I loved the interplay between the mother and daughters in this book. Claire Jimenez did a fantastic job of showing how messy and complicated that relationship can be, particularly in light of a family tragedy that lingers for years. Although a little far-fetched, I was willing to buy into the idea that the Ramirez family thinks they see Ruthy on a reality TV show. Jimenez manages to build the rest of the story world with such authenticity that I didn't mind suspending my disbelief and going out on a limb with the characters for that portion of the plot.

It felt like the story took a little too long to get to that point, however, when Ruthy's family goes looking for her. The narration seems to fixate on everything else first for so long that at times I almost forgot that part of the premise was the TV show. Also, while I'm sure that the foul language used was done so because it may have felt authentic to the characters and how they communicate with one another, at times I found it a little tedious to read.

The ending was also a disappointment and somewhat rushed. The plot dragged for a while only to be wrapped up in a hurry, and I don't think it really did justice to everything that came before it. I enjoyed some parts of this book, but ultimately it really wasn't for me.

I’m trying to branch out this year and read new to me authors and genres I don’t often read. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is about a family and what happens to them after 13 year-old Ruthy goes missing. Ruthy’s two sisters, Nina and Jessica, see a woman named Ruby on a reality TV show…a woman that looks suspiciously like Ruthy, so they try to track her down.

And it’s somehow funny, yet poignant, and heartbreaking, all at the same time. I enjoyed the multiple points-of-view, and seeing how everyone dealt with Ruthy’s disappearance differently.

I think what I found most interesting was the idea that missing girls and women of color aren’t mentioned in the media the same way white girls and women are. And it’s unfortunately true. It’s such a sad thing to realize that this fact is true in our society.

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez was a wonderful debut from a new to me author, and I’ll be looking for more.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the review copy.

I don’t think this is a perfect book, but I loved this story about a Puerto Rican family in Staten Island, New York. I found it a fantastic and moving first novel. The story revolves around the disappearance of Ruthy Ramirez, age 13, who never comes home after track practice. Ruthy’s mother, her older sister Jessica and her younger sister Nina are changed forever by her loss.

More than a decade later, Nina is a college graduate and has returned home when she and Jess see a girl on a reality show called Catfight. The girl, named Ruby, is about the same age Ruthy would be, and she has the same birthmark on her face. Jess and Nina are determined to find Ruby/Ruthy and bring her home.

This is less a book about Ruthy than it is about these three women, as the novel explores their determination, grief, and guilt over losing Ruthy. They have to move forward with their lives but in many ways, they can’t. Ruthy was a tough girl, and a secretive one, and she was at that age where a girl can have terrible secrets. They’ve pored over her diary, but in the end they don’t know if she ran from them or was taken.

Despite its very dark story, there’s also a surprising amount of humor. Mother Dolores has this crazy sidekick friend who goes into full-on seizures in church. Nina is forced to work in a cheesy lingerie store, folding thong underwear and pretending to speak Spanish. And Ruby is in a reality show where the girls are encouraged to tear each other apart – as the name suggests. In this regard, the humor is dark and pointed. Jimenez makes a pretty strong statement that these girls are being exploited and the messages that sends.

Some readers complained on Goodreads about the use of profanity but I wasn’t bothered by it; in fact the use of profanity made these characters feel more real to me, more raw. I also liked the use of language that I assume reflects the way a Puerto Rican family would talk to each other. Of course I wouldn’t know, but it felt authentic to me and that made the story more poignant.

I appreciated that Ruthy isn’t a sweet kid, because it forces you to think about the kinds of trouble that girls her age get into, and how police and the media look at families who go through this horrible experience. Not being “nice” makes her no less sympathetic.

Note: I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and publisher Grand Central Publishing. This book was published March 7, 2023.

I was interested in this book after reading the synopsis but unfortunately it wasn't for me. I couldn't connect with any of the characters. They were hard to like with lots of meanness and abrasive behavior. The novel is full of expletives which became over the top as a story went on. Be advised that there are trigger warnings as well.

I kept reading to find out what happened to Ruthy and to see if there would be any character development of the mother and sisters after their struggles. But the story just went on and on describing their days before a final wrap up in the last couple pages. A disappointing read.

Thank you to the publisher for my e-copy of this book.

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did. It felt like a lot of build up to nothing, and the ending was rushed.

Imagine flipping through miscellaneous tv shows and there on the screen is your sister. Except that she, Ruthy, disappeared without a trace 12 years earlier. Yet there she is! Same red hair. Same beauty mark under her eye. Could it be her? It’s now 2008 so if it’s her where the hell has she been? Our middle sister never came home and nothing since has gone the way it should have for any of them. That’s just one of the questions, I would have for her.

