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This was the best book in the trilogy. I call it an outstanding finale. More excitement, more thrill, more fun, more emotions and so many unexpected twists and turns. I love this whole series so much, it has exactly what I look for in books: a fantastic way to escape reality for a
"You mean he's not afraid of me because I'm a woman? He ought to see Tomb Raider sometime. For all he knows, I could have a nuclear bomb under my dress and a hand grenade in each cup of my bra. I call it antifeminist!"This was the best book in the trilogy. I call it an outstanding finale. More excitement, more thrill, more fun, more emotions and so many unexpected twists and turns. I love this whole series so much, it has exactly what I look for in books: a fantastic way to escape reality for a few hours and be absolutely and totally captured by the story.
But really, this is one good example of a conclusion done right: no loose ends, well plotted story, acquainted and loved characters facing new challenges and a 100% satisfying ending without overdoing it.
I loved every page in this trilogy.
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What's what: Time travel, vague prophecies, silly heroine, douchey hero, evul Count with nefarious plans, oh noes, can silly heroine/douchey hero stop evul Count?
-Gwen was a mopey cow, all she did was whine about Gideon, jump to conclusions about him, and get jealous whenever he was around other girls. She should have been concentrating on her time travel or on finding a way to stop that evul Count guy instead of acting all melodramatic about a guy she'd only met a couple of weeks ago.
G
What's what: Time travel, vague prophecies, silly heroine, douchey hero, evul Count with nefarious plans, oh noes, can silly heroine/douchey hero stop evul Count?
-Gwen was a mopey cow, all she did was whine about Gideon, jump to conclusions about him, and get jealous whenever he was around other girls. She should have been concentrating on her time travel or on finding a way to stop that evul Count guy instead of acting all melodramatic about a guy she'd only met a couple of weeks ago.
Gwen's love for Gideon was so pathetic, he treated her like utter rubbish but she was still desperate for him. Any awful thing he did was forgiven and forgotten because he was just that sexy, ugh.
She was so immature, needy, and silly… I rolled my eyes at the amount of times Gwen cried or nearly cried whenever she saw or thought of Gideon. I was sick of how much she obsessed over him, most of her thoughts revolved around him and how attractive he was. It was sickening. She seemed more like an idiotic 13 year old instead of a 16 year old.
-I hated Gideon, he had no personality apart from being arrogant. He fucked over Gwen and acted like a dick towards her every time he saw her, he was horrible. I hated how he twisted everything around to make himself look like the misunderstood-good-guy, and Gwen the bad guy.
Was I actually meant to believe he had strong feelings Gwen? It would have helped if he 1. Treated her with some respect 2. Didn't act hot and cold with her all the time and 3. Didn't flirt and spend all his time with Charlotte and Lavinia, he seemed far more into them than Gwen.
-Yea, I didn't buy the romance and love between Gwen and Gideon at all, they'd only known each other for 2 weeks, and they'd done nothing but argue, lie, and hate each other in those 2 weeks. How could they have possibly fallen in love?!
-I was more interested in the potential romance between Gwen's mum and Falk. Did they get together or what?!
-I didn't like Gwen's attitude towards other female characters who were around her age. Apart from Lesley, she didn't like any of them, and was constantly calling them names and looking down on them. Ugh.
-So Gwen's butler (Bernard) was actually her secret nephew? Did Bernard know he was related to Gwen? Why was Bernard a butler when Lucy/Paul ensured their kids/grandkids would have loads of money?
- I liked Gwen's relationship with her immediate family, also her friendship with Lesley was really sweet.
-Gwen's cousin, Charlotte, was the typical mean girl that hated the heroine/Gwen because she wanted the hero/Gideon all to herself. You'd think Charlotte would have a better relationship with Gwen since she'd grown up with her, if not that, then you'd expect Charlotte to at least have some loyalty towards her. But no, Charlotte had zero loyalty or love towards the cousin she grew up with. It was so unrealistic that Charlotte wanted to get Gwen in serious trouble, they were family and even if they didn't get along, Charlotte would have realistically looked out for Gwen. Ugh, I'm so sick of all the over the top mean girls in YA.
-Why would Gwen want to date Gideon when she didn't even know the details of his relationship with her cousin? Did they date? Did Gideon have strong feelings for Charlotte? Did they have sex? How serious were they? Why didn't Gwen ask him exactly what sort of relationship he had with Charlotte? That would be one of the first things anyone would ask if they started to date someone that had previously been in some sort of a relationship with their close relative.
-The time travel, the chronographs, and prophecies were all rather confusing. I didn't know what was going on most of the time.
-Every time Gwen/Gideon or anyone else did something/had to do something in the past it had already happened before they'd actually gone back in time and done that thing. So by that logic if Gwen went back and saved James (the school ghost) from dying then he shouldn't have even been a ghost in the first place. Yea, it didn't make any sense.
-Gwen's reunion with Lucy and Paul after she found out they were her parents was underwhelming. Where was the drama? The angst? The emotion?
-Lesley's little romance with Raphael was miles better than Gwen/Gideon's romance.
-I found the Count's master plan really cheesy, everything he did was just so he could be immortal? Yea, I wanted something more original.
All in all, I was mildly entertained by some of the characters and certain aspects of the story… But for the most part I was frustrated with the weepy heroine, the cheesy hero, the silly romance, the cliched bad guy, and the non-stop time travel.
