I love Lydia Kang as an author. I've read most of her work, and although my favorite book was her nonfiction work, she can weave a great suspenseful mystery. As a fellow medical professional, I can really appreciate the accuracy that she puts into her stories about the effects of poisons on the body. It just adds so much to the complexity of the story for me. A thrilling WW2 era novel about a mysterious and dangerous woman on the backdrop of the Manhattan project. I really recommend this book to anyone interested in historical mystery.

I abandoned this book about a third of the way through when it became apparent that some content warnings had been missing from the description.

The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding by Lydia Kang is a historical mystery in wartime, Brooklyn.

This wasn't a bad story, you see, I did manage to finish it, didn't I? Just wasn't my cup of tea.

Will and Maggie Scripps are siblings has quiet lives. Will secretly scouts for the Manhattan Project and Maggie is working at the Navy Yard. She seems to be coping with the loss of her mother by secretly writing letters to her.

Their routine change by finding a beautiful woman in their yard, hurt and scared. This stranger with hidden past and an obsession with poisons and killing small creatures.

There is news of spies in the world’s first atomic bomb, Will and Maggie begin to suspect she’s quite dangerous and both ridiculously fall in love with her.

but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. The beginning was promising, and the plot started off strong, but I was let down by the unbelievable and underdeveloped characters and unrealistic and fake relationships.

My personal disappointment don't make yours!

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing for ARC via NetGalley, I have given my honest review.

A brilliant historical novel that had me gripped from the beginning and all the way through. Highly enjoyed

I really wanted to love this book because I like Lydia Kang. However, the story was very slow moving and predictable. I also could not relate to the protagonist. Still, I recommend this for fans of historical mysteries. It is just that her novel, A Beautiful Poison was a more superior and breathtaking work!

This book had a slow start, following two very different siblings living together in New York in the latter stages of WW2. William is very different from his sister. His drive and ambition have led to his involvement with the Manhattan Project, but we never fully know what secrets he’s keeping, even from his sister Maggie. Maggie is a more easy going and kind girl, who is more affected by her mother’s suicide than we realise at first. William has an awkwardness in his manner, that isn't solely down to the secrets he keeps. This slow beginning sets up their characters and the minutiae of their daily lives at this point in history, a viewpoint of the war that I hadn’t read about before. Then the siblings find Ruby, slumped and unwell under the steps of their apartment building. Despite government warnings about spies and William’s highly sensitive work, the siblings take Ruby in. What follows is a psychological game with suspense and unexpected twists and turns.

Ruby is fascinating, seductive and has a love for the macabre. She is interested in poisonous plants and the effects they can have on the human body. Both siblings seem enthralled by her, resulting in Ruby conducting a sexual relationship with both of them. I couldn’t be sure whether Ruby was manipulating the siblings, but the background atmosphere of paranoia did make me question her motives. I was also very alert to any conversations that started to sound like an interview. Maggie seems to be the most easily manipulated and it is William who talks her into looking at Ruby’s background, despite the fact he’s still sleeping with her. I found the historical background really interesting, because although I’d read a lot of books based in WW2 they tended to be based in the UK or Poland. I’d not really considered how fearful the Americans were post Pearl Harbour, in fact it reminded me of the atmosphere in NYC and Washington straight after 9/11. There’s a feeling that people thought America was invincible, so an attack on their soil had really shaken their sense of self and security. Americans were on guard for future attacks, particularly along the coast. They were also alert to infiltration from spies, maybe this is what finally urges William to look at Ruby’s intentions.

This second section seemed to fly by and it was definitely more gripping than the first. This is an unusual historical thriller that does reward perseverance through the first half.

Unique characters and rich in historical detail. This was an engaging mystery.
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Perfect WWII thriller historical fiction romance. Slow start but then it got really good. Full of surprises.

The H-LoRF was a book that kept you guessing. It wasn't really a thriller nor a mystery in the typical sense; more, it kept you guessing about the characters and their paths and motivations. The uncertainty of the times they live in blanketed by the shadow of WWII contributes greatly to this feeling of instability and suspicion. After all, if everyone is keeping secrets, how can you trust them fully?

I enjoyed the dynamic of our core pair, a brother and sister pair working together through these tough times and the manner in which the introduction of a mysterious stranger disrupts the fragile balance of their little household. While at times the plot felt a bit plodding, I didn't mind much as it felt rather slice-of-life, albeit in an interesting slice of history. To avoid inadvertently giving away any spoilers, I'll cease this review here, finishing up by saying while I felt the "half-life" in the title was a bit misleading, I nevertheless enjoyed read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this ARC :)

I enjoyed reading this fictionized account of the Manhattan which is something that's to really taught in schools. And I don't think I've ever read about before in a book.

