An unsettling thriller that won’t be for everyone. However, it’s likely to hook those looking for a departure from the typical approach to the genre, which so often pits an innocent protagonist against a killer ... Its devastating opening will serve as a litmus test for many, determining whether they put the book down or read all the way through. The novel kicks off with a bold choice and continues to unravel in surprising ways. And its premise is its strongest quality ... The author’s depiction of the main character is nuanced and balanced enough to leave readers feeling more than a little unnerved ... Rothchild flips many of the stereotypical serial killer qualities on their head ... Blood Sugar’s protagonist remains a remorseless killer. But it’s a testament to Rothchild’s writing that she can so frequently get readers to forget this fact ... Getting the audience to relate to and at times root for Ruby turns out to be both the book’s strength and its Achilles heel. As Blood Sugar pushes toward its ending, the novel trips over itself trying to find a satisfying conclusion. One has to wonder if it ties up its loose ends a little too neatly ... While the novel offers plenty to analyze on that front, its ending still leaves something to be desired. Once Ruby’s finished recounting her misdeeds to the audience, the pacing starts to slow. The twists and turns don’t feel nearly as shocking beyond the halfway point. At times, Blood Sugar’s later chapters teeter on the line between a thriller and a contemporary novel ... That shouldn’t deter readers from picking up Rothchild’s debut. There’s plenty to appreciate about this story, including how it upends expectations about what this genre is supposed to be and do. It’s an entertaining tale that grips you in the first half. By the time it slows to catch its breath, the audience will be invested enough that they’ll want to keep reading.
... constantly compels us to reconsider what they thought they already knew ... Rothchild is a screenwriter, so perhaps it’s no surprise that Blood Sugar propels forward at a pace worthy of any bingeworthy television show. Ruby’s morally ambiguous justifications for her own behavior will haunt us well after we’ve eagerly devoured this chilling but propulsive thriller.
... clever and dark ... Rothchild’s unrepentant killer quickly seduces the reader through Ruby’s intelligent reasoning, and, oddly enough, compassion, even when her actions are repellant. Rothchild augments her breezy approach with tinges of dark storytelling. Blood Sugar also is a story about a strong marriage and how grief affects people differently ... Rooting for Ruby is akin to viewers’ feelings toward Walter White in Breaking Bad. No matter what Ruby does, the reader stays on her side ... Strong characters, especially Ruby, complement Blood Sugar, as does Rothchild’s vivid use of the Miami setting.
Ruby Simon is the kind of character who lures readers into and then through a story, eliciting our amateur psychological diagnoses, stealing our breath with her cunning, and sparking serious guilt for having rooted for her even a little bit ... This whip-smart, well-constructed debut makes Rothchild a thriller writer to watch carefully.
A Promising Young Woman meets Dexter thriller that’s both highly suspenseful and strangely empowering ... [Rothchild's] debut thriller successfully executes all the elements of a crackling mystery: page-turning plot beats, snappy dialogue...and vividly drawn characters. Readers will root for Ruby’s acts of vigilante justice toward toxic male figures while also questioning her reliability as a narrator. For those who love a fascinating, complicated female lead with more than one ax to grind, Blood Sugar is an absolute must.
Rothchild draws readers into a suspenseful and disturbing character study of an unrepentant killer in Blood Sugar ... Rothchild perfectly paces the shifts between humanizing her narrator to make her tension over the investigation sympathetic and dropping bombshell reminders that Ruby is a cold-blooded killer ... Rothchild keeps the question of her possible role in Jason's death tantalizingly difficult to answer, offering enough clues to support or discredit Ruby. This disturbing thriller begs to be inhaled in a single sitting, but the experience may raise the question of how many friends and loved ones are quietly, happily getting away with murder ... Provocative, unsettling.
Readers horrified by the opening scene, in which 5-year-old Ruby murders her 7-year-old schoolmate Duncan Reese, will soon be assured that it wasn’t such a bad thing after all ... Ruby regales readers with her side of the story. Sprinkled throughout are clues suggesting Ruby may not be the empathetic vigilante she pretends to be ... Rothchild gives readers an unreliable narrator who truly lives up to the moniker. Is Ruby a sociopath or isn’t she? Was Jason’s death an accident, or did someone murder him? The answers are anything but straightforward ... A compelling and entertaining psychological thriller.
A mesmerizing thriller ... Rothchild does a terrific job keeping readers wondering about Simon’s reliability, and pulls off the considerable challenge of engendering sympathy for an unrepentant killer. Vivid prose is another plus ... Jeff Lindsay fans will have a hard time not devouring this standout effort in one sitting.
