This is the final book in the Ruby Red trilogy.
Book 1: Ruby Red
Book 2: Sapphire Blue
To start the book, our ruby has a broken heart. She feels betrayed by Gideon, whom she loves. Gwen muddles along through the requisite teenage broken-hearted angst with the help of her dearest friend and the obvious distractions of life-endangering time-travel.
There’s true excitement surrounding her life-and-death quest, there are twists (oh whatever, a twist) that I most certainly did not see coming and all in all it puts quite a satisfactory end to the trilogy.
Now, I’m going to just straight up admit that I never could follow all of Gier’s rules and riddles regarding time travel and her time travel device, the chronograph. Maybe it’s because I read the series with wide breaks between each book, maybe it’s because it really is complex and will cause some difficulty for readers who want to understand that aspect of it.
In all honesty though, I’m guessing much of the audience for this book will be a bit more interested in the romance than in the intrigue and will willingly forgive any issues concerning the time travel.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – A fresco depicts a scantily clad nymph. There’s lots of longing and the like. Wanting to throw yourself into someone’s arms, feeling weak in the knees, wanting to feel what someone’s stubble is like while kissing, wanting to be held. A girl reads a book where a vampire almost got a girl in bed. There is passionate kissing, groaning and holding the person tighter. A woman’s décolletage is exposed. A girl is asked out, but says she has a boyfriend. Someone needs to touch and kiss someone else. There’s concern about improper touching. A man removes a lady’s garter. Bodies press together while kissing. A bum is described as cute. There’s necking. A demand for a striptease is made. A wet t-shirt looks hot. A bra is mentioned. A man has a taste for virgins. Someone incorrectly assumes that a couple has slept together.
Profanity – “hell,” “bastard,” “damn,” “shit,” “shit-scared,” “bloody,” “merde,” “asshole”, “tits,”
Death, Violence and Gore – An injury will leave a scar. There are stab wounds. Someone is poisoned to death. There are sword fights leading to various injures. Air raids are expected. Someone’s face is slapped. There’s speculation that a box might hold a chopped up body. A demon eats another demon. There’s talk that suicides fail because people cut the wrong way down their arms and then they succeed the next time because they do it right. A girl’s mother calls to ask if she’s been murdered or hacked to bits in Hyde Park (she’s not genuinely worried this happened, I don’t think). Someone is plotting to kill the main characters. A relative has a vision involving a lot of blood and someone being run through with a sword. A gargoyle says he ate a pigeon and a priest. Someone wants to give someone a black eye. There are lots of ghosts. Someone wants to throttle, stab, poison, shoot, stab, hang behead, trample to death, drown or throw someone off the tower. In a dream a panther tears a man to pieces. There are cyanide capsules. A gun is pointed at someone.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Whiskey is consumed on multiple occasions. There’s a bottle of scotch hidden in the library. Tobacco is referenced. Grandpa smoked a pipe. There’s talk of mixing alcohol into non-alcoholic drinks at a teenage party. A guard is passed out due to drink. Grandpa smokes cigarettes. Lucas had a few drinks. There’s a very drunken teenage party due to spiked punch. Wine wine and opium also make appearances.
Frightening or Intense Things – A girl is with child, supposedly by a demon. She has committed the sin of unchastity and an exorcism is performed which results in a miscarriage.
