3/5⭐ to Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe. Much thanks to Wednesday Books for an egalley to review! I definitely have mixed feelings on this one, but overall it was decent. I will also say that listening to the audiobook improved my reading experience. This book follows Mae, who was taken on as a ward by a family known as the Prospers, who not only financially control their island, but also have control of all the magic on the island. As she is nearly 18, she worries about what will happen to her as the family will no longer have to support her once she's an adult. Not only that, but as a celebration arrives that commemorates when the Prosper family gained control of the magic from the indigenous magical species (who were said to be dangerous and out of control), something doesn't sit right. Mae feels even more conflicted when her future is secured through a betrothal to one of the Prosper sons. This mystery is what glues this book together and what made me keep reading until the end.
In terms of characters, they were one of the more enjoyable parts of this story. None of them were particularly well developed or three-dimensional, but they carried the overall story well and added a unique layer to the plot. We do get a bit of a romance in the story which was cute and involved some angst though it was not front and center. Unfortunately, it was the magic system and setting that let me down. We know this family has magic that was taken from the magical creatures who originally inhabited this island, which does provide some good commentary about colonization (at least I sensed a connection). However, it wasn't very well developed and I felt like I was grasping at straws a little to understand it. It still added well to the overall story & atmosphere of the book, but it also didn't bring it past being "okay". From my understanding, this is either a Great Gatsby retelling, or at least was inspired by that book. Having not read Gatsby before, maybe there were elements I missed that would have increased my enjoyment. Was this a terrible book? No. Will I give this author another chance? Probably? Can I recommend it? I'm not sure. Take all this what you will, but I wish this author the best with her future works.

Unfortunately, it seems I'm in the minority regarding this book. The premise sounded very interesting, but nothing really grabbed me with the story. I found the characters more unlikable than not, and couldn't really get into the story.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really underwhelmed by this book. I completely forgot that it's inspired by The Tempest - which I read back in college - and that would be fine. But overall this book just felt incredibly disjointed. I didn't really care for the characters, and Mae was kind of annoying. The romance felt forced and I was just pretty apathetic throughout the majority of the book. Unfortunately, I only became truly interested at the very end when Mae finally starts standing up for herself.

This was an entertaining and twisty read, with such a fun 1920’s atmosphere! I enjoyed the twist on the Tempest. Would definitely recommend! Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you love retellings or reimaginings then this book should be under your radar. I've read this book before it came out and it's one of ghe good reads I've picked up along the way!

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for the digital advanced copy and the print finished copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an interesting retelling of The Tempest, I hadn't read the Shakespeare play since high school, but as Bright Ruined Things got going I started to pick up parts of the story I remembered. Overall, I really enjoyed this one, it has these elements of magic and fantasy and mystery that just really create something interesting. Also, making the timing around the 1920s lended the story this Gatsby-esque edge that really brought the story to life. Plus, I thoroughly enjoyed the love triangle and the MC's realization that maybe love had been right in front of her all along. The ending is a little bit of mystery, but I think it leaves the decision up to the reader on how to decide it ends and I really liked that. Overall, would definitely recommend for those looking for something a little different in the fantasy/magic genre.

After reading "A Golden Fury" in 2020, one of my favorite reads that year, I was beyond thrilled to see what Samantha Cohoe would have for us with her next book. Wholly different from "Golden Fury," this book takes place on a magical island full of very wealthy people, and one girl who doesn't quite belong. This book was full of surprises, twists and turns, and was a fascinating character study of some very different and realistic people. I truly enjoyed it.

Mae lives on an island with the Prospers, a magical family that lives on an island. This island is special...the press isn't allowed to talk about it, but everyone is curious. Two members of the Prosper family have magic, while the others are envious of their power. This magic is used to bind the island's spirits to do the family's will and to maintain the island's magic. However, as Mae and some of her best friends/other members of the Prosper family get more involved in uncovering the real source of this magic, it seems that what's happening is much darker and deadlier than they could have ever imagined.

