By Samantha Cohoe
Bright Ruined Things (ARC Book Review)
The Tempest meets The Great Gatsby in Bright Ruined Things, a new fantasy YA novel from Samantha Cohoe.
Mae has never truly belonged on the island she grew up on, a source of great magic owned and controlled by the rich and dazzling Prosper family. But she’s always wanted to. Just like she’s always wanted to have a hand in the magic.
At eighteen, Mae is afraid that her time on the island will end and she’ll be sent away forever to the mainland, where spirits don’t fill the air with song and magic is an anomaly, or worse, an impossibility. As the Prosper family and their friends gather for the largest celebration of the year, Mae must figure out how to find her way into becoming a part of the family at all costs…not knowing how many secrets she’ll uncover in the process.
In this new take on a classic, Cohoe quickly builds a world of wonder, magic, and mystery. In only a few chapters, readers are thrown into the compulsively readable drama of the Prosper family and will find themselves avidly flipping through pages to see what the story will unveil next.
A fast-paced and fun read, Bright Ruined Things is not only a nod to Shakespeare’s earlier piece but an ode to those deeper concepts the late, great writer weaved into one of his last works. Yet, the story makes these themes much more digestible and entertaining for a younger audience. With a plot full of murder, romance, backstabbing, gossip, and more, this story would likely have made ol’ William proud, although it may lack the nuance and literary prowess of the original.
Highly recommended for fans of the characters and intriguing plot of A Winter’s Promise, I gave Bright and Ruined Things 4 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!
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