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Rebel Angels
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Read Rebel Angels
Gemma Doyle Trilogy: Book 2

Rebel Angels (2005) (edit title/settings)

by Libba Bray (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Gemma Doyle is looking forward to a holiday from Spence Academy—spending time with her friends in the city, attending balls in fancy gowns with plunging necklines, and dallying with the handsome Lord Denby's son, Simon Middleton. Yet amid these distractions, her visions intensify—the visions... read more

Summary edit see section history

Rebel Angels is the second book in a fantasy trilogy by Libba Bray. It is the sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty and continues the story of Gemma Doyle, a girl in the late 1800s with the power of sight. The novel follows Gemma and her friends, Felicity and Ann, during their winter break... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Rebel Angels is the second book in a fantasy trilogy by Libba Bray. It is the sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty and continues the story of Gemma Doyle, a girl in the late 1800s with the power of sight. The novel follows Gemma and her friends, Felicity and Ann, during their winter break from school. Rebel Angels comments on the life of women in the nineteenth century, fantasy, and mythology.

Rebel Angels was released in paperback in January 2007, and extras included a preview scene for the third book in the trilogy, The Sweet Far Thing, and an interview with author Libba Bray. This preview scene will not be appearing in the published novel.

The story picks up two months after the events in the first book. The opening chapter is narrated by Kartik, who has been brought before a council of the Rakshana. He is told that by destroying the Runes, Gemma released the magic, making it available to all the creatures in the realms, including the evil Circe and her allies in the Winterlands. Kartik is charged with helping Gemma find the Temple in the realms, where the magic can be bound by the Rakshana, and when that is successfully completed he is to kill her.

The rest of the story is narrated by Gemma, in the present tense. Gemma is told by Kartik that she must find a "Temple" in the realms to bind the magic "in the name of the Eastern Star"; unbeknownst to Gemma, saying that line would give the Rakshana the power.

At Christmas break, Gemma leaves the Spence School and goes to her family's home in London, where she has never been before. Gemma's brother Tom is late to pick her up at the train station. Gemma believes a member of the Rakshana is following her. She runs up to a young man and pretends she knows him, under the pretense that the other man following her will go away. The young man turns out to be Simon Middleton, a young aristocrat who is immediately smitten by her. Middleton invites her and her family to dinner, and he begins a courtship of Gemma.

Gemma finds out that her brother attended Eton with Simon. Gemma runs into Miss Hester Asa Moore, her former art teacher who mentored her at Spence, and who has now taken a flat in London. A new teacher turns up at Spence, Miss McCleethy, whom Gemma suspects is Circe. At Bethlem Royal Hospital (ie., "Bedlam"), where Tom works, one of his patients is a girl named Nell Hawkins, who murmurs of the Temple. Gemma visits her, and through Nell's ramblings, she begins putting together clues as to the location of the Temple. She also discovers that Nell was a student at a finishing school that Miss McCleethy had taught at before coming to Spence, as well as three other girls whose terrible fate Gemma repeatedly envisions. Together with Ann and Felicity, they meet up with their deceased friend Pippa, who has remained in the realms, and they try to locate the Temple.

Ann has gone to stay with Felicity for the holidays, and with Felicity's assistance, parades around pretending to be Russian nobility. Ann hopes this will impress Tom, among others, whom she has fallen in love with. Felicity's mother returns from Paris, and gossip is all about. After Felicity's parents take in her orphaned cousin, Polly, as a ward, Felicity tells Polly to lock her doors and "not let Uncle in"; Gemma surmises that her friend was molested by her father as a little girl. Gemma must also tend to her father, who is taken ill several times and is eventually placed in a rehab sanatorium.

