Finished book 4. It took forever. Sadly I won't be meeting this month's goal of 6 books.


Title: Ya-Ya's in Bloom
Author: Rebecca Wells
Pages: 290

Summary: This is a sequel of sorts to the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,which I've also read and enjoyed. This is a gumbo mix of stories from the three generations, the Ya-Ya's, Petite Ya-Yas and the Tres Petites. It's a hodge-podge mix of the stories that make and break and build the Ya-Yas.

My review: I enjoyed this look at the women and men of the Sisterhood. I liked that we got more insight into how the girls met and how they grew into the women they became. I also liked the view into their friends and childrens lives. This is a short review because I have to make dinner, suffice to say I like this book.

So I've finished my first book this year. That only leaves...74 more. Yay me!

Anyway here's my review:

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.

Pages: 403

Review ;The story starts by introducing our heroine, Gemma Doyle and her mother in their home in India. How or why their in India isn't really explained but due the time period,the 1800s, I'm guessing her father is a merchant or an Army man. However Gemma isn't content in India. She's just turned 16 and is determined to go to London, a place her mother refuses to send her.This leads to fights between the two, one of which inadvertently leads to the murder of Gemma's mother, which Gemma sees clearly in a vision.

Fast forward two months after her mothers death and we now find Gemma on her way to a school for young women, accompanied by her vain older brother.The death of her mother weighs heavily on her, as do the visions and the things she sees in the shadows. She also believes she's being followed by a young Indian boy, who she last saw the day of her mother's death.

Arriving at the Spence school for Girls, she meets the other main players in this story. First is Ann Bradshaw, a poor,plain young woman who's cousins sent her to the school so she could become their nanny.She has a nose that always runs and it is implied she is a bit plump,but she has a voice like a angel. By sheer reasoning of her poverty and Gemma's newness they become friends of sorts.
The other characters we meet are Felicity Worthington, the pretty daughter of a Army man, who is as snooty as Lavina from the Little Princess and her best friend Pippa Cross, who is described as having features so beautiful that men are all over themselves for her. We also learn the name of the young man following Gemma.Kartik, a member of a mysterious group that is watching Gemma for some reason not yet known.

After a few bumps and bruises Gemma, Ann, Felicity and Pippa become a group of sorts.They spend their nights out in a cave near the school, discussing their hopes,dreams and sharing secrets.Eventually Gemma shares with the girls a journal she has found that tells the story of Mary Dowd and her friend Sarah as they explore the realms and a power Gemma comes to see is like hers. Eventually the girls enter the realms and there they find their deepest desires. Pippa finds a romantic knight, who listens to her and loves her, not just her face. Ann makes her self beautiful and wanted, not plain and ignored. Felicity finds a sort of inner strength as well as a physical strength. And Gemma finds her mother, who has hidden in the realms waiting to tell Gemma about her power and how to control it.

During their time in the realms the girls are happy and forget the outside world. But soon they want more. They want to bring the magic with them. And despite promising Gemma's mother they do so.

Soon however it spirals out their control.And they find out that the journal they've been reading holds a horrible secret.Mary and her friend Sarah killed a little girl to try and gain all the magic. And Sarah was lost to the darkness and became the monsterous Circe, who now hunts Gemma,and is seeking to break free.

After realizing the truth of who Mary Dowd is, Gemma tries to turn her back on the realms. However the other girls, who are desperate now, especially Pippa who is about to be married off to a much older man, are having none of this and turn on her at Felicity's command, killing a deer as a sacrifice. Afriad of what else they may do, Gemma agrees to take them to realms, where they meet up with Circe,who has been hiding behind the guise of a huntress. She attempts to take Felicity as her sacrifice but is thwarted by Gemma and Ann. The three escape but are forced to leave Pippa behind as she drowns in the water.

Back in the real world Pippa, who suffers epilepsy is seizing. Kartik, who has been in the background the whold story helps the girls get her back to the school, where they alert the headmistress and the doctor.

Deciding to face her fears and responsibility and save Pippa, Gemma heads back to the realms.
There she faces Circe and battles her. She wins only by forgiving her mother, who is also Mary Dowd. That forgiveness temporary defeats Circe and leads Gemma to Pippa. Pippa decides she would rather live in the realms than stay in a world where she has no say on her life. Gemma returns to the real world to find that Pippa has died.

At Pippa's funeral Gemma decides to rebuile the Order,fight Circe and fix the realms.

My Opinion: I honestly picked up this book because it was $1.00. But as I read more and more I found myself enjoying it. It was a fairly good read. It had one or two parts that I could'e done without but it moved relatively well. I also enjoyed that girls wanted more than what society offered them and that they had flaws, besides being a brat or a plain face.Overall I enjoyed the book but I'm still debating on if I will purchase the sequels.