Ruby Red (The Ruby Red Trilogy, 1) Paperback – May 22, 2012

When I saw the trailer for this book I was hooked. The main character, Gwen, had such a strong voice and brought up things I'd never thought about when it came to time travel. She was funny and charismatic. Now I know this was the voice in the trailer, but it still begged for my attention. As soon as I got it, I dove in!A summary-Gwen lives in her maternal grandmother's home with her mother, brother and little sister. They live in the shadow of Gwen's cousin, Charlotte who was born with "the gene"-the one for time travel. Right away you know this is a different kind of time travel novel. The character knows she can time travel. In fact, the whole family knows about it. Everyone is waiting on tenterhooks for Charlotte to experience her first travel back in time. She has some dizziness and nausea, so she's rushed to a secret headquarters for the time travelers called The Temple. Charlotte has been trained, groomed for time travel since she could talk. Schooled in fencing, history, fashion, politics, manners etc Charlotte is fully prepared for time travel with her handsome partner, Gideon de Villiers.Lesley, Gwen's best friend, is the only one that knows about the time travel, outside of the family. They snicker and roll their eyes at the haughty, perfect self-important Charlotte behind her back. So when it's Gwen that makes an unexpected trip back in time, Lesley is the person she confides in first. Eventually, when Gwen disappears in front of Lesley's eyes, she makes Gwen tell her mother and they go to the Temple. Her mother is reluctant, her mother's sister, Charlotte's mother, is furious, claiming she is just trying to get attention and steal Charlotte's thunder. But, when it's proved that Gwen is the time traveller, she meets Gideon de Villiers, her time traveling partner and gets a crash course in time travel.That's a lot of the story-more than I should reveal-to get you hooked. Charlotte is a self important over indulged child. She's only a very slight character, but those are the impressions you get. Her mother, Aunt Glenda, is very much the same, treated with importance and a lot of attention by her mother, Lady Arista all because she had the child with the traveling gene. Then there is Great Aunt Maddy, Lady Arista's spinster sister-in-law. She treats Gwen's family the same as Charlotte's, thinks all the secrecy is ridiculous and is a little bit doddering. Lesley, the best friend is a great character. She is loyal, caring, researches every word Gwen says to try to figure things out. She compiles a file of information of people and places that seem to be important for Gwen to know about. I want a best friend like her.But the two main characters are Gwen and Gideon. Gwen is smart enough, but better than that, she's clever. She can figure herself out of situations and she doesn't let Gideon, the so called teacher, tell her what to do. She can also see and talk to ghosts, something no one seems to believe. She listens to her instincts instead of others. She looks nothing like the rest of the family who have red curly hair. Hers is dark and straight and she has blue eyes and a crescent shaped birthmark on her forehead. She doesn't suffer from thinking she's ugly,but doesn't think she's quite as pretty as Charlotte. She's not quite as much as anything as Charlotte when she's spent her whole life believing the opposite. She's not really jealous though. Except for her dad dying when she was young, she's had a normal, carefree childhood as opposed to a lifetime of lessons like Charlotte. She knows her immediate family loves her and she has a confident best friend. She's also one of the strongest female protagonists I've seen yet in YA fiction.Then there's Gideon. The first time he meets Gwen he calls her "Winnie". Then Gwen overhears Charlotte disparaging her saying her strong points are giggling with Lesley and sending text messages. Gideon's response is "I thought as much when I first saw her today." Not winning any points with Gwen or me at this point. Gwen thinks he and Charlotte are in love. When Gwen fails Gideon's 'history test' he tells her to do what he says and say what he tells her to say and nothing else when they travel. Other things he says, "She's definitely not my type," doesn't win him any points. He constantly assures her and himself and Charlotte that he's not interested in her. Still, Gwen can't help but notice how handsome he is in his period clothes and thinks he's handsome. But she keeps her head about her.The bigger issue is the mystery. Who to believe? Who to trust? Is St. Germain, who left Gwen very wary to be trusted? What about Lucy and Paul? Can she trust herself? Has she traveled back in the past to warn herself or others of something? Can she trust Gideon? Does he have an agenda? And the Temple?There is a little snippet of the next book, Sapphire Blue already published in German in the back of Ruby Red. It looks very promising. I want to get a certain Bookworm to translate it for me. I don't think she does that though.So, what do you think? Are you as excited as me? Have you read it yet? Are dropping your mouse and running out to buy it? I know I'm gushing again. I'm not saying genius or anything, but it might take one to put the puzzle together. It's a great story and you just don't want to miss it!

