Title: Ruby Red
Series: Edelstein
Trilogy, #1
Author: Kerstin
Gier
Publisher: Henry
Holt
Publication Date: May
10, 2011
Genres: YA,
Fantasy
Reviewed by: Ellen
Fritz
Ellen’s rating: 5/5
SUMMARY
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
Comfortably paced with prose that flows naturally, I
certainly did not want this book to end. When Gwyneth turns out to be the one
carrying the time-travel gene, her aunt Glenda and cousin Charlotte is jealous,
her mother is worried, and several other people are quite pleased. Apart from being
able to see ghosts, Gwyneth's life had been perfectly normal. This is about to
change drastically, but fortunately, she has her friend, Lesley, who believes
her and fully supports her.
As time travel is one of my very favorite topics for a
book, I couldn't put Ruby Red down.
The brilliantly realistic characters immediately captivated me. Despite her
weird family and the fact that her cousin, Charlotte, is believed to have
inherited the time-travel gene, Gwyneth is just a normal school girl. Imagine
her astonishment when she unexpectedly plunges from her time to another time
with vintage cars and people who are rude when she asks them what year it is.
Totally unprepared for all this, she only has the snooty, rather hostile Gideon
to assist her through the first few jumps back in time.
Gwyneth is rather stoic about all these new developments
but when she has to kill somebody in the eighteenth century, she freaks out. I
really didn't like Gideon at first but he redeems himself a bit during the
course of the book. At the end of the book I still have no idea who of the
guardians to trust; Falk De Villiers with his strange eyes, or the unfriendly
doctor White. There is also no clear line between good guys or bad in this
story thus keeping the reader guessing and making sure that we'll move onto the
next book in the series to find out.
The author splendidly keeps all the characters
realistic in their own period. I laughed out loud when Gwyneth wondered whether
the eighteenth century character, Rakoczy from Transylvania, could perhaps be
Dracula.
Full of excitement, intrigue, a couple of hilarious
scenes and even a touch of romance, Ruby
Red is a thrilling read that I gladly recommend to readers of all ages.
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