Ruby King will make you feel so many emotions. All of these emotions are real and raw, and none are happy with emotions.

And they shouldn’t be happy, because as a white reader, I have a feeling this is a story that many black people live throughout our nation.

This is a fiction book that feels all too real with all of the news that is circulating today. Buy this book, read this book, and then recommend it.

CW - domestic abuse, physical abuse to children, suicide attempt, molestation, gun violence

A lot of debut books give you a glimpse of what the author is capable of and in reading them you know it's an author starting out so there's a lot to be learned.. This is the first debut book I have read in a long time that's simply amazing. It reads as if it's written by an established writer. Emotional and riveting you need to read this book. Now. Super excited to see what this author writes next. Don't pass up this winner of a book. Happy reading!

I love reading a debut novel from a new author, the excitement of finding a new voice, knowing that the author has poured everything into this endeavor. Catherine Adel West's Saving Ruby King is a debut novel, and it's brilliant.



The novel opens with Ruby King's mother murdered in her own home on the South Side of Chicago. Many people suspect Ruby's father, a man with a bad temper who had spent time in prison for killing a man years ago. People suspected that Ruby's father Lebanon beat his wife, but that was a not so hidden secret.



Ruby's best friend since childhood, Layla, is concerned for Ruby's safety. Ruby is distraught, but won't allow Layla to help. Layla's father, Jackson, the pastor of Calvary Church, has known Lebanon since childhood, and has been secretly giving money to Lebanon for some unknown reason.



Layla wants to help Ruby, but Jackson orders her to stay away from Lebanon. Layla and her father have been butting heads recently, and things that have been simmering under the surface are coming to a head.



The story is alternately narrated by Layla, Jackson, Ruby, Lebanon, and even Calvary Church narrates secrets that have happened within its walls. The two families have grown up in that church, from Lebanon and Jackson's mothers as children, to Layla and Ruby.



Saving Ruby King has elements of a mystery to it- who killed Ruby's mother, why is Jackson giving money to Lebanon- as well as a multigenerational story about secrets and the damage that keeping those secrets can cause down through the generations.



I found myself totally absorbed in this emotional story from the opening pages, and every revelation was another gut punch. The idea of Calvary Church narrating parts of the story worked so well, the church is central to the lives of these people.



I highly recommend Saving Ruby King for anyone who likes a compelling story, with characters that you can empathize with, and a strong sense of setting. I hope to be reading more books from Catherine Adel West in the very near future, she is a wonderful writer. And if you want to read more books by black authors, Saving Ruby King is a good place to start.

A devastating look at violence, racism, and the family secrets that can tear a community apart. Told through multiple POVs, Saving Ruby King immediately draws you in with it's incredible writing and heartbreaking characters.


Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions are my own.

Ruby Kings mother has been murdered. Now she is left to live with her abusive father. The police are investigating, and Ruby’s community and church family are turning a blind eye once again to what really goes on in the King household as they have always done. The only person who cares and wants to help Ruby is her best friend Layla. She will do anything to save Ruby from the same fate of her mother. Why won't the church community help Ruby? Things are more complicated than they seem and people are hiding their own pasts and secrets. What will happen when they all can't hide from the past any longer?

This story is told by many characters. We get to read the story from Ruby, Layla, and both Ruby and Layla’s fathers who also share a troubled past along with the story told from the halls of the old church they all share. The story goes back in time to help the reader gain insight into each character’s motives and struggles as well as the generations that came before them. Secrets are uncovered and lies that were told are brought to light. Catherine Adel West is a brilliant author who brings forth the issue of abuse in such a powerful way. I was riveted by the story and loved how the story was told from each character’s point of view. A powerful novel you do not want to miss.

Thank you so much to the author Catherine Adel West, Harlequin and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to review. It was an amazing novel! All opinions expressed for this review are unbiased and entirely my own.

Ruby King lives on Chicago's South Side. Her best friend is Layla, daughter of the Pastor. Her mother and Ruby's are life long friends.


Everyone in the church knows that Alice's husband beats her so it isn't shocking when she is murdered in her own home.


The police dismiss it as just more violence in this area. But Ruby has lost her mother and now her father takes his frustrations out on her.


