Review: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

  April 22, 2013

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

I have to say I was a bit disappointed in this book. Again I got lost in the hype around a high rated book and let that con me into purchasing it. Let me start off by saying this is in no way a BAD book. It was beautifully written, had somewhat relatable characters and the leading lady Gwyneth wasn't a complete idiot like most young women written in these books. But there was just something about the plot that was a bit slow and boring to me.

The characters spent a lot of time talking about "some"secret and i swear they spent the entire 318 pages referring to it as such. I feel as though I've learned very little as the mission at hand because not even the characters that were supposed to be guiding Gwyneth shared any details about her purpose or what she should even be doing with her time traveling gene. What's the point of being able to time travel and not being notified on what you're supposed to be doing with it. The book spent most of it's time doing little revealing and focused more of it's time talking about characters that didn't make an appearance until the end of the book.

I liked Gwyneth. She was honest,likeable and actually quite sharp. Her best friend Lesley was really cute and supportive, a bff every girl should have. Her cousin Charlotte and her crazy ass mom were obnoxious. I was glad when Gwyneth unintentionally kicked Charlotte off her high horse with being born with the time traveling gene. Some girls just have it all, but Gwyneth proved that you don't have to be this overachieving maniac to be part of something special.

And then there's Gideon, her love interest. I didn't hate him but I wasn't head over heels for him either. He did seem attractive but his personality was a bit bland and I just didn't "get" him. Perhaps he just wasn't in enough scenes, because I knew so little about him. I did like that they didn't have some insta-love thing going on. But I also wondered if they would even fall for each other because there wasn't a whole lot of normal teen interactions between the two of them. They hardly flirted, barely shared anything personal with each other and they just didn't have much chemistry. And the ending! I didn't understand why the ending ended the way it did. 

There were some inconsistencies that I didn't quite understand and I was hoping the author would clear them up by the end of the book. Like how was Gwyn staring at Identical versions of herself and Gideon Hundreds of years back. I was hoping they'd explain it but NOPE, NADA!

Overall I'd give this book a 3 star rating. It had some pacing issues for me and I would have liked to see them time travel more and have better explanations on the task that was at hand. No one wanted to tell anyone what was going on.I don't even feel like I've read a complete story, more like a novella. I wish there would have been more details about her take on the mysteries of time traveling. I love time travel, in fact our first novel is about time travel but I was hoping it would have more action in it. I look forward to the sequel but I'm not exactly rushing out to get it.

Libertad's Rating: