I'm not sure how to feel about this book. I was transfixed for the first 50 or so pages by both the story and the style of writing. It was like reading the diary of a 12 year old; not very challenging, but amusing and slightly insightful. Then the narrator gets older (and older) and continues to write like a 12 year old. After a while the constant changes in tenses and dumb stuff she says starts to get annoying. I kept wondering if anything was going to happen, if any of the characters were gonna make me feel anything. Eventually, with about 35 pages left, something happens that made it interesting again for a few pages. Then it goes right back to boring.

The Book of Ruth won awards, so I guess some people thought it was good. It wasn't the worst way to pass a couple of days while I was at home sick with covid, but my life would have been perfectly fine without ever having picked it up ( )

Sad story written in first person. Ruth tells about her young life, raised to feel stupid and unable to live life on her own.

I can't believe this was published in 1988 and I never read it! While sad and often depressing, this became a unique insight into Ruth's world. A completely disconnected mother, an aloof and distant brother she could not relate to, and a sad case for a husband makes for quite the family dynamic. Life is a continual struggle for Ruth and she sees no way out of it. The smallest things gave her the most happiness. We should take nothing for granted. ( )

This book was good but not great; it always seemed like it was on the verge of something but never getting there. ( )

I think it would make more sense to read this later in life. Having read it during my senior year of high school, I wish I would have read it later.

I will probably give this a go again in a few years. ( )