Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Brad About Books: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Read on April 20, 2013
RUBY RED
Published: May 10, 2011
Publisher: Henry Holt (Macmillan)
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 322 pages
Source: Purchased
Series: Ruby Red, #1

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.


Ruby Red is a whirlwind of a novel, with combinations of epic moments and wonderful characters that make this crazy and awesome read even more enjoyable. I wish I could travel back in time to experience Ruby Red again!

The concept of Ruby Red is very engaging and highly addictive - how could you not resist a time travel story?! And luckily, Ruby Red is one of my favorite time travel stories I've ever read. Wanna know what I loved most about this time travel? There was a plot reason for time travel. It's not just something cool to give the story that extra dazzle, extra push. The story revolves around family secrets, heartbreaking betrayals, and traveling back in time to fix the past and restore the future. And the mystery! Gosh, Ruby Red is such a tension-filled, edge-of-your-seat type of book, and it's impossible to put down. My only regret was not picking this one up sooner! Loved it!

Gwen was awesome, short and simple. I get that some times, characters need to be a little naïve in order to get a true grasp on the situation at hand, but I feel that some characters go way past the boundaries with being naïve. Thankfully, Gwen wasn't that type of character. Sure, she was apprehensive at first (who wouldn't be?), but she handled the situation very maturely, and I loved her character! And can I just give Kerstin Gier a round of applause for not putting insta-love in the book? It could've been so easy to make Gideon an insta-love character that would fall in love with Gwen, and the story could have taken off from there. But Ruby Red doesn't revolve around love! It worked flawlessly. Ruby Red was masterfully structured and complexly rich; Kerstin Gier did an incredible job with this fantastic novel.

And while I had just a little trouble getting into the beginning (by, like, 25 pages, maybe?), it's so easy to be captivated and fall under the spell of Ruby Red. It will absorb your mind and consume you whole; I never, ever wanted to put this book down. It was that awesome.

Overall, Ruby Red is an explosive, fiery tale that wrapped itself in my brain and never left. I still think about it to this day. Ruby Red is epic!

M Y    R A T I N G


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