While this is the main plot, there is a lot more going on. We learn about the members of the Prosper family, and they are all fascinating. I wish we had spent more time getting to know them, and I wish they had been just a little more developed. I loved Coco with all my heart, and I desperately wish we had gotten to know Ivo better. The relationships between the characters and Mae make up the heart of the book.

This book got four stars from me because I really wish we had gotten a little bit more character development for the supporting characters. It was a great, quick read, but it just wasn't as good as "Golden Fury," though it was going to be really tough to beat that book.

Bright Ruined Things follow Mae as she lives on the island with a wealthy family, the Prosper. They pretty much govern this island, make the rules and control the magic there. Spirits inhabit this island but when one Spirit is found dead, as if all of its magic had been stolen, Mae starts wondering what's really happening. The fact that she has both a crush and a friend in this Prosper family meant that she'll get more tangled up than she expected.

Overall, this was an okay book. Three weeks later after reading this book (because yes, I've been procrastinating on writing reviews), I've forgotten a few things but I remember not really liking Mae. I didn't love her as a main character and the fact that she changed personalities easily seemed a bit weird to me. I also expected a more historical ambiance with that cover but didn't really find it. Still, I'm glad I got to read this book.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

After the death of her father, Mae wants nothing more than to be apart of the Prosper family. Born on the island, Mae has known nothing different than being at the beck and call of the magical family. Now that she is almost 18, she realizes that her time on the island may be coming to an end, unless she can secure a spot within the Prosper clan, one way or another.

I found the world building in this to be interesting. I liked learning about the magic, and how it worked on the island. I really wanted to know more about the spirits, and why they served this family, when it was clear they didn't want to. I was so intrigued by all the drama and family secrets everyone was hiding. I found it interesting that the author chose to have the book span over a single day. I think that it made the plot all the more fast paced and thrilling. Mae started off as a very weak willed individual, but I enjoyed her character development in the end. I like how she finally started standing up for herself and what she wanted, instead of doing everything she thought the Prospers wanted her to do. I was a big fan of Ivo, but I think he may have been the only character I actually liked... everyone else was so unlikable... which I think was the point... but still. The biggest complaint I have was the romance, I really disliked the love interest and how Mae was so enamored by a man that sucked so completely... I was definitely rooting for the other guy. I ended up listening to this on audio, and I really enjoyed the narration!

Overall, a lot of fun, and not what I was expecting from this book!

I absolutely love retellings and anything Shakespeare. This novel did not disappoint for me. Mae was likeable and the world building was just up my alley.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest, personal review. This story is inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and is set in the 1920's time period. On a private island, the main character of Mae is an orphan who grows up with the wealthy Prosper family. She wants to be seen by people including her crush and to learn magic that is not available to her. There are spirits, sprites and other magical things within the storyline and there is scheming, danger and secrets galore. The story itself was interesting because it takes place basically in 24 hours. The only difficulty I had at times, was connecting fully to any of the characters. Good read all around, recommend it especially to those who enjoy magic.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one early!

I enjoyed this one overall. It started off really strong with some intriguing characters and an interesting magic system., but then the pacing seemed to slow and I found my mind wandering off. By the end of the story, I liked the characters but wasn't super connected to them. The setting and time period was really cool as were the spirits.

Like the authors debut, I enjoyed the book overall and will read more form them, Just wasn't blown away.

If this book sounds intriguing to you, do pick it up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Bright Ruined Things is a story about Mae who has lived her whole life on an island with a wealthy family who controls magic and the spirits there. When the spirits start dying Mae attempts to find out why.

I wasn't super crazy about this one. Mae is described as a girl who was just fortunate enough to have been born on the island so the rich family doesn't want to kick her to the curb and they're all just being nice to not look like the jerk. Then everyone basically makes decisions for her and she just goes along with them in order to not make waves because she doesn't want to be kicked to the curb. There's also like a love interest that just never clicked to me either.

Then all of a sudden Mae is there to save the day even though she was described as sticking to the shadows and staying out of everyone's way. It was a miss for me.

Bright Ruined Things tells the story of Mae who has only ever lived on this magical island along with the Prosper family. But while they come and go, she never leaves the island. Why would she want to? It’s magical!

