The Absorption Company - Shop now
To share your reaction on this item, open the Amazon app from the App Store or Google Play on your phone.

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Ruby: A Novel Kindle Edition

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 53 ratings

“[A] mesmerizing alchemy of fairy-tale fantasy and Hollywood glitz. . . about an L.A. nanny who uses magic to land the hunk of her dreams.” —People

From the beloved author of Necklace of Kisses comes a modern-day fairy tale of a willful and intuitive heroine and a world of shocking realism and transcendent magic

Francesca Lia Block, with co-writer Carmen Staton, introduces readers to Ruby, a Midwestern girl named for the jewel that is believed to ward off evil spirits. Ruby's special gift is a sixth sense that makes her at one with nature and gives her the ability to know her own destiny.

After growing up in an abusive family, Ruby escapes to Los Angeles and learns of her soulmate -- Orion -- a British actor. She travels to England, where she works at a potions and herbs shop, and through a series of coincidental circumstances, ends up nursing Orion back to health without confessing that she has been on a quest to find him all along. But just when she thinks her dream is becoming a reality, Ruby is stopped in her tracks by the violent demons of her past. Only by facing the darkness together can she and Orion finally fulfill their destiny.

In Ruby, readers will find a story about the power of our minds to overcome the past and ultimately change the course of our lives.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. YA author Block (the Weetzie Bat books) collaborates on a novel yet maintains her trademarks: fairy tale simplicity combined with wrenching emotional realism, served with a hefty side of over-the-top romance. It's told mostly from the perspective of premonition-prone Ruby, who, along with her sister, Opal, grows up terrorized by a chillingly abusive father while their loving but eerily passive mother looks on. Interspersed throughout are vignettes from the life of a British boy named Orion Woolf, who grows up with a kind but deceitful sorceress mother, Isabelle, and blooms into dangerous beauty. Ruby, seeking solace from a bad relationship, moves to Los Angeles and works as a nanny for a movie producer whose film stars Orion, who has become an Orlando Bloomesque star. Instantly smitten, Ruby buys a plane ticket to England, where she traipses through a psychedelic London, lands in Orion's ultra-bucolic hometown, finds a job in Isabelle's magic shop and hones her innate powers. When a badly ailing Orion comes home to hide from the world, Ruby uses her gifts to nurse him back to health—though, as her intensifying flashbacks to the horrors of her childhood gradually reveal, she may be even more in need of healing. (July 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–This is a lovely, lyrical story of a young woman who does her best to overcome an abusive past and live the happily-ever-after fairy tale. Ruby leaves the Midwest for L.A. and is employed as a nanny when she finds that life, while good, could be so much more if only she could be with the love of her life, an actor named Orion. She goes to England to find his family and to see if she can meet him. Patience and planning put Ruby at the right place at the right time. Alternating voices and a realistic but experimental style, sparked with magic ritual and spells, elevate the story from ordinary to extraordinary. Ruby's point of view shifts from first to second to third person, mirroring flashbacks that reveal the essence of who she is and emphasizing her mystical connection to her soul mate. In contrast, Orion's point of view stays grounded firmly in third person. Ruby discovers that while you can leave the past behind, it will never leave you alone unless you confront it. Teens who like Block's work may miss the urban punk edginess of her Shangri-LA books, but this collaboration will definitely draw new readers with its tempered, yet recognizable, style.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000TDGGTM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 13, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 357 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 226 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 53 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Francesca Lia Block
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Francesca Lia Block, recipient of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award. has been publishing novels, short stories, essays, memoirs and poetry since 1989. Her work has been translated into many languages. Ms. Block lives in Los Angeles where she teaches writing workshops that are also available online.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
53 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Customers say

Customers enjoy the book's readability and vivid writing style. They find it engaging and immerse themselves in the story. The author's imagination and colorful language are also praised.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more
5 customers mention "Readability"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find it engaging and say it doesn't disappoint. The author draws them into the story, making them feel like a fly on the wall.

"...Ruby was a wonderful read that affected me on a deep level, more so even than Block's other books. I would highly recommend it." Read more

"This is my favorite book I always read it in one sitting. I've probably read it like 50 times ." Read more

"...She has such a colorful language, and imagination. She truely brings you into the book as it youre really just a fly on the wall, but seeing it all..." Read more

"...This book didn't disappoint!! I couldn't put it down!" Read more

3 customers mention "Language"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the author's writing style and imaginative stories.

