Love In Ruins – Auriane Desombre

The air outside the van still carries the light smell of the sea, as well as the old smell of dirt and dust gathering from the palace ruins. It’s quickly becoming my favorite combination. I follow Liam and Lucy toward the entrance, half listening as Henry tells the story of Ariadne and the Minotaur. I’m a huge fan of Ariadne. She helped save Theseus from the Minotaur by teaching him how to fight it and how to escape the maze—and he thanked her by abandoning her on the island of Naxos a mere few days later.

She won, though, because the god Dionysus fell in love with her when he saw her asleep (likely thing for an ancient Greek god to do). Her crown became a constellation, so proof of her love glitters forever in the stars. A tale of hope and inspiration for the romantically unfortunate everywhere. I quicken my step to catch up with the rest of the group, but when I make my way into the site, everyone’s already off in their own corners.

Bodhi is scribbling in his notebook, earphones in to indicate that he wants to be alone. Liam is deep in his latest poem. Even Lucy, queen of wanting this to be a summer of togetherness, has disappeared into her books. I pull out my own project materials, not wanting to be the only one looking like they’re wandering aimlessly around these gorgeous ruins. Unfortunately, it only gives me the appearance of a purpose. Unlike my classmates, I still have only the loosest vision for my project. Something about Artemis, with a focus on her followers.

Maybe sprinkle a few representations of the moon in there. Somehow. It’s nothing compared to the masterpieces everyone around me is putting together. Even Lucy’s dissertation, which on the surface might not sound like it would give artistic genius, might end up in a peer-reviewed paper. But I have to have something to show for my time here. Something more than just the sideways glances I keep stealing at Melanie, who looks as exhausted as I do from our shared sleepless, seasick night.

Because there’s not even anything to show for that. I keep making sure of it. — Even after we leave the palace to check into our hotel, everyone still seems completely immersed in their projects. We unload from the bus and into the hotel courtyard. It’s a cozy, intimate space animated by the splash of a circular stone fountain set in the middle of the cobblestones. Little balconies equipped with breakfast tables line the building surrounding us, potted greenery exploding from their chipping white fences.

An imprint of Random House Children’s Books A division of Penguin Random House LLC 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 penguinrandomhouse.com getunderlined.com Text copyright © 2026 by Auriane Desombre Cover art copyright © 2026 by Jeff Östberg Penguin Random House values and supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission.

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ep_prh_7.3a_155144341_c0_r0 OceanofPDF.com Contents Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author OceanofPDF.com For Erin, who lights up and steadies my world. You could definitely beat me in a footrace. OceanofPDF.com Chapter One I’M JUST STEPPING OFF A PLANE, but it feels like I’m throwing myself off a precipice.

My whole life—at least, from the moment I got my five-year-old hands on the pages of D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths—has been building toward this moment. Now that it’s finally here, my primary emotion is sheer exhaustion. Momentous life moments simply should not happen right after ten hours of sitting upright in the world’s smallest chair.

Liam bumps against my shoulder as we follow Ms. Barlowe down the Jetway to customs. I would be well cast in “The Princess and the Pea,” but he has the magical ability to fall asleep anywhere. The pep in his step is absurd. “Can you believe we’re here?”

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

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• File Extension: .pdf
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• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9780593807583, 9780593807606
• Pages: 188
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 276.04 minutes
• Total Words: 55,207
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• Average Words per Page: 293.65
• Average Characters per Page: 1588.73

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