Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier

[jmalone1994]

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.

I did not expect to like this series as much as I already have. In my opinion, the second book in the Ruby Red trilogy, Sapphire Blue was even better than the first book. There was a lot more adventures and life and death experiences in this book than there were in Ruby Red. Also while the romance between Gideon and and Gwyneth was hinted at/started in Ruby Red it really took off in Sapphire Blue.

One thing that I also liked is that they got right on the mysteries in this book. It wasn't one of those books that were like hmmm let's go ahead and let the misogynistic secret society mess everything up before we decide to investigate anything. So I thought that was pretty nice. However, in my opinion, you do not find out a lot about anything in Sapphire Blue because I felt the book was highly focused on the romance and not unraveling the mysteries behind this whole closing the circle, what the count wants to do with a possible philosopher stone, and so on.

Anyways, very good book, I enjoyed it very much. I'm looking forward to getting started on Emerald Green and seeing how Kerstin Gier manages to tie up all of these loose strings in one book.

Overall Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

[Acwoolet]

I also greatly enjoyed this series! Each book is better than the last and I love the growth of the characters through out the series. I have definitely grown attached to them and wish it wasn't just a trilogy, but I guess there's always rereading it!

[MerryLove]

Like the first book in the series this was a very enjoyable read, but I still had a few qualms.

The story has a different layout than your typical novel. While this book continues the plot of the first book, I wouldn't say that it really has its own plot and resolution. It is merely the next step in the many plots and points started in the first. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make the way I am reading them now and for reading them in the future. They truly do seem to be read altogether, and are really more of a 3 part story than a trilogy of 3 separate books.

I do also have to say that this author really has a knack for writing epilogues. Like in the first book, the epilogue left me super excited and ready to read the next book. This actually served as a needed pick me up, because the ending was kind of a let down. Nothing is really resolved. It just happens to be a good stopping spot before we begin “Act 3”.

I was much more pleased with the characters in this book than I was with the first. Gwenneth is a more relatable teenager throughout the book, and Gideon is just as complicated to figure out as ever, since we learn about him through Gwen's impression of him.

I also have to say that I LOVE Xemerius. Where's my demon friend? He is awesome, and a way better “invisible” companion than James was.

The thing that really bothered me most about this story was all of the recapping from the previous book. 100 pages in, I was still reading paragraph style recaps introducing old characters. I felt insulted as a reader, like the author had expected me not to read Ruby Red first. That's something I tend to expect from children's fiction, not Young Adult. With so many others in the genre avoiding these awkward recaps, it felt uncomfortably out of place in Sapphire Blue. Sure, there are often bits of information from previous books given in the sequels, but only those that are important to the current plot, and they are woven into the current atmosphere or conversation so that they feel subtle and almost natural. They are not disjuncted paragraphs telling you what you should already know! -_-

There were also some highly unnecessary comments or jokes about committing hara kiri, a form of suicide, over a boy. I was very disappointed to see this and felt it took away from the book.

Rating

I have to give this a 3 out of 4 stars. The recaps at the beginning are a little too awkward and unnecessary for me to give this book 4 stars, but it is a great read that I know I'll pick up again. The romance in this story is definitely a roller coaster and a bit childish, but if you can handle that, it does make for a decent story. If you are committed to reading all 3 books together and can push through the beginning parts, this is sure to be a enjoyable series.

[zero_macabre]

Wow! I haven't read the series, but after reading your comments, I definitely have to check it out!