Bright Ruined Things takes my favourite Shakespeare play, The Tempest, and injects it with all of the glitz and glamour of the 1920s (a la The Great Gatsby). The atmosphere and the characters held my attention until the very end; none of the characters are particularly likeable, but their ambition, scheming, betrayal and secrets made it so that I couldn't put this down. It's a beautifully-written, immersive story, and one that I hope to read again soon.

Now, prior to receiving this ARC, I had never heard of Samantha Cohoe. Which, now that I have read Bright Ruined Things, I can honestly say is a Shakespearean tragedy in the making. Thank goodness I have rectified such an error now. I have not enjoyed a Tempest inspired retelling as much as I did this one since reading Miranda and Caliban by Jaqueline Carey, and that is saying something! This book felt like The Tempest re-imagined in the same universe as The Great Gatsby, and I adored every word of it.
Part of what makes a good retelling is that it takes elements of the source material without directly copying them. Bright Ruined Things had all of the key themes ingrained in The Tempest. It examined the relationship of man versus nature, and the innate duplicity of conquest and conqueror. It also picked up on some lesser known themes, such as the exploitation and demonization of feminine power, and the archetype binary of the idealized naïve virgin versus the vilified cunning seductress. However, it played with all of these narrative themes in a way that framed them around one very important question: Does being a bystander make you innocent?
Bright Ruined Things is a study in morality using characters that I found fascinating and loved—even if some of that love was love-to-hate. I just wish it had a more decisive ending, but that’s a personal preference.
In case it isn’t insanely obvious, I would absolutely recommend picking this up ASAP!

If I could sum up my reading experience with one emotion it would be mad. This book just made me furious the entire time for several reasons as nothing about this worked for me. At its core, this story could have had potential, but all of it was wasted on an overly dramatic plot and unlikeable characters. This felt like one big messy family drama thinly veiled as a fantasy story full of characters who had no redeemable qualities. In all honesty, my two-star rating might be too generous.


Writing:

The writing in and of itself was fine as I was able to get through the story with only minor issues. One complaint I had would be that there were a good amount of very short sentences, which is something that I find hinders my reading ability. It makes the writing choppy and it flows oddly as my brain just keeps abruptly stopping.

The only other issue I had was the use of nicknames. The main character is constantly called Mousy Mae which, while it is used for a reason, becomes annoying rather quickly because of how often it was said.

At the beginning, it also includes a very basic family tree, which is great to see but it would be nice to see it look a bit better for the final copy.


Plot:

Let's get this out of the way first. Apparently, this story is supposed to be a retelling of a Shakespeare play called The Tempest. I was not aware of that at all as it was not stated anywhere in the synopsis on Goodreads, and I only found out about it because of the reviews. I cannot fault NetGalley on this as it is part of the description on there, but any readers who are finding the book through Goodreads should be made aware of this. Also, since I do not know what the play is about, I cannot comment on how similar the plots are to each other.

Now, as I said in the introduction, while this is penned as a fantasy, it plays out more like a family drama which is something that I did not want nor need. At the center of the family drama, we have our main character Mae, who is not part of the family and is thus the worst outlet for this story (and not just because I simply didn't like her). As I said, this entire story focuses on the Prosper family, so having an outsider who is not part of said family be the person you are getting the story though, doesn't work because what is happening has nothing to do with her.

Aside from the overly dramatic story, this was also missing a lot of needed context. There are a lot of complex relationships in here, and we are thrown in the middle of it without really knowing how it all started. The characters would reflect on something that happened in the past and it was like you were expected to know what happened already (even though you don't).

Finally, as I was reading along, as a reader does, I was trying to predict what direction the plot was heading in, and I liked the version playing out in my head better than the actual story. I was also so bothered by the way the story was unfolding that I skipped all the way to the end to see what happened... Overall though, this story just didn't deliver the fantasy story I was expecting and was left with a mess of family relations instead.


World-Building:

The world in this novel was lacking a lot of, well, building and clarity. The story takes place on a magical island, one of only a few, and the Prosper family makes their wealth on mining something called aether. We are given hints of a world but not much else context to fill it as the reader is left with a lot of questions.

