Thursday 16 September 2010

One Of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

From Amazon:
My name is Ruby.
This book is about me.
It tells the deeply hideous story
of what happens when my mother dies
and I'm dragged three thousand miles away
from my gorgeous boyfriend, Ray,
to live in L.A. with my father,
who I've never even met
because he's such a scumbag that he
divorced my mom before I was born.
The only way I've ever even seen him
is in the movies,
since he's this megafamous actor
who's been way too busy
trying to win Oscars
to even visit me once in fifteen years.
Everyone loves my father.
Everyone but me.


I really enjoyed this. From the title I was expecting a sad story - which in some ways it was - but it was also injected with some great humour. We first meet Ruby after her mother has died and she is on the plane to California to live with her father in LA. She doesn't want to go and still resents her dad for not being involved in her life until now. She also doesn't want to leave her boyfriend Ray or her best friend Lizzie.

Sonya Sones really hits the mark with Ruby's voice - snarky and very much a teenager. You really get a sense of who she is and a glimpse of who she could be in the future. I could also really feel the longing in her words for her mother and the life she'd left behind.

There are many different aspects to this story. Ruby has to deal with her grief over her mother's death, moving away from her boyfriend and best friend, trying to find new friends, and building a relationship with her father. It's here that I felt the story excelled. I completely understood Ruby's reasons for disliking her father but I warmed to him straight away. I also adored Max - and loved the relationship that developed between him and Ruby.
Some of the big revelations towards the end were not much of a surprise - I guessed them early on - but it was still enjoyable watching it all unfold. I was really looking forward to Ruby working one of them out and loved her reaction when she did.

This is another verse novel I thoroughly enjoyed and can't wait to read more - I am finding them very addictive! And on the basis of this one I am really looking forward to reading many more by Sonya Sones.

11 comments:

Tara said...

I just finished a verse book and really enjoyed it as well. I will definitely be adding this to my TBR list. Great review!

Lauren said...

Fantastic review, Sammee. I liked this one a lot too, and I'm finding myself drawn to reading verse novels quite regularly now. They deserve some blog coverage!

So Many Books, So Little Time said...

I keep hearing brilliant things about Sonya Sones. I think I need to read this!

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

I've found that I really love verse novels, and this sounds so good! I've never heard of it before...great review! :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the lovely review, Sammee. And great job of not giving away any of the secrets...

There's a character in my next book named Samantha - my first novel in verse for adults, coming out in April in the U.S. It's called THE HUNCHBACK OF NEIMAN MARCUS. I hope you'll review that as well!

Anonymous said...

"Anonymous", by the way, is me, Sonya Sones, the author of ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES.

Thanks again!
Sonya
www.sonyasones.com

Michelle Fluttering Butterflies said...

This, I'm dying to read! I heart Sonya Sones :)

Tales of Whimsy said...

This sounds good! I love the cool different things you always manage to find :)

Luisa at Chicklish said...

Oh, I loved this too! I also loved reading your review - thank you!

Test said...

Great review! I've read some of Sonya's books before and really enjoyed them, so I'll have to give this one a try sometime as well.

Unknown said...

I have to say the cover feels very Australian. I know I watch a lot of Home and Away but it just says Summer Bay. Anyway, it is obviously not from your review but it still sounds like a great read. Thanks for the review.

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