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The Ruiners
A dazzling, subversive debut novel by the acclaimed author of
Blueberries
about love, lust, legacy and the last days of civilisation as we know it.
'Is there any hope for us? is not a question we can answer, and this book does it brilliantly.’ Lauren Olyer, author of No Judgement
What do we inherit from the world and the people in it? And what do we do with that inheritance?
Pip’s life is going nowhere. She’s a university drop-out stuck in a dead-end job at a Melbourne lobster shack. But when her long-absent father dies, she’s left an orphan and fifty-thousand dollars richer. She doesn’t know what to do with her windfall until she meets Sasha, a dashing young scholar of Balkan literature.
Together, they hatch a mad buy a decrepit house on a distressed Greek island where Sasha will write and Pip will sort out what to do with her life. However, instead of bohemian idyll, the couple find themselves ensnared in an environmental struggle that brings the mistakes of the past into sharp relief.
A dazzling, subversive debut novel by the acclaimed author of Blueberries, this is a literary page-turner about love, lust, legacy and the last days of civilisation as we know it. Instead of hiding from the world we’ve inherited, The Ruiners asks how we can create a better one.
'With a scathing wit and genuine narrative flair, Ellena Savage has written a contemporary parable about gentrification, class, climate change and the need for political action in a society that seems to leave it less and less agency.’' Vincenzo Latronico, author of Perfection
'Is there any hope for us? is not a question we can answer, and this book does it brilliantly.’ Lauren Olyer, author of No Judgement
What do we inherit from the world and the people in it? And what do we do with that inheritance?
Pip’s life is going nowhere. She’s a university drop-out stuck in a dead-end job at a Melbourne lobster shack. But when her long-absent father dies, she’s left an orphan and fifty-thousand dollars richer. She doesn’t know what to do with her windfall until she meets Sasha, a dashing young scholar of Balkan literature.
Together, they hatch a mad buy a decrepit house on a distressed Greek island where Sasha will write and Pip will sort out what to do with her life. However, instead of bohemian idyll, the couple find themselves ensnared in an environmental struggle that brings the mistakes of the past into sharp relief.
A dazzling, subversive debut novel by the acclaimed author of Blueberries, this is a literary page-turner about love, lust, legacy and the last days of civilisation as we know it. Instead of hiding from the world we’ve inherited, The Ruiners asks how we can create a better one.
'With a scathing wit and genuine narrative flair, Ellena Savage has written a contemporary parable about gentrification, class, climate change and the need for political action in a society that seems to leave it less and less agency.’' Vincenzo Latronico, author of Perfection
275 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2026
About the author
Ellena Savage
12 books75 followersEllena Savage is an Australian author and academic. She is the author of the chapbook Yellow City (The Atlas Review, 2019) and numerous essays, stories, and poems published in literary journals internationally. Ellena is the recipient of several grants and fellowships, including most recently the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship 2019–2021. She lives in Athens, Greece, with her husband, Dominic Amerena.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 19, 2026
“We inherit the world already burning and call it adulthood.”
The Ruiners feels like stepping into a dreamy coastal escape only to realise everyone there is quietly unraveling under the weight of grief, desire, and the looming collapse of the world around them.
Pip is messy, drifting, grieving, and deeply unsure of what her life is meant to become after the death of her estranged father leaves her with an inheritance and even more questions. Enter Sasha, charming, intellectual, slightly pretentious in the way all literary men named Sasha probably should be. Together they flee Melbourne for the fantasy of reinvention on a crumbling Greek island, only to discover that paradise comes with mould, environmental collapse, inherited guilt, and the creeping feeling that maybe you can’t outrun yourself after all.
As a huge fan of the authors essay collection, Blueberries, I went into The Ruiners with ridiculously high expectations and somehow Elena Savage still exceeded them. The prose is sharp, restless, intimate, and quietly devastating in places. One minute you’re reading about desire and dead end jobs, the next you’re spiralling into reflections on capitalism, climate grief, family inheritance, and the strange performance of becoming the kind of person you thought adulthood would make you.
What I loved most was how alive this book feels. Sweaty, salty, intelligent, slightly feral. It captures that terrifying period of your twenties where every decision feels both meaningless and life defining at the same time.
