itsreyz'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: Sexism, Classism, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Misogyny, Child death, Addiction, and Bullying
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Abandonment, Medical content, and Drug abuse
bzliz's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Although this is categorized as YA, I don’t think I could have endured or enjoyed it as a young adult. I picked it up because I remember the cover from when I was younger but I don’t recall ever reading it. Even after finishing, I can’t be sure if I read it and forgot or if the cover is just burned in my brain for some reason.
Gemma Doyle leads a group of sheltered girls into a world of magic that she herself doesn’t understand and has only just begun to experience. The group discovers the past tragedy of a group before them called the Order whose desire for power had deadly consequences and tread the fine line of falling into that same tragedy.
Portions drag on a little and to enjoy this you need to endure the historical trappings of misogyny and racism, plus the performative propriety and customs of the time. The magic system explored is less of a system encountered in many fantasy novels and is more like a nebulous innate ability that no one can explain and at times it left me outright confused.
Gemma Doyle leads a group of sheltered girls into a world of magic that she herself doesn’t understand and has only just begun to experience. The group discovers the past tragedy of a group before them called the Order whose desire for power had deadly consequences and tread the fine line of falling into that same tragedy.
Portions drag on a little and to enjoy this you need to endure the historical trappings of misogyny and racism, plus the performative propriety and customs of the time. The magic system explored is less of a system encountered in many fantasy novels and is more like a nebulous innate ability that no one can explain and at times it left me outright confused.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Suicide
Minor: Racism, Self harm, Vomit, and Sexism
ricksilva's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Sixteen-year-old Gemma Doyle witnesses the terrifying murder of her mother in colonial India, seemingly by supernatural forces. Back England and enrolled in a girls boarding school, Gemma discovers a diary of a former student who sought the secrets of an ancient Order of sorceresses, and the power of a dream-dimension called the Realms.
In spite of warnings to stay clear of these secrets, Gemma and three friends begin to explore their own magical potential, eventually finding their own way into the Realms in the hope of changing the fate that awaits them all back at their dreary school.
This story careens headlong toward tragedy with little effort on the part of any of the main characters to stop it, in spite every possible warning.
The characters are definitely not always likeable, but they all do grow beyond their original simple impressions, and the character development helps keep things interesting and keeps the reader engaged even as terrible and obvious mistakes are made again and again.
In spite of warnings to stay clear of these secrets, Gemma and three friends begin to explore their own magical potential, eventually finding their own way into the Realms in the hope of changing the fate that awaits them all back at their dreary school.
This story careens headlong toward tragedy with little effort on the part of any of the main characters to stop it, in spite every possible warning.
The characters are definitely not always likeable, but they all do grow beyond their original simple impressions, and the character development helps keep things interesting and keeps the reader engaged even as terrible and obvious mistakes are made again and again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Death of parent
Moderate: Self harm and Sexism
haleymaxinee's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexism, Bullying, Body shaming, Classism, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Toxic friendship
godessoftrees's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Classism
Minor: Self harm
zombiezami's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-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
3.75
I first read this book when I was a teenager, and I rated it 5 stars at that time. I value the book for what it gave to me at the time, feeling seen for having experiences like wondering who I truly am and wondering who would ever understand me. Plus, there's fulfillment of the teenage girl urge to have a magical world where you're all powerful for good measure. This book is, in a lot of ways, an aged up spiritual successor to The Secret Garden.
Reading this as an adult, there are parts that I'm not so enamored with, hence the lower rating. The friendship between the main characters strikes me as much more toxic than it did when I was a teenager, especially since Pippa and Felicity never apologize for tormenting Ann. I also find it hard to root for Kartik to be with Gemma, since Gemma keeps implying threats that she will get him arrested, which, at that time period, would basically be a death threat. That being said, I still really like Ms. Moore as a character.
I look forward to my re-read of the rest of the series.
Reading this as an adult, there are parts that I'm not so enamored with, hence the lower rating. The friendship between the main characters strikes me as much more toxic than it did when I was a teenager, especially since Pippa and Felicity never apologize for tormenting Ann. I also find it hard to root for Kartik to be with Gemma, since Gemma keeps implying threats that she will get him arrested, which, at that time period, would basically be a death threat. That being said, I still really like Ms. Moore as a character.
I look forward to my re-read of the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Self harm, Suicide, and Sexism
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Neglect, Antiziganism, Seizuresaravenclawlibraryx's review
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
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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, Blood, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia
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