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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A re-read for the nostalgia, a series I keep coming back to every once in a while
i really liked this book. it had a kind of mystery to it, and i LOVE mysteries. it also let us see how people dressed and how people acted in the 1700's, 1800's, and early 1900's.. i loved the character Gideon, he was just funny. it didnt really solve most of the mysteries, but thats probably for the next two books to solve. I am very excited to read Sapphire Blue... :)
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier is such a good book! The story is very original and it's so great that the main focus (at least in this book) is on Gwendolynn and her take on time traveling, and not on love. I highly recommend this book to everyone who like YA fiction!
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
2025 Review: Revisited this series as part of my quest to read every book I own. I didn't love it as much as I did when I first read it, but I'm leaving my five star rating because I did enjoy myself and think it holds up. It's just very teenage which isn't a flaw in teen-lit. If you enjoy the teenage experience of falling in love fast and don't mind the idea of teenagers uncovering secrets that a secret organization has overlooked for centuries, then this is a fun one to kick back and relax with.
Original 2014 Review:
I picked up this book based on the cover alone so, when I started reading it, I had no idea what I was in for. You see, the cover had lead me to believe that I'd be reading a historical piece and, in a way, I was, though not the kind that I'd been expecting. Almost all of the main characters of Ruby Red come from the modern era, but several of them have adventures in the days of yore, though never for more than 4 hours at a time. Does that sound a little confusing, but interesting? Good, because that means that you might just enjoy this fantastic story of genetic based time-travel.
Before we get into the heart of this review, though, I must give a small warning: Ruby Red claims to be a part of a trilogy and it isn't kidding. This book ends right where its squeal picks up and the trio reads like one book split into three parts rather than three separate books. This means that a lot of the events in Ruby Red and it's squeal don't make total sense until you've finish the series. It also means that nothing, and I do mean nothing, is wrapped up until the end of the final book. I ended up enjoying these aspect of the trilogy and a lot of the issues I had while reading it disappeared by the time I'd finished that final book and learned the truth behind all of the mysterious prophesies that kept coming up.
Speaking of mysteries, let's talk about that whole "genetic based time-travel" thing.
In the world of Ruby Red, time-travel is somehow genetic and Gwyneth's great-great-great-etc. grandfather passed it down to her. Wherever this magical ability comes from, it's clearly not a dominate trait because Gwyneth is only the thirteenth time-traveler to be born over a period spanning four centuries and, according to the prophecies, she will also be the last. Not that she knows any of this when the story starts because everyone else thinks that the prophesies are referring to her cousin, Charlotte, a young woman who has been trained to travel through time since she was very young while Gwyneth ... hasn't. Which makes things very interesting when her ability manifests and annoys quite a lot of people in the process.
One of those people is Gideon de Villiers, another time traveler. Unlike Gwyneth, who has no idea how to act in centuries past, Gideon is well trained in everything that he'd need to know to survive in the past. Meaning that he can fence, dance, ride a horse, and all sorts of things that Gwyneth can only dream of. He's also terribly rude and thinks Gwyneth little more than an annoyance. Which makes it very interesting when she has to go running about history at his side to try and gather the blood of the time-travelers that came before them.
Why are they doing that? To unlock the answer to a centuries old secret, but no one will tell Gwyneth any of the details because they don't trust her due to a series of events that took place the year of her birth.
Check this book out if you like a good time-traveling adventure story with a strong side of teenage romance, but give it a pass if you don't like series where the books don't function as mostly separate entities or if you don't like it when a lot of the little details of a story (how magic works, where the ability to time-travel came from, etc.) aren't explained.
Original 2014 Review:
I picked up this book based on the cover alone so, when I started reading it, I had no idea what I was in for. You see, the cover had lead me to believe that I'd be reading a historical piece and, in a way, I was, though not the kind that I'd been expecting. Almost all of the main characters of Ruby Red come from the modern era, but several of them have adventures in the days of yore, though never for more than 4 hours at a time. Does that sound a little confusing, but interesting? Good, because that means that you might just enjoy this fantastic story of genetic based time-travel.
Before we get into the heart of this review, though, I must give a small warning: Ruby Red claims to be a part of a trilogy and it isn't kidding. This book ends right where its squeal picks up and the trio reads like one book split into three parts rather than three separate books. This means that a lot of the events in Ruby Red and it's squeal don't make total sense until you've finish the series. It also means that nothing, and I do mean nothing, is wrapped up until the end of the final book. I ended up enjoying these aspect of the trilogy and a lot of the issues I had while reading it disappeared by the time I'd finished that final book and learned the truth behind all of the mysterious prophesies that kept coming up.
Speaking of mysteries, let's talk about that whole "genetic based time-travel" thing.
In the world of Ruby Red, time-travel is somehow genetic and Gwyneth's great-great-great-etc. grandfather passed it down to her. Wherever this magical ability comes from, it's clearly not a dominate trait because Gwyneth is only the thirteenth time-traveler to be born over a period spanning four centuries and, according to the prophecies, she will also be the last. Not that she knows any of this when the story starts because everyone else thinks that the prophesies are referring to her cousin, Charlotte, a young woman who has been trained to travel through time since she was very young while Gwyneth ... hasn't. Which makes things very interesting when her ability manifests and annoys quite a lot of people in the process.
One of those people is Gideon de Villiers, another time traveler. Unlike Gwyneth, who has no idea how to act in centuries past, Gideon is well trained in everything that he'd need to know to survive in the past. Meaning that he can fence, dance, ride a horse, and all sorts of things that Gwyneth can only dream of. He's also terribly rude and thinks Gwyneth little more than an annoyance. Which makes it very interesting when she has to go running about history at his side to try and gather the blood of the time-travelers that came before them.
Why are they doing that? To unlock the answer to a centuries old secret, but no one will tell Gwyneth any of the details because they don't trust her due to a series of events that took place the year of her birth.
Check this book out if you like a good time-traveling adventure story with a strong side of teenage romance, but give it a pass if you don't like series where the books don't function as mostly separate entities or if you don't like it when a lot of the little details of a story (how magic works, where the ability to time-travel came from, etc.) aren't explained.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No