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the_sara_g's review
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
melohpa's review against another edition
2.0
See full review at https://topplingbookpile.wordpress.com/2023/05/20/the-half-life-of-ruby-fielding-by-lydia-kang/
donasbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Ruby put on a smile. It was like adding a fresh coat of lipstick. Armor. Didn’t always change how she felt inside, which lately was wretched and heartsick and frightened of the world, but it helped.
We fight, because there’s no other choice. p336
Lydia Kang's THE HALF-LIFE OF RUBY FIELDING is one fun, twisty book! I went in having only read the blurb, which is more than I usually take with me, and I still had no idea what was going on, in the very best way! This plot has so many twists, and I thought Kang laid them well. None of the plot developments felt too far outside of the realm of possibility to me, even though this book is never about one thing for very long. Is this book about espionage? WWII? women's rights in the modern era? domestic abuse? something even more sinister than any of these?
The characters, including the antagonist and the seemingly morally gray Ruby are rich and well drawn. I loved seeing what these characters would do and reveal next.
I'm worried about saying too much and giving something away, so I will keep this uncharacteristically brief. But this is a good one! Have fun on this wild ride!
Rating 4 stars
Finished November 2022
Read this if you like:
We fight, because there’s no other choice. p336
Lydia Kang's THE HALF-LIFE OF RUBY FIELDING is one fun, twisty book! I went in having only read the blurb, which is more than I usually take with me, and I still had no idea what was going on, in the very best way! This plot has so many twists, and I thought Kang laid them well. None of the plot developments felt too far outside of the realm of possibility to me, even though this book is never about one thing for very long. Is this book about espionage? WWII? women's rights in the modern era? domestic abuse? something even more sinister than any of these?
The characters, including the antagonist and the seemingly morally gray Ruby are rich and well drawn. I loved seeing what these characters would do and reveal next.
I'm worried about saying too much and giving something away, so I will keep this uncharacteristically brief. But this is a good one! Have fun on this wild ride!
Rating 4 stars
Finished November 2022
Read this if you like:
shirin_mandi's review against another edition
2.0
The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding by Lydia Kang is a historical mystery in wartime, Brooklyn.
This wasn't a bad story, you see, I did manage to finish it, didn't I? Just wasn't my cup of tea.
Will and Maggie Scripps are siblings has quiet lives. Will secretly scouts for the Manhattan Project and Maggie is working at the Navy Yard. She seems to be coping with the loss of her mother by secretly writing letters to her.
Their routine change by finding a beautiful woman in their yard, hurt and scared. This stranger with hidden past and an obsession with poisons and killing small creatures.
There is news of spies in the world’s first atomic bomb, Will and Maggie begin to suspect she’s quite dangerous and both ridiculously fall in love with her.
but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. The beginning was promising, and the plot started off strong, but I was let down by the unbelievable and underdeveloped characters and unrealistic and fake relationships.
My personal disappointment don't make yours!
Thanks to Lake Union Publishing for ARC via NetGalley, I have given my honest review.
This wasn't a bad story, you see, I did manage to finish it, didn't I? Just wasn't my cup of tea.
Will and Maggie Scripps are siblings has quiet lives. Will secretly scouts for the Manhattan Project and Maggie is working at the Navy Yard. She seems to be coping with the loss of her mother by secretly writing letters to her.
Their routine change by finding a beautiful woman in their yard, hurt and scared. This stranger with hidden past and an obsession with poisons and killing small creatures.
There is news of spies in the world’s first atomic bomb, Will and Maggie begin to suspect she’s quite dangerous and both ridiculously fall in love with her.
but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. The beginning was promising, and the plot started off strong, but I was let down by the unbelievable and underdeveloped characters and unrealistic and fake relationships.
My personal disappointment don't make yours!
Thanks to Lake Union Publishing for ARC via NetGalley, I have given my honest review.
salimah's review against another edition
1.0
I may update this review, but at 3 quarters of the way through, I don't expect my sense of it to change much.
