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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You unlock this door with the key of stupid (I should know). Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of idiocy, a dimension of fools, a dimension of huh? You're moving into a book of both whattheheck and weirdHallmarkmovie, of 'magic' and brats; you've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone (Imaginary Girls style. Because, after all, one of my favorite shows cannot POSSIBLY be this bad).
I pretty much hated everyone in this book. Ruby was a jerk. Chloe (didn't like her name) was a jerk. Owen was a jerk. London was a jerk. The mom was a jerk. That one guy...Pete, I think? was a jerk. Everyone basically sucked, to be honest. . I'm not even entirely sure why I picked this book up in the first place. I saw the cover and I thought, "Oh, well that looks fun". But then when I read the inside cover jacket I realized it was one of those annoying "I-love-my-sister" books. But I'd already had it checked out so I was kinda stuck with it.
So here's the sucky summary to this sucky book full of sucky characters (in retrospect, I suppose this is kinda mean. I'm sure...hoping that Suma didn't set off to write a bad book :
Chloe is this girl who has always lived in the shadows of her big sister, Ruby. Ruby, supposedly, is this amazing girl. Every freakin' guy wants to be with her and every girl in town wants to be just like her. Everyone in their small town basically bends to her will. One day, because Ruby told her to, Chloe decides to swim in this reservoir (even though no one's suppose to). According to Ruby, the reservoir is the reason that an old town called Olive was destroyed. The inhabitants who did not want to leave their beloved town drowned when the reservoir came flooding in, but they're really living at the bottom of it...or something like that. Anyway, so Chloe is trying to swim across this thing like Ruby keeps telling everyone that she can. Soon, Chloe comes across this boat. And guess what? It has a body in it! The body belongs to a girl named London, whom is Chloe's age. So Chloe is so freaked out and she goes to live with her father for two years. Then Ruby gets her back and Chloe discovers the truth about her jerky sister...oooooooo!
No.
You see, while I was reading about all the exploits of Ruby, even before they revealed her secret or whatever, I kept thinking, "Darn, what kind of girl can be so convincing? She's probably not even that pretty. She must have a spell over everyone."
Yeah. She does.
The whole thing was creepy. It reminded me of:
I like this show a lot but this book was like a bad version of it...one of those last episodes they did in like 1965. Anyway. Then I started thinking, as I got deeper into the story, that Ruby reminded me of a specific character in the Twilight Zone...Wait for it...
She was always threatening stuff, like Billy in that one episode. "I wish they'd do what I want" "I control everything" "I'm gonna throw them in the cornfields" (she didn't really say that but she might as well have).
I just didn't like Ruby. I realize that the author set off to make Ruby this witty and loveable (conceited) character but I just didn't buy it. She was so idiotic. So self-entitled. And Chloe swallowed all that crap. Gosh. I couldn't stand it.
Wait...I have more to say about Chloe. She was so stupid. I didn't feel much for her, but when I did, it was in the form of rage. She would give IT up wayyyy too easily. And she was so trusting all the time. Ugh. Plus she was basically in love with that stupid Owen boy. I hate them. I hate them all.
You know what, strike that. I didn't even like the end.When Ruby drowned in the reservoir to "save" Chloe and London, it was stupid. Good riddance. That's what I say.
In short, a sucky book about some crappy characters. The only thing I really liked was the cover. I think that's maybe why I gave it two-stars, and not one.
I pretty much hated everyone in this book. Ruby was a jerk. Chloe (didn't like her name) was a jerk. Owen was a jerk. London was a jerk. The mom was a jerk. That one guy...Pete, I think? was a jerk. Everyone basically sucked, to be honest. . I'm not even entirely sure why I picked this book up in the first place. I saw the cover and I thought, "Oh, well that looks fun". But then when I read the inside cover jacket I realized it was one of those annoying "I-love-my-sister" books. But I'd already had it checked out so I was kinda stuck with it.
