A Great and Terrible Beauty

My first pick for 2021 PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt#5: A dark academia book.
I remember I first read it in the summer of 2015, but I got distracted and read Game of Thrones instead (also unfinished..oops!).

First part was full of mystery it made me want to know more about her history. Well, I didn't expect the life in a boarding school is the same for almost every book I read. (Why are people fond of accusing others of theft just because the latter belong to the lower, uh, class?)
Ok, moving on to.....the romance, ugh..I'm not a sucker for romance and I don't know if they're *"kilig" or not.
Hey, why do they have to be naked somewhere outside? It's 1800 or 1900; it's probably cold outside. And don't forget how very conservative most people were.
They annoying part is when they get drunk and lose themselves, giggling.
Maybe I have to read it again? Nope. I'll move on to other books. I have thousands of unread ones. Reading book one of Gemma Doyle series is enoough.

*kilig=romantic thrill. There's no English equivalent. ( )

I really enjoyed this book and was torn whether to give it 4 or 5 stars. I was kept awake much longer than expected some night because I felt the need to continue reading on.

Gemma was a very dynamic character who was also very easy to relate to. I was taken back into my high school years when reading the book and reading about the relationships between all of the girls (haha, it made me glad I wasn't in high school anymore).

At times it almost seemed like the writing wasn't true to the decade it was supposed to be centered it. At times it felt more related to this century (but that might have been the idea of Modernism starting to take place and the idea of how much power women should have). ( )

Welcome to Spence Academy, where young ladies get refined and shit...among other things. "Other things" being "opening portals to magical worlds" and "fighting evil sorceresses". ( )

Compelling first entry in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy. Gemma is sassy and sarcastic. The ending wraps up nicely while still leaving room to wonder what will happen next. ( )

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray was awesome and at the same time I was bummed because it I learned at the end of the book that it was a TRILOGY!! A TRILOGY!! Ugh! I hate getting sucked into series because when I get sucked in I’m sucked in. With A Song of Ice and Fire I was dreaming about King’s landing and Dany and all of them. It’s terrible..any way, rant aside I’m going to try something new with my reviews…I’m going to add this terrible thing called structure to my chaos.

Plot Summary


A Great and Terrible Beauty is about a young girl who has lived most of her life in India with her parents. Once she turns 16 though a terrible tragedy occurs and she is sent back to Victorian England and finishing school. She’s also having crazy visions that have a bad habit of coming true. While at school she is originally cast as an outcast but through wit and courage she manages to win the friendship of some of the more influential girls. She also discovers a magical realm that only she can access and which is in trouble. All in all she has quite a bit on her plate for a 16 year old girl.

What I Liked

The title didn’t refer to the girls…that made me happy
The main character..Gemma was a witty girl even if she was rather annoying the first few pages. But she was a real character and that’s what made her awesome
I liked the slight feminist tones to the book, all the girls are rebelling against what society tells them they MUST be-good wives. They all want to be their own person
The magic was cool, but when is it not?
It was fast paced and moving
What I Didn’t Like

It was a little to predictable, I felt like I was figuring things out a little too quicky
I didn’t like Felicity’s character, I felt like she flip-flopped too much
Other than that though i’ll give the book 4/5 and once the prices go down on the ebooks or I can get my hands on the other two via work I will happily finish the trilogy!
Happy Readings!
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