From the Bookshelf of The Reading Challenge Group…

A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle, #1)

Libba Bray

Start date: May 1, 2014

Finish date: May 31, 2014

Discussion: Group Read Archive 2014-16

Why we're reading this: YA Group Read - May 2014
[close] YA Group Read - May 2014

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Group Read Archive 2014-16

Genre Group Read (Humour) - December 2016 - You Are Not So Smart
By Allison , Quest Hound · 11 posts · 30 views

last updated Dec 28, 2016 04:05PM

Alternate Group Read (Classics) - December 2016 - Mansfield Park
By Allison , Quest Hound · 5 posts · 18 views

last updated Dec 04, 2016 09:34AM

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What Members Thought

Jan 28, 2012 Anissa rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, series, ya, gothic, donated-and-given-away

I have had this trilogy on my bookshelf long enough & decided to jump in and read it. I must admit that I have mixed feelings for this first book. It's well written and kept me consistently interested but I also feel that not much happened overall. It's historical fiction but the tone of the narrator's voice and some of the phrases she used, felt very modern. I don't think that was an accident and wonder if it was done because this is a YA novel to make it more relatable. I read my fair share of I have had this trilogy on my bookshelf long enough & decided to jump in and read it. I must admit that I have mixed feelings for this first book. It's well written and kept me consistently interested but I also feel that not much happened overall. It's historical fiction but the tone of the narrator's voice and some of the phrases she used, felt very modern. I don't think that was an accident and wonder if it was done because this is a YA novel to make it more relatable. I read my fair share of historical fiction novels and this is not something I'm used to seeing. I also worked out the secret fairly early that took Gemma quite some time to suss out. As this is a YA read, I'm not really dissatisfied with that. The way it unfolded for Gemma read credibly.

I enjoyed Gemma. She had a quick wit and also had a decent enough depth of character that following her through the story was enjoyable. I thought the circle of friends, Felicity, Pippa & Ann was an interesting dynamic because the girls are at a far off boarding school, so it's more like a lifeboat situation than it is a flowery bonding with kindred spirits thing. Because of this, I thought the friends/frienemy aspect rang true. The girls were kind, vicious, jealous, needy, simpering & cloying all at different intervals as they tried to work out their positions in the group. It was uncomfortably real in some exchanges and I thought, well done. I did like that all the girls had very much in common the painful absence of parents and family. They've all been sent away to be shaped and groomed into proper standard bearers to deeply flawed families. Ironic.

The thread of the story that has to do with Gemma and her new found ability seemed to get a bit of short shrift in the explanation & unfolding the mystery department. It really comes together in the last third of the book. There are two more books, so I'm not worried that the main will be lost on that one. The Order, the Rakshana & the malevolent Circe have my attention and I want to know more. I am also interested in how the friendships of the girls will evolve now that one is not with them & I'd like to know more about Kartik.

Overall, this felt like a solid set up for a series. The next two books are longer so I'm assuming that bodes well. I do have to say that I quite like Libba Bray's writing style. It's worth a read, just for that. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 21, 2014 Cindy (BKind2Books) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: blast-off-with-scifi-challenge

This was a fairly good Gothic YA novel. The story revolves around Gemma who as the story opens is pressuring her mother to return to London. She is tired of India, feels constrained my her life there, and wants to see the larger world. When a tragedy befalls her mother, she gets her desire, albeit not quite as she had envisioned it. She is sent to Spence, a finishing school, where she is an outsider. She has begun to have visions and at Spence these have become harder to ignore. Some of the 'in- This was a fairly good Gothic YA novel. The story revolves around Gemma who as the story opens is pressuring her mother to return to London. She is tired of India, feels constrained my her life there, and wants to see the larger world. When a tragedy befalls her mother, she gets her desire, albeit not quite as she had envisioned it. She is sent to Spence, a finishing school, where she is an outsider. She has begun to have visions and at Spence these have become harder to ignore. Some of the 'in-crowd' notice, as well as her roommate Ann, a scholarship student. Each one is searching for something that they feel is missing in their lives - power, romance, beauty, self-awareness. They tap into the Realms - a shadowy place between worlds where magic is accessible and dreams do come true, but so can nightmares. There are things there that these girls are unprepared to deal with, especially when they access power that goes beyond their ability to control. This novel builds to a conclusion that is sad and yet inevitable given the times in which they live.

This is the first novel in a trilogy and it is easy to see that there is more to come, but the story does stand alone. I'm not certain if I'll continue on with this. It was good and the author writes well, but the novel seems to be a little overblown - it suffered from a lack of editing, especially in the first 100-200 pages. There's a good 50 + pages that could be tightened up and not lose anything in the story. The first part just seemed too plodding to me.

Quotes I liked:

"I change the world; the world changes me."

"In every end, there is also a beginning."

"In the world beyond this one, that river goes on singing sweetly, enchanting us with what we want to hear, shaping what we need to see in order to keep going. In those waters, all disappointments are forgotten, our mistakes forgiven. Gazing into them, we see a strong father. A loving mother. Warms rooms where we are sheltered, adored, wanted. And the uncertainty of our futures is nothing more than the fog of breath on a windowpane." ...more

1 like · Like · see review