Her father has dirt on the pastor so he isn't helping Ruby. Everyone has secrets. Everyone is assuming a lot. There are awful secrets and in the end, no one can save Ruby but Ruby.



It is hard to believe this is a debut novel! We hear the viewpoints of all the main characters and their heartbreaking secrets. This one of the most honest and touching books I have read.




NetGalley/June 16th, 2020 by Park Row

A Community Suffers the Effects of Violence and Abuse

When her mother, Alice, is found murdered, it’s one more murder in a violent part of Chicago, but to Ruby it’s devastating leaving her alone with her abusive father, Lebanon. Layla, Ruby’s friend since childhood wants to protect her, but her father Jackson tells her to stay away from Ruby.

Layla has no intention of obeying this injunction. Ruby needs her and she will do all she can to uncover the old secrets that are holding people together to keep the secrets safe. In the end, Layla is able to help Ruby, but the relationships she uncovers and the actions of people can be devastating.

This is a complex book with many characters, including the Calvary Church, used as viewpoint characters. I thought the church was particularly effective being a voice of the community. The problem with many viewpoints is that the opening chapters are slow and can be confusing. However, it’s worth persevering because the novel picks up at the end and ties the characters together with a surprising twist.

The book has many themes: violence and abuse, the intensity of sisterhood, and the destructive potential of secrets. However, the books doesn’t sacrifice story telling for a polemic. The themes are there, but the characters have center stage. Each of the main characters comes to life and the minor characters are well drawn and contribute color to the story.

This is a mystery, but it is also the story of a community.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

Alice King is murdered, leaving her daughter Ruby to live with Lebanon, her violent father. Ruby’s best friend, Layla Potter, is determined to protect Ruby from Lebanon. Layla would like the help of her father Jackson, pastor of their church, but he always defends Lebanon whom he has known since childhood. Undeterred, Layla persists in her mission to save Ruby from herself and from Lebanon, but ends up discovering dangerous secrets which may tear apart her own family.

The novel is set in Chicago’s South Side in both the present and the 1960s. Besides the dual timelines, there are multiple perspectives; Ruby, Layla, Lebanon, and Jackson are among the first-person narrators. The most interesting viewpoint is provided by Calvary Hope Christian Church which is given a consciousness and a voice.

What most impressed me is the characterization. All characters are multi-dimensional with complex histories. Lebanon, for example, is definitely one of the bad guys, but once we learn about his upbringing, we cannot but have some understanding and sympathy for him. There are also good characters whose actions show them to be flawed. These complicated, very human characters leave readers questioning how they would behave if given the same background and placed in similar circumstances.

The book examines inter-generational trauma. The trauma suffered by Lebanon’s mother affects her relationship with her son so his becoming a violent husband and father is not surprising. Lebanon even admits, “whatever haunts [my mother], haunts me.” He also believes that Ruby will be much like him: “[Ruby] has that same look in her eyes for me, the same one I have for [my mother]. And I know that girl can do something about it. And the hate Ruby has for me is the same flavor I have for [my mother].”

The novel also focuses on how people are often complicit in domestic violence by doing nothing. Most people in the church knew that Alice was beaten by Lebanon, but everyone looks the other way. Lebanon’s mother tells him, “’[Alice] went to church and pretended things was fine and you stood by and acted like you was a good person, a holy person and people in church pretended right along with y’all.’” Layla admits the same thing: “The people at church glossed their eyes over bruises and swallowed the poorly explained reasons of why these things always seemed to happen to Alice. ‘It ain’t any of my business,’ was a common refrain. But now, they shake their heads and cry their tears, wondering how this could’ve happened.”

Layla decides not to live in denial because unless someone acts, nothing changes: “The easiest thing to do is nothing and we were all guilty of it. My parents. People in church. Our community. We sang our songs and prayed our prayers and talked in pleasantries, but very few of us really knew the business of the other. Though gossip would flow, secrecy also flourished. All the evil we find and leave be, we can’t be surprised when it visits, shows up all sharp teeth and vileness.” The consequences of doing nothing are repeated: “We mind our own business. What goes on in your house. Stays in your house. But. It. Doesn’t. It doesn’t stay. It bleeds into the next home and the next block, the next family.”

