Ruthless
| Ruth Carver has a very serious problem, she has awoken in an unfamiliar dark place and has no recollection for how she came to be there. After a little time and some investigating Ruth realizes she is in the bed of a moving pickup. When the truck finally comes to a halt a large man yanks her out of the bed and ties her up. Little does she know she has just entered a deadly game of cat and mouse. Will she become his seventh victim? Or will he become her first? Ruthless is a fascinating and thrilling young adult book that takes the reader on an adventure, page after page is filled with Ruth’s battle to survive against her kidnapper she calls “Wolfman”. This book is full of page turning action that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Adams begins the book after the Ruth’s abduction which automatically piqued my interest. Ruth is a tough, resourceful heroine and it serves her well, especially, while trying to outrun a monster. As the book continues it turns out Ruth isn’t really the nicest girl around her town, she very competitive with somewhat of a mean streak, hence her nickname “Ruthless”. Despite this the reader doesn’t have a chance to really meet that side of her due to her being in fight or flight mode the majority of the book. I really enjoyed that Adams showed major character growth as the story developed. No one likes a snot for a heroine. The entire story her captor is trying to break her yet, despite his best efforts she doesn’t let him. I really admire this about her. “The Wolfman” as Ruth nicknames him, is an interesting captor. I feel like Adams could have dug a little deeper into his backstory. Though she does do so, I feel like it was a bit shallow for the depths of his depravity and lacked some detail. That being said, it was very nice to have the little bit that she provided. How often do people do heinous acts and we question why? Fortunately for us, Adams provided us with a bit of insight, despite it not being quite enough. The writing in this story was interesting, Adams pulls you in from the very first paragraph. I enjoyed that quite a bit. I feel like Adams could have pushed the envelope just a bit in order to make this book truly memorable. Throughout the book there are several flashbacks of both Ruth and Wolfman from before this incidence, and I felt like Wolfman’s part of the story was lacking and Ruth’s was a bit superfluous. Adams created an all too real situation, her book held me captive for all of 248 pages. It made me ask myself, “what would I do in a situation like this?” “What would my breaking point be?” It’s a terrifying situation to imagine yourself in, even for a moment. I give Ruthless 4 stars. |
