I was very intrigued by this premise, but unfortunately the book just didn't resonate for me. I felt it was hard to connect with the characters, and the story lines jumped around depending on who the narrator was at the moment. If you're looking for a novel with a mystery, this won't be it, but if you're into character-driven stories about families, then this one might be for you.

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is a story about a family torn apart by the disappearance of their teenage daughter, Ruthy.

We see perspectives of her sisters and mother, along with past timelines from Ruthy.

When the sisters believe that Ruthy has appeared on reality television, they begin a quest to bring home their missing sister.

This book was so unique and raw. It really spoke to the nuances of family dynamics and also systematic in justices. I was so emotional towards the entire family- going from frustration to empathy and everything in between.

This book was funny, heartbreaking, and eye opening all at once.

I loved this book!! The middle sister goes missing when she is a teenager one day after track practice. Nobody appears to know anything about her disappearance... and that's the way it remains for years. The story picks up years after the disappearance with those left in the family. Then the family's hope begins to increase when they become interested in somebody who resembles their sister. The ending is tragic, but does tie up loose ends which is always appreciated!!

I thought this would be a solid read alike for fans of Olga Dies Dreaming, in reality, its a much closer read alike to Everything I Never Told You

Reading the summary, I thought this was a book I would enjoy. Boy! Was I ever wrong! The constant use of expletives in all the characters’ speech was a real downer. The constant repetition and side issues about the past were boring. But honestly, the worst part were the characters, themselves. There were continuous conflicts over nothing. The characters were mean. Just completely mean spirited. None of the characters seemed to like each other or to try to be nice to each other. I guess all the characters were simply angry. Angry at the world – at themselves – at their friends. I dunno, but this was definitely not my kind of book.

I appreciate the ARC from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I wish mine could have been better.

This is a great addition to the canon of "dead girl" novels. Ruthy has been missing for years, and one day her sisters see her lookalike on tv and wonder if it could be her. The ensuing days of planning and watching and going to find her highlight the complexities of her family left behind, and how her disappearance has affected them.

I was sucked into this story from the very beginning. It's written in what I call the "homegirl style" which means, it feels more like you're sitting on the stoop at your friend's house listening to them tell you the story, instead of reading it.

We view the story through the POV of Nina, Jessica, Ruthy, and their mother. It was interesting watching the story unravel from so many different perspectives. So often, the black and brown girls that go missing are not given even an ounce of the attention that the media gives a white girl that has gone missing. It's a sad truth. I am grateful that the author took the time to point this out.

I do, however, wish we could have gotten more of a look into Ruthy's POV. It was added sparsely throughout the story, and then at the end it felt rushed to explain what had happened. The book read more like "What Nina, Jessica, and Delores Went Through After Ruthy Went Missing" We spent more of the story following them around and not much on Ruthy. Other than that, this was a solid book.

I didn't realize this was supposed to be funny, so I wasn't disappointed at the lack of humor-- (how was it supposed to be funny? I'm confused?)
I was captivated by the story. While I feel some of the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more, I overall really liked it.

This book follows the lives of a mother and her daughters as the family grapples with the sudden disappearance of Ruthy and what happened to her. Each chapter is from a different perspective, including Ruthy herself.

Even though I didn’t overly relate to the characters, I did find the overarching mystery of what happened to Ruthy to be compelling enough to keep me reading. The writing was fine, I laughed a few times, but the overuse of profanity did get old very fast, as did the constant use of certain phrases by characters.

There was a lot of anger in this book, which I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t find it to be a comedic, heartwarming or feel-good read, which disappointed me because that’s what I was hoping for. The characters all felt exhausting and tired, which is the reality for many people trying to scrape by, but was still depressing nonetheless. The ending was extremely depressing and felt hopeless.

To be clear, this is not a bad book, and it has gotten a ton of glowing reviews, but it’s not my favorite.

Wow! I just can’t believe this is a debut novel. It’s truly unlike anything I’ve ever read.

At its heart, this is a story of mothers, sisters, loss and hope. But it’s so much more. There are moments of agonizing heartbreak and moments of uproarious humor. Lord, I laughed so hard I cried.

This is an easy recommendation for me and will undoubtedly make it onto my best of 2023 list.

My thanks to @grandcentralpub and @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book before its publication date.

This was told from the perspectives of Ruthy's mom (Dolores), her sisters (Jessica and Nina), and herself. It was done in a way that felt very casual, like a friend telling you a story. It made the characters' personalities come through well, and was a good way of seeing how Ruthy's disappearance affects her family.

Even though this was about the disappearance of a child, it had a good amount of humour throughout, but the ending was unexpected.

This book felt chaotic at times but it went along perfectly with the characters lives and what was happening to them. Dealing with the aftermath of their sister Ruthy’s disappearance made this family drama interesting to see whether they would find their sister or not.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for sending me an eGalley of this novel before its publication in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is DRAMA from the get-go. A lot of family arguments, swearing, feistiness, and big personalities. I personally enjoy this kind of dialogue and felt like it fit the storyline.