The impact of secrets is also explored. Jackson has a terrible secret which he desperately hopes is never discovered. In order to keep that secret, he must lie and thereby ends up distancing himself from his family. That secret also means he must remain loyal to someone other than those he should support. Jackson realizes that “more things than love bind people together, secrets and lies make just as hearty a bond as love.” Ruby admits that she has lied to keep the secret of Lebanon’s violence: “I did what I was taught. I lied about my pain. To cover Lebanon’s abuse. To maintain my family’s image.” As a result, she receives no help and remains “collateral damage of shame and shadow.”

This is not a light-hearted book. It touches on many serious topics: domestic violence, sexual abuse, racial discrimination, murder. There are some melodramatic scenes and some intrusive passages about the history and geography of Chicago but, overall, the book is a compelling, emotionally intense read. Saving Ruby King is an exceptional debut novel.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

One reason I read books is to learn about lives and experiences I know nothing about. Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West, about the lives of several generations in an African-American neighborhood in Chicago, showed me a culture, centered around Church, that came alive through the page. But it also was about family secrets, neighbors who look the other way, the shame we carry, and the damage that causes. Those themes were universal.


This is not a feel-good novel about a neighborhood, but a serious examination of the generational harm of domestic violence, and sexual abuse. Ultimately, it is a story about redemption, and is a stunning debut novel.

What I Liked:
Setting:
Even though this book is set in Chicago, the neighborhood where all the characters live is very much like a small town. Life is centered around the Church, where everyone can been seen all day on Sundays. Everyone seems to know your business, so there is pressure to not do things that will cause gossip. The author did a wonderful job of creating a sense of place, with music, food, and characters.

Narrative Style:
I've never seen a narrative style quite like the one in this book. While we have several characters narrate various chapters, we also have the Church building as a narrator! This is a really unique perspective as people are both honest and hiding their darkest natures in Church. People also are at their most vulnerable and even in crisis at Church. I loved this insight.

Characters:
Many of the characters are seen over multiple years in their lives, and the transformations they experience are extreme. Life is not kind to most of these people. We see how optimistic the characters are when they are younger and how life turns their outlooks bleak.

But this also gives the reader a fuller picture of why a few of the characters make some terrible choices later in life. I appreciated that this was given as background, and not an excuse, for each character's actions.

Themes:
The problem with "Mind Your Own Business":
I think some readers may feel frustrated with Ruby, and her mother Alice. They seem, at first glance, passive about the abuse from Lebanon (the dad). If you've never been in a situation of domestic violence, you may wonder why they seem to accept their situation. But where are they supposed to get help from? The Church community says all the right things about how people should behave. But it also looks the other way when they know men abuse their families. Or when people have a problem with substance abuse. They are happy to gossip about it, but would never intervene.

This attitude of "What happens in the home, stays in the home", is why nothing changes. It is prevalent in communities where reputation is everything, not just the neighborhood in this book. I think that people worry that if they get too nosy, someone might denounce their own family. It's also a matter of pride. No one wants to admit weakness. But the consequences of silence are devastating to families and continue from one generation to the next. It's heart-wrenching.

Generational Violence:
This book makes a strong case that abusers are often products of abuse, themselves. If you've been hit as a child, told you're worthless, or seen your mother abuse drugs, you're possibly going to do that when you're an adult. This is not because people think it's fine to do these things. It's because they don't have any other tools to deal with anger, fear, and stress.

Story:
The story centers around us figuring out who killed Ruby's mother, Alice. It's a complicated mystery that spans several generations to fully understand what happened. There was plenty of suspense as the clues are revealed. You really don't know the complete story until the very end. This made this book a page-turner.

Trigger Warnings for sexual abuse and domestic violence.

Ruby and Layla have been best friends forever so when Ruby’s mother is murdered in their home in a primarily Black neighbourhood in Chicago’s South Side, leaving her on her own with her violent father, Layla vows to do everything she can to protect her friend.

The story is told from multiple perspectives across three generations, including from the perspective of the Church where Layla’s father is the Pastor, something I have never seen in a book before. It took me probably about the first third to get into the book and to get the timelines and characters all straight in my head. Once I did though, I couldn’t have fell in love with it any harder.

