This was brilliant! I have no idea what I just read but wow, it was certainly unique.

This was a fantasy/ magic realism/ historical fuction hybrid and it really sucked me in.

I'm really confused about the ending, I don't know whether to be happy or sad. Confusion aside, I seriously loved this book.

I picked this up after a friend kept talking about it in a GR group I belong to.

I'm really glad I did pick it up. I was sucked into the book from page 1. The author definitely has a way with words... She painted such a vivid image of the surroundings that I felt as though I was there with the characters in the book.

The plot moves very well, and there were a number of 'cliffhangers' which kept me turning the pages. There was a nice mixture of fantasy and realism, that made for a great read.

I liked the main character, Gemma. She felt very real and I could relate to her more than I have done with main characters in other books. I liked the friendship she built with the other girls (especially Felicity), even though at first they didn't get on at all.

I liked how the character of Kartik was woven into the plot, and I felt that the author had a good understanding of the feelings that girls of Gemma's age felt - especially in the dream sequences.

A really great read, and I will definitely be picking up the other books in the trilogy.

Dear Pretties,

Wow, what a start this book gets! I was terribly confused when there was a paranormal twist to this book. I wasn't expecting it at all.
n  n
GIFSoup

The plot is a soupy mess and is really unstructured. One thing I did like was the magical aspect of this book.
That's all for now.
Ta-ta,
shizuku

2023 update: Yikes ya'll...this is why it's so difficult to go back and read books that you once enjoyed, but they no longer hold up. Granted, this book was published almost 20 years ago; however, there were some elements of the book that genuinely didn't work for me anymore. There is a slur/antiquated term for Romani people that is consistently used in the text that I just couldn't look over. There was also an over sexualization of Romani men that would supposedly put the "young, innocent" girls in danger of having their reputations tarnished. It made my blood boil. There was also a fetishization of an Indian character that rubbed me the wrong way. All other Indian characters felt stereotyped. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I'll be willing to continue the series. Libba Bray definitely has grown as an author and readers will notice that growth in the Diviners series. This definitely feels like its weaker and lacks the same depth and research that she puts into that series.
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I know a lot of people don't really care for this book but I actually liked it! Can't wait to read the rest of the books in the trilogy.

2 stars

I've read two of Libba Bray's books before I started goodreads. The first was Going Bovine which I did put down because I was confused but later picked it up and I liked it. Then I read The Diviners and though I thought it was too long, I liked it. I did know of her Gemma Doyle trilogy but I never got the chance to read them. Recently, they went on sale and I decided that this year will be the year I read the entire trilogy.

And now that I've read A Great and Terrible Beauty, I wonder why this series has so many good reviews when I thought it was a 'meh' book. I went into it with little to no expectations which were a good thing otherwise my review would've been much harsher.

A Great and Terrible Beauty tells the story of Gemma Doyle who is living in India with her mother when her mother commits suicide. She is then sent to England to attend Spence Academy, a boarding school for young women. There, she starts to discover secrets about herself, the school, and strange magic powers.

For a historical fantasy novel, it's lacking, to say the least. There's so much going for it only to be lackluster in some parts while having bad characters.

Something that you should keep in mind is that this book was published in 2003 and there are some things here that do warrant some attention. There's the use of the word g*psy as well as a character who self harms but is then told to stop and she does but that's not how it works.

So, A Great and Terrible Beauty is not a bad book. The pacing was fast enough for me to get through quicker than I had originally expected and the magic was intriguing enough for me to continue. Sadly my praise ends there. Because for the most part, I found the story to be lacking and the characters themselves did not help the progression of the story.

What I found lacking is how the story itself was presented or how it tried to present itself. This is a historical fantasy story with magic, secret orders, all taking place in late 19th century England. With all those things combined, it should've made a great story. Except it doesn't. Most of the story is basically Mean Girls with magic sprinkled in here and there. It read like a drama half of the time than it did paranormal. The glimpses we do see of the paranormal and magic are great but it's gone just as it had arrived. When it did end, I was left wanting more of the lore. Yes, I'm aware this is the first book of a trilogy, but they're just wasn't enough. I do have some anticipation of reading the next two books since I know the magic will be explored.

The characters, as a whole, were not likable save for one of them, Ann. Gemma herself goes back and forth between being nice and rude and stupid. It's a full circle of her being annoying which I guess was supposed to come off as feisty but it didn't. Then there's Felicity and Pippa and I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible: They're total bitches. They're mean to Gemma and Ann but then all of them are BFFs and every mean comment the two made about Gemma and Ann is swept under the rug like it never happened. Bullshit. If my bullies decided to be my friends, I would spit in their food and tell them to fuck off. It's a toxic friendship and I'm surprised Libba Bray went in that direction.

