Summary: 
 Ruby has been a surrogate mother to her younger sister Chloe. Their own mother is a raging alcoholic, frequenting local bars, instead of hanging around the house. The sisterly bond runs deep. Ruby is extremely popular, demanding and controlling. She possesses a bizarre power over not only her younger sister, but over the town's people too. Chloe looks up to her older sibling and will blindly follow whatever her sister requests of her. 
 The girls live nearby a reservoir, one which when it was originally filled, flooded the small town of Olive. Rumor has it, the citizens refused to leave their residences, many perished when the reservoir water came crashing through the town. 
 One summer night, Ruby hosts a wild party at the reservoir. After a few too many drinks, she boasts her little sister Chloe is such a strong swimmer she can swim the length of the reservoir and back again. Chloe trusting her sister's confidence in her ability, sheds her clothes, dives in and attempts to swim across, as a crowd of inebriated party goers cheer her on. The reservoir is very wide, the water is chilling and Chloe thinks she can hear the town's people's faint voices under the water. She's scared, fatiguing, but certain she will make it across and back because Ruby told her she could. But can she? Would Ruby honestly put the sister she loves more than herself in jeopardy of losing her life? Here, the real story begins..... 
 Ramblings: 
 BACKGROUND 
 This is Nova Ren Suma's debut novel. The first version of the book was lost to a hard drive malfunction, but Nova was deteremined to write the story, so she recreated a second and much improved version. Originally, the book was titled Mythical Creatures, but at the last minute, on a whim, Nova changed it to Imaginary Girls. 
 SETTING, PACE AND & STYLE 
 Imaginary Girls takes place in a small town. The beginning of the book was strange, a little confusing and somewhat difficult to follow. At times the reader may be uncertain about what is going on, potentially this may be intentional, to set a particular mood. Some may find themselves quickly annoyed with how everyone is so enamored by Ruby, including her younger sister. 
 The beginning pace is a little slow, but then it picks right up. Roughly, one-quarter of the way into the book a sentinel event happens, creating mystery and suspense, leaving the reader feeling a real urgency to finish the book. This element is what keeps the reader engaged and turning pages, the strong desire to uncover the mystery and discover how everything will eventually play out. 
 To say Nova's writing style is poetic is an understatement. She uses imagery, descriptive writing and creative metaphors to tell the story. The story line is multi-layered, reading the book just once gives the reader a chance to discover the main ideas of the book, but reading it twice may give deeper insight and resolve into the book. 
 Another noteworthy characteristic of this book is how the titles of each chapter are also the first few words of the sentence beginning each chapter. Its a creative way to lead the reader into each chapter's context. 
 CHARACTERS & PLOT 
 Chloe, Ruby's younger sister is the main character in this story. The narration is in first person through her initially young and naive eyes. Chloe is shy, lacks confidence in herself and lives in the shadow of her extremely popular older sister, Ruby. As the book progresses, she begins to exhibit twinges of independence, challenging some of Ruby's rules. This helps lead her to uncovering some hidden secrets about her sister. 
 Ruby has a believable, peculiar power over everyone she meets. She is beautiful, persuasive and can get anything she wants from anyone in the small town where she and her sister reside. Ruby is selfish, never putting the needs of others above herself. Her redeeming quality though, is how at a tender age she did take care to raise her younger sister. 
 London Hayes is meek, depressed girl who ends up being quite mysterious in a number of ways throughout the novel. Though, there are many other secondary characters, no one really stood out. One last character worth mentioning would be a very an unconventional one - Nova's personification of the reservoir, it did seem to have an uncanny presence of its own, one which appears to really come to life as the story evolves. 
 Nova Ren Suma uses a technique called Magical Realism in telling this story. Its a type of fiction writing where magical elements blend in with the real world and present in a very straightforward way or as real occurrences. Awareness of this may make the book easier to understand. 
 Potential themes for this novel may be to show how dangerous it is to blindly trust someone or do not take important people for granite in life. Imaginary Girls also revolves around a certain balance, if something is taken, it must be given back. Additionally, the book explores sisterly bonds, symbiotic relationships, coming of age and the consequences power can have if used in the wrong way or for the wrong reasons. The book is complex, with deep meaning which may take some time to digest. Reading it slowly will most likely yield the best results. 
 Recommendation: 
 I recommend this book to those who like a story line which holds double meaning, mystery and suspense. Girls would enjoy this, honestly though, I couldn't find much in the subject matter boys would relate to. Warning to parents, this book does contain harsh language, underage drinking and mild sex scenes. However, this would be a GREAT book club read, especially those clubs who are drawn to stories with deeper meaning, they could find plenty of material to analyze in this book. 
 PERSONAL NOTE 
 This book was a real page turner for me. Admittedly, it took a little while to become totally engaged. The mysteriousness surrounding Ruby and her strange power over the people of the town was intriguing. I can't say I didn't enjoy the story, because I did! What I can say with certainty, the ending didn't satisfy me and my overall quest for information. I was disappointed, even let down. I wanted so much more from the story. 
 Don't get me wrong, this isn't a series, there was not a cliff hanger, it wasn't abrupt. Its just the great mystery, the reason I kept turning pages and couldn't wait to unveil, missed the mark or even flopped for me. Possibly, in the author's defense, maybe I just missed the point? I was frustrated, though that I didn't get the answers I was longing for. In a way, I felt slightly cheated. I thought the author still had a lot of the story to tell after I turned the last page. Imaginary Girls left me with more questions than answers, for me this was disappointing. 
 RATING 
 One and a half rings deducted primarily because I didn't like the way the novel wrapped up. It was like a race to the finish and then it just sort of fell flat for me. 
 3.5 out of 5 Rings