This is a debut novel that is heartbreaking in its realness. It is such a beautifully written, powerful story of love, abuse, despair, and hope and the things people will do to protect their family, even if it’s not necessarily the family you’re born into. I know I’ll think about this book for a long time to come. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. A huge 5 stars from me. I urge everyone to go and buy this amazing book!

Full of secrets, twists, drama, & more secrets, Saving Ruby King is such a sadly beautiful story. I really connected with Ruby’s character and could empathize with her grief and pain. This one was so well written & I could hardly put it down! This one gets 4.5/5 stars rounded to 5.

Ruby King is an emotionally moving debut novel,So well written so heart wrenching.A novel of family relationships of the death of Ruby’s mother& Ruby’s best friend Layla King who will do anything to protect her.#betgalley#harlequinbooks

Growing up in the same church, Calvary Hope Christian, Layla and Ruby became best friends in childhood. In their mid-twenties, the friendship remains strong, and when Ruby’s mother is murdered in their South Side home in Chicago, Layla is the only person who understands how dangerous life has become for Ruby, not just because she is left alone in the house with Lebanon, her violent and mercurial father, but because of her own tendency towards despair.

Layla approaches her father, Reverend Jackson Potter, who warns her to stay away from Ruby and her father. Loyalty to Ruby, however, forces her to reject his authority in order to protect Ruby, an act that causes years of resentment to erupt through the fissures of their argument.

But to save Ruby—and possibly find out who killed her mother, Alice—Layla must excavate layers of intergenerational entanglements, betrayals, loyalties, and silences, all centered around the church. Only then might the young women be free of the grip of the past and live life on their own terms.

The book discusses the segregation of neighborhoods in Chicago which is especially personal and brutal to me. I went to college (many, many years ago) in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago, which Layla mentions as one of the neighborhoods trendy enough for Whites. I’m not sure what the figures were when I went to school, but now, my university is 5% Black while Hyde Park itself is almost 30% Black. The South Side as a whole is 93% Black. We were told during orientation, as we were given a whistle, not to go outside the boundaries of the university. Black students were routinely harassed by the university police. As you can imagine, there were strained “town-gown” relations.

Additionally, having a church, and religion, at the center of the book provides different motivations and explanations for characters’ behaviors than I usually see in novels, and that was interesting—though very frustrating when church leaders abused their positions.

At the heart of the book, though, are the strong relationships, particularly those between friends and between fathers and daughters, though mothers are important as well. The points of view shift, primarily between Layla, Ruby, Jackson, and Lebanon, highlighting the centrality of those figures and how they are intwined.

Despite the purpose behind the different narrators, having the multiple voices didn’t always work for me, especially when a fifth omniscient point of view was added. I’m not sure if I was looking for more distinct voices among the characters, smoother transitions, or both, but it was something that distracted me from the story.

The book recounted painful events and tragic misunderstandings, but I thought it ended on a hopeful note, and I would recommend Saving Ruby King not only to readers who would like to learn more about the topics it covers but also to those who enjoy contemporary fiction and are seeking to diversity their reading lists.

When her mother is murdered in their home in Chicago’s South Side, Ruby King is distraught. The police brush it off as another act of violence in a notoriously violent black neighborhood and little comes of an investigation. But, it’s not hard to imagine who killed her mother. Her father abused her and her mother for years, yet they turned a blind eye to it until it was too late. Ruby surrounds herself with friends, who push for her to escape from her father’s abuse, but it’s not that easy. Where will she go? Does she want to start over? Can she start over?

This story is not lighthearted. It is heavy. There are scenes of physical abuse that are hard to stomach. I felt protective over Ruby and wanted her to escape this vicious cycle. Each chapter shares a different character perspective, which I really enjoyed because while you see one side of the story - the obvious truth told from Ruby - you begin to peel the layers of the neighborhood and learn that everyone (even Ruby) is hiding something. What initially was black and white, is now grey. No one is truly as they seem on the surface and that part, trying to figure out whether Ruby’s father really killed her mother, and what other secrets the neighborhood was hiding kept my attention until the explosive end.

