Emerald Green is the final book in Kerstin Gier’s Gem Trilogy. It follows Ruby Red and Sapphire Blue. Originally released in German, the English translation is not available until October 2013. However, as I read German I can and will review it for you. The three books in the trilogy read like one long book cut into three parts rather than three separate novels with separate stories and one overarching plot line. I will be reviewing them as such. As I mentioned in my recent Reading Review, I was introduced to the books fairly recently and I devoured all three in a matter of days. They tell the story of Gwyneth (Gwendolyn in the original German) who learns that her family is the carrier of a gene allowing her to travel through time. Unlike her cousin, she has not been inducted into the family’s secrets, so she must work things out on her own, with the help of the mysterious and attractive Gideon. What I liked Gwyneth’s “voice.” I loved Gwyneth’s humour and warmth as she comes to terms with her situation. Having compared the English and German original the translator has done great work bringing that across. I liked that…
This week I finished The Gem Trilogy by Kerstin Gier, which I absolutely adored. I will say though that it is one long book divided into three parts rather than three separate books with an overarching storyline – the first two novels don’t really have a strong ending. For this reason you may wish to wait before starting the trilogy as the final book, Emerald Green, is not due out in English until October – unless you read German, that is. There were several twists in the final volume, some of which were clearly signposted along the way, others more surprising – I found that Gier had a nice balance there. I continued to enjoy the character of Gwen and her adventures. The fact that the subtitle of “love throughout the ages” can be applied to more than one couple was very appealing to me. I would certainly recommend this trilogy, although I recommend waiting a few months until the English translation is available! Check out the Gem Trilogy on Kindle, Kobo, iBook and Audible formats. The next book I read/listened to was Brandon Sanderson’s new YA novel The Rithmatist. As an aside, I would not recommend listening to this…
This week could more easily have been described as “listening roundup” as I’ve been listening more than reading – or rather I have been listening and reading along on my brand spanking new Kindle Fire. Here is what I have been reading and listening to this past week. I recently finished Siege and Storm in both Kindle and Audible by Leigh Bardugo, the followup to Shadow and Bone. To be honest I was rather disappointed in this book. I loved the Russian-style setting of the first book, and my enjoyment of this continued into the second book. However, I found the pacing of this second book rather slow. After a promising start, the story slows down to a crawl. It also annoys me when young protagonists suddenly find themselves in a leadership position with no training or experience, just because they have some unrelated power. On a positive side some new and very interesting characters were introduced, especially Sturmhond. Also the ending picked up again dramatically and I will certainly read the final book in the Grisha trilogy to see how it all ends. I listened to Graceling by Kristin Cashore from Audible which was marked as a full…