A review by barebookery
What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez

emotional funny informative medium-paced

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

3.5

As an shameless fan of reality tv, this plot sounded very modern, creative, and interesting. I also loved how unapologetically Puerto Rican this book was from the infusion of Spanish dialogue to the food and the music to the characters' behaviors. Each character had their own distinct personalities and perspectives, and reading this made me feel like I was a part of their family and sometimes even reminded me of my own!

This book was also super funny! I smiled and laughed out loud many times reading it. Other times the writing felt like commentary -- another plus, in my opinion. And then of course there were very real and raw moments the Ramirez family experienced. All of that made for a solid reading experience.

As for cons, some chapters felt like filler even though they were lengthy. If I spend a lot of time reading something, I expect more story meat and sometimes I just wanted to get to the point and never did.

But overall, I liked this book! It kept me entertained and I learned a LOT. Definitely makes me want to check out more works by this author.