So here's the
Chloe is this girl who has always lived in the shadows of her big sister, Ruby. Ruby, supposedly, is this amazing girl. Every freakin' guy wants to be with her and every girl in town wants to be just like her. Everyone in their small town basically bends to her will. One day, because Ruby told her to, Chloe decides to swim in this reservoir (even though no one's suppose to). According to Ruby, the reservoir is the reason that an old town called Olive was destroyed. The inhabitants who did not want to leave their beloved town drowned when the reservoir came flooding in, but they're really living at the bottom of it...or something like that. Anyway, so Chloe is trying to swim across this thing like Ruby keeps telling everyone that she can. Soon, Chloe comes across this boat. And guess what? It has a body in it! The body belongs to a girl named London, whom is Chloe's age. So Chloe is so freaked out and she goes to live with her father for two years. Then Ruby gets her back and Chloe discovers the truth about her jerky sister...oooooooo!
No.
You see, while I was reading about all the exploits of Ruby, even before they revealed her secret or whatever, I kept thinking, "Darn, what kind of girl can be so convincing? She's probably not even that pretty. She must have a spell over everyone."
Yeah. She does.
The whole thing was creepy. It reminded me of:
I like this show a lot but this book was like a bad version of it...one of those last episodes they did in like 1965. Anyway. Then I started thinking, as I got deeper into the story, that Ruby reminded me of a specific character in the Twilight Zone...Wait for it...
She was always threatening stuff, like Billy in that one episode. "I wish they'd do what I want" "I control everything" "I'm gonna throw them in the cornfields" (she didn't really say that but she might as well have).
I just didn't like Ruby. I realize that the author set off to make Ruby this witty and loveable (conceited) character but I just didn't buy it. She was so idiotic. So self-entitled. And Chloe swallowed all that crap. Gosh. I couldn't stand it.
Wait...I have more to say about Chloe. She was so stupid. I didn't feel much for her, but when I did, it was in the form of rage. She would give IT up wayyyy too easily. And she was so trusting all the time. Ugh. Plus she was basically in love with that stupid Owen boy. I hate them. I hate them all.
You know what, strike that. I didn't even like the end.
In short, a sucky book about some crappy characters. The only thing I really liked was the cover. I think that's maybe why I gave it two-stars, and not one.
maybe 2.5, I'd heard a lot of good things about this book so I kept waiting for something good to happen. I was disappointed.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I couldn't finish this book. It was too out there.
Imaginary Girls is a study of the relationship between two sisters, Chloe and Ruby. Ruby is the older sister, the one whom everyone in their little town looks up to. Girls want to be friends with Ruby and boys just want to be with Ruby. As far as Chloe can remember, it's been that way forever in her town and Ruby's the girl that she's looked up ever since she was young. But one summer everything goes wrong and Chloe ends up discovering the dead body of her schoolmate, London. That night scars her and she soon leaves town to stay with her father instead but she's never quite forgotten about her sister or about the night that changed everything.
Now two years later, Ruby has come for Chloe again and when Ruby calls, Chloe returns back to their old town. And it seems like everything has stayed the same, Ruby is still idolised and loved by all. However, Ruby has been hiding a secret from Chloe all these years, a secret that lies at the heart of what really happened that night and what Ruby is truly capable of.
The only other book by Nova Ren Suma that I'd previously read was [b:17 & Gone|13132403|17 & Gone|Nova Ren Suma|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345572427s/13132403.jpg|18308775] and to be frank, I didn't enjoy that book at all. But the storyline of Imaginary Girls seemed interesting and I was definitely intrigued by the relationship between Chloe and Ruby. When you're young, it's so easy to see those older than you as being your role models and worthy of admiration and respect. That's precisely the relationship that Chloe has with her older sister, only that this sort of adoration of Ruby extends towards the entire town. There's just something magic about Ruby, something about having her attention that makes them want to do crazy things for and something about her behavior that just attracts everyone in their town. And it all seems to come effortlessly for Ruby, she's never had to earn any of that love or attention. All Ruby seems to do is to exist.
