Friday, September 18, 2020

Series Report: Gemma Doyle by Libba Bray

This series has been on my TBR since 2011, and I just now got to it. And I'm glad that I did! I actually adored the first book! It's like if Mean Girls and the Craft had a baby and then that baby was raised by Sylvia Brown. Basically, it's full of weird magic, a creepy school, and teenage girls who go from enemies to best friends.

The friendship between Gemma and the other girls was actually my favorite part. It was so surprising. I was fully expecting Gemma to stay an outcast, or have the other girls take advantage of her magical abilities. But these girls genuinely become friends and nothing can come between them. Not even death. It's by no means perfect, sunshine, and rainbows. But these girls stick together and save the magical realm together.

The series does go downhill as it goes on. The second book was still fully enjoyable, but the third book was unnecessarily long and unsatisfying. I do think this series could have been one 800+ epic book and have been fantastic. There's just a lot of filler and back-and-forth in the sequels.

However, the one real down point of the series is the period-typical racism against Romani people and Indian people. It might be historically accurate, but...still. Ew.

If you like magical girls, creepy boarding schools, and unlikely friendship, I'd recommend this one.

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