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vannababes's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
This is one of VC Andrews series that I had never read, and I am surprised that I liked it as much. The best parts were the first half in the bayou, and to learn the true relationship between Paul and Ruby was unfair to me as I want them together (and I'm not supposed to, then again this is a VC Andrews book). I find the new love interest, Beau, to be much left desired as he is no where as sweet and charming as loving Paul, instead he is Ruby's twin sister's boyfriend and kinda a sexually-pressuring dick. Paul would never. I am waiting for there to be an explanation of how Paul couldn't be Ruby's half brother, therefore allowing the relationship I desire.
Is Ruby our basic VC Andrews main girl? Yes, but she was slightly more likeable, at least compared to Dawn and Melody. She didn't feel that dumb, even if she wasn't as sexually advanced due to her innocence in the bayou. However, her trusting Giselle or telling her what she had done after her paralysis, or wanting to trust her Grandpere Jack and give him her money, made me want to strangle her.
I feel like a lot has been accomplished in this one book, and am curious to see how much more they can do in the next 4. Also thankfully no bad grandmother trope. Give me a bad stepmother instead!
Also, I did feel for Daphne and know that Gabrielle will have her own prequel and I gotta say, she ain't making a good impression on me. Sleeping with 2 married men, like come on. I really do feel bad for both of the women who had to take those babies in and pretend they are theirs. I know I couldn't.
This is one of VC Andrews series that I had never read, and I am surprised that I liked it as much. The best parts were the first half in the bayou, and to learn the true relationship between Paul and Ruby was unfair to me as I want them together (and I'm not supposed to, then again this is a VC Andrews book). I find the new love interest, Beau, to be much left desired as he is no where as sweet and charming as loving Paul, instead he is Ruby's twin sister's boyfriend and kinda a sexually-pressuring dick. Paul would never. I am waiting for there to be an explanation of how Paul couldn't be Ruby's half brother, therefore allowing the relationship I desire.
Is Ruby our basic VC Andrews main girl? Yes, but she was slightly more likeable, at least compared to Dawn and Melody. She didn't feel that dumb, even if she wasn't as sexually advanced due to her innocence in the bayou. However, her trusting Giselle or telling her what she had done after her paralysis, or wanting to trust her Grandpere Jack and give him her money, made me want to strangle her.
I feel like a lot has been accomplished in this one book, and am curious to see how much more they can do in the next 4. Also thankfully no bad grandmother trope. Give me a bad stepmother instead!
Also, I did feel for Daphne and know that Gabrielle will have her own prequel and I gotta say, she ain't making a good impression on me. Sleeping with 2 married men, like come on. I really do feel bad for both of the women who had to take those babies in and pretend they are theirs. I know I couldn't.
frankiehw's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jamieml's review against another edition
5.0
Although the plot structure of the story was quite similar to other V.C. Andrews series, it was still quite enjoyable.
As always with any V.C. Andrews novel, the characters are unique and most certainly interesting. I especially like Ruby. I think she is a great female heroine; strong, independent, and realistic. I am excited to read the rest of the series and to see where fate takes her.
As always with any V.C. Andrews novel, the characters are unique and most certainly interesting. I especially like Ruby. I think she is a great female heroine; strong, independent, and realistic. I am excited to read the rest of the series and to see where fate takes her.
krystala's review against another edition
4.0
I love Andrew books and this one was pretty good! I will definitely continue this series. The idea that she has this twin and they were separated at birth is pretty interesting. The twin was a brat, of course, but it really showcased how well Ruby was raised and how she turned out to be a nice, normal teenager. The things she wanted to do was definitely normal, sexuality wise. I liked how her father took her in with no question but he had his own problems to deal with. Hopefully the issue with his brother will come more into play with the other books. The mother was a screw and they should have made a bigger deal about her trying to put Ruby in a mental hospital! I'm glad Ruby tried to say true to her roots and her upbringing. The whole thing with the voodoo added a bit to the background of the book so that was nice as well.
