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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Once again Libba Bray comes through with such creative world building! I did think the book slowed down halfway through, but the plot itself was complex enough to need more time to build upon. I loved getting Felicity's reveal and was satisfied with everyone's individual endings.
3.5. I didn't really pick this book up at a good time for me so it was a lot of start and stop. I think it tied up the theme of power and how these young Victorian ladies were raging against the limits of society and gave them a good proper ending. However, I also felt like it dropped the ball on some other characters and slight plot points.
I desperately wanted to love this book the way I loved the first two. But, it’s different. And for some folks, that’ll be great, and for others, like me, it just wasn’t what I was hoping for. Still a relatively easy book to breeze through, albeit 800+ pages, but the character development did not go as I hoped. Probably closer to 2 or 2.5 stars for me but the foundation of the other books that it was based on bumps it up to 3 stars for me.
I really enjoyed this series, but the ending was disappointing. It just made the whole thing fall flat.
it was suspenseful but i absolutely hated the ending!
At 819 pages, this book is big and messy and far too sprawling. The world-building is imprecise and the rules of magic don't make a whole lot of sense (and for the most part, simply aren't explained). I enjoyed the trilogy as a whole enough to stick with it until the end, but the books could have used some intense whittling and editing. Still, the characters and the setting are engaging, and I was never bored, even during the most frustrating points of the story. I wouldn't say don't read the trilogy -- but I can't say I whole-heartedly recommend these books either.
For more detail, check out my series wrap-up post at Bookshelf Fantasies.
For more detail, check out my series wrap-up post at Bookshelf Fantasies.
It took me forever to read this book, because I simply did not want to have to finish it and know I was done with this fantastically written, heart-wrenching, genuine trilogy. For a story about the mystical Realms, it is also one of Gemma Doyle's growing self-awareness. And while the main plot line was that of finding a balance of power for the magic that runs rampantly through the realms and possibly through our world, too... I found the secondary plot even more fascinating than the first.
From the start, I loved Gemma - and sympathized with her. She's seen too much to be a normal girl, and wouldn't be satisfied with a life of teas and balls and having no opinion, but in this, the third book, she finally comes to accept herself for who she is: a different kind of girl, meant for something more than a life spent struggling to breathe around the corset that binds her.
Gemma's struggle for independence captivated me, because I could identify with her. And just as interesting was her burgeoning awareness of the truths of her friends, Ann, and Felicity, and their own personal demons. Ann begins to emerge from her shell, to embrace the possibility that she can determine the course of her own life, while Felicity whole-heartedly embraces who she is, deciding to live her life on her own terms, without compromise. Together, these three girls and those who they call allies will shape the future.
All in all, a brilliantly told story that left me with a fuller heart and teary eyes.
From the start, I loved Gemma - and sympathized with her. She's seen too much to be a normal girl, and wouldn't be satisfied with a life of teas and balls and having no opinion, but in this, the third book, she finally comes to accept herself for who she is: a different kind of girl, meant for something more than a life spent struggling to breathe around the corset that binds her.
Gemma's struggle for independence captivated me, because I could identify with her. And just as interesting was her burgeoning awareness of the truths of her friends, Ann, and Felicity, and their own personal demons. Ann begins to emerge from her shell, to embrace the possibility that she can determine the course of her own life, while Felicity whole-heartedly embraces who she is, deciding to live her life on her own terms, without compromise. Together, these three girls and those who they call allies will shape the future.
All in all, a brilliantly told story that left me with a fuller heart and teary eyes.
Brilliant! I was enraptured through all 818 pages.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
My favorite in the series, the ending tore my absolute heart out and I still think about it decades later.
This was a good ending to the series. It was a bittersweet ending.