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k_winchester's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
It was aight...
Things I liked:
-Gemma was so snarky. She was consistently pretty mean in the early part of the book, which was interesting to me as she felt like an atypical 'heroine'. As well, the group of friends she ultimately gathered was rather atypical to me, too, which I really liked - and she didn't even like any of them for a while, which was amusing.
-There was something about Gemma that even though she was pretty unlikable for a while, I was drawn in by her nonetheless. It was satisfying to her change enough to be more vulnerable and strong instead of just stubborn, and retaining her snark.
-I liked that I could not tell where the story was going and a few of those bombshells in the ending threw me for a loop.
-There was a lot of seriously gorgeous writing.
-the scene where the girls are all utterly crushed by the weight of thier position/status in the world (before taking magic into thier own hands) was SO good - honestly probably the one time in the book that really hit my emotions. Just sooo good. 👌
Things I didn't like so much:
-her thing with Kartik. I really, really wanted to be into it - and it initially felt like he was going to be a big character, but lowkey he ended up so periphery that he felt borderline pointless. It felt like the only times he really interacted with her was to refuse to answer any questions/clarify literally anything about him, his role, etc. and I feel like I know about as much if him at the end of the entire book as I did in the beginning. They had some good tension moments, but thier interactions felt so few and far between that thier interactions in the last 1/4 of the story or so felt very out of place.
-Probably a me thing, but it felt like the majority of this is Gemma having no idea what was happening AND purposefully ignoring it, to the degree that it felt like the whole story was really waiting to get to like the 80% mark before Stuff really started Happening in any meaningful way. I really didn't feel very invested or even super interested until around the 3/4 mark (curious enough to read on, but not Into It, and I wanted to feel Into it).
-just other little things here or there either feel unfinished/unresolved (which, i do realize this is the first in a series so that's probably on purpose to some extent but it's not very satisfying) or underdone or kinda pointless in the end.
- the treatment of Ann overall. It worked for snarky/mean Gemma to be so in the beginning, but it felt like later it changed from outright mean to no comment at all, rather than Gemma realizing/appreciating good qualities in Ann (outside of the realms with magic changing/"helping" Ann). And Pip, it felt like she really only called out her good qualities after she was 'dead' (maybe one other time). It just didn't sit right that these girls became so close, supposedly, and yet... As much as I did overall enjoy Gemma, this aspect felt very lacking to me, especially as she changed over the course of the story.
Tl;dr - Honestly overall, it really was alright enough, so it's a solid 3.25 for me. I did enjoy Gemma, and it was a cool story, but it ultimately wasn't enough of my cup of tea/I don't feel invested enough to feel compelled to read more in the series.
Things I liked:
-Gemma was so snarky. She was consistently pretty mean in the early part of the book, which was interesting to me as she felt like an atypical 'heroine'. As well, the group of friends she ultimately gathered was rather atypical to me, too, which I really liked - and she didn't even like any of them for a while, which was amusing.
-There was something about Gemma that even though she was pretty unlikable for a while, I was drawn in by her nonetheless. It was satisfying to her change enough to be more vulnerable and strong instead of just stubborn, and retaining her snark.
-I liked that I could not tell where the story was going and a few of those bombshells in the ending threw me for a loop.
-There was a lot of seriously gorgeous writing.
-the scene where the girls are all utterly crushed by the weight of thier position/status in the world (before taking magic into thier own hands) was SO good - honestly probably the one time in the book that really hit my emotions. Just sooo good. 👌
Things I didn't like so much:
-her thing with Kartik. I really, really wanted to be into it - and it initially felt like he was going to be a big character, but lowkey he ended up so periphery that he felt borderline pointless. It felt like the only times he really interacted with her was to refuse to answer any questions/clarify literally anything about him, his role, etc. and I feel like I know about as much if him at the end of the entire book as I did in the beginning. They had some good tension moments, but thier interactions felt so few and far between that thier interactions in the last 1/4 of the story or so felt very out of place.
