Book Review: Ruby Red (Precious Stone Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier

Ruby Red (Precious Stone Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier
Release Date: 10th May 2011

Publisher: Henry Holt 
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 322
Rating: 4.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 ODY and 2013 BSR

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."

Review:

This was a quick, fun read for someone looking just for that. Not sure if time travel is your thing - then I suggest you give this one a go.

Ruby Red is a quick, addictive read, about a 16 year old girl named Gwyn who's just discovered she can time travel. With zero preparation, she's inducted into this secret society, travels back in time, and unearths mystery after mystery. I loved how engrossed in this book I was - I didn't think I would be! In the first couple of chapters, possibly even the second, we're thrown into the time travel aspect. There's no slow build up - it's literally just, Yeah so there's this random time travel gene in my family. Holy crap, I can time travel! And I loved that - I enjoy being thrown right into the story.

And the mysteries - there were a lot of mystery's established, revolving around Gwyn, her family, and almost everyone in the secret time travel society (I forget what they're actual name is). I like that these are set up here, ready to be solved in the following books. And that twist at the end, that we only get to see in the epilogue - well done Gier, you kept me busy with all the other mysteries that I didn't even think about that one.

I loved a lot of the aspects in this novel - the plot, as i've established, was written well, there was a mix of characters you love (Gwyn, Lesley) and those you don't (Charlotte, Creepy Saint-Germain), but the main problem I had with this book was that it felt too short. Now, I'm not sitting here complaining that a book I loved was over too soon, what I'm getting at is that the pacing just... wasn't quite right. We get thrown into the action, introduced to this new world, establish some relationships, get to a scene that feels super important, and then BAM, book ends. I just don't think it ended properly.

Regardless, I'm definitely going to read the sequels, hopefully soon since I'm sure they'll be so easy to just fly through.