So starts an epic road trip with their mom tagging along and some silly scheme to find Ruthy, confront her and get at the truth. The Ramirez women use very colorful language so if the word fuck liberally sprinkled around is bothersome for you – this book may not be your flavor. I grew up in Brooklyn and I’m Puerto Rican so I had no problem with the use of Spanish either.

These women? I felt a kinship with them – like I recognized them in my own family. The story is told in multiple points of view. You’d think that might be confusing, but the author does a very good job of giving each character individuality.

Their mother, Dolores, blames herself for everything that has happened since that day. It hangs over her like a dark cloud and has slowly seeped into Jessica, Nina and before his death, their father too. They are the definition of generational trauma.

Many truths are spoken by the time you turn the last page. The family bond is deep and the sisterhood remains intact. I laughed, I empathized, I hurt for them.

Thousands of black, brown and indigenous women go missing every single year. We do find out what happened to Ruthy. Maybe it would have been better if we had not. That ending? It played in my mind like a movie and haunted me for days afterwards. This was a solid debut from Claire Jimenez.

At thirteen, Ruthy Ramirez disappeared sometime after track practice. We never meet her father. He died a few years after Ruthy disappeared. Dolores, her mother, went a bit mad. It is 2008. Nina just graduated from her premed program at an elite school. She avoided going home for college breaks and has not seen her oldest sister Jessica or her mother, Delores, for two years. Now, twelve years after Ruthy disappeared, Nina's coming back to Staten Island. Jessica has a baby and a full time job. It's time Nina helps take care of Dolores. After Ruthy did not come home, Dolores gave up her Catholic faith, opting to go to a Pentecostal Church with her dear friend Irene. She is teaching a parenting class at the church for women referred by the child services agency. And always present for them is Ruthy's absence.

So, there is a pervasive overlay of sadness throughout this story. Of course there is. But Jimenez captures so well the day to day lives of a close knit family that squabbles and juggles child care, pours love into cooking and cleaning, and working. The young women are smart and have dreams that you know are achievable. Nina didn't get into medical school. Jessica didn't finish college. But you know they won't stay in the low level jobs they work to make ends meet.

We smile -- a lot-- at the alternating narratives of these women, their thoughts about each other, about their bosses and coworkers, about Jessica's boyfriend, about their shared history that is more than but always includes the day Ruthy disappeared. We feel warmly toward them. We root for them. And we root for Ruthy. Because here and there, Ruthy tells the story of that day, filled in as well by Nina's and Jessica's observations. Her family acknowledges to us, what they did not tell the police: It is very possible Ruthy ran away that day. She was kind of wild. She once disappeared overnight. And that possibility leads to a whole chain of events that advance publicity on this novel spilled far too much. Just in case you have not read the advance publicity, I am not going to talk about it. It makes for a great road trip story, followed by a hysterical and indescribable, yet perfectly described scene in a Boston club.

It's early times in 2023, but I think this will be one of my top books for the year. As I noted, Jiminez captures what it means to be family in all of its craziness and love and despair and resentment. In this case, the family is Puerto Rican and the different experiences of the first and second generation New Yorkers, steadily trying to move up and questioning how far they have made it is a central theme. It matters that Ruthy is Latina, a person of color and that her disappearance did not get any serious attention from the police. And that is a major, major part of the point. Yet every character is relatable, faults and all. Sisters have the same fights everywhere. Mothers have some method of bringing them together or of losing it with their children. This is undeniably a beautifully written Puerto Rican version of all this, but every reader will find it familiar, while appreciating the culture and community of this particular family. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Years after their 13-year-old sister vanishes into thin air, Ruthy Ramirez's sisters think they may have found her alive on a reality TV show. What follows is their efforts to get her back.

Told from the POVs of Ruthy, her two sisters and their mother, you really get a sense that their lives revolve around this loss, conscious or unconsciously. It's something many families of color have felt for centuries: having their loved ones ripped away from them, often without a second thought from people who could make a difference.

I was also surprised by how FUNNY this book was. I've seen several reviews that say it was overly profane, I disagree, but maybe that's because I use the F word 100 times a day and often communicate with my sister in this manner.

Overall, a quick, fast-paced read I binged in less than 24 hours.

I spent the weekend binging this book. It drew me in immediately and it was hard to put down.

Thirteen year old Ruthy Ramirez goes missing one day, leaving her family with nothing but questions.

More than a decade later, the Ramirez sisters discover Ruthy may be alive after all this time when they see her on a reality TV show.