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I love love love Gideon and Gwen..orrr shall i say Gwenny?? *starts crying again* Even if their relationship was formed in only a couple of weeks,maybe a month, i really loved them together. They were meant to be and they are perfect for each No.its over. no. I NEED MORE!!! :''( I will never get over these books!!! SO GOOD!!! Okay lets review this bitch. Ready? Ready when you are. *crying* These books were so magical,funny,enlightening,dark,mysterious,tear-making,ground-breaking..addicting!!! ♥
I love love love Gideon and Gwen..orrr shall i say Gwenny?? *starts crying again* Even if their relationship was formed in only a couple of weeks,maybe a month, i really loved them together. They were meant to be and they are perfect for each other!!! :'') ♥ Xemerious,Lesley,Caroline and Nick,Gwen's mum, Lucy and Paul,Mr Bernard, untie Muddy or whatever her name was xD Well even Charlotte..i'm going to miss them all. They've been my friends and companions these past days. Have you ever felt so horrible and so alone that you thought nothing and no-one could fix a situation? Well that was me these past few weeks. and Precious Stone books were really there for me. If you're a true book lover you will understand what i mean. They are my miracle. my salvation. etc. ♥ As i've already said in my Ruby Red review,i love Doctor Who and my heart belongs to anything Jane Austen and Victorian..and i love YA books like Cassandra's Clare books, so Ruby Red trilogy just had it all for me. I couldn't help but getting so obsessed over it!! Normally when my real life sucks,i can't really get into a book or anything for that matter, but these books just owned my heart and soul. Love them ♥
Sooo the ending. Spoilers.
Mr Whitman?? WOW!! I did NOT see this one coming :O I usually do!! I was rooting for Mr George to be the evil one since he was our friend. and as Lesley said in the movies its the guy you're least expecting! I haven't suspected the school teacher xD I have to re-read the entire trilogy to see if there were any signs at all or i just missed them!!And what about Raphael and Lesley? Are they an item or what?? Ohh this ended so soon . i wanted more!!!
Another thing i really loved. You know what makes my heart melt? that word. FOREVER. Forever is such a great word,but mostly nothing lives forever. But in Stardust,or Twilight, they lived happily ever after. FOREVER. Maybe thats just me being romantic but the ending in Emerald Green did something to me!!! :') They're going to be together FOREVER. ..I'm off to cry to my corner again. or maybe re-read the whole trilogy!! ♥
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Seriously, I'm utterly surprised at how quickly it all went downhill since the moment those two kids kissed at the end of first book. From that on, it was all about Gwendolyn's raging hormones and how she just lost her senses around plain and bland Gideon (those descriptions making him seem like a greek god don't live up to how ac This is the story of how a potentially good premise and a relatively good and entertaining first book turned into a disappointing sequel and a friggin' mess at the end.
Seriously, I'm utterly surprised at how quickly it all went downhill since the moment those two kids kissed at the end of first book. From that on, it was all about Gwendolyn's raging hormones and how she just lost her senses around plain and bland Gideon (those descriptions making him seem like a greek god don't live up to how actually he delivered), and even in the most important moment she could only think of making out with him, that was really annoying.
Then, the time travels were even more confusing than ever, that insistence that they had to elapse at a certain time to meet with the count with no explanation wasn't really well founded, given that they always asked how did that matter if they could elapse any other time at that same exact date they were supposed to, but never got a REAL AND COHERENT answer.
But the thing that mostly upset me about this book was how anticlimatic it turned out to be. All of the most important revelations (even though we already know since the first book what's the real deal about Paul and Lucy)are not even shown! They just happened 'off paper', like Gwendolyn facing Paul and Lucy about they being their parents, or what happens once the count drugs her to finally gain his immortality, how in the hell did the count get the 'philosophal dust'?? wasn't he supposed to wait for Gideon in the past? He should have see then what had he done with Gwendolyn and...oh, nevermind, I don't even care anymore...It's like the author decided to flinch at the thought of elaborate those scenes and prefered to cast them aside to give it more 'screen time' to grandilocuent scenes like...that green party scene where nothing important happened, just to show Charlotte make an embarrassment of herself. And the stuff with James the ghost-notsoghostanymore was also irrelevant, it brought nothing to the plot. And the abrupt ending with the reveal of the grand villain also lacked of thrill and emotion, it was too rush, and the addition of that ghost at the end was pointless, it felt like a punchline for Xemerius saying all the time about how he could eat ghosts.
The whole thing was emotionless actually, didn't feel anything about the characters getting hurt or even fear for them, one could see miles away that Gideon was gonna end eating that immortality dust and being Gwendolyn immortal companion for eternity, even if the prophecy clearly said that immortality from that dust was going to be canceled since the birth of Gwendolyn, but hey, rules are made to be broken, right? ...Even if you are the author who wrote that gibberish in the first place...
GOSH! I'm so disappointed of this trilogy, and I took it more personal especially because I was really invested in the plot in the first book, not so much for the second one but still I had hope, and finally seeing how it all ended made me feel like I was let down by the author, with the level of writing going down with every book. I can't blame anyone but the author herself...
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I really enjoyed this book and the series overall. However, I found the story (especially the end) a tad too convenient. Also insta love was SO present. And Gwen was a drama queen and didn't really have her priorities straight.
3.5I really enjoyed this book and the series overall. However, I found the story (especially the end) a tad too convenient. Also insta love was SO present. And Gwen was a drama queen and didn't really have her priorities straight.
