Exquisite Ruin by AdriAnne May

EXQUISITE RUIN took a while to get moving but once it got started, I couldn't put it down. I love the Greek mythology vibes of this book: a Labyrinth that is clearly inspired by the story of the Minotaur, especially with the horned demon love interest, and a witchy heroine who gets her powers (and her sexual enjoyment) from pain. When she awakes in a stone labyrinth with no memories, and only her ex-lover to serve as her guide, she immediately suspects treachery.

The maze is a dangerous place, and the only way out is down. From sentient statues to sinister water, this story reminded me a lot of the surreal dreamcore aesthetics I see from artists on TikTok, with a dash of the dark whimsy in Hayao Miyazaki movies, and the morally grey and dangerous love interest a la L.J. Smith's The Forbidden Game trilogy or Labyrinth. Even though this is a contemporary fantasy work, there's something so retro-feeling about it, like I could have sneaked it as a teenage girl and become precociously enchanted with the story and the hot-but-dangerous hero.

It even kind of has the aesthetics of a teen girl fantasy, but all grown up and kinky, which is maybe why I loved it so much. There's even a pig-dog-lion chimera that looks like a winged pug. Like, even if the charm of Daesra and Sadare weren't enough, with all of their retro high fantasy chic, how could you not fall in love with Pogli the pug? Plus, this book has one of the BEST M. Night Shyamalan-esque twists I've encountered in a while. I literally gasped. HOLY FORESHADOWING, BATMAN. You know a twist is good when it makes you want to immediately reread a book and look for all the clues that were quietly waiting to shatter your whole fucking world.

I loved this author's other book, BEYOND THE BLACK DOOR, which was an asexual fantasy love story. I was delighted when she reached out to offer me an ARC of her spicy romantasy novel, EXQUISITE RUIN, which is a completely different story from BtBD, but still retains so many of the elements that made me fall in love with her writing for the first time. Can't wait to see what she does next.

Thanks to the author/publisher for sending me a copy!

4.5 out of 5 stars