encharro's review against another edition
2.0
Over the summer I decided to revisit a preteen favorite. Oh man it's awful. The writing is so basic, the characters so cardboard, every thing so stereotyped, every scene so contrived. Also, a bit more rapey than I remembered and I'm sure didn't help any young girl's self-esteem.
ladiicatherine's review against another edition
4.0
Ruby Landry's life has always been a mystery. Raised in the bayou (Houma, Louisiana) by her Grandmere Catherine - a healer, of sorts - she had always wondered about her mother Gabrielle, her mother's death, and a mysterious father that she never had a chance to meet. Ruby and her Grandmere lead a simple life marked by handmaking crafts to sell to tourists on the side of the road, going to church every Sunday, and sometimes being called upon by those in the community to help those who are sick or injured as Grandmere Catherine is well-respected in the community as a woman of some spiritual power, some spiritual knowledge. They survive with no help from Ruby's Grandpere Jack - an inebriate that has done something so horrible in the past that Grandmere Catherine cast him from their home long ago and can hardly stand the sight of him. Bit by bit, Ruby grows more and more curious of what happened before her birth. Why is Grandmere Catherine so intent on Ruby not seeing the local boy Paul Tate? Why does Grandmere have so much contempt for Grandpere? Under Grandmere's Catherine pending death, the truth is finally revealed to Ruby. With Grandmere gone and under the thumb of Grandpere Jack, all the lies and secrets take Ruby to New Orleans to meet her father and twin sister for the first time! There, she is spun into the web of more lies to protect the Dumas family name and treated cruelly by her vile twin sister until everything comes to a head.
Written by a ghost writer - and, as stories go, penned with the influence of unfinished work that Andrews left behind - there is so many things fundamentally wrong with this book that I can't help but to find guilty pleasure in it. Let's start off by saying, V.C. Andrews' work is always wrong on so many levels especially during the late 1970s, through the 1980s, and into the early 1990s. It just is. It didn't matter if it was written by Andrews herself or the ghost writer, there is just so much wrong with these books. So much. From the continual fish out of water trope. The incest. There always being an uber-bitch that you love to hate in the story. Right down to the very wrong, one-dimensional way that black characters are written. So wrong. So many levels. Yet every story is like a train wreck that you can't help but to sit back and watch with wide eyes. These books fall into the category of so bad that they're good. I don't know if that make me an awful person or not, but I can't help but be fascinated by this work. For a lot of men and women of a certain age, reading these books was a rite of passage. They were considered taboo. I am of that certain age and it was like I was transported back to 1995 because I think that's when I last read this book. It held up better than some other V.C. Andrews books I've read. Maybe because the ghost writer is a better writer than the actual woman, herself, was? I don't know.
All I know is, this is pure trash and I loved every minute of it.
Written by a ghost writer - and, as stories go, penned with the influence of unfinished work that Andrews left behind - there is so many things fundamentally wrong with this book that I can't help but to find guilty pleasure in it. Let's start off by saying, V.C. Andrews' work is always wrong on so many levels especially during the late 1970s, through the 1980s, and into the early 1990s. It just is. It didn't matter if it was written by Andrews herself or the ghost writer, there is just so much wrong with these books. So much. From the continual fish out of water trope. The incest. There always being an uber-bitch that you love to hate in the story. Right down to the very wrong, one-dimensional way that black characters are written. So wrong. So many levels. Yet every story is like a train wreck that you can't help but to sit back and watch with wide eyes. These books fall into the category of so bad that they're good. I don't know if that make me an awful person or not, but I can't help but be fascinated by this work. For a lot of men and women of a certain age, reading these books was a rite of passage. They were considered taboo. I am of that certain age and it was like I was transported back to 1995 because I think that's when I last read this book. It held up better than some other V.C. Andrews books I've read. Maybe because the ghost writer is a better writer than the actual woman, herself, was? I don't know.
