Review: Emerald Green

EMERALD GREEN
The Ruby Red Trilogy #3
Kerstin Gier
Young Adult/Time Travel
464 pages
Henry Holt and Co.
Available now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Gwen has a destiny to fulfill, but no one will tell her what it is.

She’s only recently learned that she is the Ruby, the final member of the time-traveling Circle of Twelve, and since then nothing has been going right. She suspects the founder of the Circle, Count Saint-German, is up to something nefarious, but nobody will believe her. And she’s just learned that her charming time-traveling partner, Gideon, has probably been using her all along.

This stunning conclusion picks up where Sapphire Blue left off, reaching new heights of intrigue and romance as Gwen finally uncovers the secrets of the time-traveling society and learns her fate.

MY THOUGHTS
Much like its predecessor, Emerald Green wastes very little time tossing us back into the middle of multiple time-travel timelines with almost no recap of previous events, but even though we’re foggy on specifics, it’s as easy as ever to get involved in this last leg of Gwen’s journey. While we certainly have questions about the past and present and how the various events of both relate to one another, we can’t help but find ourselves pushing them to the back of our minds and simply enjoying the humor that’s become a trademark of the series. Gwen’s sly quips combine with an absurdly hilarious gargoyle ghost/demon to keep us smiling through any haze of confusion that temporarily causes us to stumble, ensuring that the crazy train that is the Montrose family takes us for one unforgettable ride.

Gwen has been a joy throughout the series, constantly battling the Guardians' unrelenting incredulity that she’s the one who inherited the time travel gene over her cousin Charlotte, and continuing to endure their snide remarks and their secrecy with a grace we’re quite sure we wouldn’t be able to muster in her place. Though things with Gideon are still far from smooth sailing in this last book, Gwen is not the type of young woman prone to angst or overly emotional reactions, having only minor meltdowns that end in rants to her best friend (as is to be expected based on the situation), charming us with her disgust over her very temporary weepiness rather than frustrating us with an epic emotional unraveling. Minor relationship hiccup aside, Gwen is strong and determined in this final installment, attempting to decipher the numerous prophecies and their ominous predictions to figure out the purpose of all her and Gideon’s misadventures back in time.

Though there are tense moments between Gwen and Gideon in this book, their romance isn’t quite as deeply involving as it has been in the past (with one large exception), the extraordinary number of loose threads in need of tying off rightfully demanding the majority of the spotlight. We might not entirely understand every piece of the puzzle that's uncovered, but many of our questions are answered, additional pieces clicking into place the more we turn events over in our minds after finishing. Things are wrapped up nicely in the end, but there’s certainly room for more should Ms. Gier ever feel the need to follow up with Gwen and give us a look at her life after the dust from the final events settles, and I certainly wouldn’t mind if somewhere along the line these characters called out to her once again.

Rating: 4/5
 

Previous Reviews:

Ruby Red • Sapphire Blue

Find Kerstin

Goodreads • Amazon 

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: Sapphire Blue

SAPPHIRE BLUE
(The Ruby Red Trilogy #2)
Kerstin Gier
Paranormal Young Adult
368 pages
Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Available October 30th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from 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.

 

MY THOUGHTS

Sapphire Blue picks up at the exact moment Ruby Red left off, giving us little time to reacclimate ourselves with this world of time travel before our minds are forced into overdrive trying to remember the finer details of the many varied characters and their relationships with the past, present and future. Luckily, once we get over the mild surprise caused by our abrupt return to Gwen and Gideon’s sides, we’re able to settle back into the story, and our minds have a few minutes to catch up as Gwen helpfully relays the events of her last time-traveling adventure with Gideon to several interested parties. Some of the more intricate nuances of the time-travel gene are lost on us in this second installment, the complications that arise from traveling back in time as well as the ramifications of such an action causing our brains to hurt if we dwell on them too long, but we are thankfully easily able to focus on the larger mystery surrounding the Circle of Twelve and the various prophecies surrounding it, providing us with direction when we might otherwise get overwhelmed by all the possibilities.

Gwen is a delightful heroine, a young woman who deals surprisingly well with the very sudden upheaval in her life, often approaching her situation with humor when we might lash out in anger and frustration were we in her shoes. She absorbs all the snide comments and general disapproval aimed in her direction without ever showing any outward signs of distress, her mental commentary the only thing to tip us off as to how all the negativity swirling around her affects her, but just as her stoicism (particularly with Gideon) starts to frustrate us, she lets loose her true feelings in a torrent of emotion and finally reveals the wounds each verbal slap and slice have caused. Even as tensions with Gideon and the other Guardians run high, Gwen maintains her sense of humor, only allowing a few brief moments of darkness before she lightens the mood with her trademark witty banter.

Gideon, for his part, is a challenging young man to like in this sequel, our vision of the man we want him to be going hazy in the face of the man he’s currently choosing to be, and our teeth left with no other option but to grind a bit in irritation as his moods seem to shift at the flick of a switch. He actively pursues Gwen when they’re alone only to push her away the moment they appear in anyone else’s line of sight or range of hearing, but as Gwen does, Gideon eventually ventures to place his heart on his sleeve and shows the first stirrings of vulnerability. To ensure we're riding the relationship edge throughout with these two, we find that the chapters are occasionally preceded by a poem, quote, or prophecy, some of which cause nervous flutters of anticipation as they hint at dangerous things to come for the hearts of our two protagonists.

Sapphire Blue does conclude mid-story, a few of the reasons why Gwen and Gideon are traveling to certain dates in the past remaining somewhat unclear to us, however, as mentioned before we are well aware of the larger end goal of their time traveling in general, even if the specifics of certain journeys remain a touch murky. The concluding pages do little to quell our aforementioned nervous flutters, instead ratcheting them up to a more fervent and insistent throb as one character’s parting words to Gideon suddenly take the wait for Emerald Green from painful to excruciating.

Rating: 4/5