Monthly Review: Rebel Angels

The eerie sequel to the gorgeous novel A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels has a lot to live up to. The mysteries that seeped through the pages of Libba Bray’s first gothic novel carry over well into her second; however, the way the author took the absurdities of the plot lines and transformed them into truly enticing chapters is lost. While this novel has very few flaws in my opinion, I feel that the series did begin to lose its believable edge. With the introduction of evil in the realms in the second novel, the readers are plagued with the idea that not all of the main characters are rooted in good. In fact, while Pippa is slowly becoming evil the longer she lives in the realms, it is the other characters’ longing to spend time with her and willingness to do whatever it takes to please her that prevents readers from having that strong anchor. The line that separated the four girls, declaring their solid stance in the world of the good, begins to blur and this has us connecting solely with Gemma for the majority of the novel. While I appreciate the book trading the scenery of the Spence Academy with London’s streets, London’s boys, and London’s finest, I believe this was ultimately a bad decision on Libba Bray’s part. Part of the reason the first novel was so strong and widely accepted was because of its location. Having the story take place in an ancient castle bursting with magical energies, surrounded by gypsy-infested woods and caves that once held dark ceremonies and sacrifices draws the readers in in a more personal way. While the story line hosted interesting ideas on the social lives of over a hundred years ago, the plot revolves around an alternate world: the world of the realms. It was almost too much for Gemma to have the world of the realms, changing and never certain, accompanied by London’s world, a world that Gemma is also struggling to place herself in. This almost made the story line overwhelming; however, I do appreciate the way the writer tried to show Gemma as not just the host body for this powerful essence, but also as a young girl just trying to relate to the culture around her.

Rebel Angles is a very unique fantasy novel. I have many ready novels of this genre, but most of them take the idea of this glorious, magical world that has been created, and focus on the light and fun that accompanies it. Rebel Angels breaks the mold of fantasy novels: Libba Bray did not take the fact that this book was about a magical culture of odd creatures and morph it into some G-rated experience. Instead, the delved deeper. She took the potential, and she shone a light on the epic darkness that runs through Gemma’s power. She understood the corruption that can occur when such a luring influence is used, and it runs through every single word in the novel. The teenage girls talking about suicide, sacrifice, murder; the seemingly good characters of the realm disappearing behind each chapter with a sneer and an alternate plan; the new teacher at the school whose past is almost as plagued with as much loss and lies as Gemma’s is. But this is not the only way that Rebel Angels differs from other novels of its genre: Rebel Angels shows teenagers for who they are, not who they are supposed to be seen as in the novel. It is true that a lot of novels with a fantasy genre revolve around teenagers, i.e. Harry Potter. However, with the exception of a few, most books fail to admit that their characters are children. They deal with adult things and frightening, unique characteristics. But they also go home at night and think about that special someone, and how embarrassing a certain moment was that day, and whether their teachers and peers like them or think they are imbeciles. This novel shows the giddiness of little girls, and joins the idea of two worlds, the world of a hundred years ago and the world of today, together. We may not hold dance cards or request appearances at someone’s place of residence, but we do have a lot similar concerns and flaws. Gemma, the main character, is constantly worrying about her appearance, and struggling to fight back her lustful feelings towards a man she should not feeling those feelings for. Teenage girls can relate to this, because these characters are us; every girl can find themselves in one of the four main characters, which I think is an impressive and unique trait for a novel that is fighting of the fantasy genre generalization.

I believe the author had many purposes when writing this novel: to create a good book, obviously; to mold their creative ideas into a series of chapters and share them with the world; and to conjoin young women with the idea of power. I do not think that it is a coincidence that the only truly powerful characters in this novel are women. There are some men scattered through the book who can hold their own both in wit and in cleverness, but the four women who make up the essence of Rebel Angels are truly the powerful ones. Gemma is blessed – or, debatably, cursed – with this amazing gift to be able to explore the extremes of a world with random animals and superbly beautiful plants, the talking dead and the two-faced villainous friends, but her power lies in her inner strength. Her ability to do what is needed to be done in a hard situation, to look past the reality she hopes for and embrace the reality that is in front of her. Felicity holds friendship true to her heart, and while she is weak in the way that she is flighty and holds grudges against Gemma for her gift, her own personal sacrifices prove the kind of woman she is truly becoming. Anne, who began her journey in the story as a meek, plain girl has transformed herself into somebody who can just truly be, even without the comfort of the beauty she possesses in the realms. And Pippa, while she subconsciously becomes as evil as some of the villains in the realms, manages to hold onto herself and escape the corruption before it truly is late. The main purpose of Rebel Angles is not simply to create a beautifully and truly heartbreaking novel, but to create one that reinforces the idea that women, at any age, are powerful and full of potential.