Sapphire Blue (Ruby Red) [Hardcover]

Kerstin Gier (Author), Anthea Bell (Translator)

Book Description

Release date: October 30, 2012 | Series: Ruby Red (Book 2)

Gwen’s life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. In between searching through history for the other time-travelers and asking for a bit of their blood (gross!), she’s been trying to figure out what all the mysteries and prophecies surrounding the Circle really mean.

 

At least Gwen has plenty of help. Her best friend Lesley follows every lead diligently on the Internet. James the ghost teaches Gwen how to fit in at an eighteenth century party. And Xemerius, the gargoyle demon who has been following Gwen since he caught her kissing Gideon in a church, offers advice on everything. Oh, yes. And of course there is Gideon, the Diamond. One minute he’s very warm indeed; the next he’s freezing cold. Gwen’s not sure what’s going on there, but she’s pretty much destined to find out.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 7-11-In this volume, Gwyneth Shepherd, 16, is trying to reconcile her role as the Ruby, the final member in the Circle of Twelve, a secret time-travel society, with being a normal London teen. Complicating matters are her feelings for handsome Gideon de Villiers, a fellow time traveler who gives Gwyneth mixed signals (he wavers between kissing her and ignoring her), and the secrecy surrounding the Circle, whose distrust of Gwyneth is both unfair and frustrating. And yet, through it all, Gwyneth is adaptable and engaging. As she makes secret trips through time to conspire with her much younger (and living) grandfather or asks a delightful gargoyle ghost to spy for her, Gwyneth uses her intuition and ingenuity to circumvent the Guardians, the controllers of time travel. After all, they're supposed to be looking out for her, but their intentions are murky at best. As Gideon points out to Gwyneth, their lives are dictated by their supernatural genes; they will never be free from the confines of their birth, forced to stay local, so as not to be in constant danger. Hilarious and delightful, this latest entry explores new mysteries and raises new questions-just don't expect any answers yet. A great recommendation for readers looking for adventure, romance, and historical trivia.-Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, Rockaway Township Public Library, NJα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

"A great recommendation for readers looking for adventure, romance, and historical trivia." -- School Library Journal

Praise for Ruby Red:

 

“Gier succeeds on her own terms, keeping the reader moving along, forward and backward in time, and ending with a revelation and a cliffhanger. Both will leave readers anticipating the publication of the next installment, ‘Sapphire Blue.’” —The New York Times Book Review

 

“Humorous, romantic and suspenseful, the plot is fast-paced and impossible to put down. . . . The final romantic cliffhanger will leave you thirsty for the next book in this ‘jewel’ of a series.” —Justine magazine

“What makes this such a standout is the intriguingly drawn cast, stars and supporting players both, beginning with Gwen, whose key feature is her utter normality. Adventure, humor, and mystery all have satisfying roles here.” —Booklist, starred review
 
“Gier’s characters and plotting are first-rate, creating an adventure that should leave readers eager for the rest of the trilogy.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Riveting.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“The characters in Kerstin Gier’s stellar story come fully to life, and veteran translator Anthea Bell (who translated Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart books) preserves the book’s abundant humor. . . . There’s something here for everyone.” —Shelf Awareness

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (October 30, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805092668
• ISBN-13: 978-0805092660
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Teens > Historical Fiction

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent YA historical time travel series October 3, 2012

By Karissa Eckert TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is the second book in the Edelstein Trilogy by Gier. The third book is scheduled for a 2013 release. I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. It was a wonderful read; Gwen learns more about her time traveling gene and we get to learn more about the Guardians as a whole.

Gwen is trying to figure out all this time-traveling stuff and unravel some of the secrets behind the Circle of Twelve. Her partner in time-travel is the very hot and cold Gideon. Will Gwen be able to balance her school, time traveling, and social life without getting killed by the mystery surrounding the Circle of Twelve?

I love Gwen as a character, she is very down to earth. Gwen is trying her best to learn everything she needs to learn to blend into historical settings, but she is constantly being compared to Charlotte (her cousin who already had 15+ years of time traveling training). Gwen takes a pretty good attitude towards everything and I enjoyed reading about her.

Gideon drove me nuts, if I were Gwen I would have smacked him numerous times. He is so hot and cold about Gwen, that I was never really sure where their relationship was going. A lot of page space is given to the back and forths of their "relationship". This isn't all bad because these scenes are very well done.

The mystery unravels in a very deliberate way and I enjoyed the way new tidbits of information were slowly dealt out to the reader. I shared in Gwen's frustration of not knowing what was going on. The way the mystery is slowly being unraveled is absolutely engrossing and makes for a super engaging read.