A big shoutout to Catherine Adel West for a fantastic debut. I was enthralled by your masterful storytelling and connected with the characters (maybe not Lebanon!). I love a good story when nothing is truly as it seems.

4.5 stars
This is a stunning debut novel. West's words are both nuanced and relatable. There are so many sections that are timely to the events going on in today's world with Black people and their relationship with the police. The fact that this book was written before the recent events involving George Floyd shine a spotlight on the fact that, while it may be a new fight for many people, this is nothing new for Black people.
There are multiple points-of-view in this novel, one of them is the church building and the secrets the building holds for its inhabitants. Themes of family, friendship, and whether or not our pasts define us resonate throughout.
Many feelings come up during the reading of this tale: compassion, anger, frustration, fear, and love. West's poignant words made me care about characters on the page and root for Layla and Ruby to overcome the large obstacles in front of them. There's a bit of a mystery to the story, but overall it is the story of relationships, both good and bad, intertwined and shaping us into who we will ultimately become.

In light of recent events I’ve been reevaluating what I’ve been reading. While I’ve done a decent job of reading more diversely genre wise, I didn’t take into consideration reading diversely based on authors. I’m committing to reading more authors of color in the future and this month alone I’ve read 4 out of 8 books from AOC, or half of my books have been written by AOC. In addition to Saving Ruby King, I have read The Vanishing Half, Mexican Gothic, and Get a Life Chole Brown! All of which have been excellent. I gave Saving Ruby King only 4 stars though because The Vanishing Half has been my favorite book this month hands down and nothing has compared to it yet. With that said though Saving Ruby King is an amazing debut. I really cannot believe that this is West’s first novel.
Before I get further in my review, I will say that this is not a mystery. I’m not sure why they classified it as such but this is much more an exploration of race and culture in the Chicago’s African American community. While there is a mystery element to the story, it’s more an uncovering and exploration of the secrets we keep from each other, especially within families, and how the mold us into who we are. It’s not a complaint and didn’t change my rating but if you are looking for a solid murder mystery, this is not it.
Now to the review!
West has crafted a such an authentic story around this community and has told the story through decades and countless perspectives. Heck, she uses an actual building to tell part of the story. It’s incredibly unique the way you weaves each of these perspectives into one, and how they all seamless flow throughout the book. Each of the characters are so well defined, and while I’m not really a huge fan of character driven novels, this book has just enough plot and action to keep me engaged while also allowing me to focus on the people within the story more than the story itself. Once again, this is a debut novel, wow.
I feel that this book’s publication is coming out at a perfect time and will really help to shed some light on the black communities in major urban areas. I believe that West actually used some of her own experiences within the book, which really gives the whole story a very realistic atmosphere.
I highly recommend this book for a good multi-generational family story. The writing is beautifully done and I can’t wait to see what else West puts out in the coming years!


I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Saving Ruby King. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books. Huge thank you to Park Row for my Advanced Copy.

Ruby’s mom has been murdered. Ruby is completely at a loss. Her mother’s death leaves her with an abusive father and with little recourse to get away. Layla, Ruby’s best friend, is always there. She is determined to help her friend but to what end. There are way too many secrets and dangers.

Wow! This is a wonderful story. This is a debut novel and the author nailed it. I fell in love with Ruby right from the start. And her and her mother’s situation terrified me. The deeper I went into this tale, the more tangled it became.

Well, if you read one book this year..this is it! It is unforgettable, amazing and intense! The way this story is twisted around itself and just keeps unfolding literally keeps the reader on the edge of the seat! And the ending! Oh my!

Plus, the author is profound in many of her statements. Her prose is unique and I cannot say enough about her talent!

This book will stay with you for a while! Do not miss this one!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade publishing for a DRC of this book in exchange for an honest review
Friendships ... child molestation ... domestic abuse ... church and prayer ... love and lies ... community and gossip ...

Told in multitude of POVs and multiple timelines, this is a beautifully written story of love, loss and how a cycle of abuse, secrets and lies, and friendship bound together and shaped three generations of three families.

Although the synopsis reads like a mystery/thriller, I would not put this book in that category really. Sure there is the question of who killed Alice King, but this book is so much more than that.

