Rambling on the Gemma Doyle trilogy
1. POOL OF FAIL. I somehow managed to finish all my work at a perfectly respectable hour of 6.30 in the evening, and drove down to the pool all ready to, you know, actually EXERCISE again. I didn't, unfortunately, as I was informed that there was some kind of 'chemical imbalance' that meant the pool was under maintenance. BAH.
2. I wound up driving home and taking a long walk instead. (What's up with me this past couple of weeks - I can't bear the thought of actually going RUNNING. I think I'm just lazy.)
3. Good thing about walks though - and I suspect this is why I've started to prefer walks to runs - is that I can read while I'm walking. Well, technically, I SHOULDN'T, because the path is hardly well-lit at the best of times and I will either go blind or smash into something. Bah, I didn't let that stop me though. I raced through Rebel Angels, the second book of the Gemma Doyle trilogy, and actually finished the WHOLE THING FASTER THAN I EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE. OMG OMG. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. AND I WILL, UNDER THE CUT. I'll white out the spoilers, just in case, and people might want to avoid comments if they don't want to get spoiled. Also, people who come flail with me: I haven't read book 3, though I will be correcting that SOONEST. SO NO SPOILING ME FOR BOOK 3, MMMKAY.
Here's my completely unspoilery Goodreads review of the book:
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a fascinating, disappointing, intriguing and frustrating sequel this makes. Yes, of course I recognise that these descriptions are contradictory, but so too is Bray's follow-up to her dark, wry, creepy Victorian novel for schoolgirls, brimming as it does with magic and creatures of dark and light alike.
This second novel is set in two worlds: the cosseted high society of Victorian London, a world steeped in tradition and a sense of hopeless fatalism; and the magical realms, which have unspooled across the pages as a universe teeming with darkness, light, mystery and fear. Gemma's journey through both, as she tries to find the Temple - the elusive source of all magic - and to uncover her true enemies in a twist of ghoulish visions and lunatic rambling is wonderfully, chillingly drawn out...
What is disappointing is that the twist in the tale is such a blindingly obvious one: telegraphed across half the novel, it's hard to shake the feeling that the author had tried for suspense and surprise, but had her own piece de resistance, her supposed trompe l'oeil, unravel upon itself far too soon.
It's a testament to the power of her story and the fascinating mix of characters and temperaments - especially of the bumbling, trusting Gemma, the desperately unhappy Ann and the vibrant, electric presence of Felicity, all with a determinedly cheerful Pippa changed forevermore and yet still achingly, chillingly the same - that this reader still found herself racing through the final chapters to reach an ending that boasts surprising amounts of closure for the middle book in a trilogy.
View all my reviews.
SPOILERY FLAIL - highlight to read!
>> OK SO WTF. The book was awesome. Like, the expansion of the realms and Gemma's quest and all that was kickass. And the character stuff I LOVED, like Pippa refusing to cross over and how she was changing, deteriorating, so noticeably, each time they went back. And I loved the balance between Victorian London and the realms in this book, and of course all the fantastical things - this would make such a GREAT movie, with the Gorgon ship and the Poppy Warriors and everything.
BUT OMG. HOW OBVIOUS COULD IT HAVE BEEN THAT MISS MOORE WAS SARAH REES-TOOME?! Okay, don't mock me if this all changes in Book 3 and it turns out Sarah is actually some other person or something, a possibility I do not discount since Sal mentioned the third book is a total mindfuck. :P But at this point, I'm like. DUDE. WAY BAD WAY TO DROP HINTS. The moment Mrs Nightwing said "Sa - Claire" when referring to Miss McCleethy, I KNEW we were supposed to think she was Sarah/Circe, and I was surprised how blatant it was and decided she COULDN'T be evil if it was so DAMN OBVIOUS. (I call this the Severus Snape syndrome, see Harry Potter Book 1.) Until Gemma stupidly started telling Miss Moore everything ever EVER, and I had my suspicions... Pretty much halfway through the book I was already convinced Miss Moore was Sarah, and then they mentioned the anagrams thing. And literally I figured it out in my brain and was certain the letters would fit. While eating dinner, I finally worked out the anagram to figure out what her middle name had to be for it to work, and of course, on the very NEXT page, I got the FIRST mention of Miss Moore signing off with 'Asa'. :P DUDE, WAY TO BE FRICKIN' CRAZY OBVIOUS. It kind of ruined the suspense and thrill of the book a little, because I KNEW to watch out for Miss Moore being all sinister and weird.
