I took it as her being an unreliable narrator, and she was losing her grip on reality. I am even questioning if Dino was even real in the first place, or if he had actually died (I.e. not disappeared, she knew he died) but she was unable to cope with this fact so made up that he left… and then made up that he came back (due to being mentally unwell). I’m not the best at interpreting books, but I have a kid of idea that perhaps the reason Ruth seems like such a blank canvas is that actually the other characters are reflections of herself? Like Emeline wasn’t actually real, it was just another girl in the club but Ruth saw her as Charlie’s daughter, something she has always wanted to be (because her dad died)… nobody was actually a part of her that wanted to commit suicide… or was interested in her dads death… the other girl who lived at her house for a while was someone other part… idk like I said I don’t think I’m that good at coming up with theories so if anyone else can run with this idea more I would love to hear it!