I love secondhand books. As thrilling as it can be to score a book you've been looking for at the used bookstore, there's also a chance to browse through the shelves and see what catches your eye that you might be willing to take on flyer on for $2. Which is how I picked up Libba Bray's A Great And Terrible Beauty. The cover art is striking, and the back promised a mix of the supernatural, girls boarding school drama, and a touch of gothic horror. While none of those things is a Must Read for me in and of itself, the combination sounded intriguing. And so, two American dollars later, I had my copy in my hot little hands. The book follows 16 year-old Gemma, who has been living in India with her parents for virtually her entire life and wants desperately to go live in England. But when she has a mystical vision of her mother's gruesome death, which comes true, she finds her wish granted in the worst possible way. To England she goes, sent straight off to boarding school at gloomy Spence Academy. She doesn't quite fit in with the other girls...until she catches queen bee Felicity in a compromising position and bribes her way into the inner circle. Gemma's power grows, and there's a secret diary that the girls read and use to find their way into a whole other world...where, of course, danger lurks.

Some experiments work out well. Some don't. This was a miss for me. It's the first of a trilogy, and it's usually been my experience that the first entry in a series is the best one in terms of a standalone story. Not so here...the entire idea of the realms and The Order and the Rakshana feels like Bray herself doesn't really understand how it all works and where she's trying to go with it, but figures she can get to it in the sequels. Same with Gemma and her friends...they're still sketches, their characters are very thin. I think YA can be a great genre, and some of the YA books I've read are still among my favorites. But I think it's often the home of some lazy writing and mistaking stereotypes and/or tropes for actual characters, and this book falls into the proverbial chaff rather than the proverbial wheat for me. ( )

When I first started reading A Great and Terrible Beauty, I admit I had mixed feelings. It felt a little too predictable, a little too juvenile. I didn’t like how whiny and inconsiderate Gemma was; I didn’t like how stereotypical and clique-like the boarding school characters were. I felt at the beginning that I could pretty much guess what was going to happen. I was, however wrong! Libba Bray really surprised me with her creativity and unexpected turns.
The basic gist of the story is this: Through a tragic series of events, sixteen-year-old Gemma Doyle has discovered she possesses mysterious powers, namely visions of the future. It is on the cusp of all this that she is sent to England to get an education at a boarding school for girls. After having spent her whole life in India, she finds herself in a whole new world of social rules and requirements. On top of all that, she still has her uncontrollable powers to deal with, as well as the presence of a mysterious young man who keeps telling her she must not use them. Left at a loss by her family’s tragedy, she spends her time trying to unveil the many unanswered questions that go with it.
The most intriguing part of the story to me was the magical realm that Gemma is able to access. I liked the idea that the realm was actually where everyone’s dreams happened or came from, and that everyone could travel there in dreams, they just couldn’t be aware of it or in control like Gemma.
I was also happily surprised by the relationship between Gemma, Ann, Felicity and Pippa. At first, the latter three honestly seemed like pretty two-dimensional characters to me. I thought I could guess how they were going to react, or what they were going to do in situations. But again I was surprised. Each of these characters has something about them that makes them more than what you get at face value – a lot like real life. They all have painful secrets and insecurities. It really made the story relatable.
I also really enjoyed the theme of independence and power that Bray gave to her characters – especially considering how things really were for young girls in the Victorian era. That considered, my only real complaint is some of the things the girls do in the story, real girls in the Victorian era never would’ve gotten away with. (However, perhaps the fact that I’m also reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles right now had an affect on my judgment on this issue, haha.) Although it might’ve been historically inaccurate, points can be given to once again making the girls relatable to a female audience.
Overall my only complaint would probably be that I really wanted to see some more romance between Kartik and Gemma! Bray has a great way of enticing me with just enough Gemma/Kartik scenes to drive me crazy. And now I guess I’ll have to go read Rebel Angels as soon as I can get my hands on it. ( )

After the first two CDs, I was ready to quit, but I didn't have anything else to listen to, so I kept going. It does get better as it goes along, but it never really sank its teeth into me. Overall, I'd say it was decent, but not great, in all aspects, including the audio book narrator.

I never really understood what it meant to bring the magic of the Realms into the real world. I was truly surprised by a couple of twists, but I also didn't totally get how they worked. And Gemma's lust for Kartik made me uncomfortable (and I read lots of romance novels). It just felt kind of icky in the context of a teen fantasy because it was pretty graphic.

I don't think I'll continue reading this series. And I feel bad about that time I recommended this to a girl who was bummed about the really long wait for the [b:Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267255754s/2767052.jpg|2792775] at the library. I gave her this and Graceling, having read neither, but under the impression that they were both good. We'll see about Graceling next! ( )

I really really wanted to like this book. It was recommended on a thread of good YA and I do love good YA.

However, this is not good YA.

The writing was stilted (others have remarked on the anachronistic tone but that was maybe intentional so I'll just say I agree it felt out of place).

It was incredibly colonial and racist (and unlike the misogyny it never seemed to try to address the racism and colonialism of the time period).

It *did* try to address the misogyny but failed in my opinion (it seemed very un self aware about misogyny in its descriptions of Anne in particular, but there were other bits that made me pause).

The self harm angle could have been interesting if it had been handled at all well (according to the book people cut when they don't like their lives but when they have something joyful to do they stop immediately).

Non of the characters had, well, character. There was the protagonist, who, um, didn't like her mum but missed her terribly, I guess that was her thing? And then Felicity who was kinda smart, liked power, and had parents who didn't have time for her. And Pippa who was pretty and whose parents were poor and so wanted to marry her off (and couldn't find anyone rich who was even vaguely the same age as her...). And then Anne, the fat and ugly scholarship orphan. It maybe says a lot about the writing that I feel like I know more about these girls' parents and their motivations than I do the girls themselves.

I genuinely don't have anything good to say about the book except that I did end up staying late to finish it so by the end it clearly did make me want to finish. That's why it gets 2 stars rather than 1 (I've changed my mind about that a few times already though...). ( )

Gave up after a few chapters. I was hoping for a work of cozy faux-Victorian literature, but the voice and protagonist felt anachronistic and did not grab me. Probably a better fit for someone looking for a paranormal adventure.