Book Review: “Ruby Red”

“Ruby Red (Ruby Red Trilogy #1)” by Kerstin Gier

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Other Ruby Red Trilogy books

Source: Bought

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Very readable. I finished 75% of it in one day! I couldn’t put the book down. When I did put the book down, all I did was think about the book.

I like Gwyn but she seems a bit young. I quite liked that she didn’t know what to do. She hasn’t been trained so she’s not exactly elegant. I liked that she wasn’t a special snowflake who did exactly the right thing.

In a lot of ways this was a fairly typical fantasy/sci fi book. Girl is boring and normal. Girl discovers she’s actually special. Girl discovers a whole new world and she has to help save it. That’s all been done before and that’s fine. I liked that the book added some spice in other ways. Gwyn and her family already know about this world. They might not know about all the finer details of things but they have the general idea. I loved that she didn’t abandon her best friend. Too often best friends are ditched when the protagonist discovers he/she is special. Lesley was hugely supportive and helped with research. We all need best friends like that.

The mystery and plot was interesting.  Time travel aspect was interesting. I don’t think I’ve seen a time travel gene done like this before. It was an interesting interpretation of it. I can’t wait to see what else the author has in mind for  time travel throughout the series. I thought it was odd that two families had the same gene. Were they connected at one point? Too many questions!!

I wasn’t wild about the ending. It really seems like the story was cut off. It was just a bit odd. The epilogue was cool though. Now I have a crazy theory that Lucy and Paul are Gwen’s parents… It was a nice bonus to an abrupt ending.

The bottom line? Why did I wait so long to read this? Fun book. Can’t wait to pick up the next installment.

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