Reviews

The Ruins by Phoebe Wynne

tsauxghiegh's review against another edition

4.0

A strange one... but Ruby going off the rails at the end felt fitting.

catz853's review against another edition

2.0

Not badly written but I really did not enjoy. Filled with horrible characters doing horrible things to each other. A lot of shock value sense that didn’t end up being very shocking because the flattened narrative. And the shifting between times periods wasn’t all that well handled.

kaithebookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

Such a gem of a book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Murder, Pedophilia, and Emotional abuse

perjacxis's review against another edition

1.0

I should have just stopped after a grown man said: “‘Not as sweet and springy as your daughters. Oh, the burden of daughters, and you can’t even deflower them yourselves! Don’t you think fathers should be the ones to do the honours - wasn’t that the way in ancient Greece?’” This was treated as if it was a normal thing to say and blamed on a bit too much wine. What the actual fuck?
TW: child abuse, sexual abuse of children, …

thenoisegirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

stephisbooked's review against another edition

2.0

This was a really hard read. There are bad parents and then there are the parents in this book - my goodness! Ruby is almost twelve in this books and was smarter than all the adults combined. I could have done without the 2010 storyline as I don’t think it added much other than to show the lasting effects of the trauma which would have been clear without the extra timeline. While I think books like this need to be written because it is the sad reality for many, this one just didn’t work for me.

susannareads's review against another edition

4.0

This was not an easy book to read - it was certainly disturbing - but it was also masterfully written, and every time I sat down to read it I couldn’t put it down.

caitlinluter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

activelyreading's review against another edition

3.0

definitely tragic, gothic vibes, definitely a bildungsroman, definitely a tragic read

Probably more like a 3.5 but I rounded up

kcibulskas's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0