Francesca Lia Block once again acknowledges real issues in life through a story of magic and fantasy. A blend of love, witchcraft, healing, fears and dreams, this book will make take you on a journey, fighting and loving side by side with Ruby.

A young woman with a troubled past discovers her soul mate.

I wish I could give this one a rave review, but the book just didn't do much for me. On the surface, I should have loved it. The authors begin with a good premise rife with emotional impact. They structure the story in such a way that each small event layers onto those that have come before. There are some beautiful passages. And yet, the book just didn't speak to me.

I think it's because I never felt that the authors delved deeply enough. They gloss over quite a bit. Sometimes, I've found that this works to great effect in Block's novels; here, it didn't. There just weren't enough of the beautiful, telling moments that make stories like this really come to life. I didn't feel as though I were placed in a position to understand Ruby's love for Orion. It felt like infatuation, and unhealthy infatuation at that. It wasn't until the very end that I began to get a sense of what they might mean to each other... and by then, it was far too late.

On the plus side, the magic was nicely incorporated into the story.

Is this must-read Block? Sadly, no. (I can't say how it measures up to Staton's work, as this is my first experience with her). If she hadn't had a hand in it, I would be perfectly happy to pass it along to someone else. I've sometimes found, though, that I get a great deal more out of her stories the second time through, so I'm keeping it around just in case it clicks after another reading. ( )

This is not one of Block's better efforts. I found the story to be pretty vague and sometimes confusing. Towards the end, it became more interesting but not enough to make up for the beginning and middle. ( )

Although I enjoyed this as I read it, just a couple months later I don't remember much of it. I enjoyed the natural elements in this book, but the characters did not "walk off the page" in a way that made them memorable for me. ( )

Magic, beauty, and unconventional romance combine in Francesca Lia Block’s latest book Ruby. Ruby is a young woman with a painful past who escapes to Los Angeles to become a nanny for a film producer. While there, she falls in love with a film star and travels to England to be with him. But he arrives broken in body and spirit, and Ruby must learn to use her innate powers to heal him so that they can begin their life together. But Ruby also comes to realize that she has to face her past and heal herself so that she can begin anew. ( )