Ruins: A Novel by Amy TaylorPublication Date: August 12, 2025
Pages: 320
Add on: Goodreads
Buy the Book: Amazon
Rating: ★★★★
Source: From the Publisher
Genre: Fiction / Women
Publisher: The Dial Press / Penguin Random House
Three lives, one summer, and an affair that will unravel everything
At a crossroads in their lives, a couple arrives in Greece to house-sit for a friend. Emma is searching for a meaningful next step beyond work or starting a family, and Julian is struggling to come to terms with the failure of his academic career. Their visions for the future seem to be pulling them in different directions, and they hope that this summer away will help them mend their frayed connection.
Emma and Julian’s plans take an unexpected turn when they meet Lena, an enigmatic young Greek woman who presents an opportunity for them to explore their relationship in uncharted and excitingly risky ways. However, as the heat in the city grows stifling, Emma and Julian find themselves far more entangled in Lena’s life than they’d bargained for. Engaged in a three-way struggle for control, Emma, Julian, and Lena are suddenly faced with consequences far greater—and far more explosive—than they could have predicted.
Voyeuristic and thrilling, Ruins delivers the drama of a modern Greek tragedy while exposing the tensions between privilege and power, desire and intimacy.
Story Locale: Athens, Greece
REVIEW
Amy Taylor’s Ruins hits like a shot of ouzo on a hot Athens night. This isn’t just another relationship drama – it’s a sticky, sultry descent into desire that’ll make you squirm in your seat.
The setup is simple: Julian and Emma, a pair of well-heeled tourists, invite local woman Lena into their bed. Bad idea. Really bad idea. What follows is a masterclass in slow-burn tension as their carefully curated lives crack like ancient marble in the Mediterranean sun.
Taylor’s writing grabs you by the throat. She turns Athens into more than a backdrop – the city breathes and sweats alongside her characters, its crumbling ruins standing guard over modern ruins-in-the-making. Every scene drips with heat and tension, building toward an ending that feels both shocking and inevitable.
Let’s be clear: these aren’t particularly likable people. They’re privileged, self-absorbed, and prone to terrible decisions. But that’s exactly the point. Taylor isn’t interested in making you comfortable – she wants to make you think. About power. About desire. About the ways we destroy the things we claim to love.
Following her debut Search History, this second novel proves Taylor isn’t just a rising star in Australian literature – she’s already burning bright. Ruins is sharp, sophisticated, and sexy in all the right ways. It’s the kind of book that makes you cancel plans just to read one more chapter.
Sure, you might struggle to connect with these wealthy protagonists and their champagne problems. But if you can get past that, you’ll find a razor-sharp exploration of modern relationships that cuts deep and leaves a mark.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars – A seductive, unsettling read that proves Taylor is the real deal.
