Series Review - Gemma Doyle Trilogy

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy

Libba Bray

Stars
YA / Fantasy / Victorian Era /

A Great and Terrible Beauty

403 Pages
8.5 Stars 

We meet Gemma Doyle on her 16th birthday. The day of her first vision and the day her mother is murdered. Moving from India to England and starting at a boarding school in the wake of such tragedy is enough for any girl to deal with. Adding visions, magic realms, mysterious societies, a web of lies and long dead secrets is too much for one girl to handle. Teaming up with Ann, Pippa and Felicity in an uneasy alliance Gemma braves the year at Spence's Academy for Young Ladies, where nothing is as it seems. 

I had heard of the trilogy through the booktube community and passed them over after hearing they were about witches. I had a preconceived idea about a school filled with silly girls learning to be witches (potions, spells, black cats) while keeping London none-the-wiser. I was SO wrong and I apologized to the novel and my bookshelf for my judgement. This was a great novel, the periodic setting was flawless, the realms were illustrated beautifully. The characters were spot on; their unattractive qualities were cleverly balanced by positive notes, keeping them endearing, imperfect enough to be real! Their was dynamics and subplots. A refreshing lack of tropes, such as intra-love or love triangles,  or novels with overly unattractive characters (which has been a big theme lately).

I would very much recommend this book!

Similar Novels

Bloody Jack, LA Meyer

The Infernal Devices, Cassandra Clare

Precious Stone Trilogy, Kerstine Gier 

If you click "read more" there are two more summaries and reviews - BEWARE SPOILERS! -

Rebel Angels

576 Pages
8 Stars
Some of the mystery has been solved but it had a heavy price, the quartet is now a trio, the runes no longer contain the magic and 
while Gemma has won a battle, Circe is still on the lose and the war is not over. The girls would love to loose themselves in the easy fun of the realms, playing with magic and the beautiful Pippa who chose to stay forever more in the meadow. 
But Pip is on borrowed time, her soul must crossover or face the consequences. The magic is loose and must be bound, but when the magic is bound it will be Gemma's and Gemma's alone will Felicity give up this new found power? Gemma navigates the high society of London and the politics of Spence while being haunted by a trio of girls in white.  

This was a second novel that lived up to the first! Equally as good, with new characters and plot twists that kept me reading long past my bedtime. I have found that many YA's drag on a single conflict to long, the resolution I have found in this series is refreshing. I found this novel very "Jane Austen" feeling at times, with the balls and the addition of a few male characters and love interests. We focused on the girls home lives and dynamics in London as much as at the Academy in this novel and that was a welcome change as well. I have had moments of annoyance with the characters but it adds to the story instead of taking away from it (as I have found in some novels).

A Sweet Far Thing

819 Pages
8.5 Stars

Circe is trapped physically inside the well, but she still holds a final bargaining chip : information. What will Gemma give to know the truth? Gemma holds the magic of the realm, she must choose; to form an alliance with the new order, the forest folk and the untouchables or return to the ways of the old order.  With everyone vying for power she no longer knows who to trust. 
Strange things have been going on in the Winterlands, rumours of great magic coming from the legendary Tree of All Souls. Will our heroine make it through the web of lies and half truths without getting caught? Can she find the answers to do right by herself, her friends and the realm? Betrayal, friendship, truth, lies, love and magic, will it all prove to be too much? 


I was apprehensive about this final novel when I saw the size. It was almost twice as big as the previous two! While the book was long it wasn't strung out, we moved along at the same fast pace as always. I enjoyed the blending of the two worlds and how we focused equally on the realms and reality, with the later being where our characters will spend more of their lives; we would have been missing out if it had been neglected. It was amazing to reflect on how much the characters had grown over the two years in the novel. I was very happy with how it all ended, very fitting, satisfying and complete in my opinion (there have been mixed feelings about the ending I know).

I would highly recommend this series

Thankyou for reading my review :)