Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Title: Ruby Red

Author: Kerstin Gier
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Acquired: Received free for an honest review
Age Group: Young Adult

Grade: 97% or A+
Buy It: Amazon

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 eighteenth century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

My Thoughts::
If I've learned one thing this summer, it was to not put off reading certain books for stupid reasons. It is becoming a pattern for me to put off reading books the longest, that I end up liking the most. This might not be my favorite book of the summer, but it is way up there, when initially I thought it was only going to be...okay. But boy was I wrong!

Let me just point out that since this book takes place in London, I already found it interesting. Things aren't so different that I can't understand, but they shift enough to catch and hold my attention. Since the description already told us that Gwyneth would be the one to have the time traveling gene instead of her cousin, it is no surprise when this happens. It was almost frustrating just waiting until Gwen would go back in time. We all knew it would happen, and I felt like the book dragged on forever until it did.

I honestly loved Gwyneth as a character. There were only a few times when I disliked her actions, but they were few and far between. She had strong qualities, but she didn't brag about them. Thankfully she didn't get down on herself often either, when we could all see how awesome she is. She had to live her life playing second fiddle to her cousin which I found interesting. In fact, I found most of the characters very interesting. From deciding who to trust, to who the enemy his, and who to be afraid of.

Mixing the two genres of fantasy and historical fiction turned out amazing. With me, I love fantasy and with historical fiction I either love it or hate it. This time I loved it and got the added awesome of fantasy. It adds a whole new dimension to the story. I have to give props to any author who decides to tackle time travel. There are so many ways that you can contradict yourself and make mistakes, so far I've seen none. My only big complaint about the book was that I felt like I was constantly waiting for something big to happen.

Overall I thought this was a great refreshing read and take on time travel I would recommend this book to fans of time travel and historical fiction. I can not wait to read the next book titled Sapphire Blue, which sounds even more beautiful.