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protoman21's review against another edition
4.0
I got the feeling that the author was having a bit of trouble letting go of the characters and thus decided to stretch out the final book in the trilogy as long as possible. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book, but I think the extreme length did take away from the overall strength of the story.
Gemma is certainly strong, but flawed in many ways and I can only imagine she will continue stumbling through life doing the wrong thing 50% of the time. I fear that in an effort to assert her independence, she ends up being a bit selfish with the "do whatever you want" mentality. I think it is possible to empower women without making them quite so self serving.
Gemma is certainly strong, but flawed in many ways and I can only imagine she will continue stumbling through life doing the wrong thing 50% of the time. I fear that in an effort to assert her independence, she ends up being a bit selfish with the "do whatever you want" mentality. I think it is possible to empower women without making them quite so self serving.
iceangel32's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know if it was the size that was intimidating...but I have to say that I had a hard time getting into the book. I feel that in the end there was many questions and no real answers and for the last book in the series i feel that it could have ended things a little better. It leaves you feeling like there should have been another book. but I guess that happens in the end of a series...there is only so much you can write. I am sure it Ms Bray wanted she could have gone on and on with this story. However I enjoyed it. I feel that the strong Gemma in the first two books becomes a little soft and shows you a different side of herself. Pippa was great character in this book. And I like the way that alot of the characters secrets come out and how they were all able to make their own decisions and start to shape their own lives in the end, even the creatures in the realms.
bibliophile_jpeg's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot believe this trilogy isn't rated 5 stars, it changed my LIFE. I don't even remember the first time I've read it or how many times since. Libba Bray seriously was gifted by the gods for this saga, and at the time, I don't think there was anything else like it. In fact, I still haven't found another author that gave me the warm, urgent, panicked, chilled, fierce, and melancholy feelings at all once that the Gemma Doyle series gave me. I'm also not big on period pieces, but Bray's description of 19th century England and all of the etiquette and comforts involved, it felt like I had been drifted away, homesick for a time I'd never even lived in. The connection that Bray builds between her characters and her readers is just amazing, and years later, I still feel pity and pride for the fictional girls. This book seriously swept me up, wrapped me in colorful Indian scarves, threw me into the torrential downpour of old England, pushed me through a portal into another magical realm, and sent me home knowing that it was, in fact, NOT a dream. I would pay huge money to read this series again for the first time.
_bookdrag0n's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 ish stars
I don’t know why I went into this with high hopes. This book was WAY longer than it should have been, especially since half the book, absolutely nothing is happening. It just didn’t draw me in or capture me in any way. I had to force myself through this one. I rolled my eyes A LOT
***review contains spoilers**
As usual, Gemma ignores every single warning she is given by people looking out for her. She continues to lie and evade her responsibilities to share the magic like she promised, but then acts like she doesn’t understand why the residents of the realms are upset with her and are on the edge of war? She already made the decision in the last book to form the alliance and share the magic, yet she spends this entire book backtracking on that and keeping the magic to only her little band of fake friends.
In true fashion of the other books, the “friends” lie to each other, backstab each other, use each other (cause let’s face it, if Gemma didn’t have the ability to get them to the realms and give them magic, Felicity, Ann, and Pippa would have all forgotten she existed and none of them would be friends). They still fat and “ugly” shamed Ann relentlessly throughout and she was only “beautiful” when she was changed by magic.
The Felicity/Pippa twist just seemed…. Weird? NOWHERE leading up to that bit did their relationship EVER seem like anything more than two best girl friends if there had been more stolen glances or touches it would have made more sense. They only acted the same way towards each other as they did with their friends they weren’t secretly in love with. It just seemed forced for a plot twist that wasn’t believable and authentic. At least not to me – a non-straight woman.
Kartik’s death made absolutely no sense to me and I’m still not entirely sure what happened? Like, he sacrificed himself for Gemma, I get that. But now he’s stuck as some tree in the Winterlands for the rest of eternity? Will he be corrupted in the Winterlands? Or is all the “evil” gone now? Because Eugenia didn’t start out evil? I don’t know.
Gemma in the end gives up everything to start a new life in America in New York, which, I don’t know, just seems like an ending that was slapped together and mediocre.
I don’t know why I went into this with high hopes. This book was WAY longer than it should have been, especially since half the book, absolutely nothing is happening. It just didn’t draw me in or capture me in any way. I had to force myself through this one. I rolled my eyes A LOT
***review contains spoilers**
As usual, Gemma ignores every single warning she is given by people looking out for her. She continues to lie and evade her responsibilities to share the magic like she promised, but then acts like she doesn’t understand why the residents of the realms are upset with her and are on the edge of war? She already made the decision in the last book to form the alliance and share the magic, yet she spends this entire book backtracking on that and keeping the magic to only her little band of fake friends.
In true fashion of the other books, the “friends” lie to each other, backstab each other, use each other (cause let’s face it, if Gemma didn’t have the ability to get them to the realms and give them magic, Felicity, Ann, and Pippa would have all forgotten she existed and none of them would be friends). They still fat and “ugly” shamed Ann relentlessly throughout and she was only “beautiful” when she was changed by magic.
The Felicity/Pippa twist just seemed…. Weird? NOWHERE leading up to that bit did their relationship EVER seem like anything more than two best girl friends if there had been more stolen glances or touches it would have made more sense. They only acted the same way towards each other as they did with their friends they weren’t secretly in love with. It just seemed forced for a plot twist that wasn’t believable and authentic. At least not to me – a non-straight woman.
Kartik’s death made absolutely no sense to me and I’m still not entirely sure what happened? Like, he sacrificed himself for Gemma, I get that. But now he’s stuck as some tree in the Winterlands for the rest of eternity? Will he be corrupted in the Winterlands? Or is all the “evil” gone now? Because Eugenia didn’t start out evil? I don’t know.
Gemma in the end gives up everything to start a new life in America in New York, which, I don’t know, just seems like an ending that was slapped together and mediocre.
mrsbrharris's review against another edition
3.0
This book was slow moving for me. I still didn't feel very attached to any of the characters. After I finished the book and read the interview at the end she said she would have made it into two books and written an outline before writing it. I would have to agree. Some of her literary devices and images were beautiful, but most of the in between stuff didn't do it for me.
acourtofadhdandanxiety's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mellomorissa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
saranies's review against another edition
3.0
I realized why this book frustrated me so much: the main character doesn't ask why. She's in a lot of situations where she is given information by other characters who have a lot of reasons to lie to her, and she almost never asks them why something happened or why things are the way they are.
livinlavidalo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0