Book Review: Rebel Angels - Libba Bray

It's the end of the year, and Gemma's looking forward to living it up in London. Balls, fancy gowns and dancing with the handsome Simon Middleton beckon. Best of all, it's time away from Spence Academy - and from the Realms.
But the lure of the enchanted world is strong, and the magic flows freely. Gemma's visions intensify - visions of three girls all dressed in white, suffering horror and menace. Clearly all is not well in the Realms - or out of them. - From the back of the book.

Rebel Angels is the second in Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy. It continues Gemma's story, and is just as good as A Great and Terrible Beauty. It's a good sequel, and ties up all loose ends from the first book. It also adds more characters, new situations and another mysterious plot.

This is not your usual YA historical fiction book. While there is a lot of balls, gowns and dancing, there is also something more sinister lurking behind the scenes. Magic, danger and suspense pull you in, and you find yourself lost in the world of the Realms. The writing is smooth and has no holes, and fits the time.

There is a lot of dialogue in this book, and it's written flawlessly. Sometimes, it can be difficult to write, and doesn't feel natural coming out of a certain character's mouth. In Rebel Angels though, the dialogue is amazing, all of it sounding as if you had just stepped into London in 1895.

Every character was written perfectly. Even though some of them were hard to like at times, it was necessary to the plot. Gemma's narration brought them altogether, and I always wanted to carry on reading, even when I needed to stop. Kartik makes more of an appearance, and Simon Middleton makes an entrance. It was obvious how it was going to turn out, though it didn't ruin the book at all. Rebel Angels is amazing, a really good follow up, and I can only imagine that The Sweet Far Thing, the last book in the trilogy will be just as good.

I give it 5 Feet!