Great!

This book was a delightful surprise! Sometimes you take a chance on a new author and you realize that you've been missing out! What I liked most about this is the fact that Kerstin manages to keep it feeling 'real' and almost plausible with a story about time travel. For me, it was reminiscent of Diana Gabaldon! I hope Emerald Green becomes available soon... :S

***SPOILERS*** I was really enjoying this book, it is an interesting idea and wonderfully executed. And then I got to the last couple of pages and lost all interest in reading the next one. All of these wonderful ideas and great setups for conflict and a good cliffhanger, and what does the author go with, but a kiss. I would have loved for Lucy and Paul to reveal something extraordinary, the role they play in the story, then I would have gone out and picked up the next one in a heartbeat. Or may something is revealed about the Count, or Gideon starts to question the Guardians, but no, the last few pages are all about the flutter of kisses; I thought I mixed up the last few pages and was now reading Twilight. Yes the epilogue hints and intrigue, but not something so surprising that it wasn't hinted at in the story. I may pick up the next one, I may not. I fear the next one will be all about their "romance" instead of all of the wonderful story ideas introduced in this book.

When Gwyneth finds out that she can time travel, and her cousin can not, her life becomes an adventure from there on. It's a humorous, fantasy romance. A wonderful balance. Written extremely well. Sapphire Blue comes out on October 30th and I can't wait. A must read.

http://bookchateau.blogspot.ca/2012/08/ruby-red-kerstin-gier.html Decent book - great for tweens, not so much for adults who like Y.A. novels ... its just a little young. It was a fast-paced and entertaining novel - it only took me a few hours to get through it. Good ideas, love the idea of time travel and secret societies. My one major problem with the book was the main character Gwen who is supposed to be 16 going on 17 but she acts like she's 12 going on 13 . . . The other thing ... if you want a novel with a satisfying ending, you won't get it here, the story stops abruptly and leaves the reader with a lot of unanswered questions. Hopefully they will be answered in the sequel(s) however it is really irritiating that I have to now wait . . .

I really enjoyed reading this book, it kept me reading and was fairly quick, but also had a good amount of suspense, mystery and intrigue. In fact, each chapter was written to keep the reader wanting more. Even the cover is quite beautiful and drew me in. The story is told in the first person and takes place in present day London, with time traveling to Victorian London. Gwyneth has just learned that she has inherited the family gene for time traveling. Everyone thought her cousin Charlotte was the one who had inherited the gene, so Gwen has not been prepared while Charlotte has been. This sets up a rivalry between Gwen and Charlotte when they realize that the table have been turned, and I anticipate some interesting things in the rest of the series. I can totally picture the whole family dynamics that took place, right down to the matriarch grandmother and the snobby aunt. Gwyneth is an interesting character, but at the same time can be quite mindless and forgetful. Most of the time this makes her endearing and funny, but occasionally this does get annoying. She also shows some good growth during the book with the potential for a lot more in the next books. I love her enthusiasm and the way that she jumps right in when she realizes that she is a time traveler, but also her trepidation in telling her mother is also real and understandable coming from a teen aged girl. Gwen's best friend, Lesley is great and is a nice foil for Gwen - she is smart and enthusiastic and the relationship between her and Gwen seems authentic. Then there is the good looking and charming Gideon, who is set up to be the perfect romantic interest. He is a relatively minor character in this book, with the potential to be a great character in the next one. The only thing that bothers me about his character was the ending - I felt that his reactions to what happened at the end were a bit forced. My other frustration with the book was Gwen's mother. I could not understand why she would not sit down with Gwen and tell her what was going on, especially after Gwen started time traveling. However, she probably has her reasons which may come out in the next books. I really enjoyed the story and the time traveling. There is lots of detail and what feels like a good historical accuracy. It certainly leaves the reader wanting to know more and there is foreshadowing of big things to come. I except the second in the series, Sapphire Blue, whose translation is due out next year, to be quite exciting and explosive. At times it felt like this book spent most of its time setting up the bigger story, which left this one a little bit unsatisfying, but I am willing to forgive this because I think it is setting up something great. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in young adult fantasy, especially if they like time traveling.

Ruby Red is a novel that caught my attention immediately. The title, the cover, the synopsis...well heck...even the book trailer had me dying to read it. When Tara from Zeitghost media contacted me about reviewing the novel I agreed...immediately! As if the title taunting me each and every day from the YA table at work wasn't enough. The novel begins off rather slowly. In fact, I found myself rather confused. The prologue in itself is a major spoiler to the reader though I'm more than sure that it was not the author's intention. Gwyneth Shepherd plays the role of the "normal teen" even though she's clearly not all that normal. You see, her family carries the "time traveler gene". However Gwen has been told that the gene lies within Charlotte, who has been relentlessly prepared for the ordeal her entire life. Charlotte has been subject to all sorts of training including learning several languages and history. But of course we then learn that Charlotte is not the one with the gene but that it is indeed Gwen, which is where the story in Ruby Red begins. I have to hand it to Kerstin Gier, she really went out of her way to create intricate graphs and charts that would clearly depict the time traveler gene. It was also interesting to learn about the time traveler "lore". The naming of the travelers with jewels was also interesting, Gwen being a Ruby. At times I felt that the story was a little shaky and some of the characters undeveloped but this might very well be a case of "lost in translation" as Ruby Red was not originally written in English. Towards the end I find myself having one question: "Why did Gideon and Gwen fall for eachother?" The sudden romance was unexpected as I was very sure that Gwen had hated Gideon. It was odd seeing her fall for someone she had disliked so much in the beginning. Gideon, however, I was not surprised about. I'm more than sure that Gideon would have fallen for a door knob had it the ability to travel back in time, as initially he had his sights out on Charlotte, who at the time was thought to have the gene. In the end I found Ruby Red to be an interesting beginning to a new series and a great new edition to the previously released YA time travel novels that I've loved so much. I'm interested in seeing what the sequel, Sapphire Blue, will bring to the story. Readers can expect Sapphire Blue to hit shelves spring 2012.