Twice Baked Thursday: Ruby Red

Twice Baked Thursday is an original weekly meme created here at Cardigans, Coffee and Bookmarks.  This feature was created because Randi and Becky, often read the same books and have very different opinions about them.  When we read the same book, we do a joint review on it, showing both sides. Our reviews will "talk back" to one another, one reviewer writing in another color text. Please feel free to join us and link to our blog in your post, and also use the widget below to link your own double review to our page.


Title: Ruby Red (Edelstein Trilogy #1)
Author: Kerstin Gier
Genre: sci-fi (time travel)/romance
Audience: young adult
Pages: 324
Source: Bought (Randi) library (Becky)
Rating: 3.5 (Randi) I'd friend this book on Facebook 'cuz I bet it would be a really great opponent in SongPop.
4 stars(Becky) I'd take this book to a winery with me 

Goodreads 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 eighteenth century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Our Thoughts

(Randi is in black text this week.)

I liked this book. It was fun and definitely has that fluff quality. Delicious marshmallowy, time traveling fluff. It is very quickly paced, and you can't help but flip the pages. However, I don't particularly feel for any of the characters, who all seemed incredibly shallow and flat They are all "pants", as in characters so blank that you can plug in yourself or your latest crush/enemy.  It's a trend in YA novels that is gaining popularity for obvious reasons. Nor am I all that intrigued by the plot. I felt like the plot just keep piling on new "discoveries" as Gwyneth learns more rather than actually progressing forward.  I actually really enjoyed the plot in a lighthearted way, particularly how it crosses fantasy and sci fi, and the family lineage.  I really want to know the mysterious secret power. The description on Goodreads kind of gives away the entire plot as well, so there's not really any surprise factor throughout the novel. Luckily for me, I did not read the goodreads description or back of the book, lol.  For sure the reader and Gwyneth are passive in the story. We experience, but we do not "do".  I think that's why I found the story relaxing. The entire story seems very watered down, which is nice sometimes, on the other hand, written differently, there could have been important themes brought out in the book that would lend it more literary merit.  I'm not sure this book could ever have had much literary merit.  It's more of a rainy day or beach day read.  I call this type of story "candy". (But you could totally have a sci-fi/fantasy story with literary themes present! Not with this book, but with that overall genre blending. I would read a book like that! In fact, I probably would have liked this story a lot more if the characters seemed real and the romance seemed more plausible.) :) 

None of the characters have any real depth, even Gwyneth, the protagonist. Gwyneth was funny, though not particularly interesting.  Yeah, I'm kind of hoping she matures more in book 2. Aunt Glenda and Charlotte (I really wanted to know more about Charlotte) just seemed like vindictive, catty toddlers ('tis true) whom I found pretty unrealistic. Gwyneth's mother is kind of all over the place; you never get a true sense of her motivations other than keeping her daughter safe.  That is sooooo not true.  Her motives are very clear based on the last chapter/epilogue but I won't ruin it for our readers. Gideon is a snooty brat who suddenly turns charming. OH PLEASE! YOU liked Patch from Hush Hush.  He was a complete asshat (excuse my language) (ROFL. Perhaps it's because Patch has that bod boy/asshat quality whereas Gideon just has the asshat quality hahaha).   The "romance" aspect was incredibly predictable and kind of silly. I also found it irritating when girls have crushes on (handsome) boys who treat them like crap Call me a feminist. ;) HUSH (cough) HUSH (TOTALLY not the same thing! Haha).   In contrast, I found Gideon initially irksome, as does the MC, but later he does seem to turn his character around and admit he was wrong.  It could have been better set-up, but the romance is the portion I find least interesting anyway.

Overall, I think readers looking for a light romance would enjoy this, especially since the major focus ends up being on the romance rather than any character development. I probably won't continue the series. (I'm on hold for book 2 people, have some hope).