"...This is not the case with Block. I love everything she's written, and Ruby is no exception...." Read more

"...She has such a colorful language, and imagination...." Read more

"...I love her style of writing and how she creates these fantastical stories filled with magic. This book didn't disappoint!! I couldn't put it down!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2008
    After a slew of unfortunate events wherein I read several disappointing books, I was inexplicably delighted to return to Francesca Lia Block's wonderful world, where pain and suffering can still be overcome by magic and love.

    More often than not, I'll read one book by an author and love it, only to be disappointed with the author's other work. This is not the case with Block. I love everything she's written, and Ruby is no exception.

    Some of the less positive reviewers felt that Ruby was different from Block's other work, and I agree with that to an extent. It seems more "grown up" than some of her earlier books, but that's ok, because I'm more grown up too. I first read "I was a Teenage Fairy" about ten years ago, so I enjoy the progression Block is making with her work. That said, I can understand how someone just discovering her Young Adult work wouldn't feel as strongly about Ruby. We should note (I didn't notice anyone else's reviews saying this) that this book was a co-project between Block and Carmen Staton, so that could account for some of the differences.

    Anyway. I read this book in one day and already I'd like to read it again. Block has a way of describing seemingly normal things, like food, shops and forests, in a way that makes me feel completely intoxicated. I don't know how she does it; it's something I with I could do.

    I love that Ruby decides at three years old that she isn't going to let her abusive father win. There are a lot of novels that deal with abuse, that have heroines who don't fight back (obviously, this is realistic-many victims have no idea how to fight back or feel they can't) but I think this type of heroine is incredibly important. People suffering similar situations might benefit from seeing a survivor of abuse stand up to her abuser, and find a way to transcend her past.

    Ruby was a wonderful read that affected me on a deep level, more so even than Block's other books. I would highly recommend it.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2022
    This is my favorite book I always read it in one sitting. I've probably read it like 50 times .
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2010
    This is a pretty nifty, slightly insane book. It is, essentially, this: Ruby comes from an abusive background, sees Troy on DVD, develops an obsession with Orlando Bloom (Orion), travels to England to surreptitiously gain the trust of his family, and somehow cause him to fall in love with her as she battles the demons of her past. All with Francesca Lia Block's edgy fairy tale qualities spun throughout.

    Only it's not ever that easy. Although, I really do think Orion is Orlando Bloom. Ruby, who is desparate to escape a horrible family life, goes to England and seeks out Orion not because she's obsessed with him in a creepy fangirl way, but because she just happens to know a few things and why not her. I don't know whether to be amused by the simplicity of this idea, or take it up as my new life motto. Why not me? Indeed. Why not. Due to fiction's cute little conveniences, Ruby gets a job at the magic shop that Orion's mother owns, and Ruby starts coming over to Orion's parents' house for dinner, only Orion is never there. Cruel fates. But fiction has to go be convenient again and reveal that Orion has been there all the time, he's just in seclusion because he fell off of his horse and apparently broke his back in ways backs have never been broken. He's more or less paralyzed, but because the writing style isn't exactly explicit you're left to assume that.

    Ruby has some ideas on how to fix this, so she magics him into wellness (and full body function) using paste and water. Magic paste and water! Orion takes a liking to Ruby, as we all knew he would. Ruby agonizes over the fact that she's basically built all of this on a lie, so she writes a book about her life (this stunned me a little, because she kept saying she'd use this book as a cover for why she's really there, and I had no idea she was actually writing it in the end) and what led her to England and sends it to Orion just as she leaves to go back to the States because her father died.

    I can't even get into her father. That was a messed up situation that you know is horribly messed up all the way to the point where you're wincing and thinking "that's messed up" and Ruby is justified when she admits being scared out of her mind at the possibility that this guy would come back to haunt her (because in this world, ghosts are possible).

    The strength of the story isn't Orion, or Ruby's trip to England to find Orion, but the backstory with her family. It's...just really messed up. You want her to find the ability to move on and become a new person and shed all of that awefulness. It's also beautifully told in a minimal sort of way. A little too short, and you sort of don't care about Orion given that he's hardly there and not nearly as important as the rest of the story. I liked it, despite some shortcomings.
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2020
    At first this was a bit confusing (of course I did start it one night at 3AM when I awakened and couldn’t get back to sleep). Then very nearly read it straight through... wonder full.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2006
    I love Francesca Lia Block. To date I own almost everything shes written.

    She has such a colorful language, and imagination. She truely brings you into the book as it youre really just a fly on the wall, but seeing it all happen for yourself instead of reading a story.

    This book, unlike so many of her others dosent take place in Los Angeles, but she apparently still has the power to make any city magic.
    6 people found this helpful
    Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?