I discovered Kang via a friend with an earlier book and find her a reliably good read..this isn't as engaging as some previous works but it still is a good story and I enjoyed it on a lazy Sunday.

2.5 stars

This started off really promising. WWII, the Manhattan Project, spies, poison, a mysterious girl showing up at the doorstep of our main characters. This sounded absolutely awesome. But then the entire story slowed down and not a lot was happening. And while the characters and the situations they found themselves in should sound really interesting to read about, the story dragged.

When things started to pick up towards the end, it didn't go in a direction I expected (which was good), but also a direction I didn't like. It felt like it didn't particularly fit the story. But then again, that could have been my own expectations...

For a book about espionage, poison, mysterious girls and a race against the Germans to create a nuclear bomb this was pretty boring.

As always I love a good historical fiction and this one didn't disappoint. I loved the era, I loved the mystery and I loved the historical feel of the book. A story of war and siblings, of life in wartime and making decisions and a stranger hidden under their stairs.

This is just the start of a great read full of mystery, suspense, intrigue and twists. It is the perfect winter read and one you will not want to put down. It keeps you enthralled and keeps you guessing.

A great read and highly recommend.

“Lydia Kang does it again. The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding is riveting. Set in Brooklyn and New York City at the height of World War II, we are dropped into a world where no one can be trusted. The Manhattan Project is in its early stages and the key to winning the war. But who works for who? Not only are loyalties to country challenged, but family loyalties as well. Characters’ motives and desires shift and twist. No one is who they claim to be. And in the middle of it all is the strange, alluring, and enigmatic Ruby Fielding, who may undo them all. A marvelous, complex, and thrilling read.”

Not my favourite book by Lydia Kang that I've read so far... There is a certain dissonance when it's compared to the rest of her historical mysteries, and I wonder where that comes from. While I was excited about the easter eggs hidden in Ruby Fielding, small call-backs to previous (loved) books written by the same author, this newest publication misses the rapid location changes and staccato plot of her previous releases and, to put it short, somehow feels flimsy.

Three highly unlikeable POVs, all characters distinguished by a certain distrust of strangers and the constant fear of spies in a war-torn world, yet not a single one of them adheres to their (sometimes self-imposed) responsibilities and rules. While I found the idea of a "femme fatale" of dubious background intruding into the lives of an unsuspecting family extremely gothic and interesting, the execution completely missed the point. Why a government-paid running boy like Will or a propaganda-binging patriot like Maggie would let a suspicious woman crash in their home for weeks, realistically seen, is beyond me.

Except, of course, (view spoiler) The pacing... no. There are some very obvious red herrings in the very beginning that never get explained, making the reasoning behind these protagonists' actions highly unbelievable. The suspense, all in all, was not there at all. In fact, I don't think the wild "twist" after the first two thirds of the plot was not built up in a way that justifies its outrageousness.

Hate to say it, but this book, rushed as it seems to have been written, is only worth 2 and a half well-meant stars to me.

This was an interesting take on the typical WWII book . I liked learning about the Manhattan project and felt that this was a good interesting read . Thanks for letting me read and review this book to Netgalley and the publisher.

This book had a lot more potential than it was followed through with. The poison storyline as well as the Manhattan Project one could have been SO much more interesting if handled differently. The “love” aspect of it really took away from the story turning it into something that was plainly confusing and I couldn’t wait to get it over with.

The author’s writing was for sure really good despite the storyline so I would for sure be willing to give her books another chance in the future!


*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review*

This was an interesting historical fiction story. I was quite invested in the story and wanted to know who was her actually and why was she pretending to be someone else. Will was quite the hero here and while trying to save his family, him and his sister, he get attracted by the unknown heroine as well.
Another Interesting character was her mother and the way she negotiates her daughter’s life and well-being with Will.
A fast paced story that many readers will enjoy

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

It was OK read with lots of twists and turns, and some solid character development (eventually). There were aspects of this that I really enjoyed but overall found the plot somewhat muddled and struggled with the pacing at times. At times less is more and there were a few storylines that seemed to serve little purpose in moving the plot forward.

In the end not quite right for me but there was enough there for me to give the author another go in the future.

Laurel isn't who she says she is but she's already changed the lives of Will and his sister Maggie so what are they to do? Set during WWII, this has a few surprises and is filled with interesting information about poisons, thanks to Laurel/Ruby, Will works on the Manhattan project and Maggie who has been struggling with her mental health is at home until Laurel/Ruby is found under their front steps. No spoilers from me but this wasn't what I expected. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. It's a good read.