Toxic

Ruin, Book 2

By: Rachel Van Dyken

Narrated by: Anthony Haden Salerno, Holly Fielding

Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Everyone has a secret...

Gabe Hyde is on borrowed time. He's been hiding his identity for over four years-hidden from the world that used to adore him - obsess over him - driven to the edge of insanity by one poor choice. But that one choice, altered the course of his life forever. Pretending isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when pretending means hiding your real self from the people that care about you the most. But if anyone ever discovered the truth it wouldn't just be his life at risk - but hers.

Saylor doesn't hate men. Just Gabe. Only Gabe. He's a reckless, happy-go-lucky, silver spoon fed pain in her ass. Everything about him makes her more and more confused. Unfortunately they both donate time at the same Group Home. If she wasn't afraid of flunking, she'd be long gone. She hates that she's attracted to him almost as much as he hates that he's attracted to her - and she can tell, especially since their first encounter ended up making her knees so weak she couldn't form coherent sentences for weeks afterwards. But the closer she gets to him, the more confused she becomes. He isn't who he says he is, and he's hiding something big.

What happen when two worlds collide? Two worlds that never should have met in the first place? Some secrets are too big to be hidden forever - the only question? Will his destroy everyone he loves? Or finally bring about the redemption he's been craving for the past four years?

Everyone has a secret - what's yours?

©2014 Rachel Van Dyken (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Love Gabe

laugh, cry,
loved Gabe! Interesting story; didn't see some of it coming!
Loved all the quotes coming out of this book!

Beautiful and heartbrearking

This book features the beautiful and heartbreaking story of Gabe and Taylor. Gabe was oh so broken and I couldn't help it but to love him. He was sure his life wasn’t worth anything. He felt so much guilt for what happened in the past and he was trying to hide it at all cost. And then he met Taylor. Their relationship wasn’t easy but it was completely worth it. They were perfect together, they needed each other to find the best version of themselves.

I loved this book too. It was intense and heartbreaking and sexy and romantic. I was frustrated at times with the characters but it was all understandable for their backgrounds and current situations. The narrations of Anthony Haden Salerno and Holly Fielding made me love the story and characters more. Their inflexions were very accurate for the characters, emotions and the situations lived in this story.

Voice performance for Gabe made audio version flat

Would you listen to Toxic again? Why?

Love the story. Very moving and true to characters.
BUT, had to switch to reading on my Kindle. Tear Jerker for sure once I pulled out my paperwhite.

During the audio version the Female Vocal performance for Gabe came across as monotone and robotic.
Totally made him seem see like a pissed off zombie, even when he was supposed to be happy or sad or concerned.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gabe...loved that he stayed true, but wasn't written as a saint.

What three words best describe Anthony Haden Salerno and Holly Fielding ’s performance?

Anthony: Tough, Caring, Believable

Holly: Monotone, Staccato, Singsong

water please

What did you love best about Toxic?

loved the story, it made me cry.

Any additional comments?

Holly needed something to drink. Sorry but you could hear swallowing constantly through most of the story. Other than that the narration was astounding.

Slow narration

The story is okay. The female narrator was difficult to get used to. She spoke so slowly that it quickly became annoying. It wasn't just trying to portray apprehension in a scene, it was every sentence. It got a bit better in the last 2 hours of the book

Great series!

Toxic is book two in the Ruin Series by Rachel Van Dyken and it is Gabe's story. We originally met Gabe in Ruin, and he was one of those guys that just steals your heart. I couldn't wait to read more of his story and find out what was really underneath all those tattoos and piercings, both inside and out. Gabe has secrets.....really big secrets, secrets and pain which are more than anyone should have to bear. His one escape is something he's not partaken of in years.....Until now. With everything that happened with Wes, he's trying to change. The girls, alcohol, drugs - none of it eases his pain anymore, not even temporarily. Yet, he can never forget what has happened. Guilt ridden, he has hidden his identity for love, and has gone above and beyond trying to make amends for what he believes was his fault, yet nothing is enough. Nothing will make things the way they used to be. He's resigned himself to what he believes is his destiny in life, but he's running out of time, his lies threatening to catch up with him. Then he meets Saylor, a kindred spirit, someone who he wants, someone who stirs something in him that he didn't think was possible again, and someone he believes he can't have, and this makes things even worse. Torn between what he perceives as right and wrong, what he should do and what he wants to do, Gabe has some tough issues to face, and some really tough decisions to make, but in end will he choose duty or love, truth or lies, or can they all miraculously meet somewhere in the middle.

Gabe is the hot bad boy type that I am always drawn to. Dark, tattooed, pierced, mysterious, aloof, and can be charming when he wants to be. There is so much more to him that meets the eye. His life is complex, and there are so many facets and sides to everything that he has tried to balance, yet it's becoming too much and the scales are ready to tip, something he isn't sure how to deal with. Then Saylor comes into his life. She's everything he wants, yet she represents everything he can't have, which makes him angry. Torn between desire and anger, he isn't nice to her. In fact he's a jerk, and a big one. One minute he's hot, then one minute he's cold. Saylor doesn't understand it. He makes her angry, yet she's drawn to him. She's not had an easy life, so she tries to give him the benefit of the doubt. Meanwhile, Wes is there, being Wes, the awesome guy that he is - helping with advice and so much more. Kiersten and Lisa are also part of the story, and then we also get to meet someone new in this story.

Gabe's story is heartbreaking, yet beautiful. I loved him, and at times got really angry with him, especially for the way he treated Saylor sometimes, but of course he redeems himself 100% by the end of the story. I liked Saylor's character also. While she had her feisty side, she also was loving, caring, and wanted to do anything she could to help Gabe, despite the lies and the pain he caused her. I don't think I have it in me to do the things she does to support him, yet it was just what he needed. The story itself captivated me from beginning to end, and the romance is beautifully done, especially all things considered. I don't want to say more than that because I don't want to spoil it, but you will understand what I mean when you read the book.

I loved Toxic, and I loved the ending and seeing where Rachel Van Dyken took the characters in this series. If you are a contemporary romance fan, then the Ruin series is one of those you won't want to miss and I highly recommend reading it.

A good book

This is a good book but I personally could not stand the way Holly Fielding narrated it. I don’t know if this is her usual style but she spoke VERY slowly and had awkward pauses. This was the first audio that I had to speed up to make her sound some what conversational. Anthony was great he even sings! Unfortunately, that’s not enough to carry this book.

WOW I can't believe I listened to the whole thing

I liked Ruin even if it was a bit sappy, it did have an actual story and character development. It had been a long time since I read Toxic I forgot, forgot there was little story forgot the characters were two dimensional selfish and insipid. I just couldn't get into it because I had vague cranky feelings for the characters. So much of the story did not make sense because things would just come out of left field that mostly I just wanted to know why. Particularly the female protagonist why was she crying and being a ninny, I found her to be selfish and boring. I don't want to be mean or anything but it was bad by the end I was counting the minutes to the end.