Finding Ruby Starling by Karen Rivers
Grade: DNF
Release date: August 26, 2014
This e-galley was provided by Arthur A. Levine Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: THE PARENT TRAP comes to the digital age!
When Ruth Quayle used a special app to search for pictures of herself online, she found dozens of images of "Ruth Quayle" -- and one of "Ruby Starling."
When Ruby Starling gets a message from a Ruth Quayle proclaiming them to be long-lost twin sisters, she doesn't know what to do with it -- until another message arrives the day after, and another one. It could be a crazy stalker ... but she and this Ruth do share a birthday, and a very distinctive ear....
Ruth is an extroverted American girl. Ruby is a shy English one. As they investigate the truth of their birth and the circumstances of their separation, they also share lives full of friends, family, and possible romances -- and they realize they each may be the sister the other never knew she needed.
When did I stop reading?: 82% into my e-galley
The Short Review: Others may enjoy, but the formatting was wonky in my e-galley, which made it hard to follow at times, due to the nonlinear narration. As the book progressed, I grew bored.
The Long Review: Finding Ruby Starling has a cool premise, I'll give it that. But it involved a ton of British slang and teen slang that apparently I'm not hip enough to know. I seriously started wishing for a glossary. After DNFing another middle grade novel recently in part because of all of the ridiculous slang, I'm starting to wonder if it's common to all contemporary middle grade these days. I found Ruth to be overly chatty and both girls shared details in their emails that I would never share with someone who's technically a complete stranger, despite being long-lost twin sisters. Their birth mother was a stereotypical mess, and all three parents were as obnoxious as their daughters. I couldn't bring myself to care for any of the characters. *sigh* I'm starting to think I can't enjoy middle grade anymore, which really stinks, because it's a good genre. I'm a quick reader, so if it takes me longer than 2-3 days to read a book (especially MG), then I'm either extremely busy or not enjoying the book. In this case, it was a combination of both.
The Verdict: Maybe this book just wasn't for me? Hopefully others enjoy it because I certainly couldn't.
I've seen quite a few of these "Parent Trap" books, starting with Being Sloane Jacobs. By the summary, I feel like I would like the premise, but it's a shame to hear it wasn't interesting.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when authors try to be in character too much that they use ridiculous slang. They say, "write what you know" for a reason.
Great review! Not the book. Bad book. But great review!