Series Review: The Precious Stone Trilogy by Kerstin Gier

Title:  Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green

Author: Kerstin Gier

Publisher: Henry Holt

Cover Rating: 5/5

I’m one of those who love to read anything that deals with one certain type of era or place. For me, that is London. If it takes place in London, then I will most likely read it. That was the case when I found out about Ruby Red, plus the fact that it was translated from German because that is in my lineage. 

I was even more interested once I read what it was about, which is time travel. I haven’t read anything about time travel so I was willing to give this a try. I must say that I loved it. Not only is it about time travel, but there is magic involved as well somehow. 

Gwyneth knows about time traveling due to her cousin, who is supposed to have the time travel gene. Turns out that may not be the case. Gwen is thrown into this world without fully knowing anything. As the story goes on, she is thrown into one situation to the next with the least amount of details as possible. 

You don’t know who is trustworthy and what the truth is or not. It is a ride seeing how you think something’s are coming together, but seems to be falling apart at the same time. There are lies and deceit and I’m looking forward to see where it all goes.

The only thing that really bothered me was the genealogy. I found it to be quite confusing when it was explained. Hopefully, later on it will all become clearer.  

Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.

I feel this did not suffer what happens to most sequels. I enjoyed this more than I did Ruby Red. 

The characters that are part of this secret don’t trust Gwyneth, so they don’t tell her most of what is happening. She talks to her best friend Lesley about all that is happening and they do their own research. Gwen wants answers and looks for them any way that she can. Though Gwen doesn't get much explained to her I think things are explained better to the reader. 

I was able to follow the story a bit better this time. In Ruby Red, we get a look at going into the past, but here we get to look into the past more and I’m glad we did. 

One thing that makes these books so enjoyable is trying to figure out who you can trust. There are secrets under secrets under lies. 

At the end of every chapter is a quote, a passage or a chart. The charts contain family trees and they were very helpful to explain where everyone goes. I looked forward to seeing how they connected. 

I found the epilogue to be interesting to the story. I’m intrigued to see how the rest of the story will come together and how it will end.

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 stars.

Throughout this trilogy Gwyneth hasn't been told much and it started to bother her. She started to take matters into her own hands so she could finally get the answers she wants. Lesley and she continued to do their own research to find out what the secret is. Gwen would travel in the past to get as much as she could get from those she trusted. 

I enjoyed going on this journey with her and putting all the pieces together and seeing where it will ultimately lead to. The clues weren't too obvious and I liked being in the dark some so that we could go along with the characters. 

I found Gwyneth and Gideon to be adorable. Their relationship had started out rocky, but in the end they got it all sorted out and on the right track. I like them being together in the very beginning when I saw they liked each other and I’m glad they settled things between them. 

Gwen got quite a shock about her family and I think she handled it well with what she found out. She is strong minded character with a best friend that is a constant in her life. Gwen got thrown into a life that she never imagined and from the beginning her best friend believed her and stayed by her side. They grew together more as this was happening.

Gideon wasn't the nicest of characters when you first met him, but he grew on you fast. We got to see more to him through his feelings for Gwen. 

Through trusted friends, these characters were able to get out alive with manipulation. I found their plan to be clever and liked how everything turned out. It was a nice ending for something that will continue to go on.

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 stars/