If you are a fan of historical fiction and mystery, you should enjoy this twisty read.This is an author to know. Just when you think you understand the motives behind the characters and the way their story lines are being presented—bam!—It will hit you with twists you won’t see coming!

Really interesting!

This book offered a very different perspective to the Manhattan project than I’ve ever really read about before. I really didn’t expect the twist and it kept me interested right until the end. Maggie was a great surprise, as was Holly.

This book was a fun treat! I loved it! It was a good reset after I read a heavier book. It kept me flipping pages well past my bedtime!!

Historical Fiction with a twist. Centered around The Manhattan Project during WWII. This novel was definitely not what I was expecting.

The ending was a huge twist, I did not see coming. This novel is well-written and well thought out. The author did her research well.

First off, I would classify this book as more of a Mystery/Thriller that just so happens to be set during World World II, rather than an historical fiction book. It revolves around two siblings, Will and Maggie, and the mysterious woman they find unconcious under their stairs.

This book was well written and appeared to be very well researched. I found all three main characters to be compelling, and this book definitely kept my interest. The information about toxicology and poisonous plants was especially interesting to learn about.

The last quarter of the book became a little bonkers, but the twist definitely caught me off guard, and it entertained me nonetheless. Although I was disappointed by one character and their motivations.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery with a sprinkling of historical knowledge.

“The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding” is a historical fiction novel by Lydia King. I had some issues with this book. At times I was enjoying it and at other times it was rather meh to a bit confusing. I nearly DNFd the book a few times as it didn’t always hold my interest. The positives included the mystery - just who is the bad person? I couldn’t always wrap my mind about the characters - Ruby seemed a bit too odd for my taste (yes, you know about poisons - I’m never ingesting anything you ever give me). Will and Maggie had an odd relationship. Granted, not all siblings get along, but at times I felt they needed to at least care about the other one. Also, I didn’t understand why one scene was included at all. I also had issues with the ending - I’m not quite sure what the point was other than a possible surprise to the reader. One of the things I enjoy most with WWII historical fiction books is a weaving of story and history. This one had promise, but it didn’t always work for me. I’d rate it a 3.5 stars, bumped down to 3. However, I’m likely in the minority about this book- so if Ms. King is a favourite author of yours (and many people do like her books!), read other reviews or read the book itself and decide for yourself.

I never thought this would happen, but I am actually dnf-ing a book by Lydia Kang.
The Impossible Girl is on my list of favourite books, after all.

But The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding? No. Just. This is not it.
Keep in mind, this is an ARC, so some of my criticism may have changed in the published version. Alas, let's get to work.

First off, I can't quite tell if I like the setting. I usually stay far away from WWII settings, because frankly, I have spent so many hours in history class learning about the horrors of it that I've had quite enough. Sue me. This, for a change, doesn't take place in Europe though, but in Brooklyn. The war is far away but still important in the way the characters interact with each other and the environment, so it's... I don't want to say more enjoyable, but it's more easy to digest. So, let's say I have completely neutral feelings bordering on mild dislike for the setting.

Which also goes for the characters. I was completely neutral on what Ruby has going on. I don't know if it's the lack of depth the character had or my lack of interest in rich people. I. Liked Maggie, I suppose. I had nothing against her, to be more specific. She's shy, she has depression, and she's gay, which makes her sound a lot like me. But there's not much else to her, except what we learn through her brother Will.
Oh, Will. God I dislike that man. First off, he's a dick about Maggie. He expects the worst of her constantly, expects her to lose her job after a few hours only, is surprised she keeps it and in general, his opinion of her is Not Good. Maybe it's just because me and my own brother get along very well, but they're siblings! Shouldn't he at least care about her more than that.
Also, he's like twentyfive and gets a boner from seeing Ruby's naked back for like fifteen seconds, like what the fuck. That's actually the part that I dislike most about him. Right before I stopped reading, which was page 112, he saw like, half of her boob, and I quote my uncorrected copy here, "refusing to touch himself, Will would take a cold bath and recite relativity equations in his head. This was how he put himself to sleep [...] over and over again"
What the fuck man. Why. No, actually, don't tell me why. I do not want to know.

Leaving that whole... Thing behind, the plot. There's not much to it yet. Will has his whole Manhattan Project thing going on, Ruby has alledgedly tried to kill her alledgedly abusive fiance, Maggie probably also has her own side plot of emancipation and finding happiness in her smelter work thing. But I can't tell you much how it progresses past the point I stopped reading, just that, at this point, which, again, is about page 113, I did not care for it. I was not invested in Ruby's story and I disliked anything Will had to say and/or do on principle.



@NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing: Thank you guys for this ARC!

I have loved everything that I have read by this author and tis was no exception, I really enjoyed it. Well written, riveting and well developed characters. A great read

Taking place in Brooklyn during WW II, Will, a terse man lives a simple life with his introverted sister, Maggie. One day, they find an unconscious women under their front steps. Against Will's better judgment, he succumbs to Maggie's pleas and brings the woman inside, thereby setting off a mysterious chain of events.

WWII provides the background, with Will aiding in the discovery of nuclear fission leading to the atom bomb. While interesting, the primary focus is on the fully dimensional characters.

The mystery is intriguing and I didn't foresee the ending. Excellent plotting and pacing.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. This is my honest review.

Loved this book so much… it was just so freaking good. One of the best of 2022 and I’ll be recommending it to every one of my friends.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
5 stars!!

🌿ABOUT:
Will and Maggie Scripps lost their mother and have been taking care of each other since. A strange drunken woman appears on their doorstep one night seemingly in need of help. Laurel isn’t who they think she is and their lives are about to get a whole lot more complicated than their war efforts already are.

🌿THOUGHTS
This book was quite a rollercoaster and I did not see the twists at the end coming! While I generally enjoyed unwinding the mystery behind Laurel, Will and Maggie were quite naive and unable to stand their own ground. I was also surprised that the war was only brushed upon. Yes, there was mention of their jobs helping war efforts and about other war-related issues but I felt the book focused more on unraveling the truth of Laurel. Who was she and why did she end up at their place and what was with some of her strange obsessions.

Overall, this was a generally enjoyable mystery to read.

Thank you to @kayepublicity for the opportunity to read this book via @netgalley . The review expresses my own personal opinions.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a review; however, all opinions and thoughts are my own.
The full review with hidden spoilers is available on my blog (https://eternitybooksreview.wordpress.com/2022/04/06/arc-review-the-half-life-of-ruby-fielding-lydia-kang/)

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The Characters:

There are three main characters: siblings Will and Maggie Scripps, and a mysterious beautiful woman named Ruby Fielding.

Will is a simple and quiet man who works as a scout for the Manhattan Project (which was the name for the project that made the atomic bomb during ww2). He is Maggie’s older brother, and her only family. He has devoted a lot of time to care for his sister, having dropped out of university in the past when Maggie attempted suicide. Now, his singular focus is on becoming an indispensable part of the war effort through the Manhattan Project and taking care of his sister.

Maggie on the other hand is a very anxious and isolated young woman. At the start of the book, she doesn’t have any friends, and spends most of her time trying to find work, but being unable to keep a job due to her constant anxiety. She also seemed very depressed as she misses her mom (who committed suicide some years before), and even writes to her despite her mom being dead. Maggie also helps the war effort, by plane spotting and encouraging her neighbors to turn off their lights at night.

These two are going to have their lives completely turned upside down by the arrival of a richly dressed stranger under the steps of their house. The woman is unconscious when Will and Maggie find her, so they bring her in (thanks to the pleading of Maggie; Will actually came home first and saw her beneath the steps and continued right into the house, determined not to make the stranger his problem. I found that hilarious lol).

We got to better understand the kind of people that Will and Maggie are through their reaction to finding the woman. Maggie is a caring, nurturing soul, and she was determined to keep the woman and take care of her till she got better. We also saw that it was sort of an adventure for Maggie, as she was very curious to know the woman’s story, and potentially make a friend.

Will on the other hand could not care less who she was, and wanted her gone as soon as she woke up. He thought of her as a rich woman who had had a rather wild night and would simply bring unnecessary drama with her stay at their place.

Unfortunately, he was somewhat right. The woman did wake up, and proceeded to beg them to let her stay and not call the police. A day become two days, two days became a week, and soon enough, she had planted herself into their lives. She initially called herself Laurel, but with a bit of research in the newspapers, Maggie and Will guessed that she was really Ruby Fielding, the missing fiancé of a rich man who had been hospitalized after being poisoned.

You can imagine that Will wanted her out right away. A drunk woman was possibly a 3 on his annoyance scale, but a potential murderess was way beyond anything he wanted to deal with.

But Ruby spun a tale for them, told them how she was worried for her life, and Will’s protests to the situation eventually lessened and died. Even he became curious about her, and began to look forward to coming home from work to see her.

