’t know what the cover looks like, I don’t even know what the plot is. But I’m seated in an Ayo Edebiri way.

[ava ⋆˙⟡]

|🪻| pre~release |🤍|

OMG THAT COVER IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!! I CANT WAIT

[BookishKB]

✨🖤 Ruinous Ends 🖤✨

📖 Bookish Thoughts
I’ll be sharing my full review closer to publication date.

💫What to Expect
• Dark academy
• Afterlife stakes
• Multiple POVs
• Secrets and betrayal
• Morally gray characters
_ _ _ _

📅 Pub Date: July 14, 2026
📝 Thank you to Random House Children's Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

[Suirene]

August is my new standard for men.
Are we ready for yearning August?

[clicktojointhemafia]

pls let wren live 🙏 also that guy who kept stalking irene— HEAR ME OUT

p.s. that is one sexy title

[minnie. [traveling hiatus!] · Rating 5 out of 5]

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⋮ ⌗ 🪻┆ postread ⸝⸝ jul. 10 🗝️ˎˊ˗
since immortal consequences is one of my favorite books, i was beyond ecstatic when i received the arc for ruinous ends. i loved this novel just as much as the first, and it somehow made me love the characters even more than i had before. also might i add how gorgeous the cover is?? full review to come after my vacation!

[Saranya]

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊
𝑷𝒓𝒆-𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆~
₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊

OMGGG!!! THIS COVER IS DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS 😍 ✨️

August,
Come home to me 🥺

[Toriఌ]

Coming out July 14

[Keysha]

STUNNING COVER

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished this book a week ago and I am still just thinking about it. It was difficult to word how much I loved this and how many emotions this book made me feel. (Sorry not sorry IV for the crying selfie you got)

Definitely recommend a reread of the last 100 or so pages of Immortal Consequences before reading, if you, like me, struggle to remember details. Ruinous Ends starts off right in the thick of it and it’s absolutely worth the reread to get the full experience.

From this point on, some spoilers for Immortal Consequences!!!

Immortal Consequences ends with our characters split up. Normally I’m wary when this happens in books, because we then get a ton of new side characters that vanish. Thank god that wasn’t the case here; all of the side characters are important and well developed… and I cried over them a few times.

Irene wasn’t my favorite character in the first book, but her arc in this book was absolutely phenomenal. She truly grew so much as a character and I was routing for her so hard. I loved the others as well and their arcs, but hers stood out so much because of how much my opinion of her changed. I struggle to like the mean characters, but it was so clearly why she was how she was.

I was so happy with the ending. I felt each character got the ending that made the most sense for their arc. I sobbed for a solid hour but 10/10 was absolutely worth it.

I’m always nervous reading a sequel for a book I got a ton of copies for… now I will be getting the sequels to match all my copies. And I absolutely cannot wait to read Twisted Vows because I cannot handle never seeing any of these characters again. I also cannot wait to read anything else IV Marie writes!!!

[Noi (in & out)]

Give it here

[rosie (jason todd's version)]

oh yeah i need this rn.

[Chrisa]

I NEED THIS RIGHT NOW

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

I didn’t want this to end! I loved seeing all of our characters again and all sides of the impending war against Blackwood Academy. The romance, the magic, the FRIENDSHIP these six characters have is untouchable! The ending was bittersweet I want to know what happens next. Please write another book!



Thank you to NetGalley and publisher, Random House Children’s Books for providing this book for an honest review.

[m y r · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a bittersweet ending to an inescapable outcome for these characters 🥹 (I will be crying over one for years to come). To end a duology with so many different characters and POV's is difficult, but I.V. Marie excels at making a reader both love/hate each one and bring the story together in a satisfying way. I really felt, as a reader, that I could connect and relate to each character in certain ways, and that's what makes me love them so much.

Where Immortal Consequences felt more character-driven, Ruinous Ends both expanded into the dark lore of the world and backstories of each character (main and side). I loved the expansion into outside of Blackwood Academy and how corruption played with fate. The villain's backstories were so well-thought and explored as well.

I do wish the ending hadn't felt so rushed and was a bit more emphasized rather than certain events being a bit shrugged off. I also wished that there were more scenes with all 6 of the characters together, rather than being separated and grouped into their own settings. That being said, I really do love the way their development evolved and how fitting their arcs were. I'll always treasure this series ❤

Thank you to Delacorte Press & NetGalley for the ARC!!❤

[AndaReadsTooMuch · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked Immortal Consequences as an ARC read I was completely unaware what was waiting for me. From the first page I was so invested, so hooked, that it had lived in my brain rent free for over a year. The concept alone, dark academia in the afterlife was so different and so refreshing that I was absolutely taken. Add onto the fact that it was a debut novel??? Just incredible.

And now here we are at the sequel, Ruinous Ends. I thought I was prepared. The first book got me, but surely the second one wouldn’t catch me unawares. You can guess what happened from there.

I.V. Marie got me again. She got me good. By the last pages I was openly weeping. Did it end how I thought it would? No. And I’m glad it didn’t. Everything wasn’t perfect; it was RIGHT. It was how it needed to end (despite my clear favorites but we won’t talk about that).