My time reading A Great and Terrible Beauty was sort of fun. I did like learning about the magic but everything else was a mess. I'm still going to continue on with the trilogy because I'm a completionist and I did buy them on sale so there's that.

There is a great beauty in the story. But it's also a terrible beauty.

Mysterious Sexy Boy: “So Gemma, isn’t it exciting to be attending your first Grateful Dead concert?”

Gemma Doyle: “Yes, but… Jerry Garcia has been actually dead for years..”

MSB: “Not for the purpose of this review, he isn’t. Just go with it”

GD: *sniff* *sniff* “Hmmm… what’s that smell?” *giggle* “And why am I suddenly craving pizza with chocolate??” *giggle*

MSB: “Son of a bitch! Gemma, that is second hand marijuana smoke. If you inhale enough you will get super duper high and will enjoy this concert immensely. For the love of god, do not inhale it!!!”

GD: “How do you expect me to not inhale it when it is all around me? I can’t very well control the air I breathe, can I?” *sniiiifffff*

MSB: “That is your problem to figure out. Just don’t inhale.”

GD: *turns to hippie on her left* “What’s this? Oh, I put it in my mouth and breathe in? Like this?” *cough*

MSB: “Goddammit Gemma! I tell you not to inhale second hand smoke and now you are smoking a joint?!”

GD: “How can weed be so bad if it makes me feel so good, man?”

MSB: “I’m not telling you. Even though you are feeling awesome right now, you are not to smoke any more pot. Ever. I will compel you with my mysterious and sexy ways to do as I say.”

GD: “Suck it mysterious sexy boy. Getting high is fun. I’m gonna go hang with these hippies and you can’t stop me.”

Does trouble ensue? Of course it does. We have read this plot dozens of times in countless paranormal YA books. Oh, not getting high at a Dead concert. Excuse me =) A young girl with newly discovered and tempting powers who is not supposed to fully explore them for no reason other than she is told not to. Even so, A Great and Terrible Beauty was a pleasurable read.

Set in a Victorian era all girl finishing school, A Great and Terrible Beauty tells the story of Gemma Doyle. Gemma is a teenage girl who has lived her entire life in India and only recently traveled to her home country of England after the unexpected death of her mother. Despite the setting, this story is thankfully fairly modern in its dialogue, plot pacing and many of its ideas. (Victorian novels always sound appealing to me, but frequently bore me to tears when I actually attempt to read them.) This novel explores the constraints of Victorian society, the way teenage girls manage to be constant frenemies, and a pretty cool paranormal world.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is a solid three stars. It is not the best this genre has to offer, but it is far from the worst. As the first of a trilogy it contains the inevitable set up and uncompleted threads. However, it does not end on a nasty cliffhanger, so those who just aren’t feeling this after reading it shouldn’t be left wondering too much at the end of the book.

Review originally posted on my blog here: https://morejeansthoughts.wordpress.c...

This is the first book I have read by Libba Bray who is, in fact, quite the prolific author and incredibly popular amongst fans of Young Adult literature. My interest was peaked in Bray’s writing after reading an article she had written here for EW. Upon reading Bray’s article I immediately ordered both A Great and Terrible Beauty and Beauty Queens by the author. Seeing her discuss the influences and objectives of her young adult work made me see them in a much more complex light than perhaps the blurbs alone would have. Not only did my first foray into her work not disappoint, it far exceeded all of my expectations. A Great and Terrible Beauty is the first in her Gemma Doyle series and what a beginning it is.

The year is 1895 and our story follows Gemma Doyle, a young woman from a wealthy English family who has spent her entire life thus far growing up in India. After tragedy strikes, however, her life is uprooted and she is sent to board at a girls’ finishing school in England. Her life in England is far more than elocution lessons and keeping up with this season’s latest fashions; Miss Doyle is haunted by visions of another world, one both terrifying and beautiful.

This book melds together 19th century Britain, female friendships, sexual awakenings and magic. The story and characters are engaging and mysterious with so much more bubbling under the surface. There is so much I enjoyed about this first book in the series that it is difficult to condense my feelings for you in one blog post, but here I go.

For one, the characters are complex; each has their good and their bad qualities, their virtues and their vices. Those of Gemma’s fellow students who may initially seem like your cliche mean girls upon her arrival in England, gradually have their layers peeled back and their persons exposed. These are young women struggling with the confines of their time and station, dreaming of lives where they can make choices of their own rather than to suit the demands of their families and society.

The book embodies a sense of longing throughout; a longing to know oneself and a longing to belong, to be accepted whilst clambering to stand out. Not forgetting a carnal longing, which is far more unfamiliar to these once girls who find themselves becoming young women. To explore themselves truly, however, is made all the more difficult by the restrictive confines of their contemporary society where women’s roles are constructed in order to serve the male elite. In these circumstances who would not find the call of a magical order made up entirely of women seductive?

