Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Rebel Angels

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Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

7 reviews

spellbookspines's review against another edition

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4.0

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bzliz's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Rebel Angels continues Gemma Doyle’s journey into understanding the mysterious Order her mother belonged to prior to her death, her quest to bind magic she had previously set free, and her duty to be a flawless daughter, sister and possible future wife. Her companions Ann and Felicity join her over their Christmas break from school and together the three grapple with how to find the Order’s Temple along with the daily challenges of being upstanding young ladies in London society. Gemma also finds herself enchanted by Simon Middleton- a young gentleman who would make a wise match for her- despite her lingering feelings for her “guard” Kartik.

This feels more YA than its predecessor and I found it easier to follow along. It does drag a little through the first half of the book but it speeds up and the majority of the plot wraps up quite succinctly in about 50 pages. There’s still plenty of juice left to warrant another installment.

Content warnings with spoilers below:
Drug Use/Abuse:

Gemma’s father is addicted to laudanum and opium. She tries to cure him with magic but he’s drawn back in due to hearing voices in his head telling him the truth about his late wife and his magical daughter.

Racism/Classism/Misogyny :

As would be typical for this time period. Much stock is put into someone’s class and Gemma’s brother in particular takes issue with Kartik’s Indian heritage. Women are constantly put down by the men.

Mental Illness/Psychosis:

Gemma’s brother Tom works at Bedlam Asylum and Gemma meets a girl named Nell who has been driven mad through her association with Circe. Nell tries to warn Gemma as much as she can but everyone views her ramblings as madness.

Sexual Assault (implied):

Implications are made that Felicity’s father regularly assaulted her as a little girl which she internalized and blames herself for. This is discovered by Gemma as she sees Felicity warning a young orphan in the care of her family to lock her door at night and to avoid her father. It is also later used by the Poppy warriors to taunt Felicity.

Self Harm:

References are made to Ann’s self harm which Gemma sees evidence of and the Poppy warriors later use it to taunt Ann.

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laurenleigh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

If the first book in this series focused on feminism (or the need for it) in Victorian England, this sequel centers class politics in the time period. Of course both are intertwined, and the intersection of race is interestingly included here as well. One of our main character’s friends is from India, where she also spent most of her childhood, as part of the British Empire’s occupation. I’m curious to see how their relationship plays out in the next book of the series! I think I enjoyed the first book slightly more than this one, for the dark academia vibes, but Christmas time in London is a great Victorian setting as well. The other thing Bray does quite remarkably is to capture the intricacies of teenage female friendships. I had forgotten how much little daily dramas there were. Something I’m happy to have left behind! 😅

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authorannafaundez's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Book two!!

I was a little hesitant with how the book started; Kartik’s point of view wasn’t bad, but I immediately missed Gemma and hoped the book wouldn’t continue to swap between the two characters. Thankfully, it didn’t! We get Kartik’s motives right out the gate, and then we hop straight back to Gemma, Felicity, and Ann for good.

Rebel Angels focuses on a lot of the same themes that A Great and Terrible Beauty did: fate, change, and control. However, since the main plot is ongoing at this point, I was appreciative of that, because those themes are necessary for ongoing character growth. This book begins in December of 1895, so it takes place very soon after the end of the first book. One thing I was a little disappointed with was the lack of the realms in Rebel Angels. A lot of the book takes place in London with drama between Gemma and a new love interest. There’s some extra drama involving Ann and a lie, but honestly, the plot felt it dragged somewhat. Gemma runs around thinking she’s got everything figured out, which she obviously does not, and then seems surprised when things don’t go her way.

Kartik’s obvious jealousy of Gemma’s beau is a little funny. Gemma is sardonic as ever. Felicity has seen very little change at this point. And Ann seems to finally be coming into her own. At the very least, Ann’s confidence rises throughout Rebel Angels even if her situation is a pretense. The confidence is genuine all the same.

But there were two things that made question marks appear above my head for Rebel Angels.

One was Ann and how her self-harm was handled. Rather, not handled. At first, it’s implied that once she felt she had friends, Ann’s tendency to self-harm went away. When Gemma notices it again, she basically tells her, “Hey, promise me you’ll stop that,” and it’s literally never brought up again. “Ever!?” you say. Ever. Yes, this is Victorian England, but if Gemma was “brave enough” to mention it to Ann at all, she’d be much more likely to check in on someone she seems to think of as a friend. At least sometimes, right? Nope.

The other issue I had with Rebel Angels was the assault Gemma suffered. The book breezes right by it, like since Gemma wasn’t technically raped, it shouldn’t matter. Wrong. It matters and would absolutely be a source of trauma! Magic vision in the middle, coerced to drink, and alone with someone she thought she could trust aside, this would be a hugely traumatic event in Gemma’s life. While I agree it’s highly unlikely she’d ever bring this up to her family or friends for fear of being “ruined,” Gemma doesn’t even think about it. For a character that has, up to this point, been very internally driven and unable to suppress her emotions, it’s weird.

Overall, I didn’t hate Rebel Angels. I liked the pacing and story more for book one, but the second book was interesting enough that I finished it within a couple days. I think, at this moment, one of the girls’ teachers is my favorite character, and I’m very, very interested to find out more of what’s happening to Pippa in the realms. There are just a few mysteries left to be solved, but Rebel Angels actually wraps up the main story that A Great and Terrible Beauty began. But there’s one book left! What else could possibly happen? Let’s see how it all ends.

~ Anna

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