Jessie Humphries
Skyskape
Young Adult
Kindle First
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Ruby Rose is the seventeen year old daughter of the District Attorney for Orange County, California while her father was a sergeant on the SWAT team. When the novel begins Ruby is just beginning to come out of her self-imposed seclusion after her father was murdered 6 months prior. Ruby’s father (her hero) trained her in firearms, self-protection and karate – ensuring that his only daughter could protect herself in most any situation. Ruby’s long-time therapist suggests she get a hobby to help her overcome her grief, so what does Ruby do? She accesses her father’s files finding the 5 worse criminals he was gathering evidence on and she begins “stalking” said criminals in her spare time. Ruby is also in a race to be Valedictorian at her school and maintains a 4.0 average while keeping up her extra-curricular activities.
There was enough intrigue and twisty plot turns to keep me engrossed with Killing Ruby Rose. As fantastical as the story line is if you’re a fan of Buffy or even Dexter then you may just like this one! Ruby does not take crap from anyone, even her school nemesis, Taylor, who is in the race for valedictorian and makes your average mean girl look like Mary Poppins.
The writing is snarky; the main character Ruby is fleshed out; and the plot twists are unexpected.. I did not particularly like Alana, Ruby’s shallow best friend nor Dr. T, Ruby’s therapist of 11 years. Neither character seemed quite believable or who Ruby would have such a long-time relationship with. Ruby is such a strong character that Alana seems like a caricature of a best friend and Dr. T’s actions don’t necessarily match up with her role or history. There’s not a lot of explanation about the change in Dr. T and it felt like that was an unresolved, glossed-over plot point.
Overall Killing Ruby Rose was an entertaining light read as long as I suspended every ounce of belief. As a debut novel marketed towards those with a love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, and Dexter Killing Ruby Rose is a promising debut that will hopefully get better as the series continues.