Book Eight, "Rebel Angels"
Book Count: Eight
Title: Rebel Angels
Author: Libba Bray
Genre: YA Fiction
Pages: 548 (not including extra material)
Synopsis: In this sequel to the Victorian fantasy A Great and Terrible Beauty, Gemma continues to pursue her role as the one destined to bind the magic of the Realms and restore it to the Order--a mysterious group who have been overthrown by a rebellion. Gemma, Felicity and Ann, (her girlfriends at Spence Academy for Young Ladies), use magical power to transport themselves on visits from their corseted world to the visionary country of the Realms, with its strange beauty and menace. There they search for the lost Temple, the key to Gemma's mission, and comfort Pippa, their friend who has been left behind in the Realms. After these visits they bring back magical power for a short time to use in their own world. Meanwhile, Gemma is torn between her attraction to the exotic Kartik, the messenger from the opposing forces of the Rakshana, and the handsome but clueless Simon, a young man of good family who is courting her. The complicated plot thickens when Gemma discovers a woman in Bedlam madhouse who knows where to find the Temple; Ann shows signs of being enamored of Gemma's loutish brother Tom, and their father's addiction to laudanum lands him in an opium den. A large part of the enjoyment of this unusual fantasy comes from the Victorian milieu and its restrictive rules about the behavior of proper young ladies, as contrasted with the unimaginable possibilities of the Realms, where Gemma has power to confront gorgons and ghosts and the responsibility to save a world.
Thoughts so far: *SPOILERS*
So far, this book is bothering me a little - probably because in the last book I assumed that all of the stuff that bothered me would be cleared up in the second. First, it bothers me Ann is such a bad friend to Gemma. She doesn't support her in the least and seems to sway to everyone else other than Gemma at the drop of a hat. Second, it bothers me that Felicity doesn't seem sorry or even seem to comprehend that it's because of her that the Realms are in chaos now. Sure, Gemma shattered the Ruins - which wasn't the best idea - but only because Felicity trusted Gemma so little and became so crazed with misplaced power and got them in that situation. Third, no one seems to trust Gemma even though she's always right! Gemma might be a little bit of a worry-wort but erroring on the side of caution when it comes to something seemly as important as magic and the Realms doesn't seem like such a strange idea.
Anyhow, I'm hoping that the book picks up a bit. I'm getting the same vibe as when I was reading Harry Potter and he and Ron were fighting and it seemed that no one was ever going to come to their senses :P
