Ruby Red

Ruby Red Trilogy, Book 1

By: Kerstin Gier, Anthea Bell - translator

Narrated by: Marisa Calin

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth who, in the middle of class, takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon, the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

©2011 Kerstin Gier, with a translation copyright of 2011 by Anthea Bell (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Humorous, romantic and suspenseful, the plot is fast-paced and impossible to put down.... The final romantic cliffhanger will leave you thirsty for the next book in this ‘jewel’ of a series." ( Justine magazine)

I don't know why this is marked as childrens book.

By far my favorite narrator within the audible world. an entertaining book regardless. worth the credit!

Unique storyline.

I wish that 1 story would be completed per book instead of 3. It's hard to feel satisfied when it leaves you hanging.

Intriguing mix of now and then

Time travel. Ghosts. Visions. Telekinesis. Philosopher's stone? Alchemy? Magic? Vampire? It's an interesting mix of everything, in the modern day and in the past. A teenaged girl is forced into a destiny of time-travel and family secrets.

A fun read or listen! Now I want to read the next installment!

Wish it were longer

I adored the narrator, she made it fun and interesting. Easy to follow the story line. Just wish the story had been longer. can't wait to listen to the next book

Just the start

What did you like best about Ruby Red? What did you like least?

This is just the beginning... it should have been released as a part of a book rather than a stand alone book. To avoid frustration, wait until you can have all 3 parts.

Has Ruby Red turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

Would you listen to another book narrated by Marisa Calin?

Yes

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

It was ok....

The story was a bit hard to follow for me. not very many ups and downs. It was just ok....

Good YA fiction, but some plot holes

** spoiler alert ** Ruby Red was a fun, quick, easy read. After reading a more serious book (A House in the Sky), I needed something light and silly, and this was up on an Audible sale for the first in a series.

The story is of Gwyneth, the cousin of Charlotte who is the next in the long line of time travellers. The ability to time travel is genetic, a mystery gene passed through two families and connected (in some way) to the carrier's date of birth that becomes active when the carrier is 16. But only when prophesied by the Guardians... I think. Ok, some of the plot is a bit confusing, but the idea of genetic time travel is interesting, especially when all of the sudden you realize Charlotte isn't the actual gene carrier! Instead, with no training or understanding of what is happening, Gwyneth begins jumping back for 20 minute trips to the 18th Century!

After finding out she is actually the time traveller the family has been expecting, this normal school girl must navigate the mysteries of both surviving random trips to the past (if she travels back while in the second floor of a building in the present, will she drop 20 feet in the 1800s?) and discovering the mysteries of the secret society guarding the time travellers and fully ingrained into the family history (and drama). Oh, and did I mention that the time travel can be controlled (or at least regulated) by the chronograph, an ancient device that "runs on" the gene carrier's blood (or uses it to activate the controls) and, when loaded with the blood from all 12 time travellers, will reveal some big secret or power - and that the original chronograph was stolen by Lucy and Paul, two of the previous generation, leaving the two final time travellers (Gwyneth and the slightly older brooding hunk Gideon) to travel back and get everyone's blood to complete the circle and reveal the power with a new chronograph?! Stealing the chronograph means Paul and Lucy are stuck in the past, but also are pitted against Gideon and Gwyneth in a cross-century race to control the destiny of the chronograph. And could Paul and Lucy be Gwyneth's real parents...? This all happens across centuries, but only about three or four days in the present, right after Gwyneth starts travelling.

There is a bit more young adult fiction drama in this book than I'm used to in what I normally read. Oh my goodness, he's sitting close to her and she's blushing, the world is going to end! Haha, but it's fun still fun, and doesn't quite overpower the plot (though can distract from figuring out the mystery when the discussion gets sidelined by intense internal dialogue about his moody eyes and who he likes better). Thinking about the book from a young adult perspective, however, these interjections are not over the top and provide good insight into Gwyneth's sudden change while also being a regular 16 year old girl. Her relationship with her best friend, Leslie, who also becomes her researcher, was an interesting one. I thought they were setting up an actual relationship between them, with some of the word choice, but it seems it remains as best friends by the end of the book.

What isn't made clear in this book is what the mysterious power is that will be revealed by completing the chronograph's blood work. Instead of having its own self-contained resolution, the book ends just as the plot thickens (in the case as Gideon and Gwyneth get ambushed by Paul and Lucy and new revelations are made that may tie into the fact Gwyneth can see ghosts). Means I need to get the next book in the series and keep reading this YA series!

The narrator of this series, Marisa Calin, is great. Her beautiful English and variety of accents is worth listening to alone, but she crafts decent voices together to make the series better. Sometimes her male voices sound a bit like she's trying to speak in whale (long, drawn-out, low, over-pronounced...). I'm shocked to find out she actually trained and lives in New York (though I don't know when she moved from the UK to US). I'd listen to other works she's narrated.

Slow and steady wins the race

For me personally, the story took too long to get to a point I found interesting. Leslie doesn't seem to do much in this book so I'm not sure what her purpose is. I found the performance to be a bit confusing: all of the malev voices sound so similar I found it difficult to keep characters straight. The ending of this first book, though is what's probably going to make me listen to the rest of the series.

Slow and boring at first, but it picked up!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

hmmm. I'm on the fence about this one. The beginning was slow and treacherous but it started to pick up at the end. I found myself fast fowarding to the part where she actually tells people she is the time traveler. The beginning was so slow and i feel like the author spent to much time on the build up and not enough on the actually traveling

What did you like best about this story?

I like the story. Its different and unique

Which character – as performed by Marisa Calin – was your favorite?

I really liked George. I didn't fall in love with Gwen like i normally do with female leads.I think because i prefer the strong willed heroin leads and Gwen in this book seems like a pushover a lot of the time and doesn't stand up for herself which infuriates me. Hopefully in the next book she will learn a few more traits and wise up a little.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Even in the present you must face the dangers of the past

Any additional comments?

Like i mentioned above, hopefully she will wise up a little and learn some things so she can take care of herself. I did feel like the kiss at the end was a little rush. He has only been around her a few times and suddenly she is "special to him" That same day he was cozy-ing up to Charlotte.

Love this story!

Love this time-traveling story. It’s original and fun and I love all the plot twist. Have read all books twice and I always recommend this trilogy to mothers and their teen daughters. This was my first audio book listen and I loved how the narrator read it. Well done!