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(BR with Lexie)
-We can't stop time, but it will sometimes stand still for love. PEARL S. BUCK
Emerald Green is the final book in the story of the two in love time travelling teenagers Gideon de Villiers & Gwyneth Shepherd. Gideon is this gorgeous cool guy all the girls are after & Gwen is the 16 yr. old normal girl in HS who is thrown into the world of time travel, & can also suddenly see ghosts. Gideon & Gwen are part of a secret group of twelve time travelers. They are forced by
4 Stars!(BR with Lexie)
-We can't stop time, but it will sometimes stand still for love. PEARL S. BUCK
Emerald Green is the final book in the story of the two in love time travelling teenagers Gideon de Villiers & Gwyneth Shepherd. Gideon is this gorgeous cool guy all the girls are after & Gwen is the 16 yr. old normal girl in HS who is thrown into the world of time travel, & can also suddenly see ghosts. Gideon & Gwen are part of a secret group of twelve time travelers. They are forced by the guardians to travel together back in time to the eighteenth century & beyond & in the process fall in love. They get to wear all these costumes from other periods & go to fancy balls. This book has bad guys, action, mystery, & love, & is full of secrets & lies. There is a traitor among them, & they are trying to figure out who they can trust.
-I couldn't get enough of the sight of him.
-At last he looked at me. Oh, my God, those eyes! I instantly felt weak at the knees again.
-Would my heart ever stop beating faster at the sight of Gideon? Would a time ever come when I didn't feel I was dazzled by something incredibly wonderful every time I set eyes on him? Probably not.
-All I knew was that I loved him, and I always would, and I wanted him to go on kissing me forever.
I really enjoyed this series & adored Gideon!!! I especially enjoyed this book since I BR it with my sweet daughter Lexie! I had so much fun talking book boyfriends with her! Lol, she was crazy for Gideon & was obsessed with this series! This is a fabulous YA series that teens & adults can both enjoy! :D
-You only have to be in the same room and I need to touch you and kiss you.
-"When you kiss me, Gwyneth, I feel I'm losing touch with the ground.
-When you kiss me, all I want is to feel you and hold you in my arms.
-Without you, there'd be no sense in my life.
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Caution - LOTS of fat shaming throughout. I remember chapter 9 being pretty full of it. Descriptions like "his
This was the best of the trilogy because it played with time travel the best. I read them all back to back and I'm not sure how the books would really stand up on their own because there was definitely only one arc that you had to wait until book 3 to see any twists or payoff. One twist was soooooo transparent though, and I felt like this just could have done more with the cool premise.Caution - LOTS of fat shaming throughout. I remember chapter 9 being pretty full of it. Descriptions like "his 15 double chins were wobbling," being likened to large animals, and fat characters always being out of breath. It was extra infuriating because the main character is so demeaning to fat characters (who are good guys, who she likes!), but when her cousin calls her fat she recognizes it as hurtful and is offended.
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OHMYHEART! TRÉS FANTASTIQUE!
WHAT A HIDDEN GEM OF A TRILOGY (pun intended) !!! It is the kind that you cherish & will re-read time & time again, & that steals a piece of your heart forever !
Time travel is truly tricky for me—
Definitely a hit or miss kind of trope... and this series was A BLAST !
This final installment kept me guessing at every turn; what a ride it was! The whole of the ending was one I never could've POSSIBLY figured out!
This truly is amazing as well, b
Star Rating: —> 5 StarsOHMYHEART! TRÉS FANTASTIQUE!
WHAT A HIDDEN GEM OF A TRILOGY (pun intended) !!! It is the kind that you cherish & will re-read time & time again, & that steals a piece of your heart forever !
Time travel is truly tricky for me—
Definitely a hit or miss kind of trope... and this series was A BLAST !
This final installment kept me guessing at every turn; what a ride it was! The whole of the ending was one I never could've POSSIBLY figured out!
This truly is amazing as well, because it is a translation from German, as the original version is by a German author, which I love about it! Always down to venture into stories written in places other than the US, Canada, the UK, or Australia, haha.
This
really is a massively underrated series that needs more hype! Pleaseeee give it a try; Especially if you like historical fiction SFF, because a lot of it takes place in different periods in the past.It is a consistently fast paced story, with fated/ star-crossed lovers fighting the odds, secret societies, amazing quirky family dynamics, & an undercurrent of nefarious mystery.
100% recommend !!!
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Now our awkward, rather goofy heroine has days to cram a lifetime's worth of educatio
Gwyneth "Gwen" Shepherd is in a race against time—past, present and future. She's the last in a long line of time travelers, tied to the infamous Comte de St. Germaine, hunted through the ages by a rival secret society called the Florentine Alliance. The time travel gene only appears in one family member per generation, and up until a few weeks ago, everyone assumed it was Gwen's overachieving cousin Charlotte.Now our awkward, rather goofy heroine has days to cram a lifetime's worth of education. She must also put aside a broken heart—a monumental task for a teenage girl—after the apparent betrayal of her crush and fellow time traveler, Gideon de Villiers. An evil plan incubated for centuries is finally about to come true. The plan depends entirely on Gwen, and only she can prevent its unfolding. If only she had any choice…
Content Advisory
Violence: A young woman is stabbed and has an out-of-body experience before magically healing. A young man is shot repeatedly and left for dead, but heals (off-page) the same way. These scenes are slightly gory, but not bad compared to the stagecoach shootout in Ruby Red.
Sex: Gideon and Gwen exchange several snogs, as do (view spoiler)[Raphael and Leslie (hide spoiler)]. A girl is doing karaoke at a party and a drunk boy hollers at her to strip (she doesn't). At this same party, a girl is caught canoodling with a much younger boy, and a drunk girl remarks that Gideon has a cute butt. Xemerius makes a joke or two about Gwen losing her virginity, which doesn't happen.
Language: The word "sh**" is used a handful of times. Milder profanities include "hell" and "bloody."
Substance Abuse: Racozky is always in an altered state. Everyone at Cynthia's party except the four main characters get decidedly sloshed and look quite ridiculous.
