The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

This is the concluding book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. In The Sweet Far Thing we follow Gemma and her two dear friends Felicity and Anne as they continue on their journeys through the Realms and into the winterland. Kartik has vanished leaving Gemma to wonder what has happened to him and if he is still safe. The construction continues at Spence Academy in the rebuilding of the wing that burned years ago leaving the founder, Mrs. Eugenia Spence, dead. Gemma must discern who among her acquaintances can truly be trusted as there is a huge web of lies being woven all around her. She doesn't know if she can even trust her own thoughts anymore. With the help of her friends and those she comes to rely upon she must defeat the evil within the winterlands that mean to unleash the magic and open the realms leaving no barrier between the mortal world and themselves. Can she make the choices necessary and what will the cost be?

I have listened to the entire Gemma Doyle trilogy on unabridged audiobook and am writing this review on both the audiobook and the novel itself. First on the audio and the narrator. I absolutely loved the story as told by the story teller, as she truly was a storyteller and added such emotion and zest to the story. She did a great job of varying her voice for each character to the point that I didn't even need the written side notes of "Felicity said" or "Anne exclaimed" because I could recognize the voice without it. Much more entertaining and easy to listen to than other audiobooks I have had and I highly recommend it. I enjoy audiobooks while I'm cleaning or driving but still love my real books in my hand when I have the time to sit and enjoy them (with 4 kids that seems a rarity now).

As far as The Sweet Far Thing the novel, I loved it just as much as the first two which is something that doesn't happen very often! It had the adventure and the action and the romance with a great build up to the climax and an ending that left me longing for the characters to still be with me but yet so very happy that things were wrapped up with such finality. No loose threads here. I got to 'watch' as Gemma has finally grown into the woman that can stand on her own confidently with no regrets and know that she has a place in this world all on her own.

The lands that are painted for us in this novel are vivid and full of life. I can picture each area of the realms and the creatures that inhabit these places. Libba Bray's trilogy is definitely going to be at the top of my list of YA series to recommend. It was so tastefully written from start to finish. Only at the end of the 3rd book as things come to a climax was there anything that might be questionable for a girl to read depending on what you find questionable but in the case that you are reading this review because you have a daughter that wants to read the series..... Here is a little elaboration only for the purpose of informing those that would want to be informed, skip this part if you are an adult looking for yourself and don't need the heads up.

****************SPOILER ALERT******************

There are a couple of instances (3 I think) between Gemma and Kartik that get a little heated with heavy kissing and he grabs her breasts while they are both fully clothed.
We find out toward the end of book 3 that Felicity and Pippa are gay and in love with eachother (shocker for me) and Felicity ends up moving to Paris where she has heard there are "others like her" so that she may fall in love again.
The language picks up a little more in the end too with at least one use of B***h and A** among a few other things.
And... of course the entire series is written about magic and death and other worlds. Gemma does not believe in God as Christianity sees Him, she doesn't exactly know what she believes but there is a lot of talk of 'gods'.