A 15 year old on trail for murder with no one who seems to support her. This is the story of Ruby. Even though this book is fictional, it could have been realistic. This book really shows another side of the legal system in America. The story is told through letters, flashbacks, court transcripts and meetings between Ruby and her social worker. How did Ruby end up in jail? What will her sentence be?
In the beginning I had to search for the direction of the story. You’ll dive right into Ruby’s story making it hard to understand why she is in jail. However during the story more and more developments take place and the flashbacks make you understand Ruby.
This book has some trigger warnings for violence, sexual assault, sex traficking, drug and alcohol use and child abuse. Ruby has gone through a lot and she doesn’t trust anyone. However her social worker seems to build a bond with her, making Ruby more open.
Girls Like Her is a good book and Ruby is a great main character. The whole story just felt so real. This book also has great movie potential, since I feel like this book features a story that deserves to be told. In jail you are fragile and vunerable. With everyone against you, you must keep your hopes up and trust in yourself and the system. I really enjoyed reading Girls Like Her and give it a 4 star rating.
*Disclaimer: Thanks to Blazer + Bray for a digital review copy in exchange for a honest review
About Girls Like Her
A raw, gripping, authentic, and boldly original novel about a fifteen-year-old Texas girl set to stand trial for murder—and the one person who might be able to help her clear her name.
A wealthy businessman is dead, and fifteen-year-old Ruby Monroe is in a Dallas jail awaiting trial for his murder. Ruby has no one she can count on—no one, except her state-appointed caseworker, a woman named Cadence Ware. In Ruby’s experience, that’s not anyone she can trust.
Cadence is familiar with the cold reality of Ruby’s situation, even before Ruby was arrested. Angry and alone, homeless and hungry, breaking the law just to survive, she is the kind of girl no one wants to listen to, especially not the prosecutor who wants to put her away for life.
But no one knows the story—the real story—of what happened the day Ruby met the man who would end up dead. As the layers of truth are peeled away and time is running out, Ruby and Cadence will both have desperate choices to make—choices that could mean the difference between Ruby spending her life in prison or her name being cleared.
Told through a collection of letters, meeting notes, news articles, court transcripts, and more, Girls Like Her is a riveting and unflinching tale of the truths so often lost in the American justice system, and one girl’s fight to be heard.
Boekensteeg 