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A review by ahomelibrary
Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski
3.0
Book Review — “Real Easy” by Marie Rutkoski (1/22, @henryholtbooks)
Came out in 2022. I won a copy from a Goodreads raffle last year. Better late than never.
Currently has a 3.61 average with around 5.4k reviews on Goodreads.
Categories — Thriller, Mystery, LGBTQ+, Intersex, SW, Multiple POV, Crime Investigation, Character Driven, 90s
Quick Summary — Story follows the workers at an adult entertainment club, particularly Samantha (stage name Ruby) who is an intersex performer. After giving a ride home to an incapacitated new dancer, Jade, they are both run off the road and Ruby is abducted. Through the use of many POVs, the story follows characters’ reactions to the event, lives, and the investigation to find the culprit who may turn out to be a serial killer targeting vulnerable women.
My Thoughts + More Plot (No Spoilers) ⤵️
I blew through “Real Easy” in one night. I think it’s a character driven medium-burn crime investigation, not necessarily a thriller, but more of a creative literary project — if that makes sense. It has mature subject matter interwoven within a writing style that could also line the literary fiction shelves. The author is Harvard educated and a former dancer herself; she also notes she received a lot of advice from IRL criminal investigators and medical advocates when crafting the plot.
The story is best highlighted by its 14 point of view chapters. Some are shorter than others, as we spend more time with certain characters over others. The POVs are the dancers, vulnerable children, some of the detectives, some of the men & clients, and others. It can be a lot to follow when you also consider there are numerous other characters in the mix who don’t have POV but are part of it all, but I didn’t find that to be a negative aspect in this case.
There are a lot of themes: the gritty life of the entertainment workers (plz don’t flag me IG lol), motherhood of all types, poverty, being a daughter, being mixed, being intersex, grief, losing a child, misogyny, violence against women… there’s a lot.
The resolution is sad. It’s not a happy book. It grapples with difficult content. I liked it and gave it 3.5 stars!
Came out in 2022. I won a copy from a Goodreads raffle last year. Better late than never.
Currently has a 3.61 average with around 5.4k reviews on Goodreads.
Categories — Thriller, Mystery, LGBTQ+, Intersex, SW, Multiple POV, Crime Investigation, Character Driven, 90s
Quick Summary — Story follows the workers at an adult entertainment club, particularly Samantha (stage name Ruby) who is an intersex performer. After giving a ride home to an incapacitated new dancer, Jade, they are both run off the road and Ruby is abducted. Through the use of many POVs, the story follows characters’ reactions to the event, lives, and the investigation to find the culprit who may turn out to be a serial killer targeting vulnerable women.
My Thoughts + More Plot (No Spoilers) ⤵️
I blew through “Real Easy” in one night. I think it’s a character driven medium-burn crime investigation, not necessarily a thriller, but more of a creative literary project — if that makes sense. It has mature subject matter interwoven within a writing style that could also line the literary fiction shelves. The author is Harvard educated and a former dancer herself; she also notes she received a lot of advice from IRL criminal investigators and medical advocates when crafting the plot.
The story is best highlighted by its 14 point of view chapters. Some are shorter than others, as we spend more time with certain characters over others. The POVs are the dancers, vulnerable children, some of the detectives, some of the men & clients, and others. It can be a lot to follow when you also consider there are numerous other characters in the mix who don’t have POV but are part of it all, but I didn’t find that to be a negative aspect in this case.
There are a lot of themes: the gritty life of the entertainment workers (plz don’t flag me IG lol), motherhood of all types, poverty, being a daughter, being mixed, being intersex, grief, losing a child, misogyny, violence against women… there’s a lot.
The resolution is sad. It’s not a happy book. It grapples with difficult content. I liked it and gave it 3.5 stars!