This book also delves into the experience of the Black community in Chicago with the police force - both thru flashbacks on how one of the character is treated in policy custody and also what goes through the mind of a Black person - man or woman - when they have interactions with the police - regardless of the reason.

Ruby King is twenty-four-years-old when her mother, Alice, is found murdered in the home she shared with Ruby and Ruby's father, Lebanon. The police show little interest in--to them--another death in the King's black neighborhood, but Alice's death unhinges Ruby and leaves her alone with her violent, abusive father. Her only confidante is her best friend, Layla, who knows how long Alice and Ruby have suffered under Lebanon's wrath. But Layla is angry that Ruby won't do more to get away from Lebanon and she's even angrier at her father, a pastor, who has been close to Lebanon all these years, and yet never did anything to free Alice or Ruby from his abuse. Layla is determined to save Ruby, but as she works to rescue her friend, she starts to uncover a world of secrets and lies flowing back generations.

"I'm stitched together by the lies I tell myself and the lies people want to believe about me." ~Alice

I found this excellent and timely book to be incredibly well-written, with a power and tenderness to it that goes far behind your typical debut novel (I had to double check that this was actually West's first novel, I was so impressed).

West tells her story from a variety of points of view--Ruby; her late mother, Alice; her father, Lebanon; her best friend, Layla; Layla's father, a pastor; and more. We even hear from a central figure in all of these characters' lives--their church, via its omnipresent voice. The plot spans generations, with West giving a nuanced look at each of her complex characters. She does an amazing job of showing the power of family, for both good and bad. How choices can affect generations: one person's bad decisions can pass poison on, with children reliving dysfunction and sins.

"How can there be a me without her?" ~Ruby

No one is simply good or bad here, though Lebanon is not an easy-to-like man. Abused and neglected by his own parent, Sara, we see how Sara's neglect has turned Lebanon hard. But West is such a good writer that Lebanon is not a one-dimensional bad guy, as much as you want to hate him. I was incredibly impressed at how she could create sympathy for so many of her players, even when they did despicable things.

"Without Sara, who do I blame for...being me? Are children supposed to forgive their parents for the horrible things they've done?" ~Lebanon

This novel does an impressive job at delving into racism, domestic abuse, and sexual assault and trauma. The city of Chicago appears as its own character, springing to life via West's lovely prose. She expertly shows the difficulties black people face on the south side (and in general). I read this book during George Floyd's murder and found myself highlighting passages about police brutality that just hit me right in the gut. It's very powerful.

West's book features a variety of characters--they can be hard to keep track of at first, and I was glad to have the family tree in the beginning of the book. A few times the plot felt repetitious and the middle dragged a bit, but it picked up in the second half. There's a surprising amount of twists and turns. Overall, this is a realistic look at racism and domestic violence, but also friendship. It's quite well-written and layered with a twinge of hope throughout. I can't wait to see what West writes next. 4+ stars.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

As soon as I heard about this book, I knew it was something I needed to read. Little did I know just how much I would end up loving it. This book is a hauntingly beautiful, yet powerful book that I know I will be thinking about for a long time to come.

I don't even think my review is going to do justice to how much I loved this book. There are just so many parts to this story that kept me glued to the pages - so many things that I cannot say for fear of giving something away - yet I will try to articulate some of my feelings here.

One of my favorite parts of this story is just how complex the characters are and whether they were likeable or not - and believe me there are some unlikeable characters here - the way the story is crafted, your opinion of these characters is constantly changing. Just as I thought I had one character all figured out, something would come to light that would have me rethinking things...and I absolutely loved this. The whole book is structured this way - much like that of an onion, where the layers are ever so slowly peeled back to reveal what's inside.

This story explores the complicated history between two families and the secrets that have been kept thinking that it was in everyone's best interest. It is gripping and compelling and will have you see just how generational trauma and the cycle of violence can be carried on. It is hard not to feel all the emotions while reading this and yet there is the sense of hope throughout - hope that just maybe things can have a different outcome.

I absolutely recommend this book to everyone and I think it would definitely make a fantastic book club read - there is so much to unpack here. I know I will absolutely be keeping an eye out for what comes next from this talented author - for a debut novel, she hit it out of the park with this one!