Nightmare Fuel: St. Germaine is still a creepy character. But there's nothing here like the random demon at the end of Sapphire Blue.
Conclusions
Kerstin Gier's Precious Stone trilogy is what you'd get if you threw The Princess Diaries in a blender with the Stravaganza series and sprinklings of the Bartimaeus Sequence, Doctor Who and the Italian Renaissance conspiracy plotline from The Da Vinci Code (although this series has no interest in space opera, aliens or religious vendettas). It's hard to follow and very silly indeed. It's also thrilling, cute, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.
My only gripes with this final installment:
1) Too much time spent worrying about relationships
2) The book jacket lied—the book didn't answer all my questions
Gwen is actually a realistic sixteen-year-old girl—scared and whiny with no sense of priorities. The book knows this about her and doesn't sport with our intelligence by pretending that she's a great leader, or smart, or brave, or even particularly useful. I thoroughly enjoyed her narrating style and could occasionally even relate to her.
Gideon, Leslie, and the rest are also allowed to be flawed and awkward, which makes them seem much closer to real kids than the average cast of a YA book. I found Charlotte's fall from grace a little too close to something that would happen in a Disney Channel movie, but your mileage may vary.
I counted forty-eight pop culture references, although alas, Gwen never namedrops her favorite bands, Queen and ABBA. I thought that her reliance on their music to keep herself afloat said a lot about her character—she's a bit old-fashioned, likes to sing and dance, and is almost proud of her dorkiness. She can be poppy and fluffy but also knows when to say, (*stomp-stomp-CLAP*) "You got blood on your face/You big disgrace/Somebody better put you back into your place…" To me, the main difference is that Queen are indisputably one of rock's greatest bands, while ABBA…aren't. But it was really cute that Gwen liked them both.
The weakest part of the series winds up being the world-building. (view spoiler)[Why Gwen sees ghosts is never really explained. The horrifying fiend from the end of book two is never integrated into the story or even mentioned again. Then what was the point of that whole scene? (hide spoiler)].
Overall, this trilogy is the literary equivalent of a milkshake. It's sugary and insubstantial and I wouldn't want a steady diet of it. But it makes a nice occasional treat—sweet, harmless, and fun. Recommended, especially to anyone who liked the Stravaganza series or The Selection.
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W
This was such a great series. I might have to add this one to my physical collection. I love Gwyneth and Gideon as characters and as a romance. And the story is very intriguing. But I do wish it was a little better explained. Like where did the chronograph come from and why did it work the way that it did and why did it create a philosopher's stone? And where did the prophecies come from? Someone from the future who knew all that happened must have traveled back and made them, but who and why?While reading this series I decided to watch the German movies as well and I really enjoyed them. I love the two leads. Gideon is super hot, and Gwyneth is lovely and suits the 18th century clothing even better than our own. The first movie was better than the second. And the timeline is a little different so there was an overlap with book 3 that included spoilers. You probably shouldn't watch the movies until you have read all 3 books. I can watch the last one now which I will hopefully do this weekend.
Update: I watched the last movie and it was bloody awful! So they get consecutively worse as they go along. And the last one is by far the least accurate. They change a whole lot of major things regarding Gwyneth/Gwendolyn and the prophecy and how the story ends. At least I got to see more of Gideon's pretty face. Too bad I'm not likely to ever see the actor again.
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I think, my only objection is that the story takes place on a couple of weeks, maybe two in total. And so, the love story felt quite rushed. But, we need to see the positive side, there is no love triangles her
I really enjoyed this book, in fact, the entire trilogy has been amazing. I think all the problems I had with Gwen's age or whatever, did not matter so much because this story is very, very good. It's true that perhaps, this could have been better as a standalone or a bilogy, but anyway...I think, my only objection is that the story takes place on a couple of weeks, maybe two in total. And so, the love story felt quite rushed. But, we need to see the positive side, there is no love triangles here. I repeat, LOVE TRIANGLE FREE.
The ending was a little bit disappointing compared to how exciting is the story in general.
Anyway, I can say that this series became one of my favorite trilogies.
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Emerald Green was disappointing. I might as well get this out of the way really quickly, because while I really enjoyed reading both Ruby Red and Sapphire Blue - they were funny and light-hearted and extremely entertaining - I was thoroughly unimpressed with this one. The writing style was the same as always - not particularly flowery, but it flowed nicely nonetheless - but most of the things that made me excited about the first two books were go
How am I so behind on my reviews? How? *deep sigh*Emerald Green was disappointing. I might as well get this out of the way really quickly, because while I really enjoyed reading both Ruby Red and Sapphire Blue - they were funny and light-hearted and extremely entertaining - I was thoroughly unimpressed with this one. The writing style was the same as always - not particularly flowery, but it flowed nicely nonetheless - but most of the things that made me excited about the first two books were gone.
Gwyneth, the main character, goes from hilarious and relatable to downright whiny. There were also some times she got on my nerves during book two, but she was overall a very good MC, and a realistic teenager. This time around, however, she made me roll my eyes all the time whenever she was speaking, and the same happened with her love interest, Gideon. I loved them both individually and as a couple in the first two books, and then... I don't know. Maybe it was the unnecessary angst that made me lose interest in them, but I can't hope for two people to finally be together if I find them both annoying. Gwyneth was a crybaby. And Gideon was, frankly, kind of an asshole.