The premise of the novel was so intriguing to me- a family who sees their long lost sister/daughter on a TV show and develops a plan to track her down? Sign me up! Unfortunately, there were several different plots and storylines working at the same time. Each character had their own "thing" going on and that clouded the plot of tracking down Ruby. This family could not stop throwing shade, beefing with each other, and bickering along the way.

All of that to say, there were parts of this novel I was laughing aloud. I enjoyed the humorous elements. All of the scenes of the Catfight TV Show reminded me of an all-girls version of Jersey Shore. It was funny and regardless of the drama, I finished this book in one weekend, it's a quick read.

This is not a "feel good" novel or something with a "happy" ending. Prepare yourself to feel a little lost by the end. The last 30 pages really threw me for a loop. I liked the way it ended, but I was not expecting it and feel like I still have some questions about what happened.

I would consider reading more by this author in the future.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

When 13-year-old Ruthy Ramirez goes missing, half of Staten Island thinks she is dead, the other half thinks she ran away. But what happens to those left behind by missing girls? This was an emotional story of the scars left behind by Ruthy's disappearance and a look into how different people grieve that loss.

Twelve years later, when watching TV, the oldest Ramirez sister sees a ghost - a woman who looks exactly like her long-lost sister. She instantly calls her youngest sister into action, and they hatch a plan to confront this Ruthy-look-a-like to see if it is really their sister.

What follows is a multi-perspective story of loss and hope and how a community seems to forget about missing girls of color all too quickly.

I enjoyed reading about the sibling relationship between Nina and Jessica - it felt real in a way I don't often see. Through ups and downs, these sisters fight, tease and support each other in their own way - even when the other sister does not appreciate their methods.

Coming out in March, this is a quick read about family dynamics and healing from loss. The family will have you laughing, crying and relating.

Thank you @netgalley and @grandcentralpub for the eARC!

This was one of those books that's a lot of fun, even as it's pretty sad. There's a lot of commentary about growing up as they children of immigrants, LatinX culture and of course, the effects of colonialism. The younger characters were super engaging and relatable (their mother aside - I did not love her chapters lol). As much as something can be a bildungsroman for a family, that's what this book is. Recommended to folks who like character development. 4 stars - I really liked it!

3.5/5

In What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez we follow three women, Nina, Jessica and Dolores years after the disappearance of their sister/daughter Ruthy. At 13 years old Ruthy never came home after track practice. Several years later her two sisters Nina and Jessica, find a woman name Ruby on a reality TV show called 'Catfight' who has an uncanny resemblance to Ruthy. Could this be their sister? Nina, Jessica and their mom set out to find Ruby/Ruthy and bring her home.

I really enjoyed reading this book. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is Claire Jimenez's debut novel. She does such a great job portraying sibiling dynamics and the complex nature between mother/daughter relationships. My millennial self loved all the 2000s references, the references to Boricua culture and how latina women were centered.

The writing is extremely casual. Claire did an amazing job capturing the voices of teenage Boricua girls.

The book is a bit rough around the edges. The pacing was a little off. Some parts were addictive to read while others felt slow yet also moving. There were several plot details that disappeared or weren't wrapped up by the end of the novel giving it a slightly unfinished feel. I wish the book would've been longer.

All and all a really great debut and I will definitely be picking up more books by this author.

TW: rape, molestation

DNF at 45%. You lost me at the blow -by- blow of an asinine reality show. I really don't care enough about What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez to suffer anymore to find out.

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is a question that runs throughout the book but is actually a statement not just about one girl but about a pressing social issue - the fate of missing Brown and Black girls. Claire Jimenez's debut novel about a girl who goes missing at thirteen years old and the family who years later spot her on a late night reality tv show is a powerful ode to the young girls and their families who live out of sight of their white counterparts.
I find it interesting to see the word hilarious being used in the descriptions of this book. For me, there were moments that could make me smile and laugh but it felt like they came from a place of sadness due to the gravity of the situation the characters were in. I found it hard to read this book from any other place and yet I remained just as hopeful as Ruthy's sisters did as they fought to get their sister back. This is a book that will take readers on a rollercoaster of emotions, one that I believe different readers will have different emotions over and yet every reader will come away from with the same necessary emotions over the treatment of missing Brown and Black girls in America.
This book is sure to be talked about throughout 2023 and beyond.

This is quite a debut. This author can write! She's written characters that break your heart, frustrate you, and make you laugh. I will read more from this author. I just didn't love this particular story. But I would like to read more from this author in the future.

I had high hopes for What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez as a debut novel with such a beautiful cover. However, I had to take several pauses from the book in frustration as a few chapters started with “to understand what happened to Ruthy…” I found myself just wanting to get to the point but understanding I needed to know the background. Parts reminded me of a friend telling me about their day but stopping to tell all the side stories that may or may not even be relevant. I read this book on my kindle which I recommend so you can have the Spanish to English dictionary handy for a few phrases. The characters are well developed as each chapter is from a different point of view but I found the story lacking in how it came together. BUT when it finally came together I couldn’t put it down.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #RuthyRamirez