I was in the mood for something light-hearted after my most recent book, and Jessica Rudd’s sequel to Campaign Ruby (see my review) seemed ideal. I whizzed through it in just a couple of days.
It’s not quite in the same league as Campaign Ruby. The plot stalls a little in the middle and the slapstick humour is a bit heavy-handed in places. There’s rather a lot of coarse language (do young women really swear like this?) and some unconvincing child characters. Ruby – who in her previous incarnation could always transcend her wardrobe malfunctions to still be attractive – is less appealing in this book. Not only does she often look terrible, she betrays a bit of a nasty streak here and there as well.
But these quibbles aside, it’s an entertaining story which romps along from one comic disaster to another, with a romance complicated by the eternal work/life balance, and a delightful new character in the form of Bettina, an overenthusiastic intern with a predilection for a very bright wardrobe and a Ruby-like talent for making grossly embarrassing mistakes.
If you’re looking for something that’s fun to read, as I was, it’s just the thing.
Author: Jessica Rudd
Title: Ruby Blues
Publisher: Text 2011
ISBN: 9781921758560
Source: Review copy courtesy of Text Publishing.
Availability update:
Fishpond: Ruby Blues is now available as an eBook: Ruby Blues as well as in a cheaper edition, see Ruby Blues
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
I rarely enjoy sequels as much as first books, in the same way I often don’t appreciate movie adaptations. I think I have worked out what it is…good books leave something to the imagination and keen readers like to create their own ‘pictures’ from the words. Sometimes a reader’s pictures will differ to the writer’s ones but that only matters when a sequel ‘outs’ the variations.
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By: karenlee thompson on December 1, 2011
at 8:54 am