Ruby Red (Review)

Book: Ruby Red
Author: Kerstin Gier
Series: Edelsteine Trilogie #1
Publisher: Square Fish
Format: Paperback
Pages: 322
Source: Purchased

Blurb:

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon—the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Kerstin Gier's Ruby Red is young adult novel full of fantasy and romance.

 

 

My Rating:

 

I actually almost gave up and stopped reading this one a few times. I found the beginning to be extremely boring and Gwyneth to be annoying. I'm really glad that I didn't give up on it though, since about halfway through the story really began to pick up and after that point I was hooked. The idea of time travel isn't anything new but I really enjoyed the in depth this book made it. Other books have time travelling sure but they never explain it, this one does.

 

Being a huge fan of history I was delighted to find the characters travelling to different points in the past such as the Rococo period and England in 1912. I can appreciate the fact that not only did the author research the time periods and correctly portray them but also the characters were dressed in the fashion trends of the day and who doesn't love the idea of wearing formal gowns?

 

The characters were for the most part likeable. Gwyneth got on my nerves in the beginning but she quickly grew on me. Where I thought she was a whiny brat she actually ended up being a pretty tough character. There were times when she had to show her bravery even though she was petrified. Gideon was a jerk. Simple as that. He really said some nasty things about Gwyneth, even though it wasn't her fault she was unprepared for time travel. Then he just does a complete 180 and ends up becoming extremely close to her, it seemed pretty unrealistic to me. Lesley and James were by far my favorite characters and they weren't in the book that much. Lesley was Gwyneth's best friend and she helped her gather information and she was all around funny and kind. James was a ghost that haunted their school and he was extremely kind even though he didn't realize he was dead yet.

 

All in all, this was an interesting story that had a great plot. The time travelling aspect of the story had a lot of thought and detail put into it and actually worked for the story. The history aspects were by far the best part of this novel and I am looking for ward to seeing where and when Gwyneth and Gideon go next.