Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

Okay, I don't even want to go into this one. I have read all the previous installments of the Gemma Doyle series (A Great and Terrible Beauty & Rebel Angels) but this last installment made me want to cry at seeing how this great story just took a nose dive into mediocracy. This was a strong story that was brought down by a lack of continuity in characterization.

As the book starts we find out that Gemma has not been able to return to the Realms since she bound the power to herself. Kartek has disappeared even though we thought him part of an alliance with Gemma. When she finally get back into the Realms we find that the place has changed... ALOT. It is a more scary place and everyone wants a piece of the power. Gemma's alliance with the forest folks has not been completed and they are very resentful that they had helped her defeat Surcy and yet she has not lived up to their side of the bargain.

This is my big problem. Gemma always has had a bit of a problem with fitting in but I've never known her to be so easy to manipulate. She was such a mat, letting everyone govern her actions while saying it was all on her. She kept doing things so that people would like her with no regard of the outcome of her actions.

Gemma was very abusive with her power and had so little regard for her duties as the vessel to that power that it just was a disaster. Felicity was her typical self but Gemma was the one with the power. She needed to learn to say NO and move on. The book dragged on forever with all the idiocies that the girls were doing and all the "I do what I want because Felicity/Anne/ said so!"

The book could have been so much shorter and then the ending was terrible when we lose so many strong characters in the end !!! I would stop anyone from even starting this series because the last installment was such a GREAT AND TERRIBLE DISASTER!!

Grade: D-

Format: Audiobook

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

I don't want to forget mentioning the reading of the sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty during the month of January.

This installment has us picking up the story of Gemma Doyle and her friends from Spence Academy just a few months after the previous story ended. Pippa was lost in our previous tale but not for good, since we find ourselves visiting her in the Realms where she has failed to cross over to the other side.

After destroying the stones that kept the magic under control, the Realm is in chaos and nothing is what it appears to be. The story takes place just over the winter break, where Gemma, Felicity and Ann have gone to London to spend the holiday's with their family.

The Rakshana has put in a bid to gain control over the Realms and have sent Kartik to convince Gemma that she needs to find the so called Temple and bind the magic. But are the Rakshana there to protect Gemma or are they following their own itinerary?
To top it off, Gemma finds herself being courted by a very amiable, but clueless young man, Simon.

This story grabs you from the start and has you holding your breath on every page. I cannot recommend this book enough! Libba Bray not only portrays a girl that is torn between her gifts and the duty she owes The Order but also the young woman coming of age in Victorian times. Gemma struggles with the manipulation of Felicity, her friendship with Ann who will always be of inferior class, and an attraction for Kartik that just is out of the question.

I just found out that the third book in this wonderful series is to be published in September of this year. It will definitely be a MUST read!!

Grade: A
Format: Audiobook