Review Detail

Reader reviewed by the book muncher

Rebel Angels is the sequel to the Libba Brays amazing A Great and Terrible Beauty. It is just as good, if not better, than the first.

Things seem to be going well at Spence despite the death of a well loved friend, Pippa. Christmastime is approaching, and soon the girls will go home to their families to celebrate, with the exception of Anne, who must stay at Spence for the duration of the holiday.

But Felecity manages to weave a new story for Anne, who then comes to stay with Fee for the holiday. Gemma is compelled to do a work of good service for a snarky comment she made, and she finds herself talking with Nell, who is a patient in the asylum where her brother Tom works. Nell isnt completely there, and she gives Gemma cryptic messages about the realms, as Nell used to be able to enter them.

There are new characters and struggles introduced. The first is Mrs. McCleethy, who is the teacher who takes over for Mrs. Moore. Gemma and her friends are mistrustful of Mrs. McCleethy and fear that she is one of their enemies concerning the realms. Then there is Simon Middleton, the well-to-do son of a rich family who has taken a fancy for Gemma. There are more visits to the realms, and the magic is taken out and used in Gemmas world. But the most difficult part is that its Gemmas job to find the source of the magic and bind it before Circe finds it first.

Just as I loved the first book in the trilogy, I loved the second. Libba Brays characters are so realistic, and so is the story even though it contains elements that could not be possible in real life. I recommend this wonderful trilogy to all teenage girls out there.