Bray’s book shines a light on the individuality of women in a time when they were allowed very little. She allows them freedom in this and other worlds to explore themselves and their desires. At the same time, they may want to tread cautiously whilst they discover their own boundaries and challenge those that have been imposed upon them.

Dare I describe this as the historical feminist fantasy novel that I never knew I always wanted? Bring on book two.

Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty is a young-adult-novel-slash-Victorian-romance-slash-magical-fantasy; it wants to be many things, but I’m not convinced it succeeds in any.

Great and Terrible is the first in Bray’s Gemma Doyle trilogy. Gemma discovers she has magical powers on her sixteenth birthday. Tragedy strikes, though, and she finds herself shipped off to a finishing school. Defying all logic, Gemma does everything she can to ingratiate herself with the school’s “mean girls.” She trusts them with her secret and even invites them into her magical world.

Gemma and her cohorts are extremely flawed characters and often unlikable. And, as is my routine complaint, the females in this novel make such illogical decisions that I want to shake sense into them. Despite its Victorian setting, the book also broaches such contemporary hot topics as cutting, sexual identity, and drug abuse.

I enjoy the novel—except for the magical bits, which is definitely a problem since the magical elements make up a majority of the book. The story would not have been the same without this aspect, but I find these elements often convoluted and confusing.

Despite my feelings of misgiving, I am intrigued by this first novel and plan to read the next in the trilogy. Unfortunately, the series is apparently quite popular since I am 20th in my library’s queue.

Gemma isn’t your typical sixteen year old. Most girls her age have been brought up in London’s society of gossip and lavish balls, but not Gemma. She has had a most unconventional upbringing in India. Yet she yearns to be in London, and the topic is often the start of arguments between her and her mother.

Gemma’s wish becomes a reality when she has a vision of her mother’s death which comes true, and she is sent back to London and enrolled at Spence, an academy for girls. Gemma is uncertain of her visions and what they hold, but she will soon find out.

Gemma has a hard time making friends at Spence, but an unexpected twist of events land her into good graces with Felicity, the powerful leader of a spiteful clique.

Gemma discovers that her visions are more than what they seem they are in fact a doorway to other realms. She is warned to keep her visions at bay, but doesn’t understand why.

Gemma becomes friends with members of the clique and they start their own club which they call the Order. The girls from the Order soon find themselves visiting these other realms with Gemma. Only to discover that the innocence of the realm is clouded by an evil that wishes to have Gemma for itself.

The first synopsis I read of A Great and Terrible Beauty didn’t interest me at all. After hearing so many good things about the book, I decided to give it a chance. Now that I read it, I’m mad at myself for waiting so long! The storyline kept me hungry for more! The characters were believable, everyone knows someone who is like Felicity, Pippa and Ann. I loved Bray’s take on the 19th century’s society, sexuality and even the teen issues, that aren’t so different from ones we face today. And yet the supernatural element takes it to a whole other level of enjoyment.

I would have loved this had I still been a Young Adult. Instead the YA elements got on my nerves. I don’t remember having this problem with the Diviners!
#itsnotyouit’sme.

I love this book. I love the entire series. I found them first in seventh grade, but the third one hadn't come out yet. I was scanning my middle school library's shelves, when I noticed an interesting cover near one of my favorite book series. I read the back and I thought the plot was interesting. So I decided to give it a chance and read it. I thought they were great. I mean, I really didn't consider them as some of my favorite books. Eventually, I went on with my life and sort of forgot about them. Then two years later I was on the Barnes and Noble website looking for random book's prices because I needed them for a project. Then I noticed The Sweet Far Thing. The third one to the series. After a few months my birthday came up and that's one of the things I asked for. I got it, along with a few other books. I read some of those books first. Then I got to TSFT. I could not put it down. I read for two or three days. On the last one I skipped a dance to finish it. Although, my friends were a little upset about that. I didn't care. I finished it that night and I loved it. The ending made me bawl and bawl. I was so upset. It was worth reading though. It actually led me to Goodreads too. I was searching something I HAD to know right after I finished it and I joined Goodreads in my quest to find it. I met Emma :) and she explained it to me. I love this book series. It touched me in away no book ever has. I love it with all my heart and you should read it. They are now my favorite books.

Libba Bray is one of my favorite authors and historical fantasy is one of my favorite genres, so I had high hopes for this 2003 series opener. Unfortunately, A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle #1) is my least favorite Libba Bray novel. It's not terrible, but it's not what I've come to expect of her style in the last few years. The first 50% is pretty boring and I didn't like Gemma herself among others right from the beginning. Needless to say, they grated on my nerves for a good chunk of it. All that said, it's still worth sticking around for the last half because it really picks up from there on out. Even so, I doubt I'll be back for the rest of the series.