Ruby Falls by Deborah Goodrich Royce
Publication
Date: 4th May 2021
Genre: Thriller/
Mystery
3.3 Stars
The premise was
exciting at its best, and I was delighted to get an ARC of the book. Ruby Falls
is the story of Ruby/ Eleanor, a 26yo actress. It deals with her past where her
father leaves her alone at Ruby Falls and leaves, never to come back.
Twenty years
later, Eleanor is happily married to a stranger, Orlando Montague, and they
move to LA for a fresh start. The story is narrated by Eleanor or Ellie, and we
see how things are not what they seem.
What has
happened? What is happening? Who is the victim? Who is the culprit? These
questions need answers, and the book tries to work them out.
The descriptions
are vivid. The setting is clear, and it was easy to visualize the scenes unfold
as I read. Trying to get into Ellie’s mind was a fun exercise until towards the
end. The book, as such, held a lot of promise.
Ellie grows up
with psychological problems due to her father’s actions. It makes her a highly
intriguing narrator if we can ignore the constant rambling (I confess I did
find it hard to not roll my eyes at some of her ramblings).
Still, the plot
keeps us hooked. It makes us want to know what had happened. We do get answers,
but then, the ending just falls flat on the face. Literally. I should’ve
guessed when the book was compared to The Silent Patient.
What could have
been a wow moment turned into a ‘duh’ moment as the twist resulted in more
questions that had no proper explanation in the story. There sure are subtle
references to justify the twist, but the overall storyline doesn’t add up.
Considering that
the book just ended without proper closure, the explanation in the previous
pages seems more like an easy way out of a complex story rather than offering
any real solution. What started as a 4+ story ended up with less than 3.5 stars
because of this.
Overall, the
book deals with some important topics of parental abandonment and lack of love
from family, but that’s it. Readers who love to read stories with ‘punch in
your face’ or ‘pull the rug’ twists are going to enjoy this one. It just isn’t
for me.
I received an
ARC from NetGalley and Post Hill Press.
#NetGalley
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