My only complaint is that I wish we had seen more time travel in the story. In most of the time travel scenes Gwen is going to a cellar to do homework; it would have been awesome to see Gwen in some more scenes that take place out in historical public areas.

The ending is a bit frustrating as well. It ends on a total cliffhanger and pretty much nothing is resolved. There is so much going on in the book that I am curious to see how everything will be resolved in the third (and final) book, Emerald Green.

Overall a great continuation of this series. Gwen is still struggling with her place in this secret time traveling society, but she is making headway and is determined to do her part. The scenes between Gwen and Gideon are very well done but a bit frustrating. I would have liked to see more time travel scenes. Still the way the mystery is slowly unraveling makes for an absolutely engaging story. Recommended to fans of time travel stories and YA stories in general.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Middle Book September 30, 2012

By Tamela Mccann TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Sapphire Blue picks up where Ruby Red left off--Gwen and her time traveling partner Gideon are making regular trips back in time to meet with Count Saint Germain and others to work out the mystery of why they are the last time travelers and why their distant cousins Lucy and Paul have stolen the other chronograph to keep the Circle from closing. Gwen is seen as a poor replacement for her cousin Charlotte and Gideon keeps giving her mixed signals. Despite all this, Gwen begins investigating on her own, running into a young version of her beloved grandfather who decides to help her. Danger lurks; Gwen suffers humiliation; people aren't who they seem to be. This middle book sets the stage nicely for the final book, Emerald Green.

I love Gwen because she's such a real character who puts up with a lot of nonsense from those who should be most supportive. She's tough and she doesn't play by the rules, but her weakness is obviously the hard to read Gideon. He was quite irritating throughout this book, never giving clear vibes as to his intentions and what he knows about the Circle. The real surprise for me was that I liked the appearance of Xemerius, a ghost demon only seen by Gwen; usually these types of characters make me lose interest in a story because they seem silly, but Xemerius is actually funny and helpful in ways almost none of the humans are. In general, I'm pretty irritated by the secrecy and arrogance of the adults and Gideon, and will be glad to see if Gwen can take them all down a few pegs as she solves the mystery.

Sometimes a middle book in a series suffers from lack of action and the addition of non-essential information, but Sapphire Blue seems to have transcended those issues and gives a good story that furthers the overall plot well. I love Gwen and can't wait to see where all this time traveling ends up...but it looks like I've got a year to wait until the final book comes out.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Middle Book...Moving the story along without resolution October 15, 2012

By R. Sperling VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Storyline ---

"Gwen's life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve..."

In book one of the series, Ruby Red, Gwen discovered that she, not her cousin Charlotte, was the anticipated member of the family to carry the time-traveling gene. But in contrast to her cousin who has spent her whole life in training for time traveling, Gwen had no training, no preparation and little desire to be the Ruby.

In Sapphire Blue, Gwen moves deeper into the mystery of time travel, family secrets and complicated relationships. This is a middle book and absolutely nothing is resolved. There are more secrets, more questions and more speculation, but no answers. Furthermore, the darker prophecies leave you wondering if Gwen will survive this maze of mysteries.

Still, even though there was no resolution, the story kept my attention. There were laugh out loud funny moments as well as some surprises. I genuinely like Gwen and Lesley is a great addition to the cast of characters. I'd have liked to have seen more time traveling, but overall the story was well done.

Storyline - 5 stars for creativity.

Writing ---

Overall, the characters are interesting and the plot is intriguing. While this book is full of drama it is actually very light, quick reading.

These books were translated from German. The translation is excellent and if you weren't told you might not even realize that these books weren't originally written in English. The European mindset, however, is noticeably present in the story.

This series is clearly written for teens. They are not for young readers due to content regarding sexual conduct and drinking. And while I often thoroughly enjoy books marketed for teens I found these books to be a little bit too young (especially in regard to the romantic infatuations of the main characters) to recommend them for adult readers.

Writing - 3 stars for limited market appeal.

Other Factors ---

While the author makes light of her inclusion of the spirit world I could not reconcile her use of demons as central, and seemingly innocent, figures in the story. Xemerius the demon, for example, is written to be entirely likeable character making a friendly and almost attractive portrayal of something that is most certainly not innocent. I understand historically why the author made the association between demon and gargoyle, but I still would have preferred her to simply label him a gargoyle and leave it at that.

I would also have preferred that the author refrain from the inclusion of profanity. Though it was mild it certainly was not needed.

Finally, I might as well warn you now that it will be yet another year until book three, Emerald Green, is released. If you want to read these books, but haven't yet started the series I'd consider putting Ruby Red and Sapphire Blue on your wishlist and then waiting to purchase them when Emerald Green is released.

Other Factors - 2 stars for the LONG delay between releases

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Overall Rating as an average of all categories: 3 stars