Sapphire Blue (The Ruby Red Trilogy, #2)

by Kerstin Gier

Sixteen-year-old Gwen, the newest and final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve, searches through history for the other time-travelers, aided by friend Lesley, James the ghost, Xemerius the gargoyle demon, and Gideon, the Diamond, whose fate seems bound with hers.

• ISBN10: 1250034167
• ISBN13: 9781250034168
• Publish Date: 28 May 2013 (first published 30 October 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 2 July 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 4.5 Stars rounded^

WOW.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I am so so utterly delighted to have finally read book two of the Precious Stones trilogy.

It’s been a couple years since I read Ruby Red, but I LOVED it. Gwen took me completely by surprise and I hadn’t been expecting a time travel book (I love time travel) so it became one of my favorite books of 2017 … et voila! Now Sapphire Blue is here and I am excited.

From a purely sensible and logical point of view, Sapphire Blue is not as good as Ruby Red. And that’s to be expected – middle books in trilogies tend to be a means to an end and that’s fine. I’m okay with the bridge between books, if I like the characters enough. And I do. I adore Gwen – she’s sweet and funny and her personality makes me smile.

But it’s not just Gwen. I like everyone here – even Charlotte, who I suspect has more going on beneath the surface than we’re allowed to see. I’m on again and off again about Gideon, but then again, so is Gwen! And I absolutely adore Lesley and the friendship she and Gwen share. So the characters in this book as top rate likable characters.

Then there’s the time travel. The time travel is genuinely well done. The rules are consistent across both books (I’m looking at you, Vortex) and across all applicable characters. Kerstin Geir picked a set of rules and loyally stuck to them.

Plot-wise… I mean… eh? There’s not a lot of exciting plot happening in Sapphire Blue and like I said, I expect that of a middle book. There’s more time travel to more parties and more hints that Stuff Is Going To Happen in Emerald Green. I did like meeting Gwen’s grandfather during her elapses and there are always scenes that make me chuckle, but as for concrete adventure, I feel like not a whole lot happened here except vague setups for the next book. Which is fine, because the characters carried me through.

I continue to be impressed with both Marisa Calin’s narration – which is bubbly and likable – as well as the translation from its original German (done by Anthea Bell). Both interpreters have done and excellent job of bringing Kerstin Geir’s story to life. Although I still think it’s a bit strange Gwen’s name was changed? But that’s neither here nor there. The English translation is lovely and flows well without losing emotion, and the audiobook is very well read.

All and all, I continue to be pleased with this trilogy, and I look forward to reading Emerald Green… hopefully with less of a lapse this time!

[liz089]

I finished this one way too soon.. It felt like I just started it and before I knew it I was at the end !! I really like this series, it is easy and fun and I can't wait to see how it will end !!

Verhaallijn is wel goed, maar plottwisten worden weggegeven en de personages zijn saai, heel jammer.

[Nessa Luna]

After I finished Ruby Red I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. I thought I would LOVE these books, because they were about time travel, and the covers just looked amazing. Unfortunately, I thought the story wasn't that much about time travel, and it wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Still, I decided to read Sapphire Blue, hoping it would be more exciting - but honestly I didn't really think it was that much different from Ruby Red.

It was mostly Gwen traveling back in time almost every day, and her and Gideon sometimes traveling back together and I don't know, it just didn't feel exciting at all. I am really hoping the last book will be FILLED with action and that I will love it, but I am afraid that might not happen.

I did still like the writing, it was very simple and easy to read, I got through it pretty quickly (not as quickly as I thought I would, but there was a sort of reading slump thingy going on). But honestly the story was just a bit boring and the easy writing didn't make up for the kind of boring story.

So yeah, I will read the last book, Emerald Green, but I am not really expecting a lot of it to be honest. I will also try to watch the movie of the first book, if I can find the English version, because I am very curious. But alas, this book series is not what I had expected.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

The Precious Stone Trilogy or The Ruby Red Trilogy is made up of three books: Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green. The trilogy is written by Kerstin Gier and translated from German by Anthea Bell. I picked up Ruby Red at Half Price Books originally because the dust jacket was gorgeous and the book was unusual in size. I purchased the book because it fit right in there with my love of historical fiction and time travel. I thought about reviewing each book separately, but Gier crafted each book to pick up immediately where the previous book left off and the big mystery isn't solved until the last 30 or so pages in Emerald Green.

Continued on my blog, Second Run Reviews

[nitzan_schwarz]

2013 cleaning my shelves challenge

I liked this one. Gwen sometimes annoyed me with her love sickness, but all in all it was a great sequel to Ruby Red. can't wait to read the conclusion of this story!

Full review soon.

[Chelsea]

The author could have done so much with this book and she didn’t. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. The plot was fairly interesting but I found there was no climax point. The point where I absolutely can not put the book down. That point didn’t happen for me.Also there were a lot of random unnecessary things like the talk about the pill and the groping at the soire. It was a little weird.

I’m kind of upset about how the characters ended up though. I found Gideon was just a pretty boy who stood around and didn’t do much except be a jerk. His whole declaration of love thing was a little weird and seemed fake to me especially after Charlotte. I don’t know, I think the author wants him to be in love but isn’t doing a very good job. I hate how annoying Gwen gets. All she thinks about is Gideon. It’s like she’s any other teenage girl. I don’t want to read about a stupid teenage girl, I want to read a good book.

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[Kelsenator]

For more reviews make sure to visit Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf!

I know I gushed a bit with the review of the first book, but I really do love this series! There’s just something about the way it is just so easy to read and how I just get lost reading it. It has romance, some drama, but also quite a bit of humour too. For instance, the soiree party with the special punch was so funny!

Xemerius, the demon gargoyle, was one of my favourite additions in this book. He not only was helpful, since only Gwyneth could see and hear him, but he also had some of the funniest comebacks. Especially if they weren’t being the nicest to Gwen. As for characters you also get to see more of the Count, especially learning about how he was in his own past. He definitely starts to set the tone for a bad guy as this goes on. Gideon however got on my nerves at one point in the book, since he constantly has to hide any feeling for Gwen, he keeps acting different around her when they alone compared to around other people. But he does redeem himself later on in the book (for a little bit anyway), and I do think those two would be really cute together!

There are still so many secrets and mysteries that need to be solved, and I hope everything will be revealed in the next book. A few things are talked about here, but not a lot and it makes me wish I had the next book now! If you liked the first book you definitely need to pick this one up.