For a standalone novel, it is crucial that you establish and develop some form of a well-thought-out world, but the world here seems to be only crafted to the extent to somewhat support the plot and no more than that.

My other issue with the world-building is that this is supposed to take place in the 1920s, and not once does it feel like it is. If you are going to market your novel as being partly historical, some effort must at least be made in order to actually make it so. I think the only hint of this being set in the 20s was the mention of bobs being a hair trend. Other than that, this could have taken place at any point in time and no one would have noticed the difference.


Characters:

I would say that this story is primarily character-driven seeing as the story focuses on Mae and the Prosper family (and Rex) almost entirely. For me, to enjoy a good character-driven story, I need the characters and the relationships between them to be well-developed and likeable. That is most definitely not the case here as all of the characters, with the exception of one, were all unlikeable and the dynamics between them were underdeveloped and overly dramatic.

Don't get me wrong, a character doesn't have to be likeable for the story to be good, but when the story itself isn't good and all you have going for you is the characters...them being unlikeable does not help. Even the one character I liked I couldn't enjoy because of the way the author handled them (I will talk more about this in the spoilers).

Now, let's go straight into my main reason for disliking this book - Mae. Mae is our main character, and I wanted to shove her off the cliff of the island the entire time I was reading this. That's how frustrating it was to be inside of her head. She was stuck so far into her own world that all her actions come off as selfish and reckless, and those actions are sadly what drove the story.

She constantly jumps to conclusions with no real evidence and would not see reason beyond it. Her character also made no sense at points, as her actions didn't line up with her desperate situation.

I also simply had not one ounce of sympathy for her character. As I said earlier, not only is she reckless, selfish, and presumptuous, she is also nosey. Everything that happens in this book was all because she just couldn't keep her nose where it belonged.

Regarding the rest of the cast of characters, they felt more like archetypes than actual characters. Miles was the black sheep, Alasdair was the playboy, Coco was the rebellious one, Apollonia was the prim one, and Aeris the spirit was basically Peeves the Poltergeist. Ivo was the only character that I liked even though he also fell into an archetype of being the broody one. None of the characters were utilized well.

In terms of character relationships, I was not here for any of them, mainly because it got really annoying real fast because of how much Mae thought about Miles. There were also just a lot of gaps in all of the relationships. Because of where the story starts, Mae and her relationships with the members of the Prosper family are already established, and we are thus missing a lot of context as to how said relationships grew.


Concluding Thoughts:

I don't even know how to sum up this reading experience other than saying that I wouldn't recommend this to anyone really. If you are looking for a well-developed fantasy or a book that radiated 1920s energy, then this is not for you. If you are looking for a messy family drama, well, maybe give it a shot?

Thank NetGalley and Wednesday Books for allowing me to review this title.

Cohoe's stunning writing and intriguing world make for a very engrossing read, and I finished this book in one sitting.

While it is a retelling, knowledge about The Tempest isn't necessary to be able to enjoy this story. My memory of the Tempest was fuzzy, but I quickly became immersed in the world once I started the novel. I could so clearly imagine the mystical island, the spirits that roamed around, the magic in the air. Our protagonist, Mae, has been living on the island almost all her life but was still utterly entranced by all the enchantments, as was I. It was such a vibrant place and excellent setting for all the chaos that would later go down

The fantastical elements of the novel were fascinating to read, though I wish it had gone into more depth about what exactly they can do with their magic. The descriptions of the magic use itself were pretty but vague enough to leave parts of it up to imagination - even if I do wish more detail had been given.

Mae was exactly the type of protagonist I like to read about - the shy character who everyone underestimates. She's a lonely individual who has lived on the island her entire life, but never a proper resident of it, and so desperate to win the approval of the Prosper family to fully make the island her home.

She’s emotional and naive, but has so much wits about her than it made me so happy to see her begin to use that to her advantage. It was wonderful to see her gain more confidence and power and come into her own as the book went on.

