Title: Ruby Red

Author: Kerstin Gier

Series: The Ruby Trilogy/The Precious Stone Trilogy #1

Publisher: (original German publisher) Arena Verlag

Publication date: January 6, 2009 (German edition)

Source: library

About: 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.

I CAN’T HANDLE ANY OF THIS. I swear I had chills finishing this book last night (February 10) and now I’ve just watched the movie – OH MY GOSH. Go read it. Go read this book right now. Put down everything and GET IT.

Okay I’m calming myself down (momentarily) so I can explain a few things before I delve into the review: originally, this trilogy (known in some translations as the Precious Stone trilogy, and others the Ruby Red trilogy) was written in German. The books have been translated into seventeen languages, including English. Three movies have been made for the three books – Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue, and Emerald Green. Sadly for me, only the first movie has an English voice over. (I found it here to watch for free.) Because of translation issues, in some editions the main character’s name is Gwendolyn and in others it is Gwyneth. (In the movie it was Gwendolyn and the book I read was Gwyneth.) For the sake of the review I’ll call her Gwen. There are also many different covers. The edition my library had is actually my least favorite, so I’ll share a few others for you to decide which ones you like.

^ Here is the movie trailer!

I completely jumped into this series headfirst, not really knowing what to expect at all. I did know I was excited to read it, and for GOOD REASONS. (!!!) It was really neat reading this trilogy because I had never read a translated book before, and I was excited for my first. I’ve heard it can be tricky, because the plot or characters may not be written as well – somehow getting lost in the adapted editions – but Ruby Red was amazing for an English-translated novel! This was also my first time travel book, so I was easily impressed and definitely want to read more like this!

Here’s the American cover! 

Gwen was such a realistic character. She responded exactly the same way you’d expect a 21st century teenager to act if they began traveling into random periods of time unexpectedly. It was so REFRESHING. She was honest about her feelings and not as wishy-washy or indecisive as some YA protagonists can tend to be.

This is the British one; my favorite!

The overall story is very fast-paced. It spans over a period of week or so; or possibly less (?). So there wasn’t really much time for me to become bored. It pulls you straight in and you’re not putting that book down until you finish.

Annnd this is the original German cover!

The romance was so sweet! Right off the bat, I adored it because it’s a classic Darcy/Elizabeth relationship. I actually liked the little break scenes in the movie where Gideon and Gwen were just hanging out, because the book sort of missed that bit. I felt like they were just on a mission the whole time, so I do wish there had been calmer scenes with the two of them.

The pace of the romance was a little confusing, though. In page-terms, it’s great, because Gideon and Gwen *aren’t* lovey-dovey on page two; it takes a good portion of the book for them to realize their feelings for each other. But that said, in the actual time span of the book it felt like Gideon and Gwen only knew each other for a matter of days. I could be wrong in the time span of the book, but it still felt a little awkward.

SO CUTE. 

The movie was actually really enjoyable! I’m not over-the-moon about it, but I’d watch it again. I did watch the dubbed-over version in English, so it was a little annoying since the voices didn’t line up the with their lips, and I reeeallly wish I could tell how well the actors were because they looked amazing! (Now I need to go learn German — which actually would be pretty cool.) I absolutely ADORED how spot-on the actors were as far as looks though. Spot-on. They couldn’t have fit the bill any less; the descriptions were just SO accurate!

The movie was pretty accurate itself, too. Some scenes were misplaced, but other than that it was great. I wouldn’t recommend watching it if you’re ultra picky about spoilers; there was a small one at the very end which leads into the second book. However, it’s a small one and I didn’t mind too much.

It is a bummer that the other two movies haven’t been made into English yet. The latest one, Emerald Green, comes out this June! Can’t wait to get the next two books from the library!

you absolutely HAVE to read this series! go get it soooon & tell your friends about it so they can tell their friends about it so they can tell their friends about it! it’s amaaaazing. (trust me.)

have you read this series before?! and do you think you’ll read it, or be interested in seeing the movie?

 

 

 

P.S. All the GIFs in this post are from the movie!