Killing Ruby Rose

I'm always amazed when I look over the reviews on Goodreads to see the vast difference of opinion on books. This seems to be a polarizing one--lots of one and two star reviews, and lots of four and five star reviews.

For me, I enjoyed the book. Ruby Rose has a lot of personality: a 4.0 student with a closet full of designer shoes and a troubled home life (her father was killed in the line of duty and Ruby doesn't have much to say to her ambitious DA mom).

The plot is fast-paced: after her father's death, Ruby fuels her grief into researching and observing her Filthy Five--rapists and murderers who were let free on technicalities (sometimes in her mother's court). I initially thought the book would be about Ruby's pursuit of vigilante justice.

I was wrong.

Much as Ruby wants to see justice done, she doesn't want that justice to come at her own hands. But someone finds out about Ruby's list and her desire for vigilante justice and manipulates her into situations where she has to choose between the life of an innocent or the life of someone who, Ruby believes, deserves to die. The mystery of who is behind these set-ups drives the book--and was, for me, one of the most compelling parts of the book.

The book does require a certain suspension of disbelief: Ruby's life (and her designer shoes) is beyond that of most teenagers, and most teens wouldn't have access to the information or firearms that Ruby has. But for me, that was part of the fun of the book. The romance between Ruby and Liam wasn't quite as developed as I would have liked, and most of the adults in the story behaved in baffling ways (I'm still not sure why her psychologist, after being her staunchest supporter for so long, starts cancelling her appointments or ending them early). But the story itself is strong and a fun summer read.