Wow! What a debut. I was fully invested in what happened to Ruthy, and I love that it was told in the alternating perspectives of sisters Nina, Jessica, mother Dolores, and Ruthy herself. Each woman reeling in the wake of Ruthy's disappearance, and in her potential return.

I loved each of the Ramirez women. Each had a unique voice, but their family dynamic was so authentic. They spent most of their time bickering but the love and loyalty was palpable. I could read about these women just in their everyday lives forever.

I just thought this would be a lot different from what it was. The premise was interesting and the set up was as well but it just went downhill from there. There was an excessive amount of swearing (which I'm generally fine with) and it got old really fast. I couldn't connect with the characters and the humor just wasn't for me. The same family stories were repeated far too often and there was just too much anger. I was not the target audience.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

“Call that black hole, its negative space, the incredible disappearance of Ruthy Ramirez.”

With a truly gutting, truly stellar and stunning opening that really sets the stage for so many threads, this debut brings us a strong and fierce new voice. Taking us through the initial traumatic event that leaves an indelible mark, fissures, and cracks within the Ramirez family, we follow matriarch Dolores, and sisters Jess and Nina, as the try to sort through the wreckage after a chance reality tv snippet shows them that maybe their Ruby is alive and well.

“How many girls in the world were there who looked like Ruthy, talked like Ruthy? Laughed like her? How many of us were missing?”

There’s a true rawness to this story, a sense of sharp edges and characters that aren’t polished at all that lends itself perfectly to this particular story and voice, where in another book it would be viewed as a weakness. We don’t know everything about any of the characters, even the chapters from Ruby herself, but we get some of the important pieces, the pieces that allow readers to connect. The pieces that make them fallible, selfish, cruel yet loving, hypocritical and catty, yet well intentioned and fiercely loyal.

There’s a deftness with how the family dynamics are portrayed that will echo with familiarity for many, especially those who are Latinx. The references are spot on and damn if Dolores isn’t almost every neighborhood Latinx mom I knew growing up.

It’s because of what is done so well that I lament this wasn’t longer, that we didn’t get more, that we don’t get more from each character. Because their stories should be told and I want so much for them to be more than just what Ruthy’s absence left of them. Still, this is an incredible emotional read at times yet also one that has a lot of heart and humor. It’s comforting as it also makes your heart strain. I can’t wait to see what else we get from this talented new Latinx voice.

Thank you Grand Central publishing for my galley in an exchange for an honest review!

After 13-year-old Ruthy Ramirez disappeared in high school, the Ramirez women have been orbiting around absence. A decade later, when the oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on a raunchy reality TV show, she rushes to tell her younger sister Nina. Could this woman called Ruby, with red hair and a beauty mark under her left eye, be their long-lost sister?

While RUTHY RAMIREZ touches on missing Black and brown women/girls, it focuses on the Ramirez family and the unbreakable bonds between mothers and sisters. It balances between heavy topics of racism & poverty and humorous portrayals of the everyday lives of Puerto Rican women. Alternating between the different Ramirez women, I enjoy how each woman's personality shines through.

What a debut! While the main part of the story was focused around what happened to Ruthy, what we actually get with the book is a story of intergenerational trauma and a glimpse of a Puerto Rican family of women navigating life around grief, SA, and their ethnicity while living in Staten Island. The story was written in a way that we got to see the POV of Dolores, Jessica, Nina, and Ruthy which helped the reader understand what each character was going through and experiencing grief and hope of getting back someone they lost.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is a portrait of what happens to a family when someone goes missing and the aftermath. Thirteen‑year‑old middle child Ruthy disappears one night in the 1990s, leaving her family scarred and scrambling. Over a decade later, one of her sisters recognizes a woman on a reality show, believing it to be Ruthy. The plot at times is slow-moving but paints a picture of what has happened to each of the women in the Ramirez family following Ruthy's disappearance. It is both funny and also devastating. 3.5/5 stars, rounding up

I really liked this one!

Twelve years ago, 13 year old Ruthie never came home from school. Did she run away, or did something awful happen to her? Her family has never been sure, until they happen to see a horrible reality TV show, and they’re almost certain that one of the people is Ruthie.

I was completely invested in this from beginning to end. I definitely recommend grabbing a copy!

This book was ok. It’s a multi-pov story about a Puerto Rican family living in Staten Island in 2009– years after one of the family members goes missing.

