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Ugh. Remember, my love/hate relationship. Yet, this is by far my favorite book out of the three in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy. Two things I have to say about this book, and they are random. Can anyone say love/hate relationship.
But it is true. I know, shallow. One, it is a very thick book. I love all protagonist characters with red hair. Ann, Felecity and Gemma find there way in the world. I have red hair. The realms are peaceful again. Two, Gemma has red hair.
That sums up exactly how I feel about the book. I normally like big, thick books but this one was too long. The ending is beautiful, but I hated it. The series is wrapped up nicely. As well, Kartik finds his purpose.
I am on the same page as many others. It wasn't teeny-bopper. I could have picked them apart for the inconsistencies and lack of development, but I chose to enjoy them, and I thoroughly did. The only thing I could have done without were the not so subtle feminist messages.
It just didn't have to end the disappointing way in which it did. It was two people who found their strength on their own and then came together for a greater purpose. SO I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY KARTIK TURNED INTO A TREE. I think Kartik's life was cut too short. She had it set up so well- they had come together, the magic in the realms had changed.sure the whole book alluded to the fact they they couldn't be together in real life, but that's why I was hoping for a surprise happy ending. After I finished reading this, I wanted to know what others thought.The books in and of themselves were entertaining on a Harry Potter, Eragon level.
She told the story of their destinies and their souls coming together, and it really gripped me. It seriously had me bummed.As to the fact that the girls remained self centered and immature- well, they were teenagers. I took the story at face value and had a fun read. I am all for women having strength, but she kind of ranted a little bit at times.What Libba Bray did have going for her that set these books apart from others was an amazing and beautiful love story.
I quickly picked up the second book and read that one as well, but it didn't keep my attention and it took me two or three times as long to get through. I ended up hating almost every character in the book. As a whole the series turned out to be a disappointment. I started reading this book series on a whim when I came across the first book for only $2 at a Borders. The first book had some potential, but it seemed to fizzle as the series went on. The characters all seemed to change from my memories of them from the first two books. At one point in the book towards the end I hoped for a Hamlet like ending where everyone died except some tertiary character.
Even after I bought the book on sale again it took me month to get to read it. In most literature I would probably find this refreshing, but when used here it just seemed almost tacky and wrongly used. I also found some of the writing confusing, it was unclear to me at certain moments what was happening when the writing switched from traditional prose to more figurative language. I finally started this book a little more then 2 weeks ago and am left wondering why I even continued. There actions could not be predicted, which is fine except that most of the surprises made little to no sense.
Normally YA fantasy series are not my cup of tea, but I read it anyway and found it enjoyable enough. The characters acted in ways that seemed very out of character. This book was long, too long, it was 800+ pages and boring, it could have been cut down by more than half. So this caused me to not quite rush to get the third in the series. I am a quick reader, but I found it hard to read more then 40 pages a day.
I didn't find that the story dragged, although in the middle I kept wondering when Gemma would figure it all out. I will say that although there are some happy ending moments, it was not how I would have liked to end the story, but it's like life, it doesn't always end happily. This was a perfect ending to such an amazing trilogy. I found that I liked the characters even more in this book and was rooting for Gemma and Kartik to end up together somehow. I am sad that Gemma's story has ended, but I will definitely be rereading the series again. The Sweet Far Thing was exciting, filled with anticipation, heartache, and exhilarating. I couldn't put it down and read the whole thing in one day.
Gemma's books have never been about romance for me. For me, he dies because of Gemma's stupidity. Should she have done what she promised to do in the end of book 2 (divide the magic among the inhabitants of the realms), none of the events in the books would have happened. Basically, Gemma stabs the Tree releasing Winterlands' magic, Kartik sucks in this magic, then pours the magic into Gemma and then becomes a part of the Tree. Seriously, where does the gay issue come from.
So I probably wouldn't have minded Kartik's sacrifice if it made any sense. Why does he even have to do it. Why, oh why does this book have to be so long. Two stars only because I was able to finish it and it gives some kind of closure.
If the Tree still holds on its evil power, how does Kartik's sacrifice change anything. I don't really mind where all the characters end up in this story, but I rather mind how and why they get there. Thankfully, this is over. Thus his death is pointless in my opinion. Doesn't it mean that the Tree will continue its evil business in the Winterlands and will eventually corrupt Kartik the same way it did Eugenia.
But alas, Bray chooses to ruin her own rather original series with this endless and bizarre last installment.I've read quite a few reviews and know how many people are disappointed with the ending. If the Tree doesn't have any more magic, how can it have this power to accept his sacrifice and why is it needed. I just think Bray shouldn't have brought up this issue if she didn't have time to handle it responsibly and thoughtfully.Lastly, "The Sweet Far Thing" is an unbearably long and convoluted tale that needs editing badly. I thought I would never get through this last installment of Gemma Doyle trilogy.
Another issue here is that considering that Felicity is only 16 and a victim of sexual abuse, can we really be sure that her newly found sexual preference is a real one and not caused by the abuse. First of all, there is no clue about this in the first two books - Felicity is caught kissing a gypsy man, Pippa dreams of a knight in shiny armor. I understand Bray wanted to give us her opinion on about every women's issue out there, but it doesn't translate into a good book.Overall, a disappointing conclusion to an imaginative and original series. How is this a solution.Now to Felicity and Pippa. This leads me to believe that this turn in the girls' relationship is an afterthought on Bray's part.
I don't necessarily regret reading the trilogy, but I will definitely not recommend it to anyone. This third book is unnecessarily full of numerous subplots, redundant scenes, and pages of feminist propaganda. First two books have a great balance of real and supernatural with a great women's independence message.
Take out 300-400 pages of unnecessary secondary characters and going nowhere plot lines, its 5 epilogues, and "The Sweet Far Thing" would be a reasonably decent book (I suppose). I have no objections to homosexuality being portrayed in YA literature, but it is handled very heavy-handedly by Bray in this book. WTH just happened. The underlying idea of these books is women's independence, I get it.
In fact, the more I think of the details of Kartik's death, the less I understand what and why exactly happened to him.
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