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yeimyaileen's review against another edition
4.0
whew! this one packs a punch.
i (regretfully) tend to hate a lot of books centered around american latinx characters, but i found the ramirez family to be so real and fresh.
what happened to ruthy ramirez is the story of the family ruthy left when she mysteriously disappeared after track practice almost 20 years ago. this book is crazy but concise, and is so careful to reveal itself to you. i was so stressed by the last two chapters, thinking i would not get the answer i needed. but the final chapter went so hard.
""I knew that whatever was happening was so terrifying and gross that Jess could not mention it to me, and I could not mention that I knew it was happening to her. And we grew up that way, knowing and not knowing all at once"
i (regretfully) tend to hate a lot of books centered around american latinx characters, but i found the ramirez family to be so real and fresh.
what happened to ruthy ramirez is the story of the family ruthy left when she mysteriously disappeared after track practice almost 20 years ago. this book is crazy but concise, and is so careful to reveal itself to you. i was so stressed by the last two chapters, thinking i would not get the answer i needed. but the final chapter went so hard.
""I knew that whatever was happening was so terrifying and gross that Jess could not mention it to me, and I could not mention that I knew it was happening to her. And we grew up that way, knowing and not knowing all at once"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
danimcthomas's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Death, and Sexual violence
Covers impact of child sexual abusekcarney86's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Murder, Misogyny, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, and Death
mari1532's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I do not know where I heard about this book. It's possible that I just liked the book blurb and that is why I put it on hold at my local library, but whatever the reason I am so so happy that I did.
Synopsis: This is a story of a family. Shifting between perspectives this story follows the four women of the Ramirez family, Dolores the matriarch, Jessica the oldest, Ruthy the missing child, and Nina the baby. The focus of the story is Dolores, Jessica, and Nina as they continue to grapple with the fallout of Ruthy going missing decades earlier and intermixed in present-day narratives are Ruthy's memories about the last day she was seen by her family. With no answers, each of the women has questions and unresolved feelings about what happened to Ruthy. However, when Jessica sees a woman on her TV that might be Ruthy all of the questions and unspoken conflicts within the family come to a head.
Thoughts: This book was so freaking good. Each of the characters was well-rounded and funny with a distinct personality, but you can clearly see how Jessica, Ruthy, and Nina were raised by Dolores. Jimenez's writing is so beautiful and captivating. Jimenez was able to make me as a reader feel what her characters were feeling in any specific scene while also giving them room to realize that there might be some unlikable aspects of the character's behaviour in that particular moment. The use of humour was also perfect particularly the scenes in the bar.
I also appreciated that the ending provided a resolution rather than just leaving things open-ended .
Highly recommend!
Synopsis: This is a story of a family. Shifting between perspectives this story follows the four women of the Ramirez family, Dolores the matriarch, Jessica the oldest, Ruthy the missing child, and Nina the baby. The focus of the story is Dolores, Jessica, and Nina as they continue to grapple with the fallout of Ruthy going missing decades earlier and intermixed in present-day narratives are Ruthy's memories about the last day she was seen by her family. With no answers, each of the women has questions and unresolved feelings about what happened to Ruthy. However, when Jessica sees a woman on her TV that might be Ruthy all of the questions and unspoken conflicts within the family come to a head.
Thoughts: This book was so freaking good. Each of the characters was well-rounded and funny with a distinct personality, but you can clearly see how Jessica, Ruthy, and Nina were raised by Dolores. Jimenez's writing is so beautiful and captivating. Jimenez was able to make me as a reader feel what her characters were feeling in any specific scene while also giving them room to realize that there might be some unlikable aspects of the character's behaviour in that particular moment. The use of humour was also perfect particularly the scenes in the bar.
Highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence
thereadertay's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence
dixiecarroll's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC! This was a fast read and while the material settles around a missing child and how this impacted her family, it was filled with light moments and funny situations. Some of the writing was a little strange (switching tenses within a single POV) and the ending took a major heavy turn, but otherwise this was well worth the read and was interesting. Felt like an episode of crime junkie - the unsatisfying depressing ones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Rape, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
larcadip's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
Minor: Cancer and Dementia
saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I received a digital ARC of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own. The book will be released on 3/7/2023.
A more accurate title for What Happened To Ruthy Ramirez would be Who's Ruthy Ramirez as the book is less focused on the mystery and more on Ruthy and the women in her family as characters. This focus helped with the main theme of how often Black and brown girls go missing. Despite the dark subject matter, the book goes down easy thanks to the snarky humor throughout. However, the characters felt too distant and unremarkable, the prose and plot got boring because of the use of minute details and mundane scenes, and the story needed more narrative tension (the sisters were oddly unmotivated to figure out what was going on with Ruthy/Ruby until towards the end).
A more accurate title for What Happened To Ruthy Ramirez would be Who's Ruthy Ramirez as the book is less focused on the mystery and more on Ruthy and the women in her family as characters. This focus helped with the main theme of how often Black and brown girls go missing. Despite the dark subject matter, the book goes down easy thanks to the snarky humor throughout. However, the characters felt too distant and unremarkable, the prose and plot got boring because of the use of minute details and mundane scenes, and the story needed more narrative tension (the sisters were oddly unmotivated to figure out what was going on with Ruthy/Ruby until towards the end).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Racism, Kidnapping, and Misogyny
Minor: Homophobia
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