January 13, 2020
I am about to trash this book in the most spoilerific way possible so if you feel as though reading my review is not worth spoiling this book for you... TURN BACK NOW!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
SERIOUSLY THERE IS NO RETURN BEYOND THIS POINT!
...
Alright, everyone gone?
*cracks knuckles*
I LOATHED this book. Holy fucking shit.
I really don't feel like I can properly explain my criticisms without going into detail... so here we go!
Our story begins with the arrival of Ruby (a.k.a. redhead, pale skin, kinda pretty MC) to her older sister and brother-in-law's fancy, million-dollar home. Ruby's mother has seemingly abandoned her, and after a valiant attempt at living on her own in a roach-infested flat, she is found out and promptly delivered to her only known family, Jamie and Cora.
The same night she arrives, after some internal monologue about how she doesn't need anyone else, especially not her hoity toity sister and her plush, white carpets, Ruby decides to make a break for it.
*trumpets* Enter: Nate Cross. *trumpets*
Sexy, blonde, star-athlete, most-popular-kid-in-school, runs-6.2-miles-every-Friday neighbor, who happens to be swimming laps in his pool at 1:30 am, sees Ruby hopping her fence, and covers for her when she is inevitably caught by her sister's husband.
I don't even remember what bullshit these two came up with to explain why Ruby was halfway over the fence in the middle of the night, but it's irrelevant.
HE'S THE LOVE INTEREST DUN DUN DUN!
On top of that, it seems Jamie and Cora have arranged for Nate to be her personal ride to school! Gee that's convenient.
This book is laden with small conveniences like this that do not happen in real life. Like really what're your chances of moving into a rich neighborhood next to a hottie your exact age, who's also nice enough to agree to drive you to school every day?
In the first part of the novel, we are led to believe that Cora is awkward, cold, and ultimately put out about Ruby's presence in her "perfect life."
Jamie plays peacemaker, interacting with Ruby and trying to amp up her enthusiasm about making new friends, attending his alma mater (a.k.a. rich kid school where a burnout like Ruby DEF won't fit in omg), and potentially attending college.
When presented with what could be considered a "clean slate" Ruby proceeds to be a complete asshole, often grumbling about every fucking thing.
You know what Ruby? How about you just let the hot boy drive you to school? How about you just pick out a koi fish at the pet store? How about you let your sister get you some new fucking clothes? HOW ABOUT YOU JUST EAT THE GODDAMN BREAKFAST FOOD JAMIE SET OUT FOR YOU!?
Like, this is easy shit! Stop being awful about general human kindnesses.
On top of that Cora isn't much better than Ruby. I saw no chemistry whatsoever between she and Jamie, and I'm still wondering how they've been married for five years. Even though a story about how they fell in love was hinted at, it was never disclosed.
Jamie is excited about everything.
He's adopted a dog, who is old and frequently pees inside the house, about which Cora is angry.
Jamie is building a pond in the backyard, which he's loudly working on early Saturday morning. Cora is angry. Cora would've preferred a pool.
Jamie wants to take cute holiday pictures with his family in matching shirts. Cora doesn't really wanna but eventually does. Because she loves her husband, I GUESS.
So up until this point, I'm thinking I've got a good handle on these characters.
WRONG!
After having a decently traumatizing conversation with Cora about Ruby's entire fucking life being a lie, she spirals out of control for a brief moment. She gets drunk with some old, not rich friends. She finds out her best friend is sleeping with her... casual boyfriend... and she collapses, wasted in the woods on her way back to her drunk friend's car.
DA DA DA DAAAA In swoops hot boy Nate, who finds her in the woods somehow, and brings her home.
When she arrives, she is met with a furious Jamie. No no, not just furious. He's R A G I N G!
After everything we've done for you!? After we take you in and give you everything!? You didn't even stop to think that someone might be worried about you!? HOW DARE YOU! YOUR SISTER DOESN'T NEED YOUR SHIT RUBY!!
Like whoa boy. Hold on a second.
Ruby has literally been leading the shittiest kind of life for years. That's clear by the fact that her mother left her without warning. On top of that, she's just found out that her mother has been lying to her about Cora's attempts to reach out.
YOU KNOW RUBY IS A CHILD WITH PROBLEMS. YOU KNOW HER SITUATION. WHY WOULD YOU SAY THOSE THINGS TO A CHILD. OF COURSE SHE DOESN'T THINK ANYONE WORRIES ABOUT HER YOU STUPID FUCK, SHE HAS NO EXPERIENCE WITH NORMAL FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS.
After this blowup, Jamie never even apologizes.
