Rating: 
Summary: A moving piece of literature
Review: Hamilton has the gift for the mundane, and then she knows how to churn the insides of the reader. A most gifted writer, a most wonderful first novel, Hamilton diserves an applause for this piece.
Rating: 
Summary: Deeply moving but unsatisfying in some ways
Review: I enjoyed the book (and the reviews I've read here) very much. It has been a long time since I have had physical reactions to a book. When Ruth is feeling smothered and trapped by her mother and the intentionally and happily disabled Ruby, *I* felt like I couldn't breathe. When Ruby strikes out, I felt shell shocked, too, as I would had it happened to me. But I have some real issues with the book as well. One thing that left a bad taste in my mouth was Ruth's seemingly perpetual victimhood which she seems to continue to the *very* end--when she is angry at Aunt Sid for not being the person Ruth *wants* her to be and when Ruth feels she can't tolerate being around Daisy. Sid, Daisy, and the social worker are the only women in the book who aren't victims and never have been--yet Ruth seems equally hateful toward them as she was towards her mother and Dee Dee by the end. Why should Ruth dislike the social worker so much for having a brick house and husband with a job, and how in the HELL does Hamilton get ME (the reader) to do same??? (Even though I have a brick house and a husband with a job.....) Ruth is heroic in her ability to subsist on the small flashes of happiness she gets, but she again and again turns a blind eye to her choices that may save her from the misery she's doled. So I'm left, tearing my hair out, wondering what Hamilton was getting at here.....but being truly amazed at Hamilton's work that still has me tied up in knots.
Rating: 
Summary: Good style, but redundant
Review: A well written book, from a basic, stylistic perspective. Two main problems. First, the poor white trash thing gets a little over the top after awhile. OK, we get the point, again. It's just the setting so give it a rest. Second, what's the idea of the teen slasher movie ending? it's not truly tragic, it's hollywood gruesome and detracts from the reality and representativeness of the novel. All in all, well done if you are into that sort of thing.
Rating:
Summary: I MISS RUTH ALREADY!
Review: The Book of Ruth was at first hard to get into, but then I found myself warming up to the protagonist. And now I love her. Ruth is such a warm and believable character. The diction is simple enough to remind me of "The Grapes of Wrath"; it's easy to flow through the book and become connected to this superb story!
Rating:
Summary: Powerful,Heart-wrenching,vivid..but not for the empathetic
Review: Read it. Right now! Go on......Stop reading this, and read the book!!!!.........But not if you're an extremely empathetic person; then this book will rip your heart out, stomp on it,and give it back to you. Of coarse, if you aren't empatheic it will do the same thing. Now stop reading this review,and READ THE BOOK!!!!
Rating:
Summary: I understand ..
Review: I was treated like a very stupid girl .. by my mother .. in my growing years .. and I saw how she expected everything from my brothers .. not from me !! .. my brothers left the nest and I stayed with her .. through my hard work .. I made something of myself .. and now I think I've changed my mother's openion .. but I'm not happy .. I wish to be that little girl .. who my mother didn't understand .. I enjoyed the book .. because I think things like that happened to me .. and someone knew .. now I know it happened to a lot of people .. mmmmmm .. but I didn't like the end .. though I think it freed ruth .. gave her control again .. gave her another chance ..
Rating:
Summary: It's after midnight, but I just had to write...
Review: I'ts after midninght, but I just finised "The Book of Ruth", and I couldn't sleep. This is the first review I have ever written, but I feel compelled to share my thoughts on this disturbing book. I wept for Ruth, for May and for Ruby. I found myself hoping against hope that May would find some compassion for Ruby...that Ruby would somehow get his act together and that Ruth would wake up and realize just where her future was headed, and find someway to make it better. Who amoung us doesn't feel a little guilt, as Aunt Sid does, for not becoming more involved when we sense that there may be something terribly wrong in the lives of those around us. This is a very moving and powerful novel. It is not a "feel good" book, but one that will make you remember the times you may have been less than kind to someone less fortunate. It will make you appreciate the life you have. It will make you think. It will make you cry.
Rating:
Summary: Not for everybody
Review: I knew when I finished this book that even though I liked it (a lot), that it was not for everyone. Sometimes when you finish a book that you really like you want to tell everyone you meet to read it, this is not that book. There are some very ugly parts of life that I think are covered very well. The hero, Ruth, is often fustrating because she is so dumb about some stuff, like her marriage to Ruby, what a loser he was. But how many of us have fallen for the wrong person? (Though hopefully not this obviously wrong). But at some points you have to be envious of her childlike ignorance, to be a child again... I actually liked the ending which many found shocking, well duh, it was very shocking! All my fustration throughout this book was resolved with Ruby's attack. The mom was getting on my nerves anyway, and I knew it was just a matter of time, so I was morbidly pleased with the ending. Let's keep in my that this is fiction and not based on real people, even though it really could have been. If you get depressed easy or take stuff too seriously this book may upset you. Personally I liked it when a book makes me angry,sad, happy or whatever, just that it gets a rise out of me and that doesn't happen too often.
Rating:
Summary: I was bawling like a baby by the end!!
Review: This is an amazing book! I have to write an essay on it now, for Englsih class, and I will definitely write a good review of each character. Ruth, May, Ruby, Justy, Aunt Sid and Daisy (howcome everyone is ignoring Daisy?) are all some of the most beautiful characters I have ever met. Yeah, its a depressing book, but shouldnt something be emotional for one for the book to have an impact?? I know I will never be the same. Get some kleenex for the last couple chapters!
Rating: 
Summary: I wish I could give it less than a "1" rating
Review: This is the worst, most horrifying book I have ever read. I hated every minute of it, though I kept reading hoping it would get better. I was wrong, it got worse. Not one of the characters was the least bit likable or able to relate with. I must admit, the writing was great, because I had VERY vivid pictures of what was going on in Ruth's life. She and all the characters, however, were pathetic and disgusting. I felt physically ill when I finished this book. Stay far, far away.
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