Rebel Angels (Libba Bray)

* Ah, Christmas! 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 Simon Middleton. Yet amid these distractions, her visions intensify - visions of three girls dressed in white, to whom something horrific has happened that only the realms can explain.

The lure is strong, and soon Gemma, Felicity, and Ann are turning flowers into butterflies in the enchanted world to which Gemma takes them. To the girl's great joy, their beloved Pippa is there as well, eager to complete their circle of friendship.

But all is not well in the realms - or out. Kartik is back, desperately insisting to Gemma that she must bind the magic, lest colossal disaster befall her. Gemma is willing to comply, for this would bring her face to face with her late mother's greatest friend, now Gemma's foe - Circe. Until Circe is destroyed, Gemma cannot live out her destiny. But finding Circe proves a most perilous task...

Rebel Angels teems with Victorian thrills and chills that play out against the backdrop of 1895 London, a place of shadows and light... where inside great beauty can lie a rebel angel.


This is the second book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. Usually, I find second books/sequel in a series not-so-good compared to the first one. But this one did not disappoint me. It is more exciting and action-packed than the first book. I love it!

Gemma spends her first Christmas in London. It is also her first Christmas without her mother. But even without her mother, her Christmas is very, very colorful. There's a new man in her life, Simon Middleton. She is invited to dances and a lot of events. She meets some members of the Order and the Rakshana. She meets a lot of creatures in the realms. Things with Kartik are more intense. She finally meets Circe (I knew it was her when I first read about her!).

With all those things that I mentioned, I don't think Gemma Doyle fans would be bored reading this. Just like the first one, I couldn't put it down. The only time I stopped reading was when I worked on my students' report cards last weekend. But every time I rest my aching hands, I reached out for this book to continue reading. It really took a lot of effort for me to stop reading so that I could continue with work. So as soon as I finished accomplishing my students' report cards, I read the book and didn't stop until the end.

Gemma is not disappointing as a lead character. She is still funny and strong-willed. She made wrong judgments towards some people. But where would the excitement be if she does not commit mistakes? I just wish she would re-assess her friendships with Felicity and Ann. It seems to me that they are just using Gemma for personal gains. Well, hopefully things with them would get better in the next book. As for Gemma's love life, it is definitely clear who her heart belongs to.

The book is fast paced but not so fast that you'd have a hard time catching up. I didn't experience dull moments when reading this. It is an easy read and very engaging.

Rating: 5/5

Power Book Club Discussion for March 2009

During last month's book discussion, we all agreed that if "Slumdog Millionaire" wins the Academy Awards, we will have it as the featured book for the book club this March. It won. So last night, the group met at Powerbooks, TriNoma to discuss the book.

There were only three of us who attended: Tobbie, Mona, and I. The other book club members were busy since it was a weekday. The book club usually meets on a Saturday afternoon. But it was moved due to some conflicts in the calendar of the Club for March.

It was a great discussion. We all couldn't help but compare the book and the movie. We also agreed that the movie is better than the book.

Slumdog Millionaire / Q & A (Vikas Swarup)

* Ram Mohammad Thomas has been arrested. Because how can a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school correctly answer all twelve questions on the television game show Who Will Win a Billion? - unless he cheated.

As the story unfolds, Ram explains to his lawyer how he knew the answer to each question by telling a chapter of his amazing life - from the day he was salvaged from a dustbin to his meeting with a security-crazed Australian army colonel while performing as an overly creative tour guide at the Taj Mahal. Stunning a television audience of millions, Ram draws on a store of street wisdom and accidental encounters that provides him with the essential keys not only to the quiz show but also to life itself.

In a beguiling blend of high comedy and poignancy, Vikas Swarup has created a kaleidoscopic vision of the struggle of good against evil, and what happens when one boy has no other choice in life but to survive.

I am not a big fan of movies based on books. I'm sure most bookworms out there feel the same as I do. For us, the book is ALWAYS better than the movie. So as much as possible, I try not to compare the two and not expect too much from the movie.

I usually read the book first before watching the movie. In this case, however, I watched the movie first before reading the book. I like the movie and I think it really deserves the awards given to it. This prompted me to read the book. Since the movie is good, I set a high expectation on the book.

I wish I hadn't.

I got disappointed. The movie is better than the book. The book is not that horrible. But it wasn't that good either.

The start of the book is exciting. Ram was in jail because he got arrested for winning a quiz show. He narrated his experience there and how he got out through the help of a lawyer, Smita. Then he narrated to her the experiences he had behind each question from the game show.

The stories behind each question are from different times in his life. The events are not presented in a chronological order (childhood to teenager or adult) like in the movie. That is more realistic. However, I found myself confused most of the time because I have to figure out Ram's age when the event happened. There are times when his age is not stated clearly. So I had a hard time imagining Ram in my head. I don't know if the Ram I should imagine is a child or a teenager.

There are also some boring parts in the book. Even his love story is not that exciting or touching. As for the ending... It is corny. But at least it did not end with a dance sequence.