In fact, Cora tells Ruby that if she wants Jamie to talk to her again, she'll have to be the one to make the first move.
I just want to point out how extremely problematic I find this set up.
A grown ass man. One who is apparently a CEO. A CEO who should have plenty of practice dealing with failure, mishaps, mistakes. Completely losing his shit at a 17-year-old he just met a couple weeks ago. Inappropriately making the situation about his own perceived offense instead of about Ruby's personal crisis. Is not reprimanded for his bullshit behavior and never apologizes.
Needless to say this was the end for me and Jamie.
So whatever, now Cora and Ruby aren't enemies anymore. Yay I guess.
Another aspect of this story I hated is this hyper focus on the key Ruby wears around her neck. It's her house key on a fucking chain. But the whole goddamn town is fascinated by this key. So much so that Ruby's employer, Harriet, starts making replicas of the necklace to sell in her jewelry store.
Guys, this amazing, wonderful, unique key is described as "a normal key with some gemstones on it."
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
This gets so out of hand that the fucking newspaper is doing a story about Harriet's key necklaces.
Like what the fuck is wrong with this town? IT'S A KEY ON A CHAIN???
Unless you're making key necklaces that look like this:
I just don't see how it'll be considered newsworthy.
Whatever.
Near the end the story shifts gears almost entirely and starts focusing on the issue of Nate's father being an controlling, abusive ass. It was jolting to me because it felt like Ruby just "got better" immediately. So much so that she was able to focus all of her attention on fixing someone else's issues.
Like, after a couple months with Jamie and Cora she's just alright now? She cares about her grades and not getting in trouble and says "fuck you" easily to all her old burnout friends all because now she lives in a rich suburb?
I'm sorry that's stupid as fuck.
Shit doesn't just fix itself after a whole lifetime of abuse and neglect.
But hey, this had to be a happy story I guess. So everything wrapped up nicely with a little bow. Nate gets away from his dad. Ruby graduates and gets into college. Tada.
On top of all this shit, there's just a ton of components in this story that rubbed me the wrong way. Casual slut shaming, anger over not establishing proper boundaries in a relationship, reinforcing the "he picks on you because he likes you" saying, the MC being squeamish about female reproductive organs, unrealistic characters, and a storyline I ultimately didn't give a fuck about.
I tried. I truly tried. But nah.
***FYI: If you would like to peruse a lovely collection of key necklaces like the one featured in my review you can shop here!***
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
SERIOUSLY THERE IS NO RETURN BEYOND THIS POINT!
...
Alright, everyone gone?
*cracks knuckles*
I LOATHED this book. Holy fucking shit.
I really don't feel like I can properly explain my criticisms without going into detail... so here we go!
Our story begins with the arrival of Ruby (a.k.a. redhead, pale skin, kinda pretty MC) to her older sister and brother-in-law's fancy, million-dollar home. Ruby's mother has seemingly abandoned her, and after a valiant attempt at living on her own in a roach-infested flat, she is found out and promptly delivered to her only known family, Jamie and Cora.
The same night she arrives, after some internal monologue about how she doesn't need anyone else, especially not her hoity toity sister and her plush, white carpets, Ruby decides to make a break for it.
*trumpets* Enter: Nate Cross. *trumpets*
Sexy, blonde, star-athlete, most-popular-kid-in-school, runs-6.2-miles-every-Friday neighbor, who happens to be swimming laps in his pool at 1:30 am, sees Ruby hopping her fence, and covers for her when she is inevitably caught by her sister's husband.
I don't even remember what bullshit these two came up with to explain why Ruby was halfway over the fence in the middle of the night, but it's irrelevant.
HE'S THE LOVE INTEREST DUN DUN DUN!
On top of that, it seems Jamie and Cora have arranged for Nate to be her personal ride to school! Gee that's convenient.
This book is laden with small conveniences like this that do not happen in real life. Like really what're your chances of moving into a rich neighborhood next to a hottie your exact age, who's also nice enough to agree to drive you to school every day?
In the first part of the novel, we are led to believe that Cora is awkward, cold, and ultimately put out about Ruby's presence in her "perfect life."
Jamie plays peacemaker, interacting with Ruby and trying to amp up her enthusiasm about making new friends, attending his alma mater (a.k.a. rich kid school where a burnout like Ruby DEF won't fit in omg), and potentially attending college.
When presented with what could be considered a "clean slate" Ruby proceeds to be a complete asshole, often grumbling about every fucking thing.
You know what Ruby? How about you just let the hot boy drive you to school? How about you just pick out a koi fish at the pet store? How about you let your sister get you some new fucking clothes? HOW ABOUT YOU JUST EAT THE GODDAMN BREAKFAST FOOD JAMIE SET OUT FOR YOU!?