The book still worked though, because I love how it all played out in the end. I guess it was kind of fun to see HOW stupid Gemma could be and how much more she could screw things up by, OH DEAR, bringing Sarah back into the realms etc. Poor Nell - trying so hard to get through to Gemma and failing. I DID like how the realms were completely screwed up and messing with Gemma though, so she could no longer trust her visions but had to take on faith the rantings of a seemingly batshit-crazy person.
I LOVE Felicity's backstory in this. I like how the author is making Felicity increasingly real and believable, and really explains her behaviour and motivations. I actually like her as a character best (Lana, I'm totally understanding why she's one of your interests now, lol) - Ann gets a bit wearying after a while, and Gemma is kind of retarded sometimes... no? *looks around* <<
HMMM, OKAY. PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ THIS - am I alone in figuring out that twist SO early on in the book? SURELY not. Did it impact on your enjoyment of the novel? Flail with me! I'm heading off to bed now, but will most certainly be starting in on Book 3 the first chance I get. EXCITEMENT. Thank you so much for the recs, llyfrgell, lanafromoz AND lfae! (OMG, I kind of love how you guys ALL have user names starting with 'L'. *weeps*)
4. Busy week planned ahead - family dinner tomorrow night, yoga trial on Wednesday, EVITA on Thursday, and a play and IDINA on Friday. FUNTIMES. XD At least they're GOOD plans, rather than, you know, the ones I usually make i.e., no plans so I can be back at work at a moment's notice. :P
5. BED! Before 3.30am, perhaps! Gasp!!
2. I wound up driving home and taking a long walk instead. (What's up with me this past couple of weeks - I can't bear the thought of actually going RUNNING. I think I'm just lazy.)
3. Good thing about walks though - and I suspect this is why I've started to prefer walks to runs - is that I can read while I'm walking. Well, technically, I SHOULDN'T, because the path is hardly well-lit at the best of times and I will either go blind or smash into something. Bah, I didn't let that stop me though. I raced through Rebel Angels, the second book of the Gemma Doyle trilogy, and actually finished the WHOLE THING FASTER THAN I EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE. OMG OMG. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. AND I WILL, UNDER THE CUT. I'll white out the spoilers, just in case, and people might want to avoid comments if they don't want to get spoiled. Also, people who come flail with me: I haven't read book 3, though I will be correcting that SOONEST. SO NO SPOILING ME FOR BOOK 3, MMMKAY.
Here's my completely unspoilery Goodreads review of the book:
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a fascinating, disappointing, intriguing and frustrating sequel this makes. Yes, of course I recognise that these descriptions are contradictory, but so too is Bray's follow-up to her dark, wry, creepy Victorian novel for schoolgirls, brimming as it does with magic and creatures of dark and light alike.
This second novel is set in two worlds: the cosseted high society of Victorian London, a world steeped in tradition and a sense of hopeless fatalism; and the magical realms, which have unspooled across the pages as a universe teeming with darkness, light, mystery and fear. Gemma's journey through both, as she tries to find the Temple - the elusive source of all magic - and to uncover her true enemies in a twist of ghoulish visions and lunatic rambling is wonderfully, chillingly drawn out...
What is disappointing is that the twist in the tale is such a blindingly obvious one: telegraphed across half the novel, it's hard to shake the feeling that the author had tried for suspense and surprise, but had her own piece de resistance, her supposed trompe l'oeil, unravel upon itself far too soon.
