I kind of went from Libba Bray's newer stuff back to her older stuff, but meh.
Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray.
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This trilogy contains A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing. There's an interesting history with this trilogy, well, more interesting than "I pre-ordered it."
I found the second book, Rebel Angels, at the library and was intrigued. I looked at the other books by this author list and realised it was the second book in a trilogy. I put a hold on the first one, A Great and Terrible Beauty, then read it and Rebel Angels back to back. It was love at first read. I managed to find both A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels at used book stores, so I just had to wait for The Sweet Far Thing to come out. It came out December 26. I remember anonymously commenting on Libba Bray's blog, telling her how I wished Christmas would be over already so I could read her new book. On Boxing Day, I begged my parents to go to the book store so I could buy The Sweet Far Thing. It was 40% off all hardcovers in the store, cuz that was Coles/Chapters/Indigo's yearly Boxing Week special (now it's 30% off), so I got a discount on it as well. I think the books completely sold out across my city for a bit.
This trilogy is about an English girl, named Gemma Doyle, who lives in India, but desperately wants to live in England, with the "civilized". Her mum is murdered, and she gets her wish, along with some interesting new powers. Gemma finds out she is the last member of an ancient organization called the Order, whose magic is grounded in another world called the Realms. A boy about her age follows her from India because he is one of the Rakshana, the men who protect the Order.
I can't really comment on the plot without giving anything besides saying that things get broken, which then get fixed, although not to how everyone would wish it. Sacrifices are made, friends and lovers are lost, but hope for new lives is also found. The trilogy is well-written and what made me fall in love with Libba Bray's writing, and so I thank it.
If anyone would like me to go into more detail, let me know, and I'll do a separate blog post.