A literary page turner for people who like their fiction emotionally complicated, politically sharp, and just a little bit unhinged.
I Highly Recommend.
Thank you Simon & Schuster for my advanced readers copy.
Available Now!
The Ruiners feels like stepping into a dreamy coastal escape only to realise everyone there is quietly unraveling under the weight of grief, desire, and the looming collapse of the world around them.
Pip is messy, drifting, grieving, and deeply unsure of what her life is meant to become after the death of her estranged father leaves her with an inheritance and even more questions. Enter Sasha, charming, intellectual, slightly pretentious in the way all literary men named Sasha probably should be. Together they flee Melbourne for the fantasy of reinvention on a crumbling Greek island, only to discover that paradise comes with mould, environmental collapse, inherited guilt, and the creeping feeling that maybe you can’t outrun yourself after all.
As a huge fan of the authors essay collection, Blueberries, I went into The Ruiners with ridiculously high expectations and somehow Elena Savage still exceeded them. The prose is sharp, restless, intimate, and quietly devastating in places. One minute you’re reading about desire and dead end jobs, the next you’re spiralling into reflections on capitalism, climate grief, family inheritance, and the strange performance of becoming the kind of person you thought adulthood would make you.
What I loved most was how alive this book feels. Sweaty, salty, intelligent, slightly feral. It captures that terrifying period of your twenties where every decision feels both meaningless and life defining at the same time.
A literary page turner for people who like their fiction emotionally complicated, politically sharp, and just a little bit unhinged.
I Highly Recommend.
Thank you Simon & Schuster for my advanced readers copy.
Available Now!
May 30, 2026
Felt like I was trapped at a melbourne uni houseparty with the most pretentious people to walk the earth.
May 12, 2026
This was so fun and perfectly encapsulates the chaos of being in your 20s. Euro-summer vibes paired with impulse, love, loneliness and being utterly lost in adulthood.
The book follows multiple perspectives, our main character Pip is completely lost as a waitress in Melbourne, before randomly inheriting some money from her absentee father. Around the same time, she meets Sasha, and we get a whirlwind 'romance' between the two. They marry and buy a decaying house on a small island in Greece, pack up their things and go. We also meet Pip and Sasha's friend Viv, who comes to stay with them for awhile who is equally as lost in his job as a journalist. All the characters are soooo in their head about everything, it makes the reading experience both ridiculous, frustrating and humanising all at once.
As one expects with impulse decisions, everything goes south, and the characters are left trying to put themselves back together both financially and emotionally. The backdrop of this book is so dreamy - similar vibes to Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, and the lobster crossover was a funny and great way to tie the start and end of the book together!
The book follows multiple perspectives, our main character Pip is completely lost as a waitress in Melbourne, before randomly inheriting some money from her absentee father. Around the same time, she meets Sasha, and we get a whirlwind 'romance' between the two. They marry and buy a decaying house on a small island in Greece, pack up their things and go. We also meet Pip and Sasha's friend Viv, who comes to stay with them for awhile who is equally as lost in his job as a journalist. All the characters are soooo in their head about everything, it makes the reading experience both ridiculous, frustrating and humanising all at once.
As one expects with impulse decisions, everything goes south, and the characters are left trying to put themselves back together both financially and emotionally. The backdrop of this book is so dreamy - similar vibes to Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, and the lobster crossover was a funny and great way to tie the start and end of the book together!
May 20, 2026
Finished this confused attempt at fiction with topics ranging from climate change to grief via erotic love and lust with a trip to Greece thrown in as an aside. The back panel describes it as “what do we inherit from the world and the people in it ?” Really? Is that what this was about? Yes I finished it because I’m stubborn. So one of these stars is for me. For effort. Save yourself.
June 8, 2026
Didn't work for me at all. What was point of this book? Disjointed character storylines which made no sense..all in their own disturbed and broken, trying to spice it up with sex scenes and in the end we throw in some climate change issues. And maybe I am old fashioned but I still think quotation marks are important to use for dialogues.
May 21, 2026
Not much to recommend this. The characters were unlikeable, the story chaotic (not in a good way).
July 8, 2026
I really wanted to enjoy this more.
I can appreciate the author comes from an essayist background, however this piece is so blatantly smacked with cultural and political theory that it becomes pretentious and difficult to muddle through.
