Review: “Sapphire Blue” by Kerstin Gier

Well, I’m sort of back into the blogging game! It was actually quite nice not having to worry about writing up posts or thinking of content for a few days. 😛 I was on spring break last week, so I finished a few books, reread my favorite series (The Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski), and just had a very bookish break. It was quite nice. Husband and I traveled as well. All around a good time.

But I’m not here to blab about my vacation!

Title: Sapphire Blue (The Ruby Red Trilogy #2)
Author: Kerstin Gier, Anthea Bell (translator)
Publisher: Henry Holt
U.S. Release date: October 30, 2012
Genre: Young adult, fantasy, sci-fi
Length: 357 pages (hardcover)
Synopsis: (via Goodreads) “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.”

These audiobooks are such a treat! I listened to the first one via audio, so of course I had to continue the series that way. It only seemed fitting. 🙂 Also the narrator, Marisa Calin, does a great job! This is actually a quick read despite being an audiobook, or maybe you just get absorbed in the story you that time passes quickly. Or both, lol. 🙂

Sapphire Blue picks up only a few hours where Ruby Red left off. Gwenyth and Gideon just arrived back from the 1910s after being ambushed in that time period. There’s a lot of mystery and questions, and I’m just not quite sure this book answered all of it for me. It created more, that’s for sure, especially with the ending, and I have very conflicted feelings about Gideon and am struggling to understand why Gwenyth likes him.

As for Gwenyth she’s a complete blast! There are times when she can come off as childish, but we have to remember she’s only 16 (soon-to-be 17?) and everything was quite thrust upon her. Quite frankly, I think she’s handling it quite well. We see there are a few people in this group of time travelers who are fond of Gwenyth, and I’m hoping we get to explore that a little bit more as we did in this book. I love that Gwenyth really borders the line between serious and humorous, too. And I still adore her best friend and her new demon friend, lol.

Without spoiling things, there was someone who was suspected of knowing about Gwenyth in the first book and was brought into the Circle quite easily, but I feel like there should be more questions about him. He sort of just…appeared and Gwenyth just accepted it. Maybe I’m the only one who really cared about that but… I do!

Now as for the parts with Lucy and Paul, who really started all this in the first place, I’m quite intrigued! I want to picture them as good guys but I don’t know. Same for the Inner Circle of this whole thing… So many mixed feelings! But wow, was that ending ominous! I’m starting to think (and Gwenyth might be too) that her mom was right about this whole thing: Trust no one!

I’m really looking forward to the third and final book, not only to see how everything wraps up but also because I want this series to end with a bang, and I’m hoping the author provided that for us. 🙂

You can purchase this book from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository, or Indie Bound. It’s an older series (7+ years) so I don’t know many bookstores still carry copies.