Review: Precious Stone Trilogy by Kerstin Gier

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this up because I needed a book that involved time travel. This was a quick read and it was alot of fun. I really liked the historical aspects that were thrown in and the time travel concept in this book. I didn't want an overly complex sci-fi book at the time, and the time travel in this is very simple, so if you want something more complex and scientific, this may not be the book for you.

I thought the characters were completely believable as well. Gwenyth behaves exactly like a teenager who is interested in pop culture, boys, modern music, and just wants to spend time with her friends and family. She wants nothing to do with her stuffy relatives and the things they are interested in, even if it makes her look dull and uneducated in their eyes. She just wants to be herself and doesn't care what they think. When she finds out that she can travel back in time instead of her cousin, Charlotte, Gwenyth is completely unprepared and overwhelmed. All of those around her are bewildered because she isn't Charlotte, who has been preparing for time travel her entire life. I didn't appreciate everyone calling Gwen stupid and putting her down all the time, because she isn't perfect or training. She is also an immature teenager, which is to be expected. Her cousin is mature and groomed for the situation that Gwen has been trust into unwillingly and the insults were just unnecessary.

Overall, I found this very fast paced and entertaining. This is YA so the content is clean. The writing was good, but there is still so much unknown. I do feel like some of the plot could have been flushed out a bit more and more content could have been included. There are hints at a romance or a potential love triangle. It ends with a bit of a cliffhanger and a lot of unanswered questions. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier
Narrated by Marisa Calin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first book. I expected more growth from the characters and more plot development in this book. Both of those fell a little flat for me. I want to know more about the prophecies and why Paul and Lucy stole the chronograph and ran away. Both of those plot points are kind of just hanging out there with no real explanation in sight. I'm hoping those come to some sort of conclusion in book 3.

I do love Xemerius, he is Gwen's dead demon gargoyle pet. If you don't know already, Gwen can see and talk to spirits of the undead. Xemerius meets up with Gwen and Gideon after a time travel event and once he realizes Gwen can see and hear him he won't leave her be. Xemerius adds and element of comic relief to the story, he is also able to get information for Gwen that she can't get because the people who are supposed to be training her and helping her get the hang of the whole time travel thing are keeping her in the dark and treating her like she is inferior.

Much like in the first book, I could have done without the constant barrage of calling Gwen stupid and telling her she's pretty much useless. She pretty much finds out she can time travel and they start sending her on missions the next day without any information and training, yet everytime she walks in a room she's called a name and told she's not worthy, called stupid, and made to feel inadequate. Gwen never speaks up for herself, I thought maybe she'd get fed up eventually and tell them enough is enough. She had a bit of a spine in the first book, which I liked. She's too focused on being boy crazy about Gideon in this book to really care. There is too much about how handsome Gideon is in this and too much jealousy for Charlotte, neither of which adds to the plot.
Gwen and Gideon's romance was a given, you know its coming from the first book. They just don't really have any chemistry. I appreciate that there isn't really a love triangle, but their romance is missing something. It might be that Gideon is kind of a jerk to her most of the time and you aren't yearning for them to get together.

This review makes it sound like I didn't like this book. I did enjoy it. It is entertaining, but I feel like this book and the first book could have been condensed. This book doesn't really move the plot along and the first book felt a bit too short.

Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier
Narrated by Marisa Calin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Much like my review of the second book, this one is more of the same. Gwen is constantly jealous of anyone talking to Gideon. She is unsure of herself at every step, some of that is warranted, while most of it is not. You aren't sure if you like Gideon or not because he's pretty much been a jerk to Gwen since day 1, and you aren't sure if he likes her or not.

I thought we were getting somewhere when Gwen's friend Leslie tells her at the beginning of the book to stop being sappy and get over her boy troubles, but the book is riddled with teenage angst and romance. I'm sure younger readers will eat this up, but I wanted something with a bit more substance. The ending was much to convenient. I kind of figured out who dun it earlier on, but I wasn't 100% sure, so I wasn't surprised at the reveal. There were still some plot holes that were left unresolved in the end that I would have liked wrapped up

I did love Xemerius, he is ever present and provides comedy at every turn. He is by far my favorite character in the series.

Overall, the conclusion of the series wasn't as strong as I would have liked. I was hoping for a strong ending. I'm glad to have read the series. It was entertaining, it just wasn't as plot driven as I would have liked and definitely had more focus on the romance than I prefer.