Characters edit see section history

  • Gemma Doyle: Most powerful girl in all of history. Can see visions and enter a fantasy world. A wonderful girl with emense power but has normal family and girl problems.
  • Kartik: Gemma's comrade. Amar's brother. Part of the Rakshana. Believes in fate, not choice. Fancies Gemma and Emily.
  • Ann Bradshaw: Orphaned scholarship student at Spence. Friend of Gemma, Felicity, and Pippa. Very shy and unsure of herself. Has a wonderful singing voice.
  • Felicity Worthington: A strong-headed girl that is the daughter of an admiral and she has courage.
  • Pippa Cross: Felicity, Ann, and Gemma's deceased friend who lives in the releams. She is very beautiful.
  • Miss McCleethy: New teacher at Spence Academy.
  • Tom Doyle: Gemma's brother
  • Simon Middleton: The son of a viscount who went to school with Tom. Takes an interest in Gemma.
  • Mrs. Nightwing: The headmistress at Spence Academy.
  • Miss Moore: Gemma's former art teacher.
  • Nell Hawkins: A patient at Bethlem Royal Hospital, who is the same age as Gemma.
  • Lady Denby: Society lady in London. Mother of Simon Middleton.
  • Grandmama: Grandmother of Gemma Doyle.
  • Franny: A servant in the Worthington household who often acts as chaperone for Felicity, Ann, and Gemma. She is a bit nosy.
  • Cecily: Gemma's rival at Spence.
  • Brigid: Housekeeper at Spence.
  • Polly: Felicity's oprhaned cousin who is taken in by the Worthingtons.
  • Amar: Now deceased. Kartik's brother and a member of the Rakshana.
  • Emily: Kitchen girl, at Gemma's family home.
Show all 19 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “And for a moment, I understand that I have friends on this lonley path, that sometimes your place is not something you find, but something you have when you need it.”
    Gemma Doyle
  • “My stomach aches anew. Blasted inconvenience. What do young men have to mark their entry into adulthood? Trousers, that's what. Fine, new trousers. I despise absolutely everyone just now.”
    Gemma Doyle
  • “Careful with blame. It's a boomerang.”
    Miss Moore
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “What if evil doesn’t really exist? What if evil is something dreamed up by man, and there is nothing to struggle against except our own limitations? The constant battle between our will, our desires, and our choices?”
    Highlighted by 58 Kindle customers
  • “In books, the truth makes everything good and fine. The good prevail. The wicked are punished. There is happiness. But it’s not like that really, is it?”
    Highlighted by 40 Kindle customers
  • field.“Travel opens your mind as few other things do. It is its own form of hypnotism, and I am forever under its spell.”
    Highlighted by 40 Kindle customers
  • And for a moment, I understand that I have friends on this lonely path, that sometimes your place is not something you find, but something you have when you need it.
    Highlighted by 37 Kindle customers
  • People will disappoint you, Gemma. The question to ask is whether you can learn to live with the disappointment and move on.
    Highlighted by 37 Kindle customers
  • Why is it that some secrets can drown you while some pull you close to others in a way you never want to lose?
    Highlighted by 27 Kindle customers
  • Hello, girl in the mirror. You are Gemma Doyle. And I’ve no idea who you really are.
    Highlighted by 21 Kindle customers
  • ‘To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.’ John Milton. Paradise Lost, Book One.
    Highlighted by 20 Kindle customers
  • “Do not leave the path, for it is hard to find again once lost. And they will take the song to the rock. Do not let the song die. You must be careful with beauty. Beauty must pass.
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • If you should come for me at dinner and find me in my chair, gone to the angels at last, you shall know that I died alone, which is to say in a state of utter bliss.”
    Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
Show all 13 quotes from this book

Organizations edit see section history

  • The Order: An ancient group of women dedicated to protecting the Realms
  • Rakshana: A equally ancient group that was once partner to the Order. Now they are the Order's rivals, trying to steal the Order's power and get a hold on the Magic.

First Sentence edit see section history

Herein lies the faithful and true account of my last sixty days, by Kartik, brother of Amar, loyal son of the Rakshana, and of the strange visitation I received that has left me wary on this cold English night.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 2 of 3 in Gemma Doyle Trilogy. (standard series)

Preceded by A Great and Terrible Beauty, and followed by The Sweet Far Thing.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Libba Bray (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 0385730292
Page Count: 548

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

This book is definitely geared towards young adults age 16 and up.. It addresses dark magic and discusses sexuality often. There are some graphic almost-sex scenes.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Chime

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history

   
  • A Great and Terrible Beauty

Books Influenced by This Book edit see section history

   
  • The Sweet Far Thing

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