Sadly, things were not better plot-wise. There were still some funny and mildly exciting moments, but the third book in a trilogy is supposed to be fast-paced and impossible to put down, and this one was just underwhelming. Hardly anything happened, and I was often bored. Again, it wasn't all bad, hence the two stars, but it wasn't what I expected either. Most of the book was really slow, and then the ending felt extremely rushed and left me feeling unsatisfied, as if I needed more answers but none were provided. That is not how you wrap up a trilogy. I think the keyword for Emerald Green might be... underwhelming. I finished reading the book only two weeks ago, and already I remember very little of what happened in it, which is definitely not a good sign. Another thing that irked me quite a lot was the amount of girl-on-girl hate on Gwyneth's part. She was rude and insulting to every other girl who even dared approach Gideon. She actually judged a girl solely on her appearance - and for having big breasts of all things. I mean, those are clearly a sign of evil, right? *eye-roll intensifies*
Still, I also have some positive things to say. Sometimes the pacing got better, and we got some of the exciting moments we'd had so often in the first two books, and Gwyneth was still funny when she wasn't too busy crying over her lost love or hating on other girls. Perhaps I would've liked this one more if it had been the second book instead of the third and last, but it was a very unimpressive way to end the trilogy.
Smaragdgrün is the last book in that series and rereading it made me realise how much the movie has overshadowed it. The plot of the book is so much simpler and I honestly prefer it to the movie, because the movie was just wild. Also, James plays such a smaller role in the books than in the mo
I am supposed to have an online class now. It started 40 minutes ago (it's now 8:45 AM …) and all I've learned so far is that everyone is having technical problems … so might as well write this review now.Smaragdgrün is the last book in that series and rereading it made me realise how much the movie has overshadowed it. The plot of the book is so much simpler and I honestly prefer it to the movie, because the movie was just wild. Also, James plays such a smaller role in the books than in the movies…
Anyways, as always we start with a prologue from Lucy and Paul's POV, and the plot basically picks up where the epilogue of book 2 left off. After the handover of documents, Paul jumps back to Lucy wounded. SO this bitch has the nerve to come back to her with his blood all over his body and then even has the audacity to call her "Mrs Überängstlich" - bitch, you almost died had Gideon not shown up. And then when he's being reprimanded for giving Gideon the documents, Paul is all like "Das war vielleicht ein bisschen voreilig." I LOVE HIM. In general, I would've loved reading a book from their perspective.
(Same goes for the time travelling twins Timothy and Jonathan de Villiers as well. They're such interesting characters because they were the ones who did all the experiments figuring out the limitations of time travel. These misfits transported a 4m long table across times just to see if it would work. :D)
But now back to Smaragdgrün. After the grand revelation of the last book that Gideon was given the order to make Gwendolyn fall in love with him, she is, OF COURSE, a puddle of tears but Leslie is having none of it and is all like "bitch, can we please focus on not dying". And Xemerius is also imitating Gwen's whining in the most ridiculous manner, it's awesome. Leslie and Xemerius are truly an iconic duo that keep Gwenny in check. She needs it. And because Leslie knows how lovesick Gwen actually is, she's all like "Ach, und Gwenny? Mach's Gideon nicht zu leicht, ja?", and I died.
What I found interesting this time around is that Kerstin Gier (the author) actually addresses the fact that Grandpa Lucas must have known that Gwen has the time travelling gene and not Charlotte … but it kinda makes sense now: he probably shut up about it because he wanted Gwen to grow up independently from the Temple to ensure that she would not be indoctrinated.
Also, Mr Bernhard supporting Gwendolyn at all cost "because her grandpa isn't here to do it" made me all soft. We love a queen who can dug a hole into a tapestry. Gwen basically figured out that her grandpa hid the time travelling machine in their own house for Gwen.
I was pretty shook that Leslie and Rapha's relationship wasn't explored much but then when Gwen is with her in the school corridor, Raphael just put his arms around Leslie's waist … and I was shook. But of course, Leslie was having none of it and was so mean that even Gwen took pity on Rapha.
Gwen thinking Gideon might have actually fallen in love with her during the process —and me knowing what's coming next, I am all like GURL DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP. Because, of course, what follows when they both talk it out is that Gideon is all like "I'm sorry, let's stay friends". YIKES. Afterwards, he is trying to be so offensively nice to Gwen and she's having none of it, and I'm having all of it.
What I noticed during this reread is that Mr George is just so soft and he's always consoling Gwendolyn and telling her that he always has an open ear for her. And then, later in the book, when they finally go to the ball and Gwen is all dressed up, Mr George compliments her look by saying she looks like she sprung out of an 18th century painting. Like, that's so soft. I love my dad. (Speaking of soft men, Falk asking Gwen if her mom is single IS A MOOD. lmao)
Anways, let's keep track of the plot of this hellhole of a book. It's so simple, I cannot even. So, basically Gwendolyn keeps having these special meetings with her grandpa where they figure out everything about the old time machine… and since in the past, it's still in the possession of the Temple, they actually decide to put Gwendolyn's blood in it (she uses her Japanese kitchen knife to cut her arm open - ICONIC), so that Lucas could depose it for her for the future, so that she could travel with it without any problems. And since Gwen has to figure all of these mysteries out, she needs more time (in the present timeline) and is all like "sorry I'm sick can't go to the ball today" (and what's funny about it is that Dr White actually backs her up on it??? And until this day I don't understand why). And so, she jumps to 1993 to see her grandpa for the last time and he gives a copy of Anna Karenina filled with all the information he has collected over the years. SO SMART. And when they're reading passages from Lucas' book that they don't get Xemerius is just like LET'S SKIP THAT … and I never related harder to anyone in my life.
But since Gwendolyn is an idiot sandwich, her behaviour is highly suspicious and Charlotte figures out that she has the old time machine and tells on her. What a bitch! I was really hoping for a Charlotte redemption arc … and I am mad she stayed the same bitter bitch. WHY??? But her plan doesn't work because Gwen already hid the machine on the roof (Charlotte has a fear of heights).
