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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Reading Sonia Sones as a teenager, I found the first-person voice of her characters highly satisfying. Reading One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies as an adult, her voice is still delightful if less personally relevant. Of course the fairy-tale ending for the story feels a little unlikely, but not contrived, and the neatness of the story is a pleasure.
I absoutley loved this book. Its written if free verse so it only took me about an hour and a half to read it on a family road trip. To tell you the truth Im not sure why Ruby is so pissed if I lived next to cameron diaz and had a famous movie star of a father who WANTS to be with you and give you everything you want, I wouldnt act like the brat Ruby does. I was fuming when I found out what happened between Ray and Lizzie. I love all of these characters in this book, especially max. I guess what was going on half way threw the book and im really happy that thats how it ended and that Ruby like who her dad chosed to love.
I actually love the prose format that this book is written in because it lets us understand her feeling even better. It was a bit cliche, however, which is why it's only three stars.
This book was okay. It wasn't the best book that I have ever read but it wasn't the worst. This book follows a girl named Ruby. She has just recently lost her mother and she has to go live with her father. Her father is a big time movie star in L.A. He is friends with every other celebrity that you can think of, he even lives next door to Cameron Diaz. They don't get along for most of the story because Ruby believes that her dad abandoned her before she was even born and didn't want anything to do with her.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is definitely of its time in terms of its treatment of queerness and girl-hate, but it's a quick and enjoyable read about family and grief and the complications of friendship in the lives of teenage girls (or at least, teen girls from the early 2000s before cell phones etc. worked the way they do now)! The prose poetry element made the story fly by and was used to good effect to narrow in on each section's specific theme without feeling too Instagram Poetry-ish, which is always a risk for me when reading a novel in verse.
i've never made it through an entire teen novel written in poetry form before this book. it was pretty good, but i still don't really like teen novels written in poetry form.
I really like this book, as unlikely and cliche as the story is. I partially like it just because of memories of reading this book in high school, and I would re-read this book for those memories alone.
This book has a beautiful simplicity. I like the storyline; Ruby is relatable, and the verse that this has to it is a great spin on a normal diary. Ruby is incredibly annoying when she talks to Lizzy about Ray, but otherwise I really like her. Yes, she's a total jerk to her dad, but I know that I would be just like that. That's what makes it real to me and I love it. Her paranoia with her boyfriend, though, is super annoying.
Will this book be everyone's cup of tea? No, not at all, but I really enjoy it each time I read it. While the end was probably predictable for a lot of people, I didn't see it coming at all, and I liked it. But this is just an easy book to pick up and easily understand what's going on. A potato chip read, if you will, and everyone needs one of those sometimes.
This book has a beautiful simplicity. I like the storyline; Ruby is relatable, and the verse that this has to it is a great spin on a normal diary. Ruby is incredibly annoying when she talks to Lizzy about Ray, but otherwise I really like her. Yes, she's a total jerk to her dad, but I know that I would be just like that. That's what makes it real to me and I love it. Her paranoia with her boyfriend, though, is super annoying.
Will this book be everyone's cup of tea? No, not at all, but I really enjoy it each time I read it. While the end was probably predictable for a lot of people, I didn't see it coming at all, and I liked it. But this is just an easy book to pick up and easily understand what's going on. A potato chip read, if you will, and everyone needs one of those sometimes.
After Ruby's mother dies, she is sent to live with her absentee father in Hollywood. Ruby's father seems to be genuinely interested in her, though because he is an A-list actor, it could just be his superb acting skills. Ruby has difficulty settling into her new life, without her mother and everything else she has ever known. This novel in verse works through the process of grieving.
This was a good, quick novel, which draws on tough situations without really digging deeply into the story.
This was a good, quick novel, which draws on tough situations without really digging deeply into the story.
Meh. A stereotypical novel hating on stereotypical novels when it ITSELF is a stereotypical novel. Need I say any more? I did enjoy it, don't get me wrong, but I just... I hate hypocrites. With a flaming passion. And I know that hate is a strong word, but I have strong feelings too. Her father, recently back into her life, is trying so hard to be the best father for her and she takes it for granted. Wish I could say the same about mine.