The rest of the book then focuses on the relationships between the three of them, and how Ruby essentially drove a wedge between the two siblings. There’s LGBT representation here, as both Maggie and Will fall in love/become infatuated with Ruby, and she has relationships with both of them.

Her first relationship was really with Maggie, one that Will had an inkling about but didn’t question. It made Maggie so much happier, and also brought the two women together, even considering the slightly creepy tendencies of Ruby,

And I mean creepy. She filled a sink once with dead spiders. Other times, Maggie or Will would find dead rats lined up neatly by the steps, or other creepy things of the sort. Ruby also admitted to having a fascination with poisons (remember, she’s the missing fiancé of a guy that was poisoned), and even started her own little poisonous flower/plant garden at their house. It was all really disturbing and made me seriously question why Ruby was there.

In Ruby’s chapters, we learn that she fled her fiancé Felix’s house and ended up at the Scripps place after seeing their address on Felix’s desk. The question still remains as to why she fled from her fiance (after potentially poisoning him) and is planting herself in the Scripps’ lives.

There are other characters that were introduced, and Felix does come into the picture when he begins to…court? Maggie. Basically, Will had sent Maggie to Felix to find out more about Ruby since she wouldn’t tell them anything about herself. After Maggie felt betrayed by Will and Ruby being together, she started visiting Felix constantly and enjoying all his pampering and expensive gifts, kind of as a way to get back at her brother. However, it seemed that Felix was also using Maggie for his own purposes.

Basically, the web of deceit, betrayal, and manipulation just grew so much thicker as the book went on. I kind of grew annoyed as it continued, because I just wanted Ruby to pack up and leave so that Will and Maggie can reconcile and they can go back to their lives.


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The Plot:

Ruby’s appearance started the book off with a mystery. The main question for the first half or so of the book was “who is she, and why is she here”. As we slowly get to see the relationships and dynamics between the characters develop, we also get clues and answers to that mystery.

Ruby is running from her fiancé Felix. She’s convinced he will harm her if he knows where she is, and so she’s remaining at the Scripps’ place to protect herself.

At least, that’s the story that Will and Maggie believe.

Again, I was extremely skeptical of Ruby and took everything she said with a generous helping of salt. From reading chapters that were in her point of view, you know that there is more to this than just simply having a lovers’ quarrel with Felix.

There’s also Will’s job that has its own mystery. The Manhattan Project is understandably a huge secret, and though Will has guessed what the purpose of the project is, he isn’t technically supposed to know. The mystery begins when Felix is introduced in connection to the Manhattan Project, which is a reminder that Felix knew about Will before since Ruby found their address in Felix’s office to begin with. The question that remains is why?

I mentioned that Maggie had started a job at the Navy Yard, and she was actually able to keep that job down for the most part. She felt that it gave her purpose, and though it emotionally drained her, she was growing satisfied with it. She meets a woman also working there who becomes somewhat her friend, but even this friend seemed to be iffy and asked wayy too many questions for my liking.

All these questions, people, and sub-mysteries start to connect together in preparation for an amazing ending that I was not. expecting. at. all.

Never in a million years would I have guessed what was going to happen. I’m still pleasantly shocked about how it all came together.

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Final Reflections:

In the end, I enjoyed the mystery/plot of the novel more than I did the characters. All the complications with the relationships, and the constant deceit and manipulation made me dislike most of the characters by the end of the book, which took away from my rating for it, but the surprise ending still made this a pretty good read.

It's WWII, and we meet Will who is working on the Manhattan Project and Maggie, his sister who finally got a job.

Things were going well for the brother and sister team until they found Ruby hiding and frozen under their back porch.

They don't know what to make of Ruby...she has bruises, seems helpless, kills bugs, and knows a lot about poisons.

They also find a vial with poison in her pocket, learn that she tried to kill her fiancee, and her mother asked Will to keep her hidden.

What is going on? Could Ruby be a spy? Did Maggie hear her speaking German?

You will not know what to make of Ruby either or in fact any of the characters.

THE HALF-LIFE OF RUBY FIELDING has great characters, great writing, an interesting story line, and lot of secrets and surprises.

If you are a fan of historical fiction and mystery, you should enjoy this twisty read. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Brimming with gracefully executed twists and turns, The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding is a suspenseful tale encompassing the shrouded early history of the Manhattan Project, set in its namesake city. Kang's unforgettable characters, both courageous and sinister, play out their respective parts behind blackout-curtained windows, holding their cards close until the end. Packed with intrigue and secret assignations, this is a triumphant addition to the WWII canon by a masterful author.