Anyways, Gideon and Gwen keep butting heads and they have this huge confrontation scene which actually fuelled every bone in my body … because Gideon just calls Gwen out for all her hypocrisy and it feels like Kerstin Gier's big FUCK YOU to all YA authors and their cheap plot devices. ("Warum stehen Mädchen auf Typen, die sie scheiße behandeln? Die netten Jungs sind offensichtlich nicht mal halb so interessant. Manchmal fällt es schwer, da den Respekt vor Mädchen zu behalten." - UFF, Gideon sent me with this one.) He's basically yelling that he never forced Gwen to fall in love with him, in all actuality, he treated her like shit .. which is TRUEEE! And Gwen has no arguments whatsoever and dares to call him superficial and he's all like "Zumal sich Jungs mit Segelohren und Pickeln lange nicht so viel rausnehmen dürfen." WOOP WOOP! CALL HER OUT!
But of course, when Gwen is all crying and telling him that she fell in love with him despite him being a shithead, he actually started kicking the goddamn wall. WOW.
Okay so far, the plot of this book was really thin and halfway through we already get the BIG BALL SCENE. My favorite moments where when Gwen actually saw James while dancing the menuett and she was like "bitches, let me through I need to talk to my son" because that was such a MOOD. I don't remember Racokzy harrassing Gwendolyn at the ball (absolutely hated that) but then Gideon came barging in with Lavinia (who actually then fainted - A MESS). Gwen's all upset because Gideon wants to help her (lmao) but then we get THE KISSING SCENE of all kissing scenes and life was all good in the world. "Für ein paar Sekunden fürchtete ich, Gideon würde mich von sich stoßen, aber dann stöhnte er leise auf, legte seine Arme um meine Taille und zog mich noch enger an sich."
Oh wow, I love them. Also, afterwards, Gideon is utterly confused because Gwen was all mad with him before the ball and now she's kissing him as if her life depended on it and then he's all like "Glaubst du vielleicht, ich sei aus Stein?" I CRY.
Of course, the ball turns completely to shit when Alastair shows up and stabs Gwen (lmao, the drama) but what can ya do? Gideon is so hysterical that when they jump back in time (with Gwen bleeding all over him) that Dr White gives him a whiskey. LOL. Anyways, that's how they figure out Gwen is immortal (Bella is quaking in her seat).
Before we continue recapping this book, let me mention some of my favorite moments. At the beginning, when Gwen is flirting with a barista, Rapha shows up and yells "she has a boyfriend" - I LOVE HIM. Also, Caroline and Nick call Gideon "Gollum", which is also a MOOD. But whilst Caroline becomes absolutely obsessed with Gideon (telling him that he is "totally pretty". GURL, you're ten. She shows him her stuffed animal and goes "Du darfst es ruhig streicheln." - I WAS WHEEZING), Gwen's little brother Nick stays a little possessive, and it's hella cute.
Anyways, back to the hellhole of this plot. After the ball, Gwen overhears the confrontation between Falk and Grace where she learns that Lucy is actually her mom. 14-year-old me was shook. Gwen's all hysterical and Gideon tries to console her. They plan on secretly meeting Lucy and Paul with their own time machine. Madame Rossini helps both of them out when she catches them stealing some clothes from her workshops for the secret mission. I love her. I absolutely hate the fact that we didn't get the confrontation scene between Gwen and her biological parents. I wanted to see Lucy and Paul and how they would handle that situation. Argh.
And because this is a YA book where no one has their priorities straight, Gwen and Gid actually show up to Cynthia's motto party. Also, Charlotte going absolutely wild on that party is a MOOD. Have some fun, girl! And Gideon actually looking after her was the only right thing to do in that situation. Gosh, it was heartbreaking. ("Wenn du mich anrührst, breche ich dir das Genick. Ich kann Krav Maga, weißt du." - "Ich auch, schon vergessen?" -> THEY'RE SUCH A MATCH. I love Charlotte more than life itself… even though she's a bitch in the books, I still stan.)
Leslie's "grobes Handlungskonzept" on how they can trick the Count. LMAO. I also died when I realised that Gideon was the one who clocked himself. ICONIC. Mr Whitman shooting Gideon multiple times in the chest was ICONIC as well… but of course that boy had swallowed that damn potion and became immortal himself. The fact that Dr White was actually the one who knocked Mr Whitman out with a pistol in the end is just everything. Also, way less dramatic than in the movies.
And so we end this crazy book series with Gwen and Gideon actually being immortal (I cannot even). The only thing that makes it better is that Xemerius was like "I'll be here for you when Gideon will get bored of you in 200 years." I RESPECT THAT. Also, MR BERNHARD IS LUCY AND PAUL'S GRANDCHILD and I love that for him.
And lastly my favorite quotes from this series:
"Wenn ich noch einmal das Wort Saphir-Ei höre, dann schreie ich."
"Es ist immer wieder erfrischend, mit euch Kindern des 21. Jahrhunderts blasphemische Themen zu erörtern. Ihr zuckt bei Häresie nicht mit der kleinsten Wimper."
"Ganz hervorragend", sagte ich, obwohl ich gern sein Gesicht gesehen hätte, wenn ich "beschissen" gesagt hätte.
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Hello, plottwists! I love these books so much and they should get more attention. The series is in my top3!
But I really love the relationship between Gwynneth and Gideon. They're so cute! This was my 3th or 4th reread. I didnt understand the sexual references the first few times. This time I got them all. Xemerius is a king in those :'). If there wasn't a xemerius in the books, then it would have been kinda boring! But needless to say that I love theses books!
