Ruby

In "Ruby," we go deeper into the South, into Cajun country (Houma, Louisiana), where 15-year-old Ruby Landry lives in poverty with her grandparents, Grandmere Catherine and Grandpere Jack, never knowing who her parents were (her mother's dead, and her father is unknown at the moment). This is also one of the few books where the reader is aware of the time period in which the book takes place--the early 1960s.As is typical with every V. C. Andrews heroine, Ruby has tremendous artistic talent and is encouraged by her grandmother to pursue her dreams of becoming a successful painter. However, several life-altering secrets arise to detour her from doing so. For starters, Ruby finds out her boyfriend (Paul Tate) is really her half-brother. (Imagine that.) Yet that doesn't really bother either of them, because they still get hot and heavy. Forbidden fruit and all that, I guess.Ruby's second surprise comes when she finds a photo of her father, Pierre Dumas, and discovers that she has a twin sister living with him somewhere in New Orleans. Shortly after Grandmere Catherine confesses all of this, she dies, leaving Ruby in the care of her despicable, alcoholic Grandpere Jack, which was an obvious mistake, because he tries to sell her just like he did with her other two illegitimate siblings. So, Ruby flees Houma and searches for her wealthy family in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, a terrifically authentic setting that horror writer Anne Rice uses quite often in her own books; and it works just fine for V. C. Andrews as well in this series.It's always interesting when I shop for V. C. Andrews books, because either her books are tucked away in the romance section, or they're mislabeled as horror. I've even found them in the kids section, but those are usually the recent miniseries books. While "Flowers in the Attic," for one, could probably be considered horror, most of her books are just dramatic family sagas, aka general fiction. There's nothing remotely scary about these books. It's more psychological, involving lurid family secrets (like rape and incest, which are hardly romance-friendly topics); that's probably why these books are branded "gothic horror."Anyway, "Ruby" pretty much follows the same paint-by-numbers storyline that has been haunting practically every latter-day series by V. C. Andrews. Yet this is still a captivating series, filled with Cajun-style superstitions and horrible family secrets. Following "Ruby" comes "Pearl in the Mist" (#2), "All That Glitters" (#3), "Hidden Jewel" (#4), and "Tarnished Gold" (#5).

I started reading V.C. Andrews' novels well over 5 years ago in my high school library. I was never a fan of novels but after reading "Heaven" I was amazed. Andrews' novels always have a way of wanting you to read more that you somehow can't put the book down. Personally, "Ruby" and its series are my faves. As in all of her novel series, it makes you feel like you're part of the story and you're the main character. Andrews paints the picture so well and describes the most trivial things perfectly in her stories. I've yet to collect ALL her series... I'm done with the Logan series and I'm working on the Landry series :)

Girl finds the truth of her life, but thinks maybe life would have been better not to know the truth...Is the truth always good to know? Would life be better if we hide from the truth and pretend this does not exist? Read Ruby by V.C.Andrews to see how the truth comes out. A great deal of real life events and situations happen in this novel. I would certainly recommend reading Ruby. In Andrews' novel, Ruby, I found I could actually relate to some of the characters. One character I could relate to the most was the main character Ruby. She has many interesting reactions to some of the situations she gets put in, and I think I would react just the same way she had reacted. Seems the author may be trying to do a view on life and people, and how they relate to certain issues in the world today. For example, the author had Ruby go through a traumatic death of her grandmother. She had grown up and lived with this grandmother her whole life. I feel Andrews had her react as if people today would act in real life. Ruby acted very upset but realized she could not dwell on this forever because she would not be able to get anywhere in life. Ruby did not forget about this loved one, but she forgot about the horrible death and remembered all of the good times she had with her grandmother. Most people in real life today use this method also as a source of comfort, which is why I felt the author did a good job including this part in her novel. Another example of when the author connected Ruby to real life was when she learned her and her boyfriend were really brother and sister, by mother, and they could not be together. Ruby had fallen deeply in love with him and not much later found out she could no longer be with this guy. The author described Ruby's feelings very well to me. Makes me wonder how everything would be if I could not be with the person I love. What would I do? How would I react? I like this part of the story because I feel the author gets me involved in the situations with Ruby and makes me wonder in mind if this really did happen what would I do in this exact situation. If this were, I, I would probably react very upset and not know what to do at all. To sum it up, Ruby is a good novel that ties in a lot of real life situations so the reader can relate to what the author is saying. Having so many real life situations made the story very interesting. I have read other books by V.C.Andrews and enjoyed all of them. I think reading Ruby will get the reader interested in the story and motivate them to continue reading the rest of the series. I would definitely recommend anyone to read Ruby. This is surely a good start to what I'm sure will be a great series.

After all the books I've read by V.C. Andrews, which i will say is a lot, this is my favorite along with the rest of the series. When you begin reading this book you start to realize you become a part of Ruby and that's what makes it a great story. Everything she went through with finding out the truth about Paul and then leaving in search of her father and sister becomes a part of you and you then find you're relating to her pain and sorrow, her joy and hope. However, Gisselle was a great disappointment with her cruelty and selfishness. Then again, that is just what makes the story even better because you just love to hate her before it's over with. Using this example of Gisselle and the detailed events from the rest of the story, you realize how great a writer V.C. Andrews/The Ghost Writer is because you wish some of the things that happened in the story hadn't.However,you also realize if it hadn't happened and went in another direction, the story wouldn't have been so great. I recommend this book to any V.C. Andrews fan or even a first time reader.

It was only by chance that i decided to read "ruby" and im glad i did. its the greatest book i have ever read...and i'vre read a lot of books! v.c. andrews has a unique way of touching her readers....is so cool! if your looking for an AWESOME book, read it!