I won’t go into plot due to spoilers. Just know if you loved the first book, the second will wreck you in the best possible way.

Huge thank you to Random House Kids, Netgalley, Delacorte Press and I.V. Marie for the opportunity to read this amazing sequel to Immortal Consequences. All opinions are my own. And now I have to go stare at the wall for a while (after I preorder this absolute masterpiece.)

[˚✧⁎Sayurii⁺˳✧༚ {I’ll listen to the memories as they cry}]

ITS NOT A WANT, ITS A NEED.

[Aniella Fields · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank You Net Galley for giving me access to an e-arc for Ruinous Ends!

Currently, Ruinous Ends is one of my favorite reads of the year. Having already enjoyed the first book in the Immortal Consequences series, and being left on quite the cliffhanger, I was eagerly anticipating the sequel. It absolutely did not disappoint. In fact, I may have enjoyed Ruinous Ends even more than Immortal Consequences because of how successfully it builds on the first book and delivers such an emotionally packed story.
As a reader who tends to prefer strong, character-driven narratives over plot-heavy ones, I loved seeing growth from all six of the student protagonists. By the end, I found myself appreciating each of them, even when I was frustrated with some of their decisions, especially Irene. I also appreciated that the fantasy elements of this afterlife-based world remain easy to follow, even as the story expands and builds on the foundation laid in the first book.
I also have to mention the relationships. Wren and August have become one of my favorite couples. The yearning between them, and the lengths they go to in trying to save each other, made their relationship incredibly compelling to read. That said, I also couldn’t get enough of Olivier and Emilio, who were another special couple to follow throughout the story.
Overall, Ruinous Ends is a five-star read for me, and I highly recommend it and the Souls of Blackwood duology as a whole. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for future books by I. V. Marie. I’m also eagerly awaiting the Wren and August novella coming this October!

[Betsy Lynk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book!!! I was able to read this as an ARC - after reading book 1 and giving it 5 Stars I was dying to read book 2. I think this is an immensely strong completion to this duology.

Plot: straightforward and very fast pace, this book takes place over the course of a week or two, it seems like we were sprinting (I genuinely don’t know how our characters slept with how much was going on). This book could have easily been 100 pages longer and I’d still want more.. I think for the length of this book, the plot is flushed out enough, any more and I’d feel like the amount of written details to plot length would be thrown off and rushed.

Characters: Personally, I loved the 6 POVs. My only -.25 star reduction comes from wishing we had more background and perspective from Edith and Silas going into our final scenes. Otherwise I sobbed the last 6% of the book because our main 6 characters are that good 🥹😭
Stand outs - Irene!!!! (I didn’t love her as much in book 1 but I enjoyed all of her chapters in this book, honestly wish we had a wee bit more character development time for her!), of course I must mention August, he’s my favorite MMC in this one 🫶🏼. And honorable mention to Olivier, the man will flirt in every situation! 💞

Writing: I just vibe with I.V.’s writing style, it’s so easy to read and she adds nuanced details that truly make you feel like you’re in that POV’s mind. I love that she details all of our major senses - she really does “show” us vs. telling us the story.

Now I’m yearning for the short story/novella associated to immortal consequences coming out later this year!!

[Helen Nguyen]

I NEED THIS BOOK LIKE IVE NEVER NEEDED ANYTHING BEFORE

[Lexi]

(01/10/26) Holy Crap!!! WE NOW HAVE A COVER & A RELEASE DATE?!?! I AM OFFICIALLY UNWELL!!! 😩😩😩!!!
(11/06/25) WE HAVE A TITLE AND A DESCRIPTION!!! AND YES!!! I AM FREAKING OUT OVER IT!!! 🤭🤭🤭!!!

[Ayeley 𐙚 ·˚]

Am I the only one seated for Irene?😔

[Nat ~ Pitucareads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️ .5 🌶️

Somewhere in the beginning the book lagged a little but I still enjoyed where the story was heading and held on. This book in the duology went deeper into each characters back story and we got to know some better. We also get separated and explore different parts of the world which was very intriguing. There was a bit more world building which I always love.

There are multiple romances happening at once and my favorite was Olivier and Emilio. Their scenes has me tearing up over and over. The angst and yearning just got me. Wren and August were second. His sacrifices tore my soul but I wasn’t completely invested but captured enough.

Some characters I never fully got attached to unfortunately. Like Irene or Masika and Catherine. There were multiple villains but i wish we would have gotten to know them a little better to make the ending a bit more satisfying.

75% in and I had no idea how we were going to wrap things up. The ending was very well done and I was pleasantly surprised by some of the twists and turns. The way it all came had me gasping at times. I might have shed a tear or two which says alot because I dont cry. 😭

Im excited to read the novella next and get a little more of Wren and August.

Things I didn’t love. I wish I would have gotten more attached to all the main characters and gotten to them as well as the villains more. Some little details of the ending felt a tiny bit too convenient but not enough to ruin the story.

✨Received this as an ARC but my opinions are my own