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The conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Gemma Doyle trilogy is extraordinary in its scope, with thrilling prose and a heroine unrivaled in contemporary historical fiction. It has been a year of change since Gemma arrived at the Spence Academy her mother murdered, her father an addict, and the ability to travel to an enchanted world called the realms. Gemma has survived by forging unlikely new alliances. Now, the time has come to test these bonds. Pulled forward by fate, the destiny Gemma faces threatens to set chaos loose, not only in the realms, but also upon the rigid Victorian society.
The concluding volume in the trilogy begun in A Great and Terrible Beautyis a huge work of massive ambition, an undertaking that involves the plaiting and tying off a dozen plot threads-impending war in the realms and heroine Gemma Doyle's control of its magic being the central thread but, perhaps, not the most interesting. In chronicling Gemma's first year at Spence Academy, Bray has, over three books, widened her canvas from finishing school to fin-de-siècle London, weaving in the defining movements of the era-labor strikes over factory conditions, suffrage, the "radical" Impressionists just across the Channel, even fashion trends like bloomers for women daring enough to ride bicycles. Gemma is both buffeted and bolstered by her exposure to these developments, and readers experience how they shape her burgeoning understanding of who she is and who she may become. Some of Gemma's struggle is about power. As exalted as she is within the realms for her role as High Priestess of the secret society, her "otherness" marks her as unsuitable for proper Victorian circles. Gemma chafes not only at the physical constraints of a corset but at the myriad restrictions placed on women. Her quest is to break free, but at what cost? Bray poses these vital questions without sacrificing the gothic undertones of the previous volumes-the body count is high, and the deaths, gruesome. That creepiness is balanced by the fully realized company of players, including the insufferable headmistress, Mrs. Nightwing, the acid-tongued Felicity Worthington, hunky heartthrob Kartik and, of course, Gemma herself, a heroine readily embraced. Ages 14-up. (Dec.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
John Gibli
reviewed The Sweet Far Thing on February 18, 2008
The Sweet Far Thing
I am utterly distraught by this book. My first hour free of it's torture I was a ball of fury. Nothing made sense, the writing was crappy, and I had so many questions. My poor husband didn't want to come near me and I didn't want to talk to anyone.
I had such high hopes for this book. Kartik and Gemma would finally find a way to be together, the magic of the realms would be figured out and dealt with, and Felicity and Ann would finally become real friends of Gemma's or else be rid of. I definitely expected a little bir more maturity to be given out by those girls, at least by Gemma, because generally when a person is given a large amount of responsibility, despite their age, and consciously decides that they need to live up to it, they don't act like retarded and petty 12 year olds.
Here are just a few of my troubles...
Why the crap does Kartik turn into a tree? This doesn't make any sense. I understand the sacrifice that he is making, but there is no sign that the magic can't be dealt with in another way until the very point where Libba Bray turns him into a tree. It is retarded. There is no sense in this, unless her goal was to piss people off.
Why are Pippa and Felicity lesbian lovers? I don't get this at all. Some people have mentioned in their reviews that they saw signs of this coming. Whatever signs they saw seemed like normal female friendship to me, especially for Victorian period writing. Besides the fact I think that it was just silly, the kiss was random and out of some teenage boys lesbian lovers fantasy. DUMB! I however, was satisfied when Felicity chose the good side, despite her love for Pippa, who has always irritated me.
The writing was just bad. For someone who has published 2 books already, the writing should have been much better. The plot should have been thought out. The dialogue should have been less George Lucas inspired (by this I am referring to his ability to make very good actors sound like dunces).
I am very frustrated by how poorly the magic of the realms was understood. Obviously Circe was evil, but how did she turn out to be so much better than the the people who were supposed to be good and why did she make so much more sense? Bray turns the evil person back to good - to a degree - and than she turns Kartik into a tree? Whatever!
My final annoyance for this review is that of Bray's obsession with womens rights. Holy crap, she went a bit overboard don't you think? I thought to myself at one point that maybe it was just me and that I was a little sensitive to people and their soap boxes... until at the very end Gemma's last request for the girls to be taught how to think for themselves and blah-blah-blah. Thinking for yourself is not at all a bad idea, but honestly. Themes like that are supposed to be thought provoking, not obnoxiously present.
There are so many, many things that I find very wrong with this book. It was a very huge disappointment. I expected so much more than what I was given here.
There were enough good things that I finished the book, but I definitely would not recommend it to anyone.
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