Ruby Red (The Ruby Red Trilogy, #1)

by Kerstin Gier

[paperbackjedi]

Gwen’s life was going pretty well until she finds that she’s inherited her family’s time travel gene that everyone thought her cousin, Charlotte had. Charlotte is beautiful and perfect and has been training for this her entire life so it comes as a shock when Gwen accidentally travels through time. Gwen, who doesn’t know much about history, who’s clumsy and awkward, who sometimes talks to people that aren’t there. As everyone races to get Gwen caught up to speed to take on a dangerous mission from a shady secret society, she starts to wonder what exactly she’s being trained for.

GUYS THIS BOOK WAS SO MUCH FUN. It’s got a lot of things I love in it: time travel, spunky heroines, ghosts, talking statues, a handsome guy who wields a sword, and MAGIC. This book was originally published in German and it’s hugely popular in Germany even spawning two movies (and there will be a third) and I can definitely see why. Gwen is a great character because she’s incredibly easy to relate to. I even featured her in my Top Ten Favorite Heroines From Books post a few months back. I love how she questions everything and sets about finding things out for herself while still trying to help people in any way she can. She’s not just automatically good at things and has to try very hard to not die or mess up an operation and it’s so refreshing. Gideon is a pretty great character too. He starts out really annoyed by Gwen because she doesn’t have the training she needs to carry out these missions and he doesn’t want to have to babysit or take care of her, but over time he comes to really respect her and her overwhelming capacity for compassion. He sees how hard she tries to help everyone even though she’s ill equipped and he can’t help but sort of fall for her. Gwen also has one of the coolest best friends ever, Lesley, who never questions Gwen’s weird destiny and sets about being her personal Google while she’s traveling through time. I wish I had a best friend this cool (sorry, Beth!) and she’s one of my favorite parts of the story.

The world is intriguing and has a secret society whose mission is beyond hush hush. See, each time traveler (and there are twelve) comes with a prophecy attached to them (and some even have powers) and Gwen’s prophecy is VERY IMPORTANT. The whole mythology of the time traveling gene and the history of time travelers is thoroughly described. The lore is consistent and explored in a manner that is both exciting and just a little bit mysterious. Between chapters, there are often excerpts from texts the society has written and other small tidbits that relate to the main plot in ways you don’t understand until later. The writing bursts with energy. Seriously, I had so much fun reading this book. The plot moves at a very fast pace for the most part with some of the slower sections taking a few minutes to explore Gwen’s thoughts and emotions and I found the balance pretty well-maintained. I liked how we got both action and introspection and there are a lot of twists that you think you’ll see coming, but won’t (at least I didn’t). Most of the story doesn’t come together in the way you expect and this is the first book in the trilogy so you won’t get some answers until you’ve read to the end.

This book features a lot of different relationships. You have Gwen and her family (some of which are supportive and others not so much), Gwen and Lesley (so much win right here), Gwen and the secret society members (really interesting take on trust and how to earn it), and Gwen and Gideon (hello, swooning over here). Gwen and her family is a complicated situation because some of them have been preparing her cousin Charlotte for this life and they’re not happy that Gwen has usurped her purpose. But her mother, brothers and sisters, and grandmother are truly wonderful and supportive. Gwen and Gideon’s relationship felt very authentic to me as it grew throughout the pages into something very different than what it started as. It was a very organic progression and you understood every second of it (except for when you weren’t really supposed to). I feel like Gideon came to really value and adore Gwen in a way that marked her an an equal and not just a love interest and though he wanted to protect her, he didn’t dismiss her which was important. And Gwen came to understand Gideon as more than the cute guy she was stuck with. The relationship frustrated me in the best ways and made me smile a lot while reading. They’re both sort of sarcastic and funny so it was enjoyable to witness.

Again, this book was an adventure, but I do recommend getting all three books at the same time because you’re gonna want to jump right into the next one as soon as you finish. There isn’t really a gap between books either so all the events take place one after the other which can be frustrating if you wait between reading each book because you might not remember what happened before and it’s pretty important that you keep details fresh in your mind to understand some of the developments. I highly recommend this book (and series) to anyone looking to have a good time with a pretty awesome main character who feels a lot like someone you could actually know in real life. It’s intriguing and the dialogue is particularly enjoyable as it’s sassy and always good for a laugh.