-Probably a me thing, but it felt like the majority of this is Gemma having no idea what was happening AND purposefully ignoring it, to the degree that it felt like the whole story was really waiting to get to like the 80% mark before Stuff really started Happening in any meaningful way. I really didn't feel very invested or even super interested until around the 3/4 mark (curious enough to read on, but not Into It, and I wanted to feel Into it).
-just other little things here or there either feel unfinished/unresolved (which, i do realize this is the first in a series so that's probably on purpose to some extent but it's not very satisfying) or underdone or kinda pointless in the end.
- the treatment of Ann overall. It worked for snarky/mean Gemma to be so in the beginning, but it felt like later it changed from outright mean to no comment at all, rather than Gemma realizing/appreciating good qualities in Ann (outside of the realms with magic changing/"helping" Ann). And Pip, it felt like she really only called out her good qualities after she was 'dead' (maybe one other time). It just didn't sit right that these girls became so close, supposedly, and yet... As much as I did overall enjoy Gemma, this aspect felt very lacking to me, especially as she changed over the course of the story.
Tl;dr - Honestly overall, it really was alright enough, so it's a solid 3.25 for me. I did enjoy Gemma, and it was a cool story, but it ultimately wasn't enough of my cup of tea/I don't feel invested enough to feel compelled to read more in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death of parent
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Racism, Self harm, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexism, and Fire/Fire injury
shartcuterie90210's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
itsreirei's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book feels like The Craft set in the Victorian era. I see why some may dislike it but I personally quite enjoyed reading it. Curious to see where the story goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Drug abuse, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
bekahzabel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
4.5/5 🌟 I read this series in middle school and circled back to it in effort to re-explore some favorites as an adult. I’m so happy I started with this one, it felt like slipping back into a cozy familiar dark bedtime story. Libba Bray’s writing style is suitable for both YA and adults in this series.
I noticed so much more allusion, foreshadowing, and hidden gems this second time around.
If you like:
Coming of Age Witches
Discovering & Developing Power
Found Family
Sisterhood
Dark Academia
Secrets & Plot Twists
then this trilogy will hit the spot for you.
I noticed so much more allusion, foreshadowing, and hidden gems this second time around.
If you like:
Coming of Age Witches
Discovering & Developing Power
Found Family
Sisterhood
Dark Academia
Secrets & Plot Twists
then this trilogy will hit the spot for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Self harm, Grief, and Murder
kshertz's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This was an interesting mix of being a woman in the 1900s and futuristic magic. I felt like it was a slow start because it took a while to get to the magic! But once they find the diary and get some magic, it gets good. There’s a lot of themes of women finding freedom within their minds when society beats them down and hollows them out. I enjoyed it but not enough to continue it as a series.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism
celery's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism
ravensandlace's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com
This is a pre goodreads/storygraph era book. I read this book when I was in high school. Back then, I devoured books like it was my job. I was in my school library just about every other day to get books. I think the librarian had to order more books just so I had something to read. Oh, those were the days. Now I’m lucky if I can finish a book in a week. Anyway, I remember this book being so cool and the concept of travelling to a different world where you could have everything you ever wanted was the epitome of awesome. So I thought I would reread this book and see if I still loved it. It had such fond feelings for me.
Spoiler alert: I did not love the book like I did when I was in high school. I think as I have gotten older, my taste in books have changed. One of my biggest problems was Gemma, the MC. My god, she was a giant brat. While I understand that this book takes place in the late 1800s and times were different, Gemma could still be a bit more nicer. She was just a brat. She treated her family like crap. She treated her friends like crap. She was selfish and did things only for herself. Felicity and Pippa were honestly no better. They were mean to each other and to others. They acted like they were better than everyone. It really put me off from enjoying the book at all. Anne was the only decent character but she was so two dimensional. She was bullied by everyone and nobody did anything about it.
The whole book just seemed to be about how Gemma is mourning her mom and being a brat. The cool magic concept was overshadowed by Gemma and her poor decisions. I understand that she was in shock losing her mom in such a tragic way but there were ways to grieve and not constantly put yourself at risk. I am really unsure if I’m going to continue with the trilogy because I can’t remember if Gemma gets any better. Shame because this had the promise to be really good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, and Religious bigotry