Summary: On a brilliantly sunny July day, six-year-old Ruby is abandoned by her father in the suffocating dark of a Tennessee cave. Twenty years later, transformed into soap opera star Eleanor Russell, she is fired under dubious circumstances. Fleeing to Europe, she marries a glamorous stranger named Orlando Montague and keeps her past closely hidden.

From this I was expecting a much more twisty and creepy story.  While the plot was slow, I didn't mind that so much as it fit the gothic themes of the book, but slowness is different from feeling like nothing was happening.  For most of the book it just felt like Ruby/Eleanor was just living her life which so happened to have a terrible past.  I wanted more mystery and intrigue.

It was a little difficult to read due to some formatting glitches in the way it uploaded to the kindle app.  I was rooting for the  heroine to grow  a spine and stand up for herself, so the twist at the end made me feel a little better about her.

What a book!  It all begins when Ruby Eleanor is separated from her father.  Simple enough beginning, then we enter her life as an adult. From there, wow.  A suspenseful, intriguing plot that twists and turns when you least expect it.  What is real, what is imagined...is Ruby Eleanor the crazy one, or are you? (I really second-guessed myself when I couldn't predict events.) .Ruby Falls keeps you guessing until the end. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, Post Hill Press, for an ARC ebook version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

a hard pass. the synopsis was more interesting than the actual book. i'd recommend you not to waste your time on this one

Thanks to NetGalley and Post Hill Press for an ARC.  

Ellie Russell is a soap star who has moved coasts, to get the lead in a movie that's billed as a take on the old classic Rebecca.  She describes her new life, the people in it, and the increasingly strange things that are happening.  Are they all related to the central tragedy of her life, when her dad abandoned her in the Falls of the title?  Is she paranoid or are there people out to get her?  Is she being gaslighted or is it something else entirely? 

This is a psychological thriller, set in the Brat Pack eighties, with plenty of nods to classic suspense movies and plenty of drama.  
Unfortunately for me, I didn't get swept up in it at all and couldn't suspend my disbelief at some of the hammier moments.  The denouement didn't leave me gasping for air.

Review Copy

What did you read yesterday? I read RUBY FALLS by Deborah Goodrich Royce. Yes, the entire novel in one satisfying sitting. I was attracted to this book by its gorgeous cover. I couldn't help beginning my judgement there. And I was not disappointed. RUBY FALLS is a psychological thriller that is brilliantly plotted.

From the prologue of the 1960's written in an old fashioned gothic style to the present day story of Ruby which takes us from New York to Europe to California, this is one story worth keeping on your shelf for a re-read to pick up on the clues you must have missed. You did miss them, didn't you? I caught one, I think. But it didn't matter, I think I brushed it off.

Check it out. I loved it.

It took me a bit to get in to this book. I’m not sure if it’s just how it was downloaded for me to read or what but it was hard to follow who said what in many places. I nearly gave up on the book but I liked the ending so I’m glad I finished it

I began reading the novel knowing that it was closely related to Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, which came to my eyes with the Alfred Hitchchock´s film adaptation.
Ruby Falls is hypnotic, gripping, and weird. The gothic atmosphere of David Lynch's films seems to have inspired this haunting tale that begins with the disappearance of Ruby's father in the caves that happen to have her name: Ruby Falls.
I think Eleanor, as she calls herself after the trauma of her past, is a character that is not meant to be nice but to be a puzzle.

The loose writing and in the first person were ruminating like going back over the steps of Eleanor and rewriting herself all the time, adding details and expanding the story, which has a highly addictive effect. The mystery catches you and you want to know many things such as What happened to Ruby / Ellie / Eleanor's father? What happened to her in the soap opera that she had to give it up? And many other things that will become clear only at the end when the atmosphere is truly rarefied and you distrust of everyone. Every single character is shady because we watch them thru Eleanor’s eyes.

