Ruby Red

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one moved quickly, and I wasn't ready for it to end! And that's mostly because it DIDN'T end. It just stopped, mid adventure. This is the type of trilogy that should really just be one really long book, because even if it's a series, each book needs to have some sort of narrative arc in and of itself. As it stands, this first book just ends, with no real conclusion for any of the many plot lines or mysteries. I would roll right into the next book of the series, but I have to wait for my hold request to go through at the library. This lack of conclusion itself is one of the reasons why this book is getting 4 stars instead of 5, because I'm rather enjoying the storyline and characters for the most part.

Time travel can become very sticky, especially when multiple people can travel through time, and you never know where people have been and who they've already talked to and how they've influenced the timeline. It can be really hard to keep straight, even as an outside observer, so I can only imagine how hard to is for the characters to wrap their minds around and keep track of.

This book actually reminds me a lot of the Chronos series that begins with Timebound - a girl has the ability to time travel through her genetics, and must use it to save the world/reveal some sort of unknown secret power, and she doesn't know who she can trust, even those in her own family tree. At least that series seemed to have a clear goal: stop the dude from taking over the world and changing the course of history bit by bit. This one, not only can't I figure out who the bad guys are and who the good guys are, I can't figure out what anyone's goals are. What is going to happen when the chrono-thing is complete? Do they even know? Why do some want to stop it? Why would it be bad if the count knows about Gwenyth's abilities? Is that the Power of the Raven?[And is she extra special because she's the child of 2 time travelers? (Yes, I'll say that again. I think it's pretty clear by now that Gwen is Lucy and Paul's child, and Grace has been hiding her for years.) (hide spoiler)]

The only thing I'm a little disappointed by is that the relationships don't feel very developed yet. Plus, it added to the confusion at the end of the book, because I turned the virtual page to see what would happen next, because surely that wasn't the end, to discover the epilogue. Uh, what? I had to go back to make sure I hadn't missed anything. I'm hoping in the next book we get a little more insight into their relationship, more than just "you're different from other girls. You don't do what I say. It's so fascinating."

I also am really looking forward to learning more about Gwen's powers. Seeing ghosts and gargoyles is pretty cool and unique, and I wonder what it means, in the grand scheme of things. I'm especially looking forward to ghost James teaching Gwen all about the past, and maybe she can even meet him while he's still alive sometime! There's other interesting characters, too, like the best friend and the teacher. I'm curious about them, but hopefully the development of the main relationships won't be sacrificed for their sake.

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