Saturday Snippet Reviews | A Clockwork Fairytale & Ruby Red

There are times when Heather, Aly & I finish a book, but don’t have time to write a full, comprehensive review… or even a shorter “flashbulb” review.  BUT we still want to share our thoughts with you on what we’ve been reading. That’s why every Saturday we’ll be featuring 3 “snippet” reviews — short, sweet, to-the-point reviews that we’ll try to keep to 2-7 sentences.  So we hope you enjoy these!!

 

I picked up this novel thinking “Cool! Thieves, and spies, and STEAMPUNK!” Sadly, I would not consider this book steampunk… at all. There’s a bit of gadgetry, but it in no way critically influences world-building. In fact, you could easily cut all those bits out and it wouldn’t change the story all that much. So color me disappointed. This book also boasted a weak heroine, a master spy hero who certainly didn’t engender a lot of confidence, and a romance that was rushed and always felt a little… off. Also, this book could never seem to make up its mind whether or not it was middle grade or upper YA. So, all in all, “meh.”

 

Ruby Red was pure and simple fun. The romance was smoldery and slow building without being boring. I really enjoyed the complexity and multifaceted plot. There is definitely a bigger game afoot, and I like that Gier doesn’t play her whole hand right up front. This is a sort of “dig in and savor” paced series which is a nice change from the typical books I read. I also like the time travel elements in this world. It’s not always done well and there are often too many paradoxes, so when it’s done well, I appreciate it.

Overall, this was a wonderfully entertaining read and I look forward to learning more about this world.

Happy Reading!