Ruby by Francesca Lia Block Review

Ruby was an odd little book, but I found myself liking it because of its oddness. I haven’t read any Francesca Lia Bloack books before, so I don’t know if this is similar to her other novels. It is very short – longer than a novella, but shorter than a novel at only about 210 pages.

Ruby is the main character and it is from her first-person point of view. This is a novel about child abuse, about romance and remaking oneself, and about coming home to who we really are. Ruby seems to have some foresight and healing for magical abilities, and she escapes an abusive family situation to become a nanny in California. When she sees the movie star Orion Woolf, she realizes that he is her destiny. The rest of the book is about how she recreates herself, and then eventually returns to who she really is. This book has just a little bit of magic in a modern setting to move things along.

I’m not going to call this one Unabashedly Fantastic - you could remove the fantasy and it wouldn’t affect the story much at all. But it is a nice little tale of healing, love and redemption. It is a quick, one evening read so make sure you get it when it goes  on sale. 

Buy Ruby:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble