Title:
A great and terrible beauty
(Gemma Doyle #1)
A great and terrible beauty
(Gemma Doyle #1)
Author:
Libba Bray
★★★☆☆
3.5 out of 5 stars
Sixteen-year-old Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother's death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls' academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order.
I have been wanting to read this books for years and when I finally got my hands around it, I realized I knew nothing about it, and by nothing I mean nothing. So I thought: Maybe I read a review or a synopsis and it caught my eye but I forgot what the story was about, but if it was on my to-read list is because I wanted to read it.
Now, let's talk about the book itself. I actually quite enjoyed it, I thought the story was refreshing and extremely different to all the historical fiction books I've read in the last year; I liked the characters, specially Gemma and her modern way of thinking, the way they interact with each other and how sharing a secret can make people get closer. The only thing i disliked was it was somehow slow, it took me longer than what I would have expected to finish it, but that won't keep me from reading the next two installments in a near future.
Now, let's talk about the book itself. I actually quite enjoyed it, I thought the story was refreshing and extremely different to all the historical fiction books I've read in the last year; I liked the characters, specially Gemma and her modern way of thinking, the way they interact with each other and how sharing a secret can make people get closer. The only thing i disliked was it was somehow slow, it took me longer than what I would have expected to finish it, but that won't keep me from reading the next two installments in a near future.
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