Gwen’s life was going pretty well until she finds that she’s inherited her family’s time travel gene that everyone thought her cousin, Charlotte had. Charlotte is beautiful and perfect and has been training for this her entire life so it comes as a shock when Gwen accidentally travels through time. Gwen, who doesn’t know much about history, who’s clumsy and awkward, who sometimes talks to people that aren’t there. As everyone races to get Gwen caught up to speed to take on a dangerous mission from a shady secret society, she starts to wonder what exactly she’s being trained for.GUYS THIS BOOK WAS SO MUCH FUN. It’s got a lot of things I love in it: time travel, spunky heroines, ghosts, talking statues, a handsome guy who wields a sword, and MAGIC. This book was originally published in German and it’s hugely popular in Germany even spawning two movies (and there will be a third) and I can definitely see why. Gwen is a great character because she’s incredibly easy to relate to. I even featured her in my Top Ten Favorite Heroines From Books post a few months back. I love how she questions everything and sets about finding things out for herself while still trying to help people in any way she can. She’s not just automatically good at things and has to try very hard to not die or mess up an operation and it’s so refreshing. Gideon is a pretty great character too. He starts out really annoyed by Gwen because she doesn’t have the training she needs to carry out these missions and he doesn’t want to have to babysit or take care of her, but over time he comes to really respect her and her overwhelming capacity for compassion. He sees how hard she tries to help everyone even though she’s ill equipped and he can’t help but sort of fall for her. Gwen also has one of the coolest best friends ever, Lesley, who never questions Gwen’s weird destiny and sets about being her personal Google while she’s traveling through time. I wish I had a best friend this cool (sorry, Beth!) and she’s one of my favorite parts of the story.The world is intriguing and has a secret society whose mission is beyond hush hush. See, each time traveler (and there are twelve) comes with a prophecy attached to them (and some even have powers) and Gwen’s prophecy is VERY IMPORTANT. The whole mythology of the time traveling gene and the history of time travelers is thoroughly described. The lore is consistent and explored in a manner that is both exciting and just a little bit mysterious. Between chapters, there are often excerpts from texts the society has written and other small tidbits that relate to the main plot in ways you don’t understand until later. The writing bursts with energy. Seriously, I had so much fun reading this book. The plot moves at a very fast pace for the most part with some of the slower sections taking a few minutes to explore Gwen’s thoughts and emotions and I found the balance pretty well-maintained. I liked how we got both action and introspection and there are a lot of twists that you think you’ll see coming, but won’t (at least I didn’t). Most of the story doesn’t come together in the way you expect and this is the first book in the trilogy so you won’t get some answers until you’ve read to the end.This book features a lot of different relationships. You have Gwen and her family (some of which are supportive and others not so much), Gwen and Lesley (so much win right here), Gwen and the secret society members (really interesting take on trust and how to earn it), and Gwen and Gideon (hello, swooning over here). Gwen and her family is a complicated situation because some of them have been preparing her cousin Charlotte for this life and they’re not happy that Gwen has usurped her purpose. But her mother, brothers and sisters, and grandmother are truly wonderful and supportive. Gwen and Gideon’s relationship felt very authentic to me as it grew throughout the pages into something very different than what it started as. It was a very organic progression and you understood every second of it (except for when you weren’t really supposed to). I feel like Gideon came to really value and adore Gwen in a way that marked her an an equal and not just a love interest and though he wanted to protect her, he didn’t dismiss her which was important. And Gwen came to understand Gideon as more than the cute guy she was stuck with. The relationship frustrated me in the best ways and made me smile a lot while reading. They’re both sort of sarcastic and funny so it was enjoyable to witness.Again, this book was an adventure, but I do recommend getting all three books at the same time because you’re gonna want to jump right into the next one as soon as you finish. There isn’t really a gap between books either so all the events take place one after the other which can be frustrating if you wait between reading each book because you might not remember what happened before and it’s pretty important that you keep details fresh in your mind to understand some of the developments. I highly recommend this book (and series) to anyone looking to have a good time with a pretty awesome main character who feels a lot like someone you could actually know in real life. It’s intriguing and the dialogue is particularly enjoyable as it’s sassy and always good for a laugh.

