Last time on Gemma, we find out about the pair of girls in the diary.

The nights are turning colder now. The damp air is raw. It hurts my lungs on the way in and it comes out of my mouth in short white puffs of mist.

So it’s gone from so hot they skinny-dip to near freezing in a day or two. I wasn’t aware London had such temperamental weather.

When they get there, they see Felicity’s makeout partner is there.

In the firelight, his strange gold eyes dance.

See, Gypsies = exotic fairy people. No racism at all!

Anyway, despite the conversation last chapter about how they’d deal with exactly this, his presence makes Felicity decide that never mind, time to turn back. Unfortunately, Gemma promptly steps on a twig and alerts the camp.

“We’re done for,” Ann whispers, petrified.
“Not quite,” Felicity says. She stands up straight and steps out from behind the tree while we try to pull her back down.
“What are you doing?” Ann says in a loud, panicked whisper.
Felicity ignores us. She walks out toward them, an apparition in white and blue velvet, her head held high as they stare in awe at her, the goddess. I don’t yet know what power feels like. But this is surely what it looks like, and I think I’m beginning to understand why those ancient women had to hide in caves. Why our parents and teachers and suitors want us to behave properly and predictably. It’s not that they want to protect us; it’s that they fear us.

Well, I was expecting something like this, but nowhere near this awful.

Female power is making people want to fuck you.

No, I’m not reading anything into it. The next line is Ithal breaks into a lascivious grin. The book is saying female power is making people want to fuck you. Considering their earlier comments about being ravish-worthy and the tone here, it’s making people want to rape you. That’s your special power, to co-opt the power of men with the fact they want to possess your body.

I’ll just assume we all agree this aspect is horrible and needs no further discussion and move on to a more subtler one.

It’s not that they want to protect us; it’s that they fear us.

I do not like this concept.

It is very, very rare that people are oppressed because they’re secretly powerful. It’s common to oppress a group and try to keep them from using what power they do have, but that’s not the same thing, and it’s almost always a matter of having less power on an individual level. And it ends up making the aesop that, because they already have power, nothing actually needs to change. The only reason people are getting oppressed is because they’re too dumb to use their own power. It’s like an extremely exaggerated version of the already bad BOOTSTRAPS concept.

And bear in mind that what they fear from girls is just cuckolding. All of this revolves around making sure your wife has your own biological kid instead of some other guy’s kid. That’s a woman’s great power, to have sex with the wrong man.

Ithal is smug because he says this proves she can’t resist him, and she says she resisted him just fine yesterday, because again, female power is making people want to fuck you and then not letting them. She does so in a racist way but whatever, period accurate.

She’s mocking him. It doesn’t seem a wise course, but I’ve never found myself surrounded by virile Gypsy men in the middle of the night woods before.

I think there’s less of a period-accurate fig leaf for this one. “Gypsy” was a completely unnecessary modifier when it’s clear they’re scared of men in general, and “virile” is worse.

Anyway, just look at this. It’s not that she’s mocking him and they might be mad, it’s that she’s mocking men who are sexually active and if she makes them mad, they might stop caring about her not wanting to fuck them. Men’s sexuality is a threat and a woman’s power is a delicate balance of pushing them toward rape but not actually all the way (bonus implication here – women who get raped just screwed up the natural cocktease power struggle of men and women).

His voice is boisterous, laughing, but the smile doesn’t travel to his eyes. They are wounded and angry.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN

I’m sorry. Look, yeah, if he’s in love with her he’s in a shitty position. But is he in love with her, or does he just want to possess her? Because all we see from him is disregarding her wishes, making passes at her when she doesn’t want them, and grabbing her when she’s afraid they’ll be caught. Even here he isn’t happy she’s there because he thinks it means she loves him and he’s in love with her so he’s glad to see her, he thinks it means she’s sexually attracted and going to give in.

This is rehashing the basic imbalance where women are at risk of rape, injury and becoming social outcasts, but MEN are at risk of being rejected rudely and that’s worse.

Anyway Ann finally speaks up and says they just want to see Mother Elena. You know, here’s a question, where are all the other Gypsy women? Even imaginary fairy people have to have female fairies as well as male fairies in order to keep a population going. But all we see are the men around the fire. No women are around and no women come out to see what’s going on.

One of the men, who Gemma estimates is a year younger than she is, says Mother Elena’s not there.

“I demand to see Mother Elena,” Felicity says, cool and sure. I’m the only one who can see how truly scared she is, and her fear frightens me more than the situation at hand.