That’s not to say it wasn’t upsetting to read about Mae being overlooked and underappreciated. I especially disliked reading about her infatuation with one of the other characters, Miles. Truthfully, I disliked the romance aspect the most. but fortunately that was not a large part of the novel, as it focused more so on the mystery and Mae’s growth.

Alongside Mae you had her best friend Coco, Mae’s crush Miles, and the mysterious Ivo on the outskirts, alongside all the other people in the Prosper family. All the characters were so multi-faceted which you began to see more as the story went on.


Overall, Bright Ruined Things is a well paced and beautiful written story that revolves around freedom and confinement, and learning to be your own person outside of what others expect of you. Full of great worldbuilding and an intriguing mystery, it was an enjoyable read, barring the romance that I was not a fan of. I would definitely recommend this to fans of magical settings and coming-of-age stories.

Last year I read A Golden Fury and forgot to make notes while reading it because the storyline sucked me in. So when I saw Cohoe had a new book releasing, I raced to request an ARC. Yet again, Cohoe has sucked me in with a storyline so engaging that I made very few notes. So I’m just going to wing this review as best as I’m able. I will say that I haven’t read The Tempest, as this is a parallel. Out of the wide variety of books I read, Shakespeare doesn’t do it for me. So I’m glad I have nothing to compare this story to.

The characters are fairly shallow. They’re not too in-depth, but it helps to draw you into this incredibly dramatic storyline where you’re unsure what exactly is going on, but you’re compelled to keep reading. When I got about 3/4s of the way in, I felt I was reading a soap opera in real-time. There was so much drama, so many delicious secrets coming to light, that I looked at the clock, realized it was 5 hours past bedtime, shrugged, and kept on reading.

This story is so very addicting. You’re unsure who to cheer for outside of Ivo, but you keep reading because you don’t need to cheer for anyone. You just want everyone to spill the tea. I’ve read a few reviews where people were unhappy with the ending. I feel the same way. We went through such a dramatic story, where things worked out as they were meant, until they didn’t. So what was it all for? Sometimes a book needs an ambiguous ending, but this was not the book for it. So it was a bit of a letdown in that area. Overall though, this is such a fun read. Thank you, St. Martin’s/Wednesday Books, for sending this along!

Bright Ruined Things certainly held some magical moments but overall I found myself not loving the stories or the characters. I thought the storyline had really good potential and I liked the setting a lot. I just wish there had been more intrigue!

Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe definitely lured me in with the stunning cover. I'm a sucker for that 1920s opulent decadence and the accompanying aestethic, and combined with family secrets... This tells the story of Mae, raised on an island among a rich family as a sort of foundling, though not quite part of them. It is full of magic and mystery and of people keeping secrets. Nevertheless, I didn't fully fall in love with it, as I felt that the characters didn't come to life as much as I would have liked them to. Many of them ultimately blended together and much was predictable. It was still a fun YA read, but not one that I think I will be rereading. It's interesting that these Gatsby-esque settings are setting a trend at the moment, but that essentially means that this one will be overshadowed by stronger books in the same space, I think.

The title is spot on, the world created on the island is detailed and fantastic. It's been decades since I've read The Tempest, and while I'm not sure I'd call this a reimagining, it has similar themes (family, power, desire/wanting) I think a more accurate description is that The Tempest was a jumping off point for this novel.

Mae may have no real world life experience, having never left the island, but she is not as innocent as the family would like to believe. Mae has dreams - mostly about having magic of her own. The various members of the Prosper family were also interesting.

The only life Mae has ever known is on the island, living on the charity of the wealthy Prosper family who control the magic on the island and the spirits who inhabit it. Mae longs for magic of her own and to have a place among the Prosper family, where her best friend, Coco, will see her as an equal, and her crush, Miles, will finally see her. Now that she’s eighteen, Mae knows her time with the Prospers may soon come to an end.

But tonight is First Night, when the Prospers and their high-society friends return to the island to celebrate the night Lord Prosper first harnessed the island’s magic and started producing aether – a magical fuel source that has revolutionized the world. With everyone returning to the island, Mae finally has the chance to go after what she’s always wanted.