Like what I said, I tried not to compare the book and the movie. But I couldn't help it. So I think it's better to just watch the movie.

Rating: 2/5

Watchmen Promo Contest: I WON!!!

I joined a contest in Pinoy Exchange a few weeks ago. It was the Watchmen promo contest wherein winners would win Watchmen premium items such as a Comedian shirt, a Rorschach hoodie, a Nite Owl watch, a movie poster and button pins. All we needed to do was to answer a question. Each answer is equivalent to one raffle entry. If I remember correctly, I answered two times. There were lots of people who joined. I was one of the lucky few who won some items. Cool, eh?

I asked my brother to claim the items for me since his office is located near the place where the items could be claimed. I won the Comedian shirt and some button pins. Unfortunately, the shirt is big for me and fits my brother well. So I gave it to him. I was left with the button pins. Unfortunately again, the button pins I wanted are the Rorschach and the Smiley pins which were not included in the items I won. But I'm still happy because I won (swear!).

A Great And Terrible Beauty (Libba Bray)

* Gemma Doyle isn't like other girls. Girls with impeccable manners, who speak when spoken to, who remember their station, and who will lie back and think of England when it's required of them.

No, sixteen-year-old Gemma is an island unto herself, sent to the Spence Academy in London after tragedy strikes her family in India. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma finds a chilly reception. But she's not completely alone... she's been followed by a mysterious young man, who warns her to close her mind against the visions.

For it's at Spence that Gemma's power to attract the supernatural unfolds; there she becomes entangled with the school's most powerful girls and discovers her mother's connection to a shadowy group called the Order. It's there that her destiny waits... if only she can believe it.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is a curl-up-under-the-covers kind of book... a vast canvas of rustling skirts and dancing shadows and things that go bump in the night. It's a vividly drawn portrait of the Victorian age, when girls were groomed for lives as rich men's wives... and the story of a girl who saw another way.


Early this year, I had a chat through YM with one of my friends from Twilight Coven Philippines (TCP), Rome. We were just talking about random things when she mentioned about a series she has been reading. She just discovered it a few days before the night of our chat. The series that she was talking about is the Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray. She saw the book on display while waiting in line to pay in Fully Booked, Gateway. She read the synopsis, liked what she read, then bought the book. Ever since she opened it, she couldn't stop reading. And so she recommended it to me and to the other members of TCP. (Some TCP members actually read books other than Twilight. Way, way better books than Twilight. :P)

It took a while for me before I bought the book. I was busy with work and reading other books. During one of my trips in Fully Booked, The Block, I saw copies of this book on the shelf. There were less than five on display. But I didn't buy it yet because I wasn't sure if the AGATB is the first book in the series since copies of Rebel Angels (the second book) were also there. I also have a limited budget that time. So I left the bookstore wishing that I would still see them on my next visit.

A few days passed. I was in TriNoma to apply for the Ayala Malls A Card. Before going home, I passed by Fully Booked out of habit. I saw lots of copies of AGATB. Since I have enough money with me, I bought the book. I was really excited because I could now read the series. It was worth it.

Just like Rome, I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. The setting is during the Victorian era. I love reading books set during that time. Gemma's arrival at the Spence Academy reminded me of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (one of my favorite books back in high school). Just like Sara Crewe, Gemma grew up in India. They are both sent to a boarding school in London. But their similarities end there. Sara arrived in London when she was 7 years old while Gemma arrived when she was already 16 years old. Sara left India to study in London while Gemma left because a tragedy happened. Sara is popular and looked up to by other children while Gemma is a target by the "mean girls." There are no supernatural elements in Sara's world while Gemma's world is surrounded by it.

Since supernatural elements exist in the book, there were times when I felt chills running up and down my spine. These happened every time Gemma and her friends are in the cave. My imagination was getting ahead of myself. It made me want to read more.

This book is not only about the supernatural. It also showed how women lived during the Victorian era. Reading about the other students in Spence and the events happening there was entertaining. Even though I am fascinated by that era, I don't want to live during that time because I don't want to be groomed to be just somebody's wife. I am an ambitious person so I want to be the "somebody" and be able to do my own thing.

This book is very promising. I couldn't wait to read the next one. I just really hope that Gemma's characterization will not go downhill like *ehem* the girl who fell madly in love with a sparkling vampire.

Rating: 4/5

NBS Super Summer Sale

Get up to 70% off on summer reads and other hot, hot items in the National Book Store Super Summer Sale. Bask in the glow of sizzling fiction titles or get splashed with fun water toys such as blow-up balls and goggles – all at discounted prices! Also on sale are school and office supplies, hobbies and crafts items, and a whole lot of books.

Make NBS your pre-vacation shopping destination for a truly sensational summer. Promo runs from Mar. 14 to Apr. 5, 2009.

source: http://www.nbsstores.com/promotions.asp?article_id=159

This is really tempting. I know that I "sort-of promised" myself that I would not buy a book unless I finished reading around 10 of my unread books. Jeez. What a difficult situation that I am in. I might as well give in "for now." Haha.