The Sweet Far Thing
The Sweet Far Thing (Gemma Doyle #3)by Libba BrayHoly cow this book was LONG! No, really, it was 819 pages. I had no idea it was that long when I picked it up. Sure it was a hefty book, but I figured it was maybe *almost* 500 pages. I was off by about 300 or so. Not only did I enjoy reading every page, I also got a nice arm workout while lugging it around with me for a week.I decided to finish off the Gemma Doyle trilogy after having such a great time reading Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean. Since I was in the Victorian Era mindset I figured it was the best time to pick up this final book in the trilogy. In all honesty this book did not feel like it was over 800 pages long. I did read it in chunks of about 100-200 pages at a time, but that was more due to the fact that I also had to sleep and go to work somewhere in there. I enjoy Gemma Doyle immensely. Not so much Felicity and I was reminded of just how much I hated Pippa. Ann is in the middle, I get that she's outside of the group due to class and station but I did enjoy how she came into her own near the end.This is another book that had an epic fantasy sort of feel to it. I didn't feel that way with the first two, likely due to their shorter length and less action. The plan to defeat the soldiers from the Winterlands and the impending war in the Realms was where the epic fantasy feel came into play.I liked at how real Gemma seemed. As the only one who holds all the magic she struggles with the urge to do the right thing and give it back to the people of the Realms and the desire to keep it all for herself and help change the lives of her friends and herself. The magic is too great and she has trouble with control which leads to some dangerous moments in the story. I can see how someone who holds that much power could be tempted toward the dark side. Power corrupts. Though Gemma never really went dark, she did make some mistakes with the magic that she regretted in the end.There are deaths and there are happy endings. There is suspicions and revelations. My gut instincts on whom to trust and whom not to proved to be right in the end, but Libba Bray did have me question my instincts on many occasions.I have Going Bovine on my TBR shelf, the next novel by Libba Bray, though a completely different genre. I love her way with words and style of writing and I am curious to see how she writes a more modern story.Also this Victorian Phase I seem to be going through has made me wonder if I should give a classic novel a try. Something by Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters. I have never read anything by any of those authors and although I used to not give a hoot about that I wonder if I am missing out on some sort of life enrichment by not having tried at least one classic novel. Thoughts?Gemma Doyle Series