When the spirits start inexplicably dying, Mae starts to realize that things aren’t what they seem. And Ivo, the reclusive, mysterious heir to the Prosper magic, may hold all the answers – including a secret about Mae’s past that she doesn’t remember. As Mae and her friends begin to unravel the mysteries of the island, and the Prospers’ magic, Mae starts to question the truth of what her world was built on.

Forbidden magic, a family secret, and a night to reveal it all...

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I typically do not review books that I don’t finish on Netgalley. However, this is a case where I feel like it’s a worthwhile thing to do because I did read approximately half the book. Unfortunately, it never clicked for me in any way at all. The intro hinges on an unwanted arranged marriage, a confusing world, and characters that feel one dimensional. The book lacked cohesion and really did not work for me.

I was really looking forward to reading this one. You can’t always love everything though. I think that I’m in the minority on my response to this one. I really hope that it does well and finds the right audience. I just happened to not be that audience. It was more ruined than bright for me.

This book started out feeling like an info dump. I tried really hard to get into it but I just couldn't. While the concept seemed interesting, once I started reading it just didn't draw me in and I couldn't quite get a grasp on this world. We're just sort of, thrown into it from the start without much explanation.

A dazzling 1920s reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Where do I even begin? I think that I’ll be making this book my personality for the rest of the month. The magic system, the characters and the setting are all incredibly well written, and I’m going to try to get my hands on a finished copy as soon as it comes out.

The plot is intriguing all on it’s own. I mean, a young woman who has lived on a magical island controlled by a wealthy family her whole life is suddenly thrown into a whirlwind of mystery? That sounds like such an exciting read. Plus, it’s set during the 1920s, and it’s a Shakespeare retelling. Sign me up.

Mae, also known as Mousy Mae, is the star of the show. She’s the daughter of the Prosper family’s steward who has been waiting until her 18th birthday to finally marry her crush, also known as Miles Prosper. But when the lady of the house arranges her marriage to the heir and black sheep of the family, she knows that she has to do everything she can to call off the marriage. Thus sending her spiraling down a rabbit hole of well told lies and family secrets. What’s more is that she only has a single night to make everything right.

The well crafted backstory effortlessly weaved into the present, creating a very believable history that didn’t feel like it was dumped onto a page. The characters were leaping off the pages, and while there wasn’t much description of what they looked like, it wasn’t hard to imagine them. Had this been a physical copy, I think I would’ve run out of tabs to mark my favourite lines.

Plus the ending?? I wished that there was more of this wonderful story because I teared up multiple times during the last few chapters and the ending caught me so off guard that I think I dropped my kindle. Samatha Cohoe is a wonderful writer and I’m very glad she has other books so that I can immerse myself in her poetic, magical writing style again.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martins Press for granting me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

I have tried to read this twice three months apart and just can’t get past 25%. I think it’s time to just label this one a DNF.

I was rather looking forwards to this book. I enjoyed the author's debut, and this is a <em>Tempest</em> inspired book where the Prospero of the book is quite clearly the villain (I really don't like the character in the play!) However, what I got wasn't really a historical fantasy, or what I wanted (or entirely what the blurb promised) and it was rather disappointing in the end.

It's more a book about tangled love lives and messy family dynamics due to money, with the occasional remembrance that, oh yes, this is technically a fantasy - let's cram in the magic spirits again. It did really feel like the fantasy was a second thought, existing in the little spaces left by the rest of the book, tacked on a bit awkwardly to give a dramatic finale. It didn't feel well integrated.

<em>The Tempest</em> is clearly more of a springing off point, and then the author swam a fair way through the water away from the original play inspiration. I probably wouldn't have been so disappointed by that if the fantasy element clearly inspired by the book hadn't felt so tacked on, because I do like to see where an idea can be taken. But it was just another reminder that this wasn't the book I was expecting and wanted.

