Sapphire Blue (Book 2 of the Ruby Red Trilogy)

Gier, K. (2012). Sapphire Blue. NY: Henry Holt & Company.
YA Urban Fantasy, Romance, Historical, Paranormal, Sci Fi, Mystery

I won this ARC in a contest, but I’m not sure who was the sponsor -- they didn't include anything in the package. Thank you, though!

RELEASE DATE IS TODAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

I gave this book 4 out of 5 Stars on Goodreads

Overall, I enjoyed Sapphire Blue, but our main characters, Gwen and Gideon, were a bit more stereotypical teenagers than in the first installment, and it was a distraction for me.  In the trilogy’s first book, Ruby Red, Gwen spoke and acted younger than a sixteen-year-old; in this second installment, she was too much a sixteen-year-old and was frequently “dumbed-down” in her actions and thoughts.   It was as if Gwen felt she wasn’t particularly smart or talented, and this bothered me.   Gideon was all over the place, and it was hard to figure out if he was immature, bipolar, or simply confused.  His actions were hot and cold with Gwen, which almost made it appear he was struggling with himself.  Almost.   The case may be that some things were lost in translation.   

This story has a little bit of everything mixed-in --  a dash of history, a tease at romance, and a looming mystery – all wrapped around the concept of time travel and a secret society doing it to SAVE THE WORLD! From what they are saving the world, the reader does not know, but Sapphire Blue does carry the story forward enough to see the answer is coming.

As with the first book, the smart and delightful Leslie plays a significant role, as does a gargoyle, and both characters are clever mechanisms to feed Gwen information she needs to time travel, deal with Gideon (and her horrible cousin, Charlotte), and inch closer to solving the mystery of the Circle of Twelve.  The evil (or is he?) Count Saint-Germain is back and busy doing his evil (or are they?) deeds,  but he’s not the only one who can’t be trusted. No one seems to be exactly what they appear.

There was a convenient twist at the end that changed the course of one entire angle in the story, resulting in a bit of a cliff-hanger.  As with Ruby Red, there are some helpful charts and information to keep all the characters and information about the Circle of Twelve straight. It’s unfortunate that I don’t read German (or Portuguese?) as the third book in the trilogy, Emerald Green has been out for some time.  The English translation isn’t expected until 2013.

The Clean-O-Meter rating for this story is 4.5 out of 5.  There may have been two incidents of the word “s**t,” but other than those slips, there is absolutely no vulgar language or vulgar situations. No sex, sexual situations, or references to sex. No remarkable violence – the worst is when the readers are told someone’s throat was slit without further details. 

I look forward to seeing how all of this turns out in the final installment, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Gwen and Gideon mature a bit and that Gwen quits underestimating herself.  

Since I discussed the book covers of Ruby Red, it only seems fair to show the covers of Sapphire Blue. I think getting away from the original, stuffy look of Ruby Red was a good idea, but now it greatly resembles a Harlequin Romance/Bodice Ripper-type book. Bleck. Surely we can do better. . . 

This one is kind of eerie, mystical.

  

Looks like a Grimm tale.

Nope. Too silly.

Better but stuffy.