marinagostini

** spoiler alert ** I had mixed feelings about this book after reading the first. I wasn't blown away by A Great and Terrible Beauty and wasn't sure if the series would improve. What's more, I KNOW that Libba Bray is quite a hysterical writer but that didn't come across at all in the first book. However, all the things I felt SHOULD have happened in the first book, DID happen in the second one. The first thing I noticed in Rebel Angels was that the wit and humor I had expected out of the first book, but didn't get, appeared in full fury in the second book. Gemma was so funny and engaging and everything I wanted her to be, everything that was hinted at in book one but never brought to life. There is one part where she curses in front of Kartik and it takes her a minute to realize what she did. Better yet, she apologizes but in that, 'I'm doing it because I'm supposed to not because I really mean it' sort of way. I also liked how you got a much better feel for the characters in this book. I think a big part of that is that we see the girls outside of Spence Academy. They're in London, with their families, living their lives. We see that Felicity's life is actually awful, despite the front she puts on. Her mother has returned from France but only because she has been dumped by her French lover. We find out a dark secret of Felicity's: that all her life she has been raped by her father. And now, her seven year old orphaned cousin, Polly, has entered the home, another victim to her father. Suddenly, all the things that made us dislike Fee, make us pity her. Her poor attitude and want of Polly out of the house is not jealousy, but Fee trying to protect her from the same fate that befell Felicity. Ann really annoyed me in this book. All you ever hear from her is how terrible and pitiful her life is, how she's never going to be anything but a governess. While in London with Felicity and her family, Ann pretends to be the daughter of Russian Royalty. When she is found out, everyone scorns her. I felt like it served her right. Yet all she does is complain. It bothers me because she believes that everyone else's life is perfect while it's only her own that's tragic. If she would just take a minute to open her eyes and look around she would see that Gemma and Felicity's lives aren't as glamorous as she sees them to be. I also like that Gemma gets a real taste of a normal life. Simon is a friend of her brother's; a friend that shows a very hearty interest in Gemma. He is part of a family with a lot of money and courts Gemma throughout the entire holiday. He even makes an informal proposal to her. What's more, Gemma ENJOYS being courted. She likes the idea of a normal life and marriage. But, Kartik is around during the Christmas season, causing Gemma's emotions to go haywire. In the end, she ends up rejecting Simon because she knows that he will never be able to accept who she is. She doesn't even really accept Kartik. This book also provided a lot more action. Last book, Gemma accidentally broke the runes and released the magic into the realms. In this book, she has to bind the magic so that Circe can't get to it. We don't really know who Circe is, though I had my suspicions. I knew it wasn't Mrs. McCleethy, mainly because Bray was making it too obvious. From about a third of the way in, Gemma thought it was McCleethy so it was kind of a red flag that it wasn't her. However, she trusted Mrs. Moore (who she accidentally got fired the book before) which was a red flag that Mrs. Moore WAS Circe. That was one of the biggest qualms I had with the second book; it really wasn't hard to figure out who Circe was. However, I was surprised by how things turned out. Circe has no real power. She needs to steal other people's power. Which means that she needs someone else to take her into the realms. Since Gemma is really the only one with enough power to do so, she preys on Gemma. It is Gemma that accidentally takes Circe into the realms without knowing it. I also liked that Gemma didn't give into ANY side, at the end. The Order, the Rakshana, Circe, even the creatures of the Realm were all trying to bend Gemma to their will. They all wanted her to bind the magic in THEIR names. In the end, Gemma bound the power within herself. SHE was now the temple and SHE was in control of it all. She recognizes that things have to change. They can't be the same that they were. I loved that. I LOVED that she really stepped up and took control and showed that she wasn't just some annoying girl, there to be used and disposed of. It was also heartbreaking. There was so much tragedy. Ann knowing she could never become anything more, Gemma having to say no to her desires and slowly watching her father deteriorate, Felicity being the scorn of society all because of her mother, all the while having this dark secret about her father that she couldn't tell anyone about. We even see Pippa again, her spirit in the Realms, unable to cross over. Pippa wanted to hang on so desperately to the life that she had, the one she had wanted but would miss out on. She couldn't let go an move on and, inevitably, she ended up corrupt because she couldn't let go. I really recommend this book to anyone who enjoys high fantasy. The first book in the series is a little hard to push through, but it's worth it for the second book. Rebel Angels is everything that I wanted A Great and Terrible Beauty to be. If you can make it through the first book, the second one is definitely worth it.

2022-11-14 16:23