This is a book set on a fictional island off the coast of 1920s England. It's also a book that uses American English. This means the grammar is wrong (British past participles are often different!) and the dialect too. A 1920s British girl "stepping out of her pants for a swim" is something different from what the author means!

It really jerked me out the book every time the characters used obvious Americanisms, because it undermined to world for me. I couldn't believe it was set in the UK because they were speaking like Americans. The book didn't <em>need</em> to be set in the UK - it has literally no affect on the plot - so it could have been set in a fictional US island and then there would be no dialectal jarring.

This book was decent. I skimmed a lot through it, a few things would grab my attention here and there but I needed faster pacing, it just kind of seemed to drag. It starts out with such good promise. I think others will enjoy it, maybe my head wasn't in the right place for it when I read it.

3.5 stars.

Bright Ruined Things is a historical fantasy, set in the 1920s on an isolated island beyond the coast of England. Magical control of the spirits on the island and their energies have provided a type of magical fuel that has made the Prosper family very wealthy & powerful. There is a very Gatsby feel about the atmosphere and there is definitely some allegorical work at play in the narrative that adds to the intrigue. The setting is nice and dark with a good gothic flare.

While I appreciated the setting and the basic gist of the narrative, there were some things I struggled with. The magic system was interesting, though at times confusing. The voice of the novel comes off a bit immature. Rated for YA, there are moments where the tone is more middle grade and I expected better of Mae (the protagonist). The characters are interesting, but not as fleshed out as I would like. Instead, they tend to get a bit of a stereotypical development that made them less likable and didn't give me as much interest in their individual outcomes. Lord Prosper, in particular, felt like a bit of a cardboard cutout.

That being said, I did mention that the characters were interesting. I enjoyed Coco quite a bit and there was some good underlying character to Ivo. There was quite a bit to explore with Alasdair and Miles that I think could have gone a long way to furthering the plot and upping the stakes/intrigue. The characters improved as the end neared, and the ending itself did wrap up quite well. It was a pleasant reading experience and not a bad early novel, so I hope to see more from Cohoe in the future.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

Bright Ruined Things is a dark ya fantasy set in the 1920’s. The novel is inspired by Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.

Mae has lived on the island with the Prosper family her whole life. When her 18th birthday approaches, she’s worried that she’s going to get kicked off. Mae would do anything to keep her place on the island and that includes marrying the outcast of the family, Ivo Prosper. When things start going haywire with the magic and spirits on the island, Mae thinks Ivo has something to do with it.

This book was absolutely incredible! I loved everything about it. The setting, the characters, the magic system, everything. When this book started going, it didn’t stop until the very end. I was intrigued the entire time reading this story. There is a little bit of a love triangle throughout the book but it was written very well and I enjoyed it. I will say the only thing I disliked about the book was how toxic one of the friendships was throughout the story. Mae deserved better.

Overall, I highly recommend reading this. It was magical, dark, and the ending was perfect.

I really wanted to love this one but it fell a little short for me. Possibly because I haven't yet read Shakespeare's Tempest. (Gasp! I know.) I loved the sound of the synopsis, with a magical island and deep dark secrets and everything, but it just felt like things always were a little *less* than they could have been. Maybe it was Mae as a narrator - she was a little too distant and unfeeling for me. The setting was my favorite thing about this, and I think the descriptions of the island and the house and why Mae loves them all so much were the strongest points. If the magical island aspect appeals to you too, definitely give it a read.

The Bright Ruined Things knows how to hold you until the very last second!! I found myself intrigued and just as eager and curious as the main heroine Mae! Samantha Cohoe did a great job of writing a book that’s wasn’t predictable what so ever. Many of my guesses and theories were wrong and I loved that most! I also liked the dynamic between Mae, Coco, Miles and Ivo more than anything, they made me want to stick around! Over all, I enjoyed this book!

Intriguing and captivating story. The story setting is unique and well-described. The characters are not so likable except for Ivo. The story was fast-paced, well-written with a lot of mysteries involved.

I enjoyed reading it and recommend it to those who love magic and sorcery. The ending was a what-if for me. I was hoping for a happily ever after.

I'm thankful to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.