Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
Genre: Fantasy, Time Travel, Historical, Contemporary
Published by: Square Fish
Pages: 322
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★★
Series: Sapphire Blue (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I didn’t go into this book with high expectations because Bee didn’t immensely enjoy this book. However, due to my love of ‘Under the Never Sky’, I realise we have quite different opinions!

‘Ruby Red’ caught me completely by surprise. I didn’t know what to expect, with the time travel element and all the other lore that went into this novel, like the gemstones, the birds and the musical notes. I thought it would be all too bitty. However, I was completely wrong. I fell in love!

This book does not stop. There is always something going on, whether for a chapter or a paragraph, this book was full of content – hence why I couldn’t put it down and read it in one day. Even though the chapters are long, which normally puts me off a book, I couldn’t stop turning the pages to see what would happen next.

The characters are loveable. I really liked the fact that Gwen, the main character, had told Lesley, her best friend, about being a time traveller. It completely cut out the cliched ‘you’ve been lying to me, betrayal of trust’ storyline that I’ve read all too many times. Lesley was quirky and realistic – wouldn’t you Google search everything your friend dug up about the eighteenth century?

There were so many little things that I can’t wait to be elaborated on in the next two books. Like the possible rivalry between Charlotte, who was supposed to be the next time traveller, and Gwen, who turned out to be the real time traveller. Or the magic element. Or Gwen being able to see ghosts! Like I said, this book is choc-a-block with cool things.

Bee did say that there was some romance that came flying out of nowhere. I do have to agree that the romantic feelings between Gwen and Gideon, her male counterpart, were slightly forced, however romance really didn’t contribute much to the plot of this book. It was purely action and adventure…you know through time and space.

I thought it was especially nice to have the book set in England, despite being originally written in German. I love it when I can recognise locations in novels! The translation aspect of the book was almost flawless, with only a few irregular word phrasings, on the other hand, if it didn’t tell you on the end pages that this book was translated, I never would have known.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars, because I loved it, but 5 out of 5 stars seems like a stretch. This book isn’t ‘Mark of Athena’, after all. However, I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes historical fiction, Cassandra Clare style, and those that want a quick, fun read!