What worked:
- I always appreciate reading about another culture
- a reminder of how difficult things were for people in the financial crisis
- a look at family trauma and grief
- family drama

What didn’t work:
- this book is really short and I think just overall underdeveloped. I had a hard time getting really wrapped up in the story or the characters. I feel like I didn’t get enough to keep my interest.

The benefit of this being really short is if it’s one you’ve had your eye on or been interested in you should definitely give it a shot. Other than that, I’d say there’s probably other books I’d recommend more.

This such a gem of a book. I had not heard of this author but wanted to try out the book due to the subject matter and attention to representation. Though I will not be teaching this class in my literature course (wasn't a huge fan of the ending), I absolutely will be recommending it to all my literature and creative writing students.

This is one stellar debut novel to put on your list! It is about loss, grief, love, family, trauma, race and so much more. The story is told from multiple first person perspectives. Each female member of the Ramirez family gets to tell her side of the story, including Ruthy. The characters are the heart of this book and I loved getting to know each one.

The reality TV aspect of the book was an interesting plot point, making me think about our culture’s obsession with watching people humiliate themselves. It’s hard for us to look away when it’s on TV, but when Black and Brown bodies are humiliated and violated off of the TV screen, most of us have no problem closing our eyes and ears to all of it.

Even though the book is about a very serious subject (a missing 13 year old) it is filled with humor. The back and forth between Ruthy’s mother, Dolores and her two sisters is hilarious and feels very honest. I just wish the ending didn’t feel quite so rushed. I guess I just wanted to spend more time with Ruthy and hoped for a different ending for her, but that certainly didn’t make me like the book any less.

There is an awful epidemic in this country of missing brown and Black girls. We don’t always hear about it, but we know it’s happening. In a stunning debut from Claire Jimenez, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez gives us a look into the aftermath of a loved one’s disappearance and what it means to grieve a loss you don’t understand.

When Ruthy Ramirez was thirteen years old, she disappeared without a trace, leaving her family confused and broken in the aftermath. One late night twelve years later, oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on a reality TV show and frantically rushes to tell her youngest sister Nina to tune in. The woman has dyed red hair and calls herself Ruby, but the beauty mark under her left eye is instantly recognizable. Could it really be Ruthy after all this time? Jessica and Nina hatch a plan to find Ruthy and bring her back without getting their mother’s hopes up, but when Dolores catches wind of the plan, the Ramirez women (with Dolores’ holier-than-thou friend Irene) go on a family road trip that will either end in closure or heartbreak.

Reading the description of this book gave me immediate chills and I knew I needed to be in the right headspace to read it. As a parent, what happened to the Ramirez family is one of my greatest fears. Claire was able to carefully navigate the delicacies of a story like this in a way that was both hauntingly raw and nonchalantly funny.

The story is told from multiple POVs, giving us an insight into each of the Ramirez women throughout the journey to get to Ruthy/Ruby. Each voice is perfectly executed and incredibly distinct from the other, never causing me to question which Ramirez woman was speaking. Writing from the voice of a single character is hard enough, but to effortlessly switch between so many different characters is a feat that should be shouted about from all the rooftops.

This story of the Ramirez family paints with broad strokes that begins the conversation surrounding the immense number of women that are missing while also exploring themes of trauma and systemic racism. Though the heavy nature of the story keeps us somber, we get moments of humor sprinkled through at just the right times.

I had very low expectations for this book based on some other reviews, and I was actually a bit surprised to find that this book was quite touching.

This is a short book about a Puerto Rican family affected when their thirteen-year-old sister/daughter Ruthy disappears one day after school. Twelve years later, Ruthy's sisters see a woman on a reality TV show that looks exactly like their sister. They set out to find her.

Frustratingly, this book is another instance where the blurb/synopsis gives nearly everything away. Some of the things that it talks about don't even happen until the end. So if you are going to read this book, don't read the blurb. There is a large amount of profanity here, but for whatever reason it didn't bother me as much as the other reviewers. I thought it gave a realistic tone to the tale.

What we mostly receive from this story is the aftereffects of Ruthy's disappearance on her family. How in some ways they remain stuck and in some ways they are able to move forward. Yet they are all scarred in some way. This novel is short, and so there's not a lot of time spent dwelling on things. A few of the situations are blink-and-you-might-miss-it and that's unfortunate, because all of those things do add up to forming these women into who they are and were. The novel is told from the perspectives of sisters Nina and Jessica, their mother Dolores, and Ruth's perspective from the past. I didn't really connect with the characters, I almost felt like I was watching a television show myself rather than entering into their story and that detracted from its impact for me. The ending, while not unexpected, was very sad.

This is a well-written book, surprisingly poignant despite its brevity.