review: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

pub date: May 10, 2011
publisher: Henry Holt and Co
pages: 336
source: ALA Midwinter
appeals: time travel, humor, romance, England, mystery, contemporary
content: clean



thoughts:
I loved this book! It was wonderful! It was adventurous, really quick to read, with never a dull moment. I really enjoyed the time travel. The translator did an excellent job.

The characters were great. I liked Gwen an awful lot. She had such an endearing personality and attitude. Her family members were quirky and very entertaining. Though some were more likable than others. I especially loved Gwen's friend Lesley. Their movie addiction was great. It kept me smiling.

There was a little romance in her relationship with Gideon, though it was very abrupt, I'm glad something romantic happened before the end. Because end was rather abrupt, too. The last page was the middle of a scene.  Which made me really want to read the next book in the series. But sadly, I don't read German.

I actually like the German covers much better than the US. Aren't they wonderful?

I love how Gwen and Gideon are arguing in the first, flirting and in the second, and dancing and smiling in the third. There's their relationship illustrated with shadow puppets! (or so I assume since I've only actually read the first). I think the US cover doesn't really reflect the story inside, which is quirky and fun. Though it is pretty, the US cover looks too serious to me.

blurb:
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.