But as the big event of the year arrives, so do truths that Mae could have never imagined.

Let’s discuss!

(this is a retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, but since I haven’t read that, I can’t really say how well it represents/subverts the themes in that story)

I actually requested this book by accident. I saw the title, the cover, and the synopsis, and was like YES PLEASE! And then I saw the author and was like…oh no. I didn’t love her first book (I DNF’d it) so I was a little nervous I was going to feel just as meh about this one.

Luckily, I was wrong!

This book is so complex and dark and does not go anywhere you think it will go. It’s also very hard to talk about without spoiling huge plot points.


But the island is run using ether or magic that is coming from these caves/mountains. Lord Prosper has harnessed it so he can have magic of his own, but also so he can control spirits that work as servants around the estate.

What these spirits actually are is chilling. I do wonder if the author is saying something about colonialism. That’s what I got from it, but I’m not exactly sure that’s what she was going for. Especially with the way things end on the island. If that was the case, I wish she had been more obvious about it.

But let’s get away from the possible message and go to the characters.

I think Mae was the perfect main character and perspective to write from. She is flawed, under the spell of the family, and wishes for nothing more than to be accepted by them. Because of that, she believes things much longer than she should. But that’s a good thing. At least for the story.

Because, in real life, even when the truth is hitting you in the face, you don’t always believe it right away. I like how that was shown through Mae.

And the magic of the island and the goodness of the Prosper family is not the only thing messing with Mae’s head. She has boy issues too!!


She has been in love with Miles since forever but beyond friends, he doesn’t see her that way at all. But that changes as the story goes on.

Then there is Ivo, the outcast of the Prosper grandchildren, who is actually learning magic from their grandfather (Lord Prosper) and who the adults in the family agree Mae should marry.

Mae, on the other hand, is not enthused with that option. They were friends for a month or two but then he caught her snooping in his hut and was PISSED. Now, she’s really just scared of him.

But as the story goes on, it’s clear that Ivo definitely has feelings for her and he’s loyal, almost to a fault.

Unfortunately, once the truth is out, Mae doesn’t know who to believe.

Ok, let’s get one thing clear. Mae should have ended up with Ivo. Miles is a dick. The ending is open so we don’t know exactly who is alive or who is with whom in this little love triangle, but let’s just say….there were moments when I was reading this and shouting “GO BACK TO IVO!!!”


As for the other characters on the island and in the Prosper family, HOLY SHIT, they are all complicated and it’s like a dream come true for me. I love a character that’s not all good or bad.

Like yes, most of them couldn’t give a shit about Mae when the story starts off, but they also have their own demons to deal with.

I also LOVE the way the book deals with memories and how magic can take memories from people without them knowing and what that removal does to those people. I have always thought that yeah, memories can hurt like shit, but they can lead you places that are a hell of a lot better than where you’d go if you didn’t have them.

Overall, while this book wasn’t everything I wanted (Miles should have been punched multiple times), it’s a pretty good read. Definitely something I would reread.

I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

If you love dark magic, a big helping of “things are not what they seem,” some romance, plenty of thrill, a touch of running for your lives, and a pinch of glamour, you need to check out Bright Ruined Things.

Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe is available now!

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book: a 1920s loose reimagining of The Tempest. And while I was definitely hooked in the beginning, the middle and end left me disappointed. I wanted more Tempest, more 1920s and what I got instead was a confusing tale of a magical island that was resolved in a predictable and kind of strange way.

I could never get an handle on whether we were supposed to sympathize with Mae, our narrator. She was irritating most of the time, and so unbelievably naive. The rest of the characters were a mixed bag. I liked some of the arcs they went on but I didn’t really care about most of them by the end.

My biggest complaint was the plot. It started off strong, with a mystery and some family drama. But when the pieces all started falling into place, it felt very predictable. I did like that the book takes place over the course of one day, but also felt we could have used more world building.

Overall, a fun book, but not something I’d rush to push into a friend’s hands.

*3.5 Stars*

Mae has lived her entire life on the same island, an island that has magic and since her dad died and she is now 18, she's afraid she's going to be asked to leave. She would do anything not to, though, anything.

