Ruthless

by Carolyn Lee Adams

• ISBN10: 1665973900
• ISBN13: 9781665973908
• Publish Date: 13 May 2025 (first published 14 July 2015)
• Publish Status: Forthcoming
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Edition: Reissue ed.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

Wow. I'm messed up right now. This book drew me in and spit me back out. I liked Ruth. Yeah she could be thoughtless and a bit of a bitch but she also owned it and was motivated in part by her love for her family. I could relate to that. I liked her friendship with Caleb and I liked the back and forth between Ruth and Wolfman. For a thriller, it was also surprisingly funny. Ruth kept up a snarky sarcastic and inane commentary that had me amused. But then I'm dark and twisted like that.

I do wish she was a little more ruthless and had of killed him or severely injured him when she had the chance. Honestly, I would've killed him ten times over. Plus when he had the handcuffs - why didn't she use them instead of the shoelaces?

On reflection it was a little tedious the amount of times she escaped and then he found her but I didn't particularly take much notice while reading - I was too fully engrossed.

But for the most part I found the story riveting - Ruth is a strong heroine who for the most part makes strong, smart decisions even when confronted by extremely difficult circumstances. Her faith in herself and her family and her pure will to survive is amazing. Yeah, she's not perfect but she also recognises her flaws and that balance drives the story perfectly.

I will say the ending was extremely abrupt. I would've liked it to be a bit longer and flesh out what happened when she got to safety - what her interactions with her family would be like, what happens to Wolfman, does she sue the Logans, her interviews with the police, etc. - and reactions of the other girls families and discussion of how Wolfman came to target her. I actually think there could easily be (and I would love to read) a sequel of some sort. There is easily enough left over material and Ruth is such a captivating heroine.

[bookishzelda]

Wow Ruthless scared the crap out of me. I have never read an abduction story like this. I’ve read things where people are being hunted or chased. Usually it’s a fantasy novel, sci-fi or something along those lines. This felt real, creepy and something that could happen. This is just a girl who is taken by a man who has done it to other girls before. This is something you might hear on the news so I think that’s why it was scarier to me then the usual thriller.

Ruth is not a perfect person. She is spoiled and competitive. She doesn’t care who she pushes down in order to get to the top. That’s how she earns the nickname Ruthless. We also see a different side of Ruth as she experiences flashbacks about her life. Ruth is a survivor, it’s something that stands out in her flashbacks and in her battle against her abductor. She is smart and cunning and she gives herself goals to survive. I felt like I was there with Ruth and that’s probably why it was scaring me. So many times when she dragged herself up, I was thinking about how I would have just let myself be eaten by an animal or something.

Carol Lee Adam’s writing in brillant. The way the flashbacks meshed so well with the story kept you informed without the characters feeling like they are info dumping. You get to see the perspective of the Wolfman and even though there are things that I was still curious about, it was definitely enough to understand how deranged he is. Every time he talked about sobriety and things making his skull right. I was felt disturbed. I felt like the story was so real that my head was telling me to look up news articles about the whole thing and then I had to be like wait, it’s not real.

The ending was good too but I don’t want to give anything away. The whole book was good, it’s not like anything I’ve read before. I’ve never read an abduction story, this one really freaked me out (in that weird good way) but I’m glad I read this one. Just don’t read it at night, like I did and now I look over my shoulder everywhere I go.