Ruby [Turtleback]

V. C. Andrews (Author)

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 060605989X
• ISBN-13: 978-0606059893
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,892,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another twisted and tormented Andrews family saga begins., March 7, 2001

By 

Chadwick H. Saxelid "Bookworm" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ruby (Landry Saga) (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed the first half of this premiere novel in the Landry Saga far more the second half. All the gothic touches chill the reader in all the right places (I especially enjoyed the voodoo trappings), but the Cajun characters of Ruby's home were far more interesting than the spoiled rich brats in the New Orleans section of the story; and the tortures that Ruby endures at the hands of Gisselle and her cronies are so cruel and inhumane it makes the book difficult to enjoy. Nonetheless, there is more than enough mystery and intrigue in this family's story to make me want to immediately jump into the next book in the series the moment I finish this one.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Readable, March 23, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Ruby (Landry Saga) (Mass Market Paperback)

I gave this book 3 stars because it did, in the end, achieve what it set out to do: it got me to buy the other books in the series. And it was an interesting read and a fast one. That being said, however, I think that this series more than any other (by V.C. Andrews) made me angry. I know that Andrews' characters are known for their...passivity, but Ruby really took it too far. She let everyone from her drunken, redneck grandpere to her to her whorish, jealous twin sister walk all over her. To tell you the truth, by the end of this first book, I was almost rooting for Giselle! At least she had a reason to act the way she did! She had been spoiled by her father, neglected by her adopted mother...she had to face the fact that her history wasn't what she had been told. She had to accept that she not only had a twin sister, but that the very same twin sister was moving into her house and usurping her place in her daddy's heart. And then? Then her sister stole her boyfriend! So...basically anything she wanted to do to Ruby was pretty much okay with me.

And speaking of the boyfriend...

Beau Andres was the most shallow, boorish, unlikable male lead I have ever come across. He dumped Giselle for Ruby, claiming to be oh so appreciative of her sweet virginity. Then at the first chance he gets he rapes her in her art studio! I don't care if she ended up enjoying the climax or not! She pleaded with him to stop about 50 times and he wouldn't! RAPE! And the fact that Ruby views this act not for the assault it is but for an indication of "love" is sickening. Their whole relationship was sickening...throughout this first book I kept hoping she'd run back to the swamps. I'd much rather have seen [having sex] with her brother than this lout. At least her brother treated her with some respect.

Still, in the end, the author did do a good enough job on the characters for me to get so angry with them...which I guess connotes good writing. Of a sort. My advice? Read it but take it with a grain of salt.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Book in the Landry Family Series, March 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Ruby (Landry Saga) (Mass Market Paperback)

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).