Book Review: Ruined by Sarah Vaugh, Sarah Winifred Searle, and Niki Smith

August 29, 2025

Of course I said that I had read almost no graphic novels so far this year, and then here we are reading multiple after one another. I really enjoyed this book a lot. It was exactly what I needed in a sweet and easy romantic graphic novel.

We follow the story of Catherine Benson who agrees to get married to a man out of convince in this regency-era romance. The rumor around the town is that she lost her virtue out in the open and was caught. The young man that agrees to marry her has a house that is falling apart and desperately needs the fund to keep up the home that has family has left to fall to ruin around them. Catherine has a tough time with the marriage of convenience and feels that she will never be happy, so they have a discussion about expectations and they understand each other and the roles they will play in each others lives. Slowly, over time, there is a friendship that begins to develop and attraction begins to bloom and it feels overwhelming to Catherine so she runs back to her own family.

If you are a fan of regency-era stories this is for you. The story is so sweet, the illustrations are so lovely, the pace that everything happens is so perfect. My only complaint is that some of the transitions felt a little confusing. There was more than once I felt like I has missed a page or that they had gotten stuck together and I passed one. Not a big deal, because things did end up getting explained, but it made it a little less enjoyable.