Lori, I’m looking forward to what you think.

Amber, it’s a great cover, and it’s even better after you’ve read the book because it is so appropriate.

I’ve been wanting to read this book, but my copy accidently slipped to the bottom of my TBR pile as I kept adding to it. I think I’m gonna have to go dig for it because you brought back all that initial excitement I had when I first got it. Thanks for that!!!!

Smiles!
Lori

Except Ruby is magic. Magical. Is it witchcraft? I’m not sure what. I’ve seen one theory where Ruby is the ghost of the drowned town. So — bottom line, because I see Ruby as being bigger than life, it works, because I buy into the supernatural aspect working in this story: the dead girl brought to life who appears to be alive to those who live in the town, Chloe’s own death erased, etc. The lily has to be gilded in order to show: there is something wrong with the lily. It’s not just one boy that loves her which makes sense but every boy? Really? That’s odd — yes — and unnatural. Because Ruby is unnatural.

If this were a film, I’d almost imagine a scene where Chloe sees herself in a room, a house, a town and someone else would see abandoned buildings and nothing there except a crazy girl talking to herself and people who aren’t there — maybe none of this is supernatural but it’s about a crazy girl living in the woods in New York state.

However, I am not nearly as enamored of Ruby as you seem to be. Your description of her as “almost mythical” is apt, but my problem is that she’s so much larger than life…to the point where she becomes almost predictable and (dare I say it?) boring in her excesses. The author keeps piling on the details about how every boy is at her command, how everyone in town lets Ruby do exactly as she pleases. I kept wishing that Ms. Suma had toned down this character a little — creating her with a few broad colorful brushstrokes, leaving her enigmatic but powerful. Instead, she’s such a BIG OVERSIZED NEON PORTRAIT that the character seems overwritten and overdetailed. For example, one scene describing her sending a boy on a midnight trek to NY to buy cheesecake was brilliant; seeing her exert similar control over boys several more times just feels like gillding the lily.

As I said, I really need to re-visit IMAGINARY GIRLS. Maybe reading it again will help change my perspective. But at this point in time, I feel like the broad characterization of Ruby overwhelms the entire narrative and takes the edge off the chilling mystery at the center of this novel.