All I know is, this is pure trash and I loved every minute of it.
missylynne's review against another edition
First of the Landry series.
Decent series.
Decent series.
haley333's review against another edition
2.0
Ruby by V.C Andrews is the first book of the Landry. It’s set in the bayou, which I personally found very intriguing. I hadn’t really read any books with a bayou or New Orleans as it’s main location so that made for a lot of new and interesting imagery that kept me entertained. A reoccurring theme in V.C Andrews books seems to be an obsession with half-siblings half-uncles and nieces and such falling in love. Incest for shock value and then throw in some more dark family secrets. Genuinely this book started to feel like a wattpad fanfic halfway through. I mean the girls grandpa tried to sell her… Ruby falls in love with her half brother Paul (who honestly I didn’t like all that much, she tries to call things off with him at one point and he slut shames her… yikes) In addition to that there’s a lot of slut shaming throughout the entire book. There’s a sexual assault scene which was jarring and super unnecessary to the plot. (Just a slight theme I’ve noticed reoccurring throughout a lot of V.C Andrews book specifically the ones written by Andrew Neiderman is the strange obsession with the in depth detail of having their nipples touched during the sex scenes. Which is super weird cause these are 15-17 year old girls) This book has voodoo mentioned a lot, I don’t know a lot about voodoo but I feel like some of the comments about it in this book where offensive. I had a lot of problems with this book but it did make for entertainment for a bit. I wouldn’t personally recommend it.
ijustincross's review against another edition
3.0
Ahhh V.C. Andrews. It’s nice to come back to something so formulaic and fun to read. As I’ve said before, V.C. andrews doesn’t write literary masterpieces; V.C. Andrews writes literary trash. And that’s what I love.
Ruby Landry’s life is decent. It’s not terrible compared to a lot of Andrews’ heroines. It’s not until she finds out some family secrets and people die (of course) that Ruby’s life starts to go downhill.
I loved the Casteel Family series. So far I’m not as sold on the Landry Family. Like I said earlier, I love Andrews because the plots are formulaic, it’s a pattern that I can follow easily but still enjoy. This one is A LOT like the Casteel family though.
1. Selling of children to be rich.
2. Horrible sister
3. Promises of a better life in a bigger city.
4. New evil mom
5. Car accident resulting in a wheelchair
6. Mean nurse is brought in because of wheelchair
And it seems like book 2 is also rooted in similarities with Ruby and Giselle getting sent to a boarding school for girls. The same thing happens to Heaven for a bit in book 2 of the Casteel series.
Did I like this book? Hell yeah. It was very fun.
Did it feel like I had read it before? Absolutely.
Ruby Landry’s life is decent. It’s not terrible compared to a lot of Andrews’ heroines. It’s not until she finds out some family secrets and people die (of course) that Ruby’s life starts to go downhill.
I loved the Casteel Family series. So far I’m not as sold on the Landry Family. Like I said earlier, I love Andrews because the plots are formulaic, it’s a pattern that I can follow easily but still enjoy. This one is A LOT like the Casteel family though.
1. Selling of children to be rich.
2. Horrible sister
3. Promises of a better life in a bigger city.
4. New evil mom
5. Car accident resulting in a wheelchair
6. Mean nurse is brought in because of wheelchair
And it seems like book 2 is also rooted in similarities with Ruby and Giselle getting sent to a boarding school for girls. The same thing happens to Heaven for a bit in book 2 of the Casteel series.
Did I like this book? Hell yeah. It was very fun.
Did it feel like I had read it before? Absolutely.
ckreads28's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't like how pliable Ruby was. I felt even though she craved a family and acceptance, she would've gained more strength from the family that raised her. I did like the twin aspect, and possible foot in the realm of the mystical. The setting as far as period wasn't clear and I did want to know more of it to better place the story.