So is the book acknowledging that rape is completely on the table here, or are we just supposed to assume she’s scared of the men because they’re so foreign and exotic?

Kartik shows up. He looks freaked out to see them there.

“Please, we need to see Mother Elena,” I say, hoping I don’t sound as terrified as I feel. Ithal holds his hands up, exposing the thick calluses that crisscross his palms, a memento of a harsh life lived out-of-doors. “Ah . . . thisgadje is yours. I apologize, friend.”
Kartik scoffs. “She’s not . . .” He stops himself. “Yes, she is mine.” He grabs my hand and pulls me out of the circle.

So yes. They were going to get raped.

Another hand snakes around my free wrist. It’s attached to the boy with the big nose I spied earlier.
“How do we know she’s yours? She does not seem so willing,” he teases. “Perhaps she will come with me instead.”
Kartik hesitates, long enough for a small laugh of suspicion to ripple through the men. The other man’s grip on my arm is strong and I can taste fear, cold and metallic, in my mouth. There’s no time to be modest. Reason will not work here.

It’s not even subtle now. She can’t say no to the boy, her only choice is to make out with Kartik, because she’s only allowed to pick which person gets to fuck her, not to refuse to have sex.

My moderate sympathy for Kartik, who honestly does seem like he’s just trying to rescue her instead of take advantage, disappears when he does exactly that:

Kartik’s tongue slips between my lips for a second, jarring me.

Gemma immediately pulls back but all she can think is what her friends must think because she liked the kiss.

What kind of girl am I to enjoy a kiss I’ve seized so boldly, without waiting to have it asked for and taken from me, the way I should?

Oh book your vague pretensions of feminism will not save you. You have already said that female power is the power to make men want to rape them. You just forced Gemma into kissing someone to avoid getting raped. Do not even try to say it’s progressive because Gemma being sexually assertive instead of waiting passively when she’s forced into it out of fear.

Kartik gets them to Mother Elena’s tent and Gemma apologizes for her behavior and says it was only because it was necessary. Gemma, sticking his tongue in your mouth wasn’t so stop acting like he’s just the innocent victim you took advantage of.

He asks where their fourth member is and Gemma decides this is because he’s in love with Pippa and is miserable, instead of even considering that maybe he just wants to know where the fourth person of their normally inseparable group is because it’s odd she’s not there. Gemma says Pippa’s ill and he says he hopes it’s not serious so she sulks harder because there’s no way someone would say that unless they were infatuated.

Finally the godawful chapter ends.

Next they finally, finally talk to Mother Elena. When Gemma enters, apparently she’s already predicted Ann getting her wish to become beautiful. We don’t get the exact wording so this might be one of those monkey paw things.

Mother Elena believes “Caroline” is there with them, and before she’ll tell the story of the two girls at Spence she sends the girl out. Then she decides Gemma is “Mary” and offers her imaginary cake.

So I’m guessing there was a third girl involved after all. The fact Gemma reminds her so much of Mary makes me wonder about where her mother comes into this.

Elena claims she doesn’t do magic. And we find out the Order was apparently not talking to them through visions but was literally a group of women living in the forest right next to the school.’

Elena says that Sarah wants power and worries, saying they have to be sure keep her from the Winterlands because she might be corrupted.

“A sacrifice is what it wants, and then the power is hers,” Mother whispers. “But she’ll be forever bound to the dark.”

So…Circe. Or maybe she’s the shadow itself.

Elena suddenly realizes that she’s not talking to Mary and gets confused, and Gemma confesses she’s not Mary.

Her scarf falls open, revealing the shine of the crescent eye around her weathered neck. She backs away. “You. You brought it on us.”
The dogs bark at the rise in her voice.
“I think we had best leave,” Ann warns.
“You destroyed us. Lost it all . . .”

Gemma runs away and ends up sobbing in the woods. She can’t breathe and tries to unlace her corset but can’t. She’s sure Kartik is there watching her.

The rest of the wolf pack catches up and Felicity is annoyed she ruined things.

Gemma falls asleep and dreams of having sex with Kartik – or specifically almost but not quite sex. It’s surprisingly explicit. Also:

I’m pinned to the earth by his choice.

So much for the book’s pretensions of sexual assertiveness. It always comes back to women being submissive. Either they’re regular subs who are always meek, or they’re aggressive subs who want to be forced. But always, always subs.

We are now halfway through the book. In purely plot terms I feel like we’re on track. But god, the actual content. And I doubt I’m lucky enough for this to be a low point, it’s almost certain that it’s just going to get worse the more we learn about the power they’re exploring and the further the romance subplots go.