Heather’s Bookshelf: Meet Me at the Ruins
Author: Luna Westish
Released: 06/18/25
Genre: Women’s Literary Fiction
“The grass was so green in the park, dotted by grey tree trunks, flanked by grey buildings and a grey sky.
She’d heard this park was glorious in the spring, and couldn’t wait for the changing seasons. There weren’t even buds on the trees yet, though, so it felt a long way off. She imagined laying under the trees in the spring, on a blanket, eating grapes from a picnic basket.”
“Meet Me at the Ruins” introduces Margo, a college student who’s traveled to Scotland in 2003 to attend the University of Edinburgh as part of a study abroad program.
Fresh from a bad break-up, Margo is hopeful that her travels will provide a fresh start and maybe a little romance. She soon falls in love with the city, but her love life is a bit more complicated and then there’s the difficulty of her courses…
Margo struggles to get out of her head long enough to make friends, but she soon meets a few interesting people including her roommates Flora and Amelia, her gorgeous neighbor, Ren, his roommate and her confidante Erik, and the local barista, Alistair.
When Margo finally starts to figure out her feelings and desires, the universe has other ideas. Will Margo finally get everything together or is she destined to leave Scotland without finding herself or love?
Trigger Warning: adult language, reference to drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexual situations
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It’s an easy read with a style and flow that makes it a delight to flip the pages. The story is told through the POV of the protagonist, Margo. This pulls you into how she sees the world and how she often gets stuck in her own head. The result is the reader sometimes misses conversations and repercussions because Margo wasn’t actually paying attention. I really liked this detail and realizing the consequences of her actions along with her. I also enjoyed some of the details incorporated into the story: the foam on the cappuccino or the t-shirt found at the thrift store. The setting itself becomes a picturesque character that adds to absorption into the story. While Margo is a well-developed character, there are a few too many ancillary characters to really connect to any of them. And while more time is spent on certain characters than others, they are perceived through Margo’s perspective, which is not exactly the most inciteful. The ending feels a bit rushed and also a bit unexpected. It does wrap everything up for Margo, but I wish I knew a bit more about all of the other ancillary characters (especially the ex and ex-best friend!) and that the ending could have been incorporated earlier into the story.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A woman’s literary fiction with a strong protagonist, amazing setting and compelling voice that feels a bit rushed and unresolved in the end
Want to learn more about the author?
Check out my interview with Luna Westish
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