I just love love love the Precious Stone Trilogy! I don't know how many times I have already re-read these books, but it's always funny to read them, no matter how old I am.
Emerald Green is the last installment and it's definitely as good as the previous two. However, the first part was a little bit long-drawned, because our poor Gwendolyn (Gwyneth) was whiny at the beginning. Nevertheless, Gwen has Leslie (Lesley) and Xemerius, who hel
"Hearts can't be broken because they're made of marzipan."I just love love love the Precious Stone Trilogy! I don't know how many times I have already re-read these books, but it's always funny to read them, no matter how old I am.
Emerald Green is the last installment and it's definitely as good as the previous two. However, the first part was a little bit long-drawned, because our poor Gwendolyn (Gwyneth) was whiny at the beginning. Nevertheless, Gwen has Leslie (Lesley) and Xemerius, who helped her a lot! Without Gwen wouldn't still know the truth ;) I also really liked Gideon in this book. Well, I did like him before, but he shows a very kind and cute site (don't worry, he is still the old Gideon)
I really want Xemerious for myself! I cracked up so many times by his comments. My favourite one is:
"That morning, the two eagerly awaited fairy-tale princes had left their white horses in the stable for once and traveled by Tube," declaimed Xemerius unctuously. "At the sight of them, the eyes of the two princesses shone, and when the two concentrated sets of young hormones collided, expressing themselves in the form of embarrassed kisses and silly grins, the clever and incomparably handsome demon unfortunately had to throw up in a garbage bin."
Further, Emerald Green has two very shocking and surprising moments. Every question we had while reading the first two books are answered in Emerald Green.
Sadly, the ending had been a bit too rushed,, it could have been definitely better. It just felt too abrupt to me. Another point is that the whole series takes place in only two weeks and I find this a bit unrealistic ^^
All in all as mentioned above, I love this series, no matter how girlish the books are. Than, Goodbye Gwen and Gideon!
"Gideon grinned down at me. "Ready?" he whispered.
"Ready when you are," I replied automatically.
4.5 stars for Emerald Green and for the whole trilogy
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"Ready?" I asked with a grin.
"Ready when you are," he replied, grinning back.
"Ready?" I asked with a grin.
"Ready when you are," he replied, grinning back.
When they legit cannot die
When you know they'll stay together forever
Happy endings
When they legit cannot die
When you know they'll stay together forever
Happy endings
Xemerius is still my favorite character and the scenes where was are gold. I don't remember how I felt about Gwen in the previous books but I did like her here, although I wasn't so excited for the romance it did have some nice moments.
Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier
Book Three of the Ruby Red trilogy
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: October 8, 2013
Rating: 5 stars
Source: ARC won from a giveaway
Summary (from Goodreads):
Gwen has a destiny to fulfill, but no one will tell her what it is.
She's only recently learned that she is the Ruby, the final member of the time-traveling Circle of Twelve, and since then nothing has been going right. She suspects the founder of the
***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier
Book Three of the Ruby Red trilogy
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: October 8, 2013
Rating: 5 stars
Source: ARC won from a giveaway
Summary (from Goodreads):
Gwen has a destiny to fulfill, but no one will tell her what it is.
She's only recently learned that she is the Ruby, the final member of the time-traveling Circle of Twelve, and since then nothing has been going right. She suspects the founder of the Circle, Count Saint-German, is up to something nefarious, but nobody will believe her. And she's just learned that her charming time-traveling partner, Gideon, has probably been using her all along.
This stunning conclusion picks up where Sapphire Blue left off, reaching new heights of intrigue and romance as Gwen finally uncovers the secrets of the time-traveling society and learns her fate.
What I Liked:
Must. Be. Vague. It's always tricky, reviewing sequels, especially conclusion novels. I hate feeling like something I say isn't a spoiler but might actually be, especially to someone who hasn't read any of the books in the series. I shall endeavor to be vague, okay? Hopefully that explains why this review will basically be a bunch of flailing and exclamation points.
Gwyneth Shepherd must figure out, for once and for all, what the Count of Saint-Germain is up to, and who the traitor in the Lodge's midst is. At the end of Sapphire Blue, she finds out that the count put Gideon put to making her fall in love with him (Gideon) - or so she understands. In reality, that isn't the case. But that's what she hears the count say, and Gideon does not correct him. What a predicament! The prophecy is slowly being unraveled, and with or without Gideon, Gwen must save herself, and the secrets of the Guardians.
Wow! What a firecracker of a conclusion novel! I love how Gier writes. I love her writing style, her voice, her crafting of the story. I know this series is German, and that it's translated, but I feel like the voice and the writing style is SO UNIQUE, so distinctly not American, that it totally survived the translations. There is a distinct difference between American authors and European authors, I've noticed. The writing style is definitely different, for one, and in an very, very good way!
One this (of many) that I really, REALLY love about this book (and series in general) is how funny the book is (the series is). Gwen is such a hilarious character to follow - her inner monologue is brilliant and awkward and funny. Less awkward and more funny, but she's so clumsy and silly and wonderful. I love how funny the characters are. It makes the subject matter - time travel and death and gloom - so much awesomer to read! We're pretending "awesomer" is a word.
The plot is magnificent! Through all three books, the series plot is brilliant. Each book has its own plot, but the overarching plot through the series is great. There is a traitor, and there is a diabolical count, and Gwen cannot trust anyone. There are so many secrets to be revealed, so many truths to be found out. I love how complex the books get (it's time-travel-related, things SHOULD be complex!), but you don't get lost. Gier has an amazing sense of story-telling, especially with subject matter that could easily get confusing, and she makes sure that her readers aren't lost.
