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Ruby Red (Precious Stone Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier | Review

9:15:00 PM

Pages: 324 pages

Publication Date: May 10th 2011 by Henry Holt

ISBN: 0805092528 (ISBN13: 9780805092523)

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.

Now What I Thought:

The amount of times I have re-read this book is insane. Most of the time I have a hard time picking out new books to read because it's novels like Ruby Red that just captivate my attention over and over again. The first book is really good, it does a great job at introducing all of the characters and Gwyneth is just such a likeable person. Charlotte, her cousin, on the other hand... I mean, I do feel bad for her A LITTLE, but as for some of her actions and rude remarks towards Gwen, are just ridiculously unnecessary. The novel itself and the content is so funny. Definitely has comedic aspects in it, if not the whole thing. I will be honest, from the first time I read this till now... I never did like Gideon, 'the love interst'. Sure he's her companion and her opposite, if you will, but the guy is seriously such a git.

As for the time-travel part of the book, it was good. I loved Gier's view and representation of time-travel and was definitely enjoyable. Gwen is part of this whole dynasty and family just filled with the unknown and while she thinks she's just on the outskirts of the big whole plan, she's really smack-dab in the centre. I liked the fact that Gwen caught on fast and was a fast learner when it came to time travel, even though Charlotte would disagree. Her family on the other hand, really irked me, down to her mother. Her aunts just never believed in Gwen and her ability to do a good job and fix the problem at hand. I hated how they would make her feel insufficient and inferior to Charlotte and Gideon.

Having read this trilogy so many times, it's difficult to remember what happens in each individual book and not mush everything together, some of you will know what I mean, haha. This series was originally written in German, and even the movies that were made are in German. The translation was totally fine and I didn't notice anything too peculiar about word choice and such. Kerstin Gier has an amazing talent to write YA fantasy and I never once found myself bored, lulled etc. reading these novels.