Faster paced than the first book in this trilogy. Mostly set in Victorian London, the girls get some character development and we learn more about the realms. The major plot is wrapped up and we are left with loose ends that I assume are going to be dealt with in the final book and maybe also some unforseen consequences since the third book is 800+ pages! ( )

Abstractly, I always know how much I enjoy Libba Bray, but whenever one of her books pops up on my TBR, I remember with bright insistence. Since I started this blog, Libba Bray has become one of my absolute favorite authors. Rebel Angels is yet another wonderful book. It’s the second in the Gemma Doyle series and it’s been years since I read the first… but it all came back so quickly. I loved it. I listening to it slowly, often shutting it off and switching to music or my aPHR study materials rather than finish it. This sort of habit is terrible for my reading goals, but I don’t care. Rebel Angels was fun, twisty, imaginative, sad, and sweet. I loved it. And how often do we say that about the middle book in a trilogy?

In fact, I think I enjoyed Rebel Angels more than the first book.

The Realms come to life in this book as we venture far beyond the garden and into the depths of Bray’s world. Each trip into the realms is noticeably wilder and more dangerous. We watch the garden alone transform into a haunted version of something from Alice in Wonderland. We meet new characters inside this world, but we also meet old friends. Or are they?

The setting also pivots in the real world as Gemma, Felicity, and Anne head home to London for the Christmas holiday. We meet more people in society, we watch Gemma’s father struggle. We see Anne take the spotlight for a little while, which was absolutely wonderful. More than anything, I think my favorite character arc in Rebel Angels was Felicity’s. Coming into this story, I was a bit salty about Felicity. I was sure, so sure of her behavior only to learn more about her as we meet her family and venture into her home. It’s one of the things I love about Libba Bray – although she isn’t a POV character, Bray takes time with the supporting characters to give them depth and purpose. Now, ending the second book and heading into the third, I’m as invested in all the supporting characters as I am in Gemma.

Bray’s writing does so well diving into darkness. Nineteenth century England has its own underbelly of unfortunate behaviors, expectations, and the like. Bray picks away at this world like a scab and is not shy at all when it comes to Bedlam. I read her writing as a commentary of history with a raw bite that lets us be ashamed and embarrassed for most of London society as well as the reflections we see in ourselves (yikes). There’s also a moment where Gemma says something incredibly racist and the character she’s talking to reacts extremely appropriately and it’s called out in that way, although Gemma (and Felicity, when told) fails to see the problem. And isn’t that quite typical of our world? That interaction stood out to me. I appreciated its inclusion and I hope it makes others think.

If you read A Great and Terrible Beauty and were on the fence about continuing, this is your sign to carry on. I really enjoyed this book with its twists and turns (at a plot and a personal level). I know I’ll be reading the last book in the trilogy! This is one I’d read again. Anything by Libba Bray is something I’d read again! ( )

I love Libba Bray. I think my love for her grows more and more every time I read anything by her, or about her. This kind of story would not generally be my thing. Teenage girls in the old days, curtsying, being ladies, finishing school, high society, etc. Seriously, I am a very lucky girl not to have been born back in the day where women pretty much had a shit life. I would have been one of those girls that caused scandals by not wearing corsets, swearing, climbing trees, punching guys who pinched my ass, etc. I would have been the one they ship away off to the nutter house, or accused of witchcraft. It would have not been pleasant for me, so I usually don't want to read about how unpleasant it is for them, but Libba Bray makes me love it. She has magical powers, I am almost sure of it. She is a clever little bastard. ( )

Listened to the audio book of this, and just like the 1st book in the trilogy, this book was amazing and the narrator of the audio book was still amazing! In this book, our main character, Gemme Doyle, is home for the holidays with her family in London. She has to help care for her father, attend lavish balls, and have a bit of a whirlwind romance with a handsome Simon Denby. But Gemma's visions have come back and are much stronger. She is having visions of these 3 girls in white. They are trying to show her what happened to them and to warn her. Gemma, Felicity, and Ann return to the realms where Gemma must find the Temple and bind the magic and put a stop to Circe. ( )

Goodness. That's quite a story.

While [b:A Great and Terrible Beauty|3682|A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle, #1)|Libba Bray|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1284558475l/3682._SY75_.jpg|2113193] primarily focused around the boarding school life with hints of a relatively benign magic (with a fair few hints of darkness under the surface), Rebel Angels expands the world both to the greater society of the time and delves much deeper into the dark, creepy bits of the Realms--not the least of which is Pippa. Dead... but not? It's a way to deal with loss, but there's no way this is possible going to end well.

One one hand, the twists at the end are interesting and it does shine a light both at the darkness in our world and in theirs, which is all the better. The bits in England are interesting enough to me, but I imagine that it's pretty standard historical romance stuff. The bits in the Realms are... a bit of a kitchen sink. Nothing ever really makes sense, which can feel extra magical and fantastical, but in this case mostly makes it feel disjointed. And when the major conflict revolves around a trio of teen girls literally staying on the path and listening to what they're told...

Well, you can imagine how that goes.

We'll give the third a try just because I've made it this far, but it's certainly not the easiest read. ( )