First of all, can we take a moment and appreciate the gorgeous cover. It’s even more beautiful in person because it has gloss finish and has a glittery look. All I know was what’s written on the back cover, which is not much.
Beautiful Ruins is a book with layered story. In the first chapter, we meet Pasquale, a young Italian man who managed a small hotel in a small village called Porto Vergogna, Italy. The village is isolated and small that not many people visit the place. It’s 1962 and an American actress was coming with a boat to stay in Pasquale’s little hotel. Then the next chapter is set in present time in Hollywood. We follow a woman named Claire, who works as a chief development assistant for the legendary film producer Michael Deane. Basically, there are many characters in this book. At first, it may seem overwhelming, but each has an important role in the story and each character’s story will intertwine and come together in the end.
This book has many characters. We’ve established that. Usually, books with many characters tend to accentuate certain characters and overlook other characters that actually have potential. I think the author did a good job at giving each character role in the right proportion. You can’t take a character out because each character is connected to each other in a way. This book shows how your life and your decision can affect other people’s lives, even in the littlest and simplest thing.
I love the setting of this book, the Italy part. I could care less about Hollywood. I’m kind of obsessed with Italy. To finally read a story that is set in Italy makes me happy. The description of Pasquale’s hotel makes you imagine the quiet coastal part of Italy. Although the truth about his village is sad and depressing, because the population of the village is small and consist of old people. I still love this part of the book.
Since there are many characters and subplots, maybe the author thought that there’s a need to wrap everything up. Well, it’s nice to get a closure of each character. Unfortunately, it happened and compacted into one last chapter. Because of this, the ending feels rushed and exhausting because too much is going on. It feels like one character’s life is summarized in one paragraph. There literally is a paragraph that covers two pages of the book, it’s crazy.
I think I kind of have a love-hate relationship with this book. At times I enjoyed reading this book, other times I feel bored and skim read some chapters.
enjoyed the development of the characters and how their lives all became intertwined in some capacity at some point over the course of 50 years. I thought the ending was a bit anticlimactic. It just seemed to end to abruptly for my liking but at least the author wrapped up the loose ends. The title of the book seems befitting as it applies to the lives of the characters and how some of those lives turn out. All in all, a good read.