Nova Ren Suma writes beautifully in this book, with a somewhat dreamy prose that captures both the town's obsession with Ruby as well as Ruby's obsession with the town of Olive, a town where people had chosen to drown rather than to leave. Ruby seems to truly believe that this town existed and it's the sole paranormal element in this otherwise realistic novel. And while magic realism isn't usually a genre that I've really enjoyed, the author makes the book so relatable and interesting that I can't help but to keep on reading and to be enthralled in Ruby's path as well. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next and what Ruby was going to do.
It's pretty clear that Ruby is the star of the novel, the character that will stay with me long after I've read other books. Chloe, the main character, fades more into the backdrop but she serves as a placeholder for us readers. What starts as a sense of unease when Chloe returns to town soon develops into a greater awareness of how much Ruby truly loves her and the limits of what Ruby's love for her can do. The final twist at the end was bittersweet and even though Chloe's not the strongest or most interesting protag around, I ended up feeling for her situation and for how her relationship with Ruby has shaped her personality.
I'm honestly surprised that [b:17 & Gone|13132403|17 & Gone|Nova Ren Suma|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345572427s/13132403.jpg|18308775] has a higher average rating as compared to Imaginary Girls because of how much stronger I found the latter book to be! I think that Nova Ren Suma definitely has a great of talent and I hope that her future books would be more in the vein of Imaginary Girls!
Now two years later, Ruby has come for Chloe again and when Ruby calls, Chloe returns back to their old town. And it seems like everything has stayed the same, Ruby is still idolised and loved by all. However, Ruby has been hiding a secret from Chloe all these years, a secret that lies at the heart of what really happened that night and what Ruby is truly capable of.
The only other book by Nova Ren Suma that I'd previously read was [b:17 & Gone|13132403|17 & Gone|Nova Ren Suma|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345572427s/13132403.jpg|18308775] and to be frank, I didn't enjoy that book at all. But the storyline of Imaginary Girls seemed interesting and I was definitely intrigued by the relationship between Chloe and Ruby. When you're young, it's so easy to see those older than you as being your role models and worthy of admiration and respect. That's precisely the relationship that Chloe has with her older sister, only that this sort of adoration of Ruby extends towards the entire town. There's just something magic about Ruby, something about having her attention that makes them want to do crazy things for and something about her behavior that just attracts everyone in their town. And it all seems to come effortlessly for Ruby, she's never had to earn any of that love or attention. All Ruby seems to do is to exist.
Nova Ren Suma writes beautifully in this book, with a somewhat dreamy prose that captures both the town's obsession with Ruby as well as Ruby's obsession with the town of Olive, a town where people had chosen to drown rather than to leave. Ruby seems to truly believe that this town existed and it's the sole paranormal element in this otherwise realistic novel. And while magic realism isn't usually a genre that I've really enjoyed, the author makes the book so relatable and interesting that I can't help but to keep on reading and to be enthralled in Ruby's path as well. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next and what Ruby was going to do.
It's pretty clear that Ruby is the star of the novel, the character that will stay with me long after I've read other books. Chloe, the main character, fades more into the backdrop but she serves as a placeholder for us readers. What starts as a sense of unease when Chloe returns to town soon develops into a greater awareness of how much Ruby truly loves her and the limits of what Ruby's love for her can do.
Spoiler
Reading about Chloe's slow realization that Ruby has somehow manipulated reality so as to make London seem alive in their little town was creepy and chill-inducing.I'm honestly surprised that [b:17 & Gone|13132403|17 & Gone|Nova Ren Suma|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345572427s/13132403.jpg|18308775] has a higher average rating as compared to Imaginary Girls because of how much stronger I found the latter book to be! I think that Nova Ren Suma definitely has a great of talent and I hope that her future books would be more in the vein of Imaginary Girls!
This reminded me a lot, style wise, of Alice Hoffman. The problem for me was too much prose and not enough story. This would have been MUCH cooler and creepier as a short story. Turning it into a novel lowered its potential impact quite a bit IMO.
