Ruby Red (2) - Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier
And now to book two of the series about Gwenny and Gideon! Sapphire Blue (original Saphirblau, French Bleu Saphir). I read it in German, where it had 389 pages.
Lessons in time travel are so much worse than the actual jumping. If it was just her teachers making it more complicated than it has to be, she’d be fine. But no, Charlotte has to be involved as well… and still no one’s telling her about the big Secret. And then, there’s this business with Gideon, the guy she wants to trust but shouldn’t… and the ghost gargoyle hunting her steps, Gideon’s brother… And then, there’s Lucy and Paul. The previous, criminal time traveller couple who has lots of secrets… Secrets Gwenny’s about to stumble over.
This book is as funny and breathtaking as the first.
First of all to the most important thing in this book and, in my opinion, the entire series: Xemerius. Can we just focus on how amazingly gorgeous, funny and overall cool that freaking gargoyle is? Gwenny’s discussions with him on the breakfast table (with people listening who can’t see or hear him) and all his comments (helpful or not) and his constant struggle to get her to buy him a cat! So. Damn. Cool! I love that guy.
And he’s way cooler than Gideon.
Gideon. That little prick. Now I definitely want to throw a church on him.
Spoiler:
He’d have deserved it, with his whole hot-and-cold, how he plays her and breaks her heart. He treats her like she’s stupid, not worth his time – only to kiss her again.
I get why he has issues with her, she’s younger than him, not exactly obviously extra-ordinary (if you don’t count the time travelling), at most a little strange. She’s a real girl, with whom he probably doesn’t have any experiences with (since he likely had a childhood like Charlotte – meaning no childhood or friends at all). Of course he doesn’t really want to like her at first. But he’s really behaving like an idiot.
But strangely, I’m put out with Lesley as well. Because she number she pulled with Raphael wasn’t okay, either.
Spoiler:
Raphael really does a lot to help her, and she uses him. She knows he likes her and uses that to get the info she needed. This. Sucks. Butt. For real.
I hope she’ll wake up soon and find out how wrong she’s been. Raphael’s a nice guy – funny, maybe a tiny bit too confident, but with enough to back it up. Intelligent, and absolutely taken with her. He helps her withoutout expecting anything in return. And she goes and… well.
Apart from that, the Lucy-Paul plot line was pretty interesting. I’ve wondered about who they really are and why they did what they did, and… well, it does make sense. And I wasn’t that far off the mark, was I? Well.
Apart from that, Maddie rocks (really, that girl’s gorgeous) and I adore the Soirée Gwenny finds herself at. Or rather, how she finds out the etiquette training is nonsense (biiiig surprise, her teacher is such an idiot!) and gets drunk. Poor Gideon, being her babysitter isn’t exactly easy.
In brief:
I give this book a star for content, ideas, characters and style.
Prequel:
Sequel: