Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

5 reviews

dreamerfreak's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

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itsreirei's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

I enjoyed the first volume a lot and I sooo wanted to love this, too....it was so long yet I learnt barely anything new about the world? We meet a bunch of new characters who barely add to the plot but we don't really learn much new of the realms. Definitely could've skipped a good chunk, I was wondering if the extra 100+ pages compared to the previous book would be justified but alas, naurrr. Felt kinda repetitive.
The "twists" you could see coming from a mile away;
when you have only 2 suspects, it's not that hard to guess...
the characters just seemed dumb this way, like whyyy can't u seee
Also, in the first book the girlies keep using magic even outside the realms but in this one they just...forget??or??? They're in the realms and never think to use magic for anything even though it's supposed to be unbound, so they could just say, fly distances but instead opt for walking. Seems like the author made the magic system a bit too OP by having no clear boundaries and tried to install difficulties despite it.
(Btw
lowkey mad Pippa was brought back just for her character to be butchered... Her ending was so bittersweet in the first volume, why take it back...
Also, why did everyone act like Circe was this crazy powerful evil witch, she was only a human who literally tried to seize power by just...talking lmao (+why did they not recognize Ms Moore at Spence, that wasn't explained either)
Speaking of which: where is the order? Who df are they? How are we supposed to think they're mighty if they can't even access the realms without Gemma?? I don't get iiiiit
)
Nevertheless, I still enjoy this world, clearly that's why I kept going, I like the writing, ideas, setting and would like to know how it all ends and so I dread look forward to reading the last installment in the series....800+ pages....help
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emilylovesgoodbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-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

4.5

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!

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

I didn't remember most of what had happened in this book. I genuinely didn't see the twist coming. I think a lot of the storytelling is tighter in this book compared to the previous one, with enough action and intrigue to keep the reader chugging along. 
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