Set in an alternative fantasy world populated by shifters (beings that change between human and animal forms), demons, and other supernatural creatures, A Ruin of Roses retells Gabrielle-Suzanna Barbot De Villeneuve’s classic tale Beauty and the Beast through a modern lens. Originally published in 1740, Beauty and the Beast has been retold countless times across several mediums, most famously as an animated Disney movie and a later live-action remake. A Ruin of Roses borrows heavily from both the Disney versions and the original tale while expanding to make political intrigue, personal trauma, and the exploration of relationships a central part of Breene’s narrative. As in both the original and Disney versions of the story, a girl from a poor village ventures forth to help her father, only to be imprisoned by an ill-tempered beast in an enchanted castle where she is cut off from the world. Here, similarities to the original tale wane as Breene borrows from the Disney version to make Finley a book-loving outcast in her village who longs for a better life. Breene expands upon the curse element present in the Disney film. In the movie, an enchantress places a curse upon the beast’s castle, which tangentially affects those in the nearby village. A Ruin of Roses takes this a step further to have the curse weigh equally upon the castle denizens and villagers.

Finley and Nyfain’s relationship also alludes to past versions of Beauty and the Beast. In both the original and Disney versions, the female lead finds herself in the company of a beastly character who both desires and resents her company. Beauty and the Beast has been criticized for its positive depiction of Stockholm syndrome—a condition wherein prisoners develop strong, often loving feelings for their captors. In A Ruin of Roses, Finley is aware of the problematic conditions under which she’s developed feelings for Nyfain but chooses to acknowledge these feelings anyway because she finds him attractive. Breene modernizes the story by giving Finley agency and self-awareness: She understands that she is making unsafe choices, but makes them anyway because she wants to. As in the original tale, Finley and Nyfain adhere to the popular enemies-to-lovers romance trope, where two characters initially pitted against each other form an alliance that leads to romantic entanglement. A Ruin of Roses contains sexually explicit scenes between Finley and Nyfain, as well as background depictions of sexual acts, placing the book firmly in the romantasy genre.

A Ruin of Roses is one in a long line of Beauty and the Beast retellings and follows the tradition of using the familiar plotline to inform a romance set in a fantastical world. Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses is one of the best-known Beauty and the Beast romantasy retellings, in which a huntress providing for her family is swept into the world of the fae after accidentally killing one of them. Both A Ruin of Roses and A Court of Thorns and Roses rely on romantic development in a relationship between people who have strong reasons to keep their distance from one another but choose not to, making each novel an exploration of what the characters are willing to sacrifice for love and what they must do to stay true to themselves. Other retellings include Beastly by Alex Flynn, a modern-day young adult novel from the perspective of the beast character that examines the crippling effects of arrogance and how true beauty is found within. Another young adult retelling, A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer, alternates between the perspectives of the beauty (a girl with cerebral palsy) and the beast (a prince cursed to relive a cycle of destruction in which he murders the people of his kingdom). Like A Ruin of Roses, A Curse So Dark and Lonely offers a more modern lens through which the characters grapple with their identities and values, but the lack of adult content makes the exploration of these themes accessible to a younger audience.