I didn't hate this but I also didn't love it. It was entertaining and pretty short but I think the characters lacked depth and therefore so did their relationship. Like I said, I was entertained but I didn't feel anything for the characters nor their relationships. I also found the plot to be a bit slow and predictable but while I won't reread this, I also don't regret having read it. it's just that I've read better books, especially lately. Something was just lacking I guess.
Okay, I have nothing more to say, sorry for this useless review.

Bright Ruined Things is an adaptation of Shakespear’’s The Tempest. While there are some obvious deviations from the source material, it goes generally follows the plot of the original story. The story has excellent tension and kept me on my toes, with plenty of mysteries and twists. But there are a few areas that I wish the plot would have explored further, but due to the limitations of the story taking place in one day, wasn’t possible.

Mae is the main character of the story and she’s so meek and unassuming that she’s known to other characters as “Mousy Mae”. But she goes through a great development arc throughout the book. We also meet many of the other members of the Prosper family, who in general are spoiled and unthoughtful people, but the author does a great job of hiding their ugliness in different ways. Due to the limitations of the time of the story, I did question Mae’s romantic developments, but the author is great at writing Mae’s chemistry with other characters so I was willing to overlook that unrealistic progression of their relationship.

The book takes place almost elusively on the island that Prosper family settled, so our view of the world is limited. Despite this, I felt completely settled into the world after the first few chapters. The world is inspired by 1920s England and is not stated outright but felt through the author’s descriptions of the technology, fashion, and characters. Additionally, the magic system was intriguing though missing some details that would have made it easier to understand.

Bright Ruined Things is Samantha Cohoe’s second Young Adult historical fantasy novel. The book has a surprising and tension-filling plot, but due to the story having to take place within one day some elements of the plot and characters weren’t able to be explored as much as I would have preferred. The author did a beautiful job fleshing out the world and showing the time and place of the book without forcing it on the reader.

To start off, Bright Ruined Things is a re-imagination of Shakespeare’s The Tempest which i’ve never read before. From the summary that I googled, I can say that Samantha Cohoe’s book is different from the classic but have similar elements. The concept itself is pretty interesting. Although Mae has lived on this island with the Prosper family, without magic and not being blood-related to the wealthy family who control the magic meant that she was often overlooked. Her need to belong made Mae desperate to please the members of the Prosper family; she didn’t know how to reject the arrange marriage with Ivo or talk back to Apollonia or say no to Alasdair. Even with the closest Prosper grandchild and Mae’s best friend, Coco, she won’t speak her true feelings.

As things started to become weirder on island, Mae finds her desperate to reach a fever pitch. I thought I would enjoy Mae’s character but I realized that I kept flip-flopping about whether I even care about her or not. She surely isn’t the best protagonist out there but Mae has her moments. I’m not too keen about the romance, how confusing and complicated it was. Mae couldn’t really decide and was on-and-off about her feelings between Ivo and Miles. It just added conflict to the already mounting situation in the island.

The setting of the island was intriguing. I wanted to know more about the history of the magic and how the Prosper family ended up there. It was briefly mentioned but I think there could be more to it.

Overall, I had higher hopes for the book since I enjoyed A Golden Fury. If the pacing were any slower, I would’ve DNF’d Bright Ruined Things. I’m not too sure if this just isn’t my type of book or what. I liked the 1920s vibes for this historical fiction inspired by The Tempest.

When I went into book I didn't realize it was a take on The Tempest (which I haven't seen in years), but the story 100% stood on it's own. I love anything 1920s and the atmosphere Cohoe created here didn't disappoint!.

I really enjoyed Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe. The title fits the story perfectly as you start the book with all the bright lovely things that slowly turn into a ruin.

I saw a review that this is “the tempest” by Shakespeare but I have never read that so I can not really compare. I am hoping that I get to it as I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was a beautiful stand alone novel of family, magic and great Gatsby vibes.

I think this was partly on me and where my emotions were, but I wish this was more fast paced and the romance wasn’t as forced but other than that I really enjoyed the book!