Book Review - A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Rating: 10/10

A Great and Terrible Beauty is a New York Times Bestseller book by Libba Bray. It tells the mystical story of Gemma Doyle, a rebellious sixteen year old girl living in the Victorian era of England. After her mother's mysterious death in India, Gemma travels to London and attends Spence Academy, a finishing school in London, where she is expected to learn French, dance waltz, paint lively still life paintings, sing beautifully, and learn impeccable manners. But Gemma Doyle is no ordinary girl; she possesses a supernatural power that enables her to see visions of the future and travel to a utopia-like world behind a door of light...

It is rare, in this day and age, to find a gem of a book, much less a gem of a writer. But here, in A Great and Terrible Beauty, I believe I have found both of them. The novel is stirring, passionate, terrible and beautiful all at the same time. It's a beautiful work of art and I would very much like to see a movie adaptation of it (because it's so interesting!). Libba Bray is able to revive the Victorian era through her writing. The supernatural mixed with the Bray's humor will delight and thrill audiences alike. It's a wonderful mix of terror and fantasy that will leave you wanting for more. There's are also beautiful lessons weaved into the text that, most likely, I will never forget. Plus, it is also kind of rare that I finish a 400+ page book in a few hours. I only do that if I'm really interested in it (and if I'm interested, it means that the book is very good). :)

And the characters! Oh, the characters are riveting!!! I simply love -swoonswoonswoon- Kartik's character. He reminds me of that assassin (forgot the name) from one of the Fire Emblem GBA games who is tall, dark and handsome. KARTIK!!! Yes, yes, I am freaking out... So this is how Libba Bray describes him:

He isn't much older than I am, probably seventeen if a day, with brown skin, a full mouth, and the longest eyelashes I have ever seen. I know I'm not supposed to find Indian men attractive, but I don't see many young men and I find I'm blushing in spite of myself. (page 7)


Focus on his face, his full lips, perfect as a bow. His thick dark curls fall across from his eyes, deep, brown, foot-long-lashes eyes. Alarmed eyes. (page 13)

There's a lot more descriptions of him but this will do because I can't... -swoonfaintswoon-

Ahem. -cough- Okay, so enough of Kartik.

Gemma and her four friends (Felicity, Pippa, and Ann) are well-rounded characters. By that, I mean that it feels like they're real and not just a bunch of words written by a writer. They sound so real, so insecure, so... Much like a girl. They're believable characters, that's what.

So the plot thickens and the ending feels like the beginning of everything else. Circe (Sarah Rees-Toome) is never revealed because that (damned) picture of the 1871 class didn't show her face. Argh. I was just about to jump out of the bed and scream when I came to that part. Err. So yeah. I am spoiling the fun.

And because the ending had me screaming for more, I'm looking forward to owning the sequels, Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing , sometime this year if I ever find a copy. After all, I want to read more about Ka-- Gemma.

P.S. I just noticed that I've been reading a lot of books about empowered women lately... And I love it dearly!!!

P.S.2. If they're ever going to make a movie adaptation of this, please, please, please, please, puhleeze don't cast Dev Patel as Kartik. I beseech you!! And don't let this be a chick flick, for pity's sake. Nor another Twilight thing.

P.S.3. Okay. So Icon relinquished the rights something. So there's no movie. But I'm still crossing my fingers. (KARTIK!!!)