If I were doing an elevator pitch for this, I'd frame it this way: Two idiots and an opportunist enter into an implausible war-time hijinx scenario where both of the idiots, siblings, also have an unspoken understanding that the opportunist takes turns sleeping with both of them (in the apartment they all share) depending on which of them has most supported her whims on a given day while they (the idiots) try to figure out what her ex-fiance is up to. Also, there's a lot of cultivating of poisonous plants.
Oh. Update. One of the idiots is on the wrong side of history. The opportunist turned out to be emotionally and relationally capricious more than anything else. I understand sexual liberation, but being unconflicted about an entanglement with a brother and a sister? Them being unconflicted about it? I think there were other ways to keep the LGBTQIA representation in without that particular set up.
What the hell is this book? The characters have completely unrealistic reactions to every situation, the dialogue is ridiculous, and the plot is. . . not really apparent until the end.
If I were doing an elevator pitch for this, I'd frame it this way: Two idiots and an opportunist enter into an implausible war-time hijinx scenario where both of the idiots, siblings, also have an unspoken understanding that the opportunist takes turns sleeping with both of them (in the apartment they all share) depending on which of them has most supported her whims on a given day while they (the idiots) try to figure out what her ex-fiance is up to. Also, there's a lot of cultivating of poisonous plants.
Oh. Update. One of the idiots is on the wrong side of history. The opportunist turned out to be emotionally and relationally capricious more than anything else. I understand sexual liberation, but being unconflicted about an entanglement with a brother and a sister? Them being unconflicted about it? I think there were other ways to keep the LGBTQIA representation in without that particular set up.
What the hell is this book? The characters have completely unrealistic reactions to every situation, the dialogue is ridiculous, and the plot is. . . not really apparent until the end.
suelie's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
samanthaash_'s review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
lindzieh's review against another edition
2.0
The twist at the end was a not what I expected but overall the plot was muddled as others said. The story was interesting to a point but then got intertwined with too much relationship stuff. I wanted to finish the book to know the ending but overall the setting, medical stuff that I did find interesting and kind of flat characters just didn’t do it for me.
sam_riccio's review against another edition
3.0
1942 New York, based on the Manhattan Project but only sort of because while the war is a big part of the story it isn't the only story.
None of the characters were good, or even likable for that matter but I didn't expect anything that happened and I can respect that.
I enjoyed that toxicology was an important part of this, I don't think we see enough of it in books or any media.
I liked that Ruby and Maggie fell into the category of gay women. But what I didn't like was that at any given moment Ruby had a physical relationship with the siblings. It's one of those things that hammers in the stereotype of bisexual women (and men) cheating on their partners. While it's perfectly fine to hold romantic feelings towards more than one person at a time there are ways to go about it and this was not it.
Now, what I can't really get past is Norman and that's maybe because he was the embodiment of a misogynist and the very disgusting relationship that he made with Maggie. The incestuous relationship isn't something I think anyone was prepared for. That just threw me. Norman having an important part in this at all was weird.
Overall, it was an interesting audiobook for me to listen to while I did homework and chores around the apartment.
Would I recommend this? Only in a very specific way but I would do it.
None of the characters were good, or even likable for that matter but I didn't expect anything that happened and I can respect that.
I enjoyed that toxicology was an important part of this, I don't think we see enough of it in books or any media.
I liked that Ruby and Maggie fell into the category of gay women. But what I didn't like was that at any given moment Ruby had a physical relationship with the siblings. It's one of those things that hammers in the stereotype of bisexual women (and men) cheating on their partners. While it's perfectly fine to hold romantic feelings towards more than one person at a time there are ways to go about it and this was not it.
Now, what I can't really get past is Norman and that's maybe because he was the embodiment of a misogynist and the very disgusting relationship that he made with Maggie. The incestuous relationship isn't something I think anyone was prepared for. That just threw me. Norman having an important part in this at all was weird.
Overall, it was an interesting audiobook for me to listen to while I did homework and chores around the apartment.
Would I recommend this? Only in a very specific way but I would do it.