Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Geir, translated from German by Anthea Bell
From the Book Jacket: 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.
Review: Sapphire Blue picks up almost immediately after the ending of Ruby Red. While I enjoyed reading it, it suffers as the middle book. The biggest issue with the book is that there is much less plot progression than one would expect. We learn part of the reason why Lucy and Paul leave the Circle of Twelve and something of what they’ve been up to but we still don’t know what will happen once the Circle of Twelve closes.
Much of the book is devoted to teen melodrama in the form of Gideon and Gwyneth, which is simply not as interesting as the adventure. Gwyneth is still operating in the dark and rightfully getting frustrated by it since no one trusts her to share anything with her even though it directly impacts her. As this is the middle of the book when heroes tend to lose focus in trilogies, I just hope that she pulls it all together in the last book. She’s also getting distracted by Gideon. With regard to the romance, I felt that Gwyneth’s feelings were much too rushed since only a week has passed since the beginning of Ruby Red but its been a long time since I’ve been sixteen…. Again, hopefully, she’ll pull herself together in the last book and regain her pluck.
Anyway, the book is still lighthearted and funny like the last book. I loved the side characters, particularly Xemerius, and the humor carries the reader through the book even if the action doesn’t. The book moves at a fast pace and the end of the story is still promising. A lot is going to need to be explained in the last book to finally wrap everything all together.
Recommended for young teenage girls and older ones who want something light and fun.
Read for the 2013 Color Coded Reading Challenge: Blue. Other books I’ve read for the challenge are here.
loud and little 