Ruby Red (The Ruby Red Trilogy, #1)

by Kerstin Gier

[Angie]

Ruby Red was a lot of fun! It's full of time travel, secrets, and mayhem! Gwyneth and her family are impatiently waiting for her cousin Charlotte to make her first disappearance into the past. It could happen at any time, but then, Gwynth is the one who winds up traveling back and is completely unprepared! After the third occurrence, she's finally convinced to tell her mother, which then reveals a bunch of family secrets and drama. Good times! Now, Gwyneth is part of a mission that involves going back to various points in history with Gideon, another young time traveler. But it becomes clear that no one knows who they can trust, since Gwyneth and Gideon always seem to be one step behind.

I really enjoyed Ruby Red from the very beginning, since I love stories with eccentric families, and Gwyneth's can most certainly be described as that! Charlotte is the golden child, prepped her entire life to be the time traveler. She can speak several languages, knows her history, and can fence. Meanwhile, Gwyneth knows a lot about movies. Her family completely freaks out when her mother says Gwyn is actually the one, making all kinds of crazy accusations and are convinced of some kind of conspiracy. But they've just got to accept that Gwyn is the Ruby, and she's not going to disappear and sabotage their plans like her aunt Lucy, whom no one has seen in 16 years. Of course, there's more family secrets revealed as time goes on (and back).

However, I really have no idea what the plot is in Ruby Red. Gwyn and Gideon are part of some kind of mission, but I don't know what they're doing. There's the mystery of Lucy's disappearance, why Gwyneth's mom lied about her birthday, and who keeps thwarting all of their attempts to talk to other travelers in the past. Stuff is happening, but I don't know why. Then it all just kind of ends. Not on a cliffhanger, exactly. The book just stops. I suppose I'm intrigued enough to want to continue.

Ruby Red was loads of fun, so that did kind of make up for the confusion with the plot. I loved how time travel worked. It's fairly simple, being a genetic thing, and having a device to control where/when they go after their initial spontaneous trip. Gwyneth can also see and communicate with ghosts! That was a neat addition, although it didn't seem to add much overall, other than making Gwyn more special. Hopefully, this talent will come in handy in the following books.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.