I will admit to reading this trilogy in less than a week, and I highly recommend it to both adults and teens. My daughter read the first book in the series, and then she continuously told me I should read it. I was curious to see what kind of story had captivated her attention so I took her recommendation and dived in.

This series is based in London and is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Gwen. Although I usually don’t like to read or watch anything having to do with time travel because I almost always find a mistake in the plot, this one was different. After getting to the end, I thought over the entire story and did not really find any time traveling mistakes. It’s a hard subject to write about, and I applaud Kerstin Gier for how well it was done.

The author is from Germany, and this series has been translated into many languages. I’m a bit jealous because it’s been turned into a television show in Germany, and I would definitely watch it if it were in English.

Ruby Red is the first book in the series, and I give it a full five star review. Although this series is a fantasy romance, the romance was not strong in the first book. I would also say it’s a mystery read, with the main character chasing down answers to one big question. We follow her along her journey into the past and present in search of clues.

Sapphire Blue is the second book in the series, and although I still loved it, I have to give it a four star review. Everyone treated Gwen horrible in this novel, and I just could not relate to how she dealt with it, kind of like a doormat. I understand it goes with her personality, but everything within me would have lost it and put everyone in their places, while she said nothing and cried. However, a new mystical creature was added, and I loved him. The mystery plot thickened, and the adventure continued. The romantic relationship was complicated, and overall, I loved this novel and immediately went into the third one.

Emerald Green is the third book in the series, and I give it a four star review also. This series had an advanced plot and lovable characters. The adventure, romance, and mystery–it was all there! The only thing I found fault with was how the climax to the story happened. It had built up for three novels so I was surprised and somewhat let down at how fast the author dealt with it. I compare it to having a firework that doesn’t turn out as big as you had been expecting. The ending was perfect and fit the story. However, the author could have added more detail to make it go slower and give it more suspense. Instead, there were three books building that suspense, and it was taken care of within a page or two. I was like, “Oh, it’s over. Alrighty then.”

The entire story was outstanding with a completely surprising ending that I really don’t think anyone could have guessed, and I highly recommend this series to adults and teens who love mystery, sweet romance, and thick plots with time travel.

As for the clean rating, there were quite a few minor curse words throughout. It did have some drunk scenes. Although there were no sex scenes, the main characters were not against it. In the end, I’m not uncomfortable with my daughter reading it, and I’m more conservative than most. The story was not dark, taking the reader’s mind to negative places. It truly was a clean mystery read with some fantasy and romance.