I also didn't really like ANY of the characters. Too little fleshing out, too little explanation into past and character. Wanted to stop reading several times, but pushed through out of sheer stubbornness.
YMMV
I also didn't really like ANY of the characters. Too little fleshing out, too little explanation into past and character. Wanted to stop reading several times, but pushed through out of sheer stubbornness.
YMMV
Beautiful writing, and a totally unexpected story, although it felt a little... Something. Something that left me feeling engaged intellectually more than emotionally-- thinking, "that's creepy" but not feeling it. But then the ending... If I read it as psychological thriller, it has flaws but also major merits. As horror/fantasy, it's sad but a little reserved and with too much unanswered. I need to mull this one over. And possibly reread, because I think that it could withstand that kind of digging around.
Chloe is a high school girl who lives with her father and stepmother. Only...really she's the younger sister of Ruby.
Ruby is the kind of girl who can walk into a shop and get two pairs of $15 sunglasses for $5. The kind of girl who has ex-boyfriends her Chloe can call in the middle of the night to fetch them ice pops. The kind of girl the world adjusts itself to fit.
And Ruby has come for Chloe after two years of living separately. She wants to bring Chloe back to the town where they grew up. The town where two years ago, Chloe went swimming in the reservoir and almost drowned, but found a classmate's body floating in an old rowboat instead.
Chloe goes back with her sister, and everything is just like it was two years ago. Only it's not, and Ruby doesn't have as tight a grip on the world as she thinks.
Reading Imaginary Girls is like fully immersing yourself in a warm bath of smooth prose. Chloe can't quite see the truth of what Ruby is, or the ramification of her own escape from the reservoir. While the story hints to the reader the truth; it's as blurry and muffled as a face underwater.
Chloe is utterly and totally believable as a younger sister caught up in Ruby's shadow. Her matter-of-fact acceptance of the way townspeople worship her sister, and her talk of the drowned town of Olive (under the reservoir) coats the fantastical with a thin layer of mundane. Only near the end does Chloe and the reader face the stark truth of what Ruby is capable of.
Haunting and lovely and sad. How we can create ourselves from the people around us, and how those people can tear us apart.
This Book's Snack Rating: Sea salt and vinegar Pop Chips for the taste of tears on your tongue that melts away into nothingness. After consuming the bag, you are left with the ghost of sour on your tongue to haunt the rest of your day.
Ruby is the kind of girl who can walk into a shop and get two pairs of $15 sunglasses for $5. The kind of girl who has ex-boyfriends her Chloe can call in the middle of the night to fetch them ice pops. The kind of girl the world adjusts itself to fit.
And Ruby has come for Chloe after two years of living separately. She wants to bring Chloe back to the town where they grew up. The town where two years ago, Chloe went swimming in the reservoir and almost drowned, but found a classmate's body floating in an old rowboat instead.
Chloe goes back with her sister, and everything is just like it was two years ago. Only it's not, and Ruby doesn't have as tight a grip on the world as she thinks.
Reading Imaginary Girls is like fully immersing yourself in a warm bath of smooth prose. Chloe can't quite see the truth of what Ruby is, or the ramification of her own escape from the reservoir. While the story hints to the reader the truth; it's as blurry and muffled as a face underwater.
Chloe is utterly and totally believable as a younger sister caught up in Ruby's shadow. Her matter-of-fact acceptance of the way townspeople worship her sister, and her talk of the drowned town of Olive (under the reservoir) coats the fantastical with a thin layer of mundane. Only near the end does Chloe and the reader face the stark truth of what Ruby is capable of.
Haunting and lovely and sad. How we can create ourselves from the people around us, and how those people can tear us apart.
This Book's Snack Rating: Sea salt and vinegar Pop Chips for the taste of tears on your tongue that melts away into nothingness. After consuming the bag, you are left with the ghost of sour on your tongue to haunt the rest of your day.