The romance. DON'T WORRY. If you read the ending of the second book and was like, OMG NOOOO, it's okay! Don't worry! We all know better than Gwen, that Gideon really does love her. Gwen does wallow in self-pity for a bit (for good reason though - I mean, come on), but eventually, Gideon must tell her the reason why he started avoiding the relationship like never before. It's a very good reason, I promise.
I love the historical foundation of this book. It's so cool, how Gier weaves different pieces of history into this book. Gwen and Gideon travel to many, many different years in the past, and I think Gier does a brilliant job of crafting each historical world, and making them seem authentic.
This book is the perfect conclusion to a fantastic series! I can't express my love clearly and entirely enough - I love this series. I've loved it even before USA rights were bought to have this book translated. I couldn't even physically read the books (they were in German only at the time), but I wanted to read them and love them. Definitely one of my favorite series of all time!
What I Did Not Like:
I have nothing to say here ;D
Would I Recommend It:
YES! I would recommend the entire series! Seriously - time-travel isn't one of my favorite genres/subgenres. In fact, I dislike most of the time-travel novels I read (because usually, the authors do a poor job of handling the subject matter, and me who rarely gets confused about much ends up in a hopeless state of confusion and annoyance). BUT, I would highly recommend this series, for the time-travel, for the interesting historical basis, for the humor, for the romance!
Rating:
5 stars. So much love! I've read and re-read the first book (Ruby Red) so many times... and the second book (Sapphire Blue)... and I've already re-read this book a handful of times. Now that's love!
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Kerstin Gier managed to create a magical world, filled with wonders, adrenaline, humor and teenage love.
The theme of time travel was always a fascinating thing to read and very easily for one to get lost while reading about it.
Especially ''Emerald Green'' was the best of the three books and I believe it ended in the best way possible.
If you are keen on reading wonderful fiction, this is your book seri I was mesmerized from the very first page of ''Ruby Red'' to the last page of ''Emerald Green''.
Kerstin Gier managed to create a magical world, filled with wonders, adrenaline, humor and teenage love.
The theme of time travel was always a fascinating thing to read and very easily for one to get lost while reading about it.
Especially ''Emerald Green'' was the best of the three books and I believe it ended in the best way possible.
If you are keen on reading wonderful fiction, this is your book series. ...more
HOLY SHIT THOSE WERE SOME PLOT TWISTS. Overall a mediocre book still, but OMG TH PLOT TWISTS.
(I should specify, a lot of the plot twists were INCREDIBLY predictable, but there were a few at the end that elicited this reaction and made me temporarily forget about how predictable the others were)
WHAT I LIKED:
-I continued to enjoy the comedic relief that is Xemerius.
-I still didn't see a lot of the twists coming. But.. having said that.. see below.
WHAT I DISLIKED:
-Although I didn't see a lot of the twists coming, I still didn't really enjoy them. Spoilers: (view spoiler)[Mr Whitman was the count? And that was revealed in the last 5 pages and then he was defeated?! What?? Also, Gideon taking the immortality eli
WHAT I LIKED:
-I continued to enjoy the comedic relief that is Xemerius.
-I still didn't see a lot of the twists coming. But.. having said that.. see below.
WHAT I DISLIKED:
-Although I didn't see a lot of the twists coming, I still didn't really enjoy them. Spoilers: (view spoiler)[Mr Whitman was the count? And that was revealed in the last 5 pages and then he was defeated?! What?? Also, Gideon taking the immortality elixir. Great. Yeah. You guys have known each other for a total of 2 weeks and now you are going to spend eternity together. Awesome. And the weird epilogue about Gwen's either little brother or nephew being Mr. Bernard the housekeeper?? What? Why? Why was that even a thing? How does that make sense? (hide spoiler)]
-NOTHING WAS EXPLAINED! There were prophecies throughout these books. Prophesies made by who? Never explained. How the chronograph works? Also not really explained. Why Gwen can see and talk to ghosts? Not explained. Why the count had powers? Not explained. I thought that the other time travelers would also have powers, but since they didn't I think those things should have been explained. They were just thrown in there for no reason! And then her immortality to top it all off! So many things about the story and background were not explained that I can't even name them all.
-The romance. Complete insta-love. It made no sense and was unbelievable. They've known each other 2 weeks! And 12 of those days, Gideon was a dick to her. What?
-The side characters were all just tropes. Evil aunt. Evil perfectionist cousin. Uptight grandma. Cool spunky best friend. They were fun in the first books but just got old at the end.
-The way it was wrapped up was too sudden. Even though I was over the story and wanted it to be over, they defeated the count in 5 minutes and then there was no talk about what happened with the Guardians after that. I highly doubt they just go on living their lives.
(view spoiler)[-We find out about Lucy and Paul being her parents in the first book, and it isn't resolved until the very end of this book. And even then, it's barely discussed between the characters involved and we see hardly any interactions. WHAT? (hide spoiler)]
Overall, I was expecting more from the story than what I was given. By the time I got to this book, I was really over most of the characters and the situations. It felt too drawn out. It would have been better as a duology.
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I finished this book on Thursday but I had no internet to update :(
THIS TRILOGY WAS SO MUCH FUN. All of these characters are so cool, I'm gonna miss them haha. I think this one is my favorite in the trilogy :) 4.5 stars
I finished this book on Thursday but I had no internet to update :(
THIS TRILOGY WAS SO MUCH FUN. All of these characters are so cool, I'm gonna miss them haha. I think this one is my favorite in the trilogy :) ...more
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