That being said, I myself may not be the target audience for this book. Someone with greater patience than I may enjoy more.
Lobsters 🦞
I can appreciate the author comes from an essayist background, however this piece is so blatantly smacked with cultural and political theory that it becomes pretentious and difficult to muddle through.
That being said, I myself may not be the target audience for this book. Someone with greater patience than I may enjoy more.
Lobsters 🦞
May 26, 2026
Hard work. Written from 3 perspectives (Pip, Vivek & Sasha) plus a concluding coda - I managed to work my way through Sasha, skimmed Vivek and & had largely given up by Sasha. The writing is very dense & forced. "My mother had loved me without my having to alter myself, and this experience had spoiled me for conditional love, the proletarian labour of adult romantic entanglements." I guess it is well written because Pip is clearly a very unlikeable character - self-absorbed, clueless, annoying, obtuse. I usually like books where the narrator rambles; but this one felt disjointed rather than rambling ...
June 16, 2026
What Great Expectations could have been if Dickens was a card carrying Socialist and was interested more in the ruins rather than keeping up appearances (Pip and Magwitch included). This wasn't an easy read. Sadly I understood the sections on academia, having been one of those able to narrow my focus and acquire three degrees. I also took First year Philosophy as well as Sociology before discovering the sheer tedium of these subjects as discussed by pimply, extreme virgins in Doc Martens. So I am well acquainted with the pretentiousness of characters like Sascha but understanding them doesn't make them any more likeable.
In fact, there was not a single character that I liked in this book. However, I could still appreciate the dry humour. All three main narrators are deeply flawed, selfish, somewhat self aware people dealing with a dying world...aren't we all just?
I was frustrated by the ending where Marina came more into focus. I would have preferred a tidier ending with Pip and Sascha and not Marina whom I cared about even less than the others. The last paragraph written from the perspective of the Lobsters was also bizzaro. I'm guessing the last words were a reference to a battle cry - “Eleftheria i Thanatos”…… “Freedom or Death” by Greeks against the Ottoman Empire in the early 1800's. Or a Spartan warcry? But Lobsters? I dunno, a Surrealist Dali reference maybe? Anyway it was weird. On the back cover was a recommendation referencing it as "the Great Millennial novel". As a GenXer I guess that explains why I don't fully understand it. I do get the raging against the dying of the light though, that we still believe in love and art and goodness in the world - despite all the horror - and that is worth fighting for.
In fact, there was not a single character that I liked in this book. However, I could still appreciate the dry humour. All three main narrators are deeply flawed, selfish, somewhat self aware people dealing with a dying world...aren't we all just?
I was frustrated by the ending where Marina came more into focus. I would have preferred a tidier ending with Pip and Sascha and not Marina whom I cared about even less than the others. The last paragraph written from the perspective of the Lobsters was also bizzaro. I'm guessing the last words were a reference to a battle cry - “Eleftheria i Thanatos”…… “Freedom or Death” by Greeks against the Ottoman Empire in the early 1800's. Or a Spartan warcry? But Lobsters? I dunno, a Surrealist Dali reference maybe? Anyway it was weird. On the back cover was a recommendation referencing it as "the Great Millennial novel". As a GenXer I guess that explains why I don't fully understand it. I do get the raging against the dying of the light though, that we still believe in love and art and goodness in the world - despite all the horror - and that is worth fighting for.
June 23, 2026
This book tries to integrate academic cultural theory into fiction but it’s not so enjoyable because: it’s so didactic? So obvious, simply inserted into interior monologue? Or because it’s attached to unlikeable characters under the illusion that it can account for their awful lives and lies? There were plenty of heavy handed literary allusions. Pip’s was the most okay narrative, but she falls in love, gets an inheritance and spends it all on a scam house on a Greek island for her lover! WTF. And his narrative was pretty vile. There is so much explanatory history that feels like too much saying not doing. I read the author’s first book of essays which were smart and widely read and performative but this is dire. Not a fan anymore.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Wow.
Parts of this book were really great - the parts about relationships and how they can go wrong, be misinterpreted, be tricky. That was really engaging.