Like, this is easy shit! Stop being awful about general human kindnesses.
On top of that Cora isn't much better than Ruby. I saw no chemistry whatsoever between she and Jamie, and I'm still wondering how they've been married for five years. Even though a story about how they fell in love was hinted at, it was never disclosed.
Jamie is excited about everything.
He's adopted a dog, who is old and frequently pees inside the house, about which Cora is angry.
Jamie is building a pond in the backyard, which he's loudly working on early Saturday morning. Cora is angry. Cora would've preferred a pool.
Jamie wants to take cute holiday pictures with his family in matching shirts. Cora doesn't really wanna but eventually does. Because she loves her husband, I GUESS.
So up until this point, I'm thinking I've got a good handle on these characters.
WRONG!
After having a decently traumatizing conversation with Cora about Ruby's entire fucking life being a lie, she spirals out of control for a brief moment. She gets drunk with some old, not rich friends. She finds out her best friend is sleeping with her... casual boyfriend... and she collapses, wasted in the woods on her way back to her drunk friend's car.
DA DA DA DAAAA In swoops hot boy Nate, who finds her in the woods somehow, and brings her home.
When she arrives, she is met with a furious Jamie. No no, not just furious. He's R A G I N G!
After everything we've done for you!? After we take you in and give you everything!? You didn't even stop to think that someone might be worried about you!? HOW DARE YOU! YOUR SISTER DOESN'T NEED YOUR SHIT RUBY!!
Like whoa boy. Hold on a second.
Ruby has literally been leading the shittiest kind of life for years. That's clear by the fact that her mother left her without warning. On top of that, she's just found out that her mother has been lying to her about Cora's attempts to reach out.
YOU KNOW RUBY IS A CHILD WITH PROBLEMS. YOU KNOW HER SITUATION. WHY WOULD YOU SAY THOSE THINGS TO A CHILD. OF COURSE SHE DOESN'T THINK ANYONE WORRIES ABOUT HER YOU STUPID FUCK, SHE HAS NO EXPERIENCE WITH NORMAL FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS.
After this blowup, Jamie never even apologizes.
In fact, Cora tells Ruby that if she wants Jamie to talk to her again, she'll have to be the one to make the first move.
I just want to point out how extremely problematic I find this set up.
A grown ass man. One who is apparently a CEO. A CEO who should have plenty of practice dealing with failure, mishaps, mistakes. Completely losing his shit at a 17-year-old he just met a couple weeks ago. Inappropriately making the situation about his own perceived offense instead of about Ruby's personal crisis. Is not reprimanded for his bullshit behavior and never apologizes.
Needless to say this was the end for me and Jamie.
So whatever, now Cora and Ruby aren't enemies anymore. Yay I guess.
Another aspect of this story I hated is this hyper focus on the key Ruby wears around her neck. It's her house key on a fucking chain. But the whole goddamn town is fascinated by this key. So much so that Ruby's employer, Harriet, starts making replicas of the necklace to sell in her jewelry store.
Guys, this amazing, wonderful, unique key is described as "a normal key with some gemstones on it."
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
This gets so out of hand that the fucking newspaper is doing a story about Harriet's key necklaces.
Like what the fuck is wrong with this town? IT'S A KEY ON A CHAIN???
Unless you're making key necklaces that look like this:
I just don't see how it'll be considered newsworthy.
Whatever.
Near the end the story shifts gears almost entirely and starts focusing on the issue of Nate's father being an controlling, abusive ass. It was jolting to me because it felt like Ruby just "got better" immediately. So much so that she was able to focus all of her attention on fixing someone else's issues.
Like, after a couple months with Jamie and Cora she's just alright now? She cares about her grades and not getting in trouble and says "fuck you" easily to all her old burnout friends all because now she lives in a rich suburb?
I'm sorry that's stupid as fuck.
Shit doesn't just fix itself after a whole lifetime of abuse and neglect.
But hey, this had to be a happy story I guess. So everything wrapped up nicely with a little bow. Nate gets away from his dad. Ruby graduates and gets into college. Tada.
On top of all this shit, there's just a ton of components in this story that rubbed me the wrong way. Casual slut shaming, anger over not establishing proper boundaries in a relationship, reinforcing the "he picks on you because he likes you" saying, the MC being squeamish about female reproductive organs, unrealistic characters, and a storyline I ultimately didn't give a fuck about.
I tried. I truly tried. But nah.
***FYI: If you would like to peruse a lovely collection of key necklaces like the one featured in my review you can shop here!***