I gave it five stars because it was a reading that shocked and surprised me. Set in the eighties, it has a lot of VC Andrews, (even the cover with flowers) and the timing is very cinematic.
Each chapter if I did not misunderstand has the title or represents a classic film. Which as a movie fan, I think it made it a very attractive characteristic.
I highly recommend this reading because the plot is impeccable and the parallels or recurrences in the plot are everything to give it that strange and terrible climate. So poetic it hurts.
I made many assumptions but the plot twists were up to what I expected, which was a good psychological thriller.
I really hope that people will comment on this novel a lot and that everyone gives it a try. It was one of my best reads of the year and I'm really going to wait for the release to buy myself a copy because it got me.
The arc edition that I received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review was a pdf  and I must point out that in one of the chapters that is in Spanish there is a typo because it says Meurto instead of Muerto wich is the correct word.
My applause to Debrorah Goodrich Royce and I really hope to read more about her in the future if her trhillers are as effective and as compartmentalized as Ruby's secretary.

Ruby Falls is a ten.

Eleanor Russell is a glamorous actress whose whirlwind romance, to the charming Orland, appears to have been taken right out of a Hollywood film. Her life in LA seems a million miles away from the childhood trauma she experienced when she was abandoned by her father age six. In true motion picture fashion she shrugged off the pain as Ruby and became the successful Eleanor. However, when she is cast in an adaptation of ‘Rebecca’ she immerses herself in the Gothic role and begins to see a darker side to her perfect Orlando: after all how much does she really know her husband?
I really did not know where this book was going to go but I loved the nods to a cinema noir style of suspense entwined with Gothic themes. I feel like Royce handled a really linear story but with these dark undertones that builds up the suspense in true Hitchcock style. As a fan of this style of films I also appreciated that all of the chapter titles were film titles giving little hints along the way. I did get to the end of this novel and feel like I wanted to re-read it after the ending was revealed and to me that is a mark of a great thriller that truly draws you in.

This imaginative book is shrouded in mystery and keeps the reader guessing until the very end. I found the writing style engaging and easy to follow, and the skillful scene setting allowed me to imagine the Hollywood Hills and surrounding with ease. In terms of the actual plot itself, this is not an action-packed thriller - instead the focus is primarily on Ruby's state of mind and her interpretation of the people and environment surrounding her. I was gripped from the start by the disappearance of Ruby's father but I did find myself struggling to get through a chapter here and there as some parts of the book were more interesting than others. Ultimately it was an enjoyable read but not a dazzling psychological thriller I had been expecting. Nonetheless I think it's a book worthy of praise and I get the feeling the writer has more to give given their unique and vivid style.

This one didn't work for me, it slipped from unreliable narrator into "WTF is actually going on?" The premise is intriguing but there were too many ominous signs happening around the protag  and not enough plot movement or agency from the protag.

What a twisted tale, the pace kept me interested and wanting to see what happened. Easy to visualise with great descriptions, all I can say is I cant believe what happens. Read this now you wont regret it.

thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review such a twisted thriller! I am not talking gore and satonics. I am talking mind boggling road trips. This is the kind of book that when you get to the end and close it, you just say “wow”.

This book is well written and has good character development I just couldn’t personally get into the story and found it a little bit of a struggle to keep reading. Either way it just left a little lacking for me personally. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

As a lover of thrillers, I found this book very intriguing. I was happy to have the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone a bit to try this one out. The story was captivating and I never could predict what was going to come next. However, the ending left me with a bit to be desired.

When troubled actress, Eleanor Russell, lands a dream role in a Hollywood remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, life begins to imitate art as Eleanor finds herself newly married after a short, whirlwind romance. As the newlyweds begin to settle into their new life in the Hollywood Hills, Eleanor begins to see cracks in her husband's adoring façade, and she begins to question: What does she really know about her new husband? Is he as perfect as she once thought?  

Eerie shades of the suspenseful classic, Rebecca, casts a gothic thriller vibe on this novel that punctuates the thin line between reality and imagination.

This book  is what I would call and atmospheric mystery.  The atmosphere is one of brooding and melancholy while the story gradually unfolds.  I was intrigued in rapt and astounded.

