This is the second book in the Ruby Red trilogy.
Book 1: Ruby Red
Book 3: Emerald Green
Sapphire Blue picks up where Ruby Red left off. Sort of. The prologue is about two characters that you’ve met in Ruby Red, but who are not the main characters, but then you return to your regularly scheduled story. Clearly, Gier does not seem to have fallen into the slightly boring habit of spending the first few chapters trying to refresh her audience’s memory about the prior book. This is very satisfying if you have the good fortune to read the books all at once, but can be a bit challenging if you’ve have to wait for ages for the sequel to be translated. Ahem.
The actual main characters, Gwyneth and Gideon, must work together to try and stop an impending crisis in the world of time travel. But Gwyneth has her doubts about who to trust. She knows that someone will betray them, but not who it is. She’s been given warnings against trusting to much. And of course, she’s a teenage girl who has been repeatedly and recklessly kissed by an incredibly handsome boy. Which adds a whole extra level of trust issues.
As before, Gier does an excellent job of blending adventure with your usual teen social drama issues. This was a little racier and has slightly worse language than Ruby Red. For those reasons, some parents will elect to reserve the series for older readers, but it will certainly appeal to any tweens who are allowed to read it.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – There’s kissing right from the start. A tapestry depicts half-naked men slaying a dragon. A brief chapter that’s supposedly a record from the inquisition refers to a girl who has become pregnant by the Devil and who is likely to give birth to a succubus. Others testify that they have seen the Devil in the guise of a man embracing the girl. Half the girls in Gwyneth’s class are on the pill. One girl likes girls. Gwyneth also mentions condoms. There is reference to a gay man. Girls talk of being “in love”. A teenage boy wants to know how far English girls will go. A girl is incorrectly described as getting through a lot of boys, particularly when she’s had a drink. She is also referred to as “a mattress.” There’s hand holding and hand kissing. A man grabs at a lady’s bosom against her wishes.
Profanity – “hell,” “oh my God,” “Thank God,” “stupid,” “damn,” “shit,” “hell-bent,” at one point Gideon is “cursing under his breath nonstop”, “bastard,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A man is murdered (or at least we’re lead to think he’s been murdered). People are threatened with guns. There’s a reference to heads being cut off by the guillotine. Gwyneth wants to know what happens if you die while time traveling. A woman died in childbirth (quickly mentioned, not really part of the story). After a rough patch with a boy a girl threatens to commit hara-kiri. A girl ran over a frog. A man is able to choke someone from a distance. Gwyneth can see ghosts. One is a little boy who drowned in a pool. A ghost says that swords will pierce someone’s flesh. There are some wounds and casualties as a result of sword fights.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Two people are accused of falling into the goldfish pool while drunk and are told not to drink alcohol anymore. Gideon drank wine. A gentleman is drunk. When they travel to the 50s many people smoke cigarettes. There’s discussion of how much wine a man should have to drink at a party. If he drinks too much he sings inappropriate songs. Gwyneth drinks 5 cups of spiked punch; she is drunk. Gwyneth admits that she drank once at age 14 at a sleepover, vodka with orange juice and vanilla ice cream. Aunt Maddy says if you skip breakfast you save the calories so that you can have a few glasses of wine later.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