Libro consegnato nei tempi previsti, ben impaginato e maneggevole, con caratteri della giusta grandezza per una lettura comoda. Non l'ho ancora letto, ma non vedo l'ora

Nota verdadeira: 3,5 mas eu arredondei para cima, porque esse livro é super divertido e me prendeu tanto que só parei de ler quando tinha acabado! Ele é super leve também, apesar das explicações da viagem no tempo serem bem criativas e cheias de detalhes, e totalmente dá para ler em um dia (como eu fiz).Claro que ainda tenho algumas críticas a fazer, mas foi uma das leituras mais agradáveis que já fiz esse ano! Gostei bastante da protagonista, apesar de ela não ter nada de realmente especial, e adorei a sua melhor amiga, Lesley! Os personagens, ainda que sejam bastante juvenis e nem tão complexos, são interessantes e fora do clichê o suficiente para serem um ponto alto na história! Me diverti bastante com a narração da Gwen e suas interações com a Lesley! Quero mais!A questão de viagem no tempo é completamente diferente de todos os outros livros que já li, ainda que não seja a mais intrigante (a mais certamente é do livro O Último dos Magos!). Desde a primeira viagem da Gwen, foi tudo bem divertido! Queria ter os próximos livros já para começar o segundo hoje mesmo! Estou cheia de teorias e confusa com tantas coisas, que preciso descobrir logo suas respostas!Mas vamos às críticas? Como falei, os personagens são bastante juvenis. Isso não é exatamente uma crítica, mas, comparada com tantas garotas de dezesseis (principalmente personagens dessa idade, com as quais estamos acostumados), a Gwen pode parecer um pouco imatura. Eu pessoalmente acho que é impressão só, porque ela não fez realmente nada de imaturo, só é brincalhona sempre. Mesmo assim, não tem como negar que todo o livro tem uma atmosfera mais jovem do que precisava ter, o que faz todo o universo ser divertido e lúdico, mas me impediu um pouco de levá-lo tão a sério quanto eu levaria outros livros.Para resumir, na verdade, talvez eu dissesse que esse livro é como um filme de sessão da tarde super bem feito. Ele não está no nível dos que ganham Oscars, mas tampouco decepciona em questão de entretenimento.Minha outra crítica para o livro é o romance, que estava indo muito bem (ou seja, meramente se apresentando como uma opção futura) até que tudo se apressou no final. O livro inteiro é bem começo, tem a sensação de iniciação (imagino que o grosso mesmo da história esteja nos próximos livros), e o romance deveria acabar assim também. Não sei bem a intenção da autora, talvez ela queira mesmo que eu não me convença tão fácil pelo romance, talvez não. Vai saber!Por último, apesar de eu ter adorado ler o livro todo em um dia, acho que ele poderia e deveria ter sido maior. É uma leitura tão leve, que a autora poderia ter introduzido algumas aulas básicas para viagens no tempo ou outras viagens sem tanto significado para dar ao leitor também a sensação de que está se estabilizando na história. Se você parar para pensar no final em tudo que aconteceu e no tempo que tudo demorou para acontecer, vai perceber que foi um pouco rápido e corrido. E não tinha essa necessidade! Esse livro é divertido demais para ficar entediante, então a autora poderia ter se dado o luxo de trabalhar mais em cima de algumas cenas e estender um pouco o desenvolvimento principalmente da relação entre a Gwen e par supostamente romântico.Mas, como falei, o livro é bem divertido, eu adorei a leitura e agora estou me chamando de idiota por ter comprado só o primeiro livro com medo de não gostar! Seria tão incrível se eu já tivesse o segundo aqui comigo!

Este es un libro de viaje en el tiempo, sí. Pero hay algo que lo diferencia del resto, que le da cierto aire limpio, y probablemente tenga que ver con la protagonista de la saga. Ruby Red habla de una chica que se encuentra en una posición para la que jamás se ha preparado, viajar en el tiempo de forma esporádica, lo cual debe ser menos agradable de lo que parece. Esta es una saga con personajes de lo más estrambóticos, absurdos, distintos y divertidos; y cuando escribo esta reseña, me refiero a los tres libros porque, si compras uno, vas a acabar haciéndote con los otros dos. Lo sé por experiencia.También hicieron una adaptación al cine (en alemán, aunque doblada al inglés) que es bastante aceptable, aunque el libro no tiene ni punto de comparación.

the book is amazing and the characters of this volume are very captivating . The story was awesome and i could not keep it down .I am planning to read the next book as well . The delievery was quite prompt and the book being hardcover was safe . I would recommend this book to people who are fond of time travel books .THIS WAS NICE.

I love this bookUsually I don`t like reading but you Kerstin Gore you really changed me now I just want to read all your books!Best book I have ever read!(and I have read a lot of books to find out if I like them)Can`t get any better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!