Discover Well-Read Black Girl Books and the projects reshaping publishing →

Ruby Falls Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

Ruby Falls by Gin Phillips

Ruby Falls

A Novel

by Gin Phillips
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • First Published:
  • Mar 3, 2026, 336 pages
  • Rate this book

About this Book

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF



For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The History of Ruby Falls and our BookBrowse Review of Ruby Falls.


Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

These are original discussion questions written by BookBrowse.
  1. Have you been to Ruby Falls or another cave before? What was your experience like? Were you afraid, excited, anxious, or some combination of these?
  2. Ruby Falls is a unique twist on a locked-room mystery. What are some other locked-room mysteries that you've enjoyed? How did you find Ruby Falls to be different than other books in the genre?
  3. Would you go exploring in an unmapped cave system? Which of the areas Ada explored would you most want to visit?
📖

Get the full reading guide

Join BookBrowse free to unlock all 14 discussion questions, author background, themes, and more for Ruby Falls.

Join free — it takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in →

  1. How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
  2. What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
  3. Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?


Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Atlantic Crime. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book:
  The History of Ruby Falls

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    When No One Else Will
    by Amanda Skenandore
    1940s Chicago nurse risks everything at an illegal women’s clinic during a high-profile trial of courage and sisterhood.
  • Book Jacket
    A Pair of Aces
    by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
    Two women on opposite sides of the law team up to bring down gangster Lucky Luciano in this gripping novel.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    Summer's Never Over
    by Darby Bozeman
    A woman revisits a Southern summer camp where a counselor's death may not have been an accident.
  • Book Jacket
    The Reimagining of Thornwood House
    by Jaleigh Johnson
    A witch and her ward discover a magical walking house and find the true meaning of home.
  • Book Jacket
    The Jellyfish Problem
    by Tessa Yang
    A marine biologist rescues a Maine island menaced by a giant glowing jellyfish in this inventive debut.
  • Book Jacket
    Feast
    by Catherine Kurtz
    In 19th-century France, a girl with a magical taste becomes a duc’s poison taster amid nobility and danger.
Who Said...

The moment we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold into a library, we've changed their lives ...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

Q S, S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.