Libba Bray has me completely captivated with her 'Gemma Doyle Trilogy'. (I'm actually sad to see that it's only a trilogy.)
I recently finished reading the first book 'A Great and Terrible Beauty', and I immediately picked up the second book which I'm currently reading, called 'Rebel Angels'.
I'll only give info about the first book in the trilogy so that I don't give too much away for those who want to read it.
"A Great and Terrible Beauty"
I found this snippet on Libba Bray's website: "It's 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life that she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's been followed by by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls - and their foray into the spiritual world - lead to?"
The books are intense, magical. The fact that they are sat in the 19th century lends a nice historical touch, and also confines the main female characters to what society believes that they should be, but they're able to step out of those roles that were defined for them and show their own personalities, ambitions, and adventures.
I can't stop reading them.
I love this trilogy! I just finished Rebel Angels a couple weeks ago. I love the historical aspect as well. I find it so interesting what was "proper for ladies" back then. It seems so outrageous now! Very good reading though. I think I liked Rebel Angels better than A Great and Terrible Beauty. Perhaps because I already knew the characters and such. I've got to read the last book soon.
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