Ruby Blue by Julie Cassar

This book was a bit difficult for me to get hooked into. The first several pages read very much like diary entries of a teenage girl, full of description about everyone and everything. I was close to a quarter of the way through the book before I started feeling engaged by the story. This is obviously not a young adult story, although I'm quite certain teenage girls will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Meet Ruby, a seventeen year-old who has been able to see fairies since she was five. She, her parents and younger brother Leo live in a lakeside resort town in northern Michigan and are on summer break. Ruby spends much of her free time with Anya, Brennan, Jeremy, and Leo when she must. When the "hottest" boy in town finally asks her for a date, Ruby, who seldom lacks for words, is struggling to talk to him.

Ruby has the typical teenage issues with her younger brother being a pain and frequently annoying. Her responses to her parents reminding her to do chores come across annoyed or frustrated by the reminder. You get all the internal melodrama over a developing relationship with the hot guy who works in the local pizza restaurant. Of course the girls go crazy over what Ruby will wear for her first date with "Mr. Hotness" as you might expect any teenage girl to when she first gets with someone.

Elements of a fairytale are woven into a story about the everyday life of a teenage girl, Ruby learns a few things about Anya and Brennan that surprise her. Oh, and a dragon has come through a portal from Fey during the most recent blue moon. Now that he's in our world, he's causing havoc starting fires and upsetting boats in the marina. Research turns up the solution, but the kids will need all their courage to go through with it.

Although gay relationships are not the focus of this story, it is addressed and handled with a tact and frankness that I don't often see. If this is a problem for you, then you probably shouldn't read this book. Although this was a good book, I am definitely in the wrong age group to truly find enjoyment in this story. My personal opinion is that the age group that will get the most enjoyment out of this book will be junior high and high school age.

I found the story to be well written, nearly perfect in editing with characters that will be engaging to the right age group. I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The Amazon link will automatically redirect you to your local Amazon.