Jayme's Reviews > Ruby

The book jacket describes Ruby as “full of life, exquisitely written, and suffused with the pastoral beauty of the rural South, Ruby is a transcendent novel of passion and courage." Did the author of those words read the book? One of my pet peeves is when a book says that it’s one thing, but ends up being something else. I can read stories where the main protagonist has survived horrific violence during their childhood, but I need to know that it’s coming up. I was totally floored, upset, and then pissed when it happened in this book and then each scene was more violent than the next. I like to be in charge of the visuals I put in my head.

Another problem I had with Ruby is that I’m not sure what the author was trying to accomplish. There is a lot going on - almost two different books. Is it historical fiction? Supernatural? Myth? There is a good story hidden here, but the reader has to really want to weed through the symbolism and violence to find it.