Tess M. (duplica123) - , reviewed on 7/3/2012 + 150 more book reviews

OK, so I will have to try more of the series (there's only 3).
My over all impression of the first one, though, is that Ms. Bray really wanted to write a coming of age story about a Victorian girl. For some reason she thought the book needed a supernatural twist, also.

I hated the combination. This is probably because I'm so used to paranormal fiction, even historical, having a strong heroine that I immediately identify with, or who has qualities I wish I had. Gemma Doyle did not have either an immediate appeal for me, or any qualities I liked. She was a whiney, self-possessed 16 year old girl. Which is fine for a coming of age story, because we're all whiney self-possessed girls at 16. And I thought that the Gemma Doyle Trilogy was going to be primarily a paranormal historical fiction.

If I had not started the series thinking I was in for the usual paranormal fiction, I think I would have liked the book better. Now that I know to expect a story about Gemma Doyle's coming of age in the Victorian Era, I think I will enjoy the rest of the series better.

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