7 November 2014

Review #64: Ruined (Stratford High #1) by Marian Manseau Cheatham



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


         “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
           Men were deceivers ever,-
          One foot in sea and one on shore,
         To one thing constant never.”

                ----William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing

Based on Shakespeare's famous play, Much Ado about Nothing , Marian Manseau Cheatham, a Chicago based author, has penned her latest novel, Ruined which explores the roller-coaster ride of the emotions of teenagers and their impulsive attitude over everything in the twenty-first century.

Synopsis:
Blythe Messina, the senior year student of Stratford High is no longer in a relationship with the lacrosse star of her school, DB Whitmore. But it is getting impossible for Blythe to get over DB Whitmore when her uncle Leo is sponsor of the whole lacrosse team. Her niece, Bonni Messina is falling for another lacrosse star named Cory Rash. But when scandalous and illegal photos of Bonni and the lacrosse captain are texted among the whole school, Boon's reputation is immediately
jeopardized. She begs for innocence, but no one believes her, not even her boyfriend, Cory, who insults and dismisses her in front of all their friends, except Blythe and DB. But are they going to stay together even after uncovering the truth? Will they even be successful in uncovering the mystery behind the pictures provided there's too much animosity between them?

It's quite clear from the blurb that it's a modern take on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and honestly the author has done a great justice to Shakespeare's one of the greatest plays. The author has crafted the story well with her own words and with modern twist, including the cell phone scandal among a bunch of teenagers. Even the author has skillfully and quite strikingly depicted their impulsiveness, rage and jealously and their fragile hearts, I can't agree more with her story. And mind it, this story has a realistic edge to it, since the characters are very believable and this sort of stuff happens almost every day in a modern day world. With her articulate narration, the author has made her plot thoroughly compelling and very gripping. With short, simple words, she has instilled her reader’s interest into the story right from the very first page. The only problem was that, I wished, the author could have kept the whole crime against Bonni under wraps and along with Blythe and DB, we too could have uncovered the culprit at the same time. That was my only disappointment. Overall, it's a very sweet, nice and heart-touching story and of course an eye-opener for many teenagers, since it teaches how not to trust some friends by understanding their instincts.

Verdict: Read this book and see how in a modern day world too Cupid can not only kill us with his arrows, but also with traps sometimes.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Marian Manseau Cheatham, for giving me the opportunity to read her book. 
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Author Info:
Writing Contemporary and Historical Fiction for Young Adults 
Visit her here

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