But in places things seem to just go off on a tangent. Ramblings about all kinds of social justice issues, and climate problems. Socialism. All the things. And, although at a stretch I could see how these interludes were reflected somehow in the rest of the narrative, they really put me off reading the book. It feels like there is a divide and a confusion around what the author wanted the book to be, and it just didn't work well in my opinion.
The other parts were really good, though. Hence the 3 stars.
Parts of this book were really great - the parts about relationships and how they can go wrong, be misinterpreted, be tricky. That was really engaging.
But in places things seem to just go off on a tangent. Ramblings about all kinds of social justice issues, and climate problems. Socialism. All the things. And, although at a stretch I could see how these interludes were reflected somehow in the rest of the narrative, they really put me off reading the book. It feels like there is a divide and a confusion around what the author wanted the book to be, and it just didn't work well in my opinion.
The other parts were really good, though. Hence the 3 stars.
Review of advance copy
Really fascinating literary read, there are a few times where the book gets more intellectual but I thought the characters were well written and the nods to the landfill crisis very topical. I was lucky enough to hear Ellena Savage speak at a book event which def gave me a deeper appreciation for the story and important insight - how else would I know that the lobsters are in fact speaking and not just a part of Sasha's fever dream hehe
May 5, 2026
solid 3.5
The neurosis of every character, and specifically viv, was written really well. Sasha’s arc was soo interesting and at times dense, but perhaps intentional due to his complete self involvement. there was a lot to like, I felt the prose snappy and the plot bonkers, the characters bizarre and their interactions believable. it’s a strange book that I did quite appreciate
The neurosis of every character, and specifically viv, was written really well. Sasha’s arc was soo interesting and at times dense, but perhaps intentional due to his complete self involvement. there was a lot to like, I felt the prose snappy and the plot bonkers, the characters bizarre and their interactions believable. it’s a strange book that I did quite appreciate
May 21, 2026
Truly this was my experience - turning the page, reading and asking WHY.
But all the characters are nuanced, they all are...HUMAN. Pip with hinging her hopes on a man and an island, Sasha considering love as a project and Viv just trying to project what he thinks people will think is a ambitious and good person.
But all the characters are nuanced, they all are...HUMAN. Pip with hinging her hopes on a man and an island, Sasha considering love as a project and Viv just trying to project what he thinks people will think is a ambitious and good person.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2026
Pretentious in a complimentary way! Lots of funny and pithy discussions on student socialism, very relatable to unimelb students. There are 3 POV characters and I especially enjoyed Viv’s chapters, Pip and Sasha not so much. The final chapters fell apart a bit for me - trying to tie everything together too neatly but also some confusing metaphors - but I liked the rest of the story.
Did Not Finish
June 25, 2026This book peaked at the cover design and plummeted from there. Critically lauded when first released, it did not live up to the hype. It was as pretentious as its characters and the plot was boring. I have tried to sell my copy but I can’t even give it away for free.
July 3, 2026
Thoroughly enjoyed this, a very readable novel that made me chuckle and made me think. Very relatable for millennials who want to do everything and save everyone, and who maybe should just settle for saving themselves.
May 14, 2026
What a random, hilarious, and perplexing fever dream of a book 3.5 stars
May 17, 2026
3.5*
June 6, 2026
Not sure the structure or characterisation worked for me-that said the author has promise.
June 6, 2026
Great book, a timely and curious story, flawed characters with constant appeal.
June 20, 2026
Disappointing. It just goes on and on and so much in the past. I just wanted them to get on with life. Halfway through and some speed-reading I gave up.
June 21, 2026
I loved this book, it really captured me. The young love/student activism themes, expat life and the accompanying chaos and intergenerational trauma. A clever book!
Did Not Finish
July 4, 2026Tedious
July 5, 2026
Weird and wonderful 4.5
July 8, 2026
Pretentious and chaotic. And why do pretentious novels never use quotation marks?
Read
May 7, 2026A stunning cover and story to match, The Ruiners by Ellena Savage is a book to watch in 2026. It’s fresh, funny and biting. Of a woman navigating her late 20s, a man grasping with his place in the world, and another who doesn’t see the irony is his efforts to be anything but, Savage weaves three perspectives into a debut novel that will be a top Aussie recommendation for the coming seasons.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews