age:YA
rating: 6/8 tentacles
I’m beginning to notice that I’m often drawn to time travel as a subject matter. I came across Ruby Red on tor.com where I read an excerpt (the first chapter I think) and became hooked. The premise for the story comes from that irresistible “what if” line of imagination that tickles fancy and and sparks curiosity. What if people could inherit a time travel gene? What if you’ve grown up in the shadow of your snooty cousin, who has spent her life preparing to be a time traveler by learning fencing, dance, etiquette, and history? What if you discover that a mistake as been made and you are the time traveler, suddenly thrown into an unknown past where people stare at you strangely, nothing is familiar, and you have no idea what to do and no one to help you? This is what happens to protagonist Gwyneth Shepard, a likable British school girl who can see and talk to ghosts. When the truth is revealed, Gwyneth is brought into a mysterious underground society and all sorts of secrets begin to surface. Everyone seems to have their own agenda and Gwyneth doesn’t know who to trust, only that the order has a mission which others are working hard to oppose and she’ll have to pick a side sooner or later.
The writing is strong—I already knew I liked Anthea Bell’s work, having read the Inkheart series she translated for Cornelia Funke. Sometimes I can feel a writer manipulating a story, feel their intent behind every word choice, see their fingerprints on every plot turn. These stories are thin, flimsy, insubstantial things. They remain mere words. But when a story is written right, the author disappears, even the words grow dim, and I see only the lives of the characters unfolding before me. This ability to transport is one of the most important qualities of a good book, in my opinion, and this one certainly has it. Also, the cover is gorgeous.
I really like Gwyneth. She’s quirky and she’s got spunk. I always admire spunk. What cousin and previously supposed time traveler Charlotte has in poise and training, Gwyneth makes up for in boldness and backbone. Although she’s just been thrown into this new and complicated situation and she’s a little lost and afraid (as anyone would be) she seems like someone who won’t get pushed around, someone who trusts her own judgment.
My only complaint is one that I often have with series. I don’t feel that this novel had a plot arc all its own, rather that the story has been paused and now I have to wait until next May, when Sapphire Blue is released, to continue it. I really enjoyed the plot, but I don’t think Ruby Red sees it all the way through. Typically plots consist of a kind of set up, an obstacle, efforts to overcome the obstacle, a climax, and a resolution, right? I don’t see any climax or resolution in this book. This trilogy looks like it’s going to be one big story that spans three books instead of being made of three individuals arcs, per each novel, that all contribute to the trilogy’s main arc. This kind of annoys me… I like to have something resolved when I finish a book and I don’t feel like I got any answers, only questions. The story has a good pace. It never dawdles, but makes consistent progress. I just wish it progressed to a resolution of some sort.
I recommend this novel to fans of Linda Buckley-Archer’s Time Traveler’s Trilogy, which begins with Gideon the Cutpurse. Or, if you enjoyed Ruby Red, try out Buckley-Archer’s novels.
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