It's a testament to the power of her story and the fascinating mix of characters and temperaments - especially of the bumbling, trusting Gemma, the desperately unhappy Ann and the vibrant, electric presence of Felicity, all with a determinedly cheerful Pippa changed forevermore and yet still achingly, chillingly the same - that this reader still found herself racing through the final chapters to reach an ending that boasts surprising amounts of closure for the middle book in a trilogy.
View all my reviews.
SPOILERY FLAIL - highlight to read!
>> OK SO WTF. The book was awesome. Like, the expansion of the realms and Gemma's quest and all that was kickass. And the character stuff I LOVED, like Pippa refusing to cross over and how she was changing, deteriorating, so noticeably, each time they went back. And I loved the balance between Victorian London and the realms in this book, and of course all the fantastical things - this would make such a GREAT movie, with the Gorgon ship and the Poppy Warriors and everything.
BUT OMG. HOW OBVIOUS COULD IT HAVE BEEN THAT MISS MOORE WAS SARAH REES-TOOME?! Okay, don't mock me if this all changes in Book 3 and it turns out Sarah is actually some other person or something, a possibility I do not discount since Sal mentioned the third book is a total mindfuck. :P But at this point, I'm like. DUDE. WAY BAD WAY TO DROP HINTS. The moment Mrs Nightwing said "Sa - Claire" when referring to Miss McCleethy, I KNEW we were supposed to think she was Sarah/Circe, and I was surprised how blatant it was and decided she COULDN'T be evil if it was so DAMN OBVIOUS. (I call this the Severus Snape syndrome, see Harry Potter Book 1.) Until Gemma stupidly started telling Miss Moore everything ever EVER, and I had my suspicions... Pretty much halfway through the book I was already convinced Miss Moore was Sarah, and then they mentioned the anagrams thing. And literally I figured it out in my brain and was certain the letters would fit. While eating dinner, I finally worked out the anagram to figure out what her middle name had to be for it to work, and of course, on the very NEXT page, I got the FIRST mention of Miss Moore signing off with 'Asa'. :P DUDE, WAY TO BE FRICKIN' CRAZY OBVIOUS. It kind of ruined the suspense and thrill of the book a little, because I KNEW to watch out for Miss Moore being all sinister and weird.
The book still worked though, because I love how it all played out in the end. I guess it was kind of fun to see HOW stupid Gemma could be and how much more she could screw things up by, OH DEAR, bringing Sarah back into the realms etc. Poor Nell - trying so hard to get through to Gemma and failing. I DID like how the realms were completely screwed up and messing with Gemma though, so she could no longer trust her visions but had to take on faith the rantings of a seemingly batshit-crazy person.
I LOVE Felicity's backstory in this. I like how the author is making Felicity increasingly real and believable, and really explains her behaviour and motivations. I actually like her as a character best (Lana, I'm totally understanding why she's one of your interests now, lol) - Ann gets a bit wearying after a while, and Gemma is kind of retarded sometimes... no? *looks around* <<
HMMM, OKAY. PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ THIS - am I alone in figuring out that twist SO early on in the book? SURELY not. Did it impact on your enjoyment of the novel? Flail with me! I'm heading off to bed now, but will most certainly be starting in on Book 3 the first chance I get. EXCITEMENT. Thank you so much for the recs, llyfrgell, lanafromoz AND lfae! (OMG, I kind of love how you guys ALL have user names starting with 'L'. *weeps*)
4. Busy week planned ahead - family dinner tomorrow night, yoga trial on Wednesday, EVITA on Thursday, and a play and IDINA on Friday. FUNTIMES. XD At least they're GOOD plans, rather than, you know, the ones I usually make i.e., no plans so I can be back at work at a moment's notice. :P
5. BED! Before 3.30am, perhaps! Gasp!!