Precious Stones & Romance Sucks

Today, I am going to belatedly review the Young Adult novel Sapphire Blue, by Kerstin Gier. The novel was released last month, and is translated from German by Anthea Bell.

Sapphire Blue is the sequel to Ruby Red, as well as the second book in a trilogy. I received an ARE of the novel, and did not previously read the first novel.

Overall, I found this novel fairly enjoyable. The novel appears to leave off approximately where the first one leaves off. This in medias rei approach is nice, because the pace of the novel is quick and fun...

At least, for the most part. The "romance" story line was:

a. predictable, &

b. annoying.

The protagonist's waffling between "empowered female" and "why doesn't he care about meee" whining may be realistic, but here's a secret:

Teenage girls who are in love and unsure if those feelings are returned are boring.

At first, as a reader, you're listening to the whining and you're sympathetic. Poor, poor Gwyneth - the guy she likes seems kind of like a dick. Luckily, she realizes this, and can move on to find someone else.

Oh, wait. She's doing that thing where she lets him kiss her because she's still not over him? Well, that's realistic...

& now she's crushed b/c Douchey Love Interest isn't being nice to her again... Who didn't see that coming?

Oh - Gwyneth didn't see it coming? It's not like this behavior is out of the ordinary for him - What is she, mentally deficient?

OMG - she's still going on about this guy! And acting like she wants to die because of some guy she's only known for a few weeks? (Stephenie Meyer - I'm blaming you for this.)

Ok. She needs to shut up, or I'm going to burst my eardrums, on purpose, even though I'm reading this ridiculousness & that action would do me no good.

So, yeah, the romance story line really got on my nerves.

Other than that, though, I found the novel fairly enjoyable.

The time travel important to the story lines of this trilogy is very interesting, particularly because the writing of the time shifts is very well done.

I was able to follow along very well, but still recommend that you read Ruby Red before delving into this story. I got a good feeling for all of the characters, but felt that it would have been a little bit more fun to be revisiting them in Sapphire Blue rather than meeting them for the first time. Also, while I caught on to most of the time travel lingo going on, it probably would have been easier had I read the first novel.

I will say, despite the annoying romance stuff, that I will probably read the next novel (Emerald Green) in the trilogy to find out how the series ends!

Have you been reading this trilogy/novel? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

A Literary Homage to Science Fiction

Last week, I finished reading Felix de Palma's novel The Map of Time. I really think that this book is perfect for summer - it's long, it's elegantly written, but still an easy read, without being effortless.

Look! I'm the cover & I'm shiny & delicious!

The Map of Time is separated into 3 sections. Each section introduces some new characters, and sections two and three reveal different sides to characters who have already been introduced. There are two characters who play a prominent role in all 3 sections: Gilliam Murray, a fictional character of the author's device, and H. G. Wells, the actual science fiction writer.

This book was interesting, and really looks at the idea of time, and how the concept of time influences society. How would the world be different if it were possible to more properly comprehend the fourth dimension and "travel" through time?

The novel is set in the late 19th century, and is worded and intended to be read with that time period in mind. When reading, one becomes entrenched in a world that is more proper, in a world full of possibilities, despite the fact that this time period has already occurred, and therefore, it shouldn't be full of possibilities, at all.

I really enjoyed this novel. It's technically a translation, from Spanish into English, but the manner in which it is written reads as though it was written in English. The writing flows. I mentioned in a previous blog post that this book is perfect for summer - it's not what I would call "fluffy" writing, but it is enjoyable, and a fairly quick read, while still having enough intellectual meat to chew over.

I did have one problem with this novel: it's obvious infatuation with H.G. Wells. Sometimes, I felt as though the novel's entire structure was fabricated around the premise of paying homage to H.G. Wells. This adoration went so far as to lead to the denigration of other famed writers of the time period, including one of my personal faves, Henry James.

Other than that slight irksome recurrence, this novel is definitely worth reading. It's well written, it's intelligent, it's slightly nerdy, but in a mostly enjoyable way.