Margot Rhodes, current high schooler and jack of all trades has never found a skill that she couldn’t hack, and then inevitably discard. But her latest foray into archeology may have taken it a smidge too far. After scheming her way onto a school archaeological trip to Italy while lacking all the necessary skills, Margot plans on following in the footsteps of Van Keane a teenage explorer from 1932 who mysteriously disappeared on the hunt for a mythical artifact. The Vase of Venus Aurelia has long been believed to hold tremendous power, but it hasn’t been seen in almost a century. Luckily, explorer Van Kean left behind a journal, and examining the last tie to this missing boy could help unite the vase. Walking in his footsteps one evening Margot finds herself in a room with an incredibly lifelike statue of Van Keane which then comes to life. The real-life Van Keane is the opposite of the romanticized version Margot had manifested in her head, prickly and driven by a sharp determination to right the wrong of a century ago. Margot and Van begrudgingly agree to team up to find the missing shards and restore the past to right. Spread out across Italy and guarded by intense challenges, the quest for the shards and the treasure won’t be easy and may come at the cost of their own hearts.
Falling in love with the statue you brought back to life while searching for the shards of a missing artifact that may grant you your heart’s greatest desire? It’s more likely than you think. Rachel Moore’s sophomore novel is for anyone who loves The Mummy, high-stakes adventures, and romance novels, all wrapped in an incandescent Italian summer. Margot Rhodes, A high schooler known to try everything and commit to nothing, schemes her way onto her school’s archaeological trip to Pompeii but gets more than she bargained for when she accidentally ignites an age-old search for the mythical Vase of Venus Aurelia. As a lover of romantic adventures, Moore is the author I’ve been waiting for. Us in Ruins brings together some of my favorite things across history, romance, and myth in one young adult standalone.
Us in Ruins follows the formulaic narrative for an adventure romance while carving out new paths for its two main characters. Framed in the architecture of Italy and its history, Us in Ruins centers on an unlikely partnership between soft-hearted Margot and stubborn former statue and explorer Van Keane, overshadowed by moments of yearning and keen understanding. I needed a fun romantic adventure in my life and this absolutely nailed that, while serving an unexpected amount of angst. Margot Rhodes, our protagonist, is searching for meaning in any way that she can after her mom left in search of bigger and better things. Pouring over Relics of the Heart, an adventure romance her mother left behind gives Margot inflated ideas of adventure and a love story of her own. The search for the shards of the Vase of Venus Aurelia and her grumpy companion in this endeavor ironically shatters those notions. Moore suffuses that classic grumpy sunshine pairing but in an adventure setting where their competing personalities could stand in the way of the treasure. I love how Moore developed trust between these two. Van may be the first person to see the real Margot lingering under the surface and he ultimately realizes that he judged her unfairly. Margot is a kind person who aches for love and affection from those she most cares for. She twists herself inside out time and time again to be something different, to be someone worthy of love – as if the person she was before her mom left wasn’t good enough. Moore highlights how misguided this is while an entirely different love story blossoms all on its own. Us In Ruins is for the people who want too much but don’t know how to reach for it, who are so scared of disappointment that they never settle for just one thing — who ultimately find solace in the love that they never expected to be granted. In her latest, Rachel Moore expertly balances adventure, cleverness, and heart, as two complete opposites realize the real quest might be winning over the other completely.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger warnings: parental abandonment, violence
Literaryrobin 
The excitement I have for this book is insane. I cannot wait to read it!
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