Within its title alone Ruby Falls gives insight into two key points in the novel, Ruby is the main character's name; and Ruby Falls is the setting that starts the story in motion. Ruby Falls is near Chattanooga, TN a tourist attraction built a around caverns and a set of falls set in Lookout Mountain. I grew up visiting Chattanooga every summer to visit my grandmother there, and I can attest to the sheer darkness of the place. I remember the tour guide saying dramatically, "this is the darkest place on earth". True or not, that's where we find our protagonist as the story begins, a six-year-old in the darkest place on earth with her Dad. Suddenly, he lets go of her hand and is never seen or heard of again (at least by Ruby and her Mom). 

Cut to present day - late '80s Los Angeles. I had to keep checking that this story was set in that decade because it has distinct 1940s noir feel to me. Ruby - who now goes by Ellie - is an actress who has fled NYC after an "incident" on the set of the soap opera she starred in led to her leaving the show and the city. On a flight from Zurich to Rome, she impulsively meets and marries a dark, handsome and (naturally) mysterious stranger, Orlando. She and Orlando are settling in LA so Ellie can reboot her acting career with a part in a horror film. 

As the story progresses, Ellie starts to question her decision to marry this stranger so quickly, meets her quirky psychic older neighbor Dottie and the line between her film and real life starts to blur. As Ellie' starts to unravel, so do the threads of her past and we the reader slowly learn what's fact and what's fiction in our protagonist's tale. 

The story builds to a breaking point that is fast-paced. It reminded me a lot of books like The Silent Patient, where we're wondering if our storyteller is completely trustworthy or if they have only the slightest grip on reality. 

As I mentioned before this has a real slick 1940s Hollywood noir film to it, despite the 80s time setting. It's a riveting, haunting read that at times feels as dark as the darkest place on earth - but we eventually come out of the caverns and into the sunlight of day and learn the truth behind Ruby's story. 

P.S. - If are in Chattanooga, do go visit Ruby Falls and Rock City. Worth the look for the vistas. :-)

Ruby Falls 
Deborah Goodrich Royce

On a brilliantly sunny July day, six-year-old Ruby is abandoned by her father in the suffocating dark of a Tennessee cave. Twenty years later, transformed into soap opera star Eleanor Russell, she is fired under dubious circumstances. Fleeing to Europe, she marries a glamorous stranger named Orlando Montague and keeps her past closely hidden.

Together, Eleanor and Orlando start afresh in LA. Setting up house in a storybook cottage in the Hollywood Hills, Eleanor is cast in a dream role—the lead in a remake of Rebecca. As she immerses herself in that eerie gothic tale, Orlando’s personality changes, ghosts of her past re-emerge, and Eleanor fears she is not the only person in her marriage with a secret.

In this thrilling and twisty homage to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, the story ricochets through the streets of Los Angeles, a dangerous marriage to an exotic stranger, and the mind of a young woman whose past may not release her.

📚Review📚

Ruby falls was an interesting read and was well engaging, vivid descriptions and the chapter titles were intriguing they didn't connect so well for me. 

The lead character is an uprising actress and she has a whirlwind wedding so they didn't talk about each other's past lives but the past has unexpected ways to come bite you in the butt right. 

It was a tale of unexpected twists and turns and even though it didn't click for me it might be interesting for some!! At the start it pretty much gave me there but not there vibes but the characters were good and the word play was good. 

Overall it was a good book and it gets 3.8 stars from me. 

I just reviewed Ruby Falls by Deborah Goodrich Royce. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Thank you for giving a chance to review Ruby Falls. Thank you to the publisher who approved this. 

For this book, the plot was a good one. It has that mystery shrouded in it. Those who loved mystery can try to read this and maybe able to jump into theories. It's simple yet intriguing. Wondering what's happening behind all of this.

However I wish it was more complicated or twisted. I wish it was longer. Make more gory or something. But in the end the explaination is so easy to be told. I wish for more. The end of this story wraps too quickly. It is still a good read.