Bright Ruined Things

I have The Tempest (the original play). I didn't know anything about the play before I picked up this book – or at least I tried to pick this up. It was just absolutely terrible, all the way through. I've read Samantha Cohoe's other book, A Golden Fury and that was mostly good.

It's said to be set on an island in the 1920s – I took that to be a big, big lie because nothing in the book read that way. I would believe it more if you told me it was set in the late 2020s and the main character just lived on the island, away from social media and wifi. It honestly would've been more maybe more interesting if it was a modern retelling.

I could not tell you a SINGLE thing about the main character- in fact, I had to literally scroll to find her name in the arc because it's a first person POV. Sometimes that POV works. Most times it's difficult to write it in a way where it sounds good. This was most certainly not the case here. And me not remembering her name should definitely tell you something.

All the characters felt very one-dimensional and very forgetful. I could not tell you a single fact about them – barely even their names. And I read 45% of this – I should remember something without looking at my notes or rereading some pages.

There was sort of a love triangle going on. Mae, Miles, and this 25 year old guy (who are both part of the family) whose name I don't remember. Mae is like super in love with Miles, even though she only sees him like once or something a year. And he's rude to everyone Mae included – which is a trope I really dislike. And the other love interest is 25... while she's 18 at the start of the book. No thank you to either of them. Send them both to the no-no zone on the island, faraway from this EIGHTEEN year old girl who barely knows anyone other than this super rich family.