Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

August 23rd, 2008

Rebel Angels
Libba Bray
548 p.

Delacorte Press, 2006.
(First published by Random House.)

Back cover blurb:

Ah, Christmas! Gemma Doyle is looking forward to a holiday from Spence Academy - spending time with her friends in the city, attending balls in fancy gowns with plunging necklines, and dallying with the handsome Simon Middleton. Yet amid these distractions, her visions intensify - visions of three girls dressed in white, to whom something horrific has happened that only the realms can explain.

The lure is strong, and soon Gemma, Felicity, and Ann are turning flowers into butterflies in the enchanted world to which Gemma takes them. To the girls’ great joy, their beloved Pippa is there as well, eager to complete their circle of friendship.

But all is not well in the realms - or out. Kartik is back, desperately insisting to Gemma that she must bind the magic, lest colossal disaster befall her. Gemma is willing to comply, for this would bring her face to face with her late mother’s greatest friend, now Gemma’s foe - Circe. Until Circe is destroyed, Gemma cannot live out her destiny. But finding Circe proves a most perilous task….

Rebel Angels teems with Victorian thrills and chills that play out against the backdrop of 1895 London, a place of shadows and light… where inside great beauty can lie a rebel angel.

These books are so much fun. I really feel for Gemma, despite maybe not being all that intrigued by the plot. Actually, the plot is pretty predictable. I said this to my sister, who is a big fan of this book series. She told me that I should just wait and be surprised. Unfortunately, the next thing I said was, like most things I predicted about the novel, correct. The only thing which I thought would happen which didn’t was actually me believing that Gemma would finally get to have some sex. She kissed two different people, and still she was unsuccessful. If she doesn’t get laid in the third book, I’ll be Very disappointed. (I shall start it later today, so it’s possible I’ll be able to report soon enough.) Apart from that? Some interesting stuff happened. I liked the fact that some people changed a little and there was character development, which is always nice. It’s also given me an itch for genuine nineteenth-century literature, which is nice, I suppose.

Entry Filed under: English, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Young Adult