Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier

Life as a time traveler is one of nonstop action and activity, especially for Gwen who only learned in the last week that she was the Ruby, the final member of the Circle of Twelve. Gwen really doesn’t understand why apparently everyone is upset at the lack of progress she’s made learning to fit into the eighteenth century—it isn’t her fault she hasn’t been training for this for her entire life and besides, memorizing all those facts and names from way back when is kind of hard. At least she’s not completely on her own: she’s got her friend Lesley for research, the ghost James to help her learn to be a proper eighteenth century lady, and Xemerius the gargoyle demon who loves offering his opinion on everything and is willing to do all of Gwen’s dirty work (a.k.a. spying). And sometimes she also has Gideon’s help, although that’s becoming a little confusing when he’s kissing her one moment and completely ignoring her the next. But even as she strives to do her best on her next big trip to the past, to go along with the Circle’s goals, she’s starting to realize that the Circle and its prophecies aren’t as perfect and good as she’s been led to believe—and that completing the Circle might not be a worthy achievement after all.

I was thoroughly enchanted by Ruby Red that it’s no surprise that I had to read its sequel Sapphire Blue. This novel picks up almost immediately after Ruby Red leaves off, throwing readers right back into all the drama; while this was a little difficult to adjust to, especially since I read the first book over a year ago, fortunately it didn’t take long for me to become reengaged with Gwen’s story. Gier does a really good job of balancing the plot between time traveling and all the pressures and excitement associated with it and Gwen’s personal life, especially her relationship with Gideon, and I think that this had a lot of do with Gwen’s voice; she is just such an entertaining character that her story is enjoyable to read whether she is worrying about herself in the eighteenth century or freaking out about her interactions with Gideon. While I was a little disappointed that nothing truly wrapped up by the end of this book aside from Gwen’s planned trips to the eighteenth century, I am still more than eager to see how her story concludes in the final installment of this trilogy, Emerald Green.

Fans of Ruby Red will not want to miss its sequel Sapphire Blue, nor will fans of Once a Witch and Always a Witch, both by Carolyn MacCullough, and Hourglass by Myra McEntire.

Rating: 4.25

Review copy from publisher Macmillan