Reviews with content warning for Grief - What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez

22 reviews

cassielaj's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This story was not what I expected, but in a good way. The Ramirez women and their relationships are complicated, and they’ve all been impacted differently in the decade since Ruthy, the middle child, disappeared after school one day. The dynamics between the women and the chapters’ told from their perspectives are really what make this story. It’s a story of loss and grief and hope and family, as well as an interrogation of reality tv and a society that lets women of color slip through the cracks. All of this supported by pointed, sparing prose makes for a thought-provoking read.

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just_one_more_paige's review

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emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I was browsing through NetGalley months ago when the cover of this one caught my eye, and the description was intriguing enough that I requested it. So first, thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for granting said request. And then, I actually happened upon a physical ARC that had been sent to the library that was up for grabs, so I had oodles of ways to read this...and it still took me until months after publication to actually get to it. Best laid plans and all that...

Years ago, when she was 13 years old, Ruthy Ramirez disappeared after track practice without a trace. And over a decade later, the rest of the Ramirez women - her older sister Jessica, her younger sister Nina, and her mother Dolores - are all still deeply affected by the mystery of what happened to her, as well as the daily mundanities and trials of their individual lives. When Jessica spots someone she is sure is Ruthy, on a late night reality tv show, she sets into motion an amateur family sleuthing project, tracking down details and making a plan to drive to the show's shooting location and bring maybe-Ruthy back home. Whether or not the woman in the show actually is Ruthy or not, the road trip and subsequent reckoning will force the family to finally face the past and deal with what's next.

Well, in addition to all the other copies of this I had, I waited long enough to read it that I was also able to get the audiobook from my library. So to just really quickly start with that listening experience, Jiménez narrates herself and I really enjoyed it. There was a spoken word quality to her performance that adds great rhythm and expression to the storytelling. I had to listen at a much slower rate than I normally do, as a result, but it was worth it. As for the writing itself, and the narration most definitely deepened this impression, it was incredibly raw. There was so much emotion and personality in it, stylistically. Although I felt like, at times, there was also a choppiness to it, that grew on me as I read/listened, and by the end I could see the way that, too, fit the energy of the book.

I also really liked the way this novel was told from the perspectives of each of the Ramirez women, including a "day of the disappearance" unfolding from Ruthy's perspective. Each of the women had a strong, distinct voice (Dolores' in particular was quite robust, and really reminded me of the live-wire-ness of the MC/narrator in How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, which I loved). And for Ruthy, I loved the look we got at the typical, everyday things she was enjoying and dealing with on that final day. It provides a heartbreaking look at the lost girls - brown and Black girls specifically - that don't make the big headlines that get public attention and support. And that they are complex and real and human in all the same ways and despite the greatness or smallness of whatever their lives are, they deserve the same care and attention and support. Jiménez takes this even further with Jessica and Nina's perspectives, that of those who are left behind and/or who face their own hidden traumas because of cultural norms, shame and stigma of talking about it. The way she is able to portray the ways they too are lost/missing - in the cracks - in their own unique ways, is spectacularly affecting.

Overall, this novel was more about the family and their reactions than it was about the sudden reappearance of Ruthy and tracking her down. And while I'm not against that, it did feel just a bit different than advertised, so I'm just sharing for future reader awareness. And I do want to leave this review with the feeling the novel left me with. The pain of everlasting hope for a "happy" ending, without the closure that would allow one to move one from that, is palpable here. Jiménez presents here a devastating face-on consideration of how the many people who live this as a daily reality move through that pain. This is fiction reflective of, and with commentary on, reality at its finest.

“I strongly believe that we all should be able to choose our own ways to be ashamed.”

"Say something is bigger than you, like much bigger, like a lot; is it really your fault if you cannot stop it?"

“How many girls in the world were there who looked like Ruthy, talked like Ruthy? Laughed like her? How many of us were missing?”

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eggplantia5's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I wish there was a little more fleshing out of all the characters. They all felt very realized and I wanted to know more about them.

I found the ending to be a big letdown, what a disappointing end. You follow in this journey of grief and then the ending is wrapped up in a couple of paragraphs?

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naluju's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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kcarney86's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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megansoetaert's review

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emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

i loved how well the author mixed humor & family trauma. it was so easy to picture the family dynamics & you felt like you were there with the characters. i loved ruthy’s chapters especially, but enjoyed how the author was able to make each character’s chapters unique. & the last chapter… i sobbed for about 10 mins after i finished 😭

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funkylitchick's review

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dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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deidrelj's review against another edition

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funny hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I was ready to move this book but it didn’t happen. The premise is promising but the delivery is bumbled. The narration by Ruthy’s family is colorful and entertaining but often not pulled together to follow the storyline. It felt like a short story with unnecessary filler and the afterword by the author revealed that to be the case exactly. This was almost a DNF for me and in hindsight, I think I would have preferred that, leaving the promise of the story unfinished rather than unsatisfactory.

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ooohgoshtara's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was a good read. It’s the story of Ruthy Ramirez a 13-year-old Puerto Rican girl who never makes it home after track practice and the impact her disappearance has on her family. Many years later one of her sisters is watching tv and thinks she sees Ruthy on a trashy reality tv show called ‘Catfight’. This leads Ruthy’s mom and sisters to embark on a journey to bring Ruthy home.
A very much character driven story told from multiple POV’s. The POV’s of Ruthy’s mother, her two sisters and Ruthy herself. This story is heartbreaking yet has perfectly timed humor. A powerful exploration of family, death, grief, childhood, and generational trauma. It also highlights the way that missing Brown and Black girls and women are often ignored. I have seen some comments about their being too much profanity, but I didn’t notice. I guess I took it as how actual people would talk. The characters, the plot all came across as real and authentic to me.
The story also touches on childhood sexual abuse, racism, discrimination, and death.
#RuthyRamirez #NetGalley #ClaireJimenez

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johannawithbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This has been one of my most surprising reads of the year, it was nothing like what I expected it to be. The debut novel is unique, captivating, and an ode for all the girls of color who go missing.

The story follows a Puerto Rican family in Staten Island still grappling after the disappearance of Ruthy Ramirez twelve years ago. One day Ruthy, the middle sister, doesn’t return home after track practice and a family is left to grief without answers, move forward with no direction, and live. Claire Jimenez gives us a microscope into the lives of those impacted when one of our girls is taken and we exist in a system to designed to fail them.

One night, sisters Jessica and Nina see a woman on a messy reality tv show that they believe could be Ruthy. When their mother, Dolores finds out about their suspicions, she insists on going with them on a road trip to find this possible Ruthy. From the outside, it must look like the Ramirez women should be okay and have been able to move in. Oldest sister Jessica has her own family, but is holding on to secrets that haunt her. Nina, the youngest graduates college, but grew up in the shadow of a missing sister. Their mother, Dolores, has found a community in church, but no real place to hold her grief.

In the juxtaposing stories of the women in the book, from the Ramirez family to friends to reality tv stars, we see how women are judged for their survival but not the system that puts them in danger every day. This is a call for the resources and support to respond to childhood survivors of abuse, to take the missing lives of black and brown girls seriously, and to remember that survival is complex and can many times look messy.

What Happened To Ruthy Ramírez is a character driven story on the themes of sisterhood, generational trauma, survival, guilt, resentment, and family love.

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