"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. ...And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason, for anything."

~ Edward Cullen

Monday, January 19, 2009

Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty


Title: A Great and Terrible Beauty
Author: Libba Bray
Pages: 403
Rating: 3/5

Gemma Doyle isn't like other girls. Girls with impeccable manners, who speak when spoke to, who remember their station, and who will lie back and think of England when it's required of them.

No, sixteen year old Gemma is an island unto herself, sent to the Spence Academy in London after tragedy strikes her family in India. Lonely, guilt ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma finds a chilly reception. But she's not completely alone...she's been followed by a mysterious young man, who warns her to close her mind against the visions.

For it's at Spence that Gemma's power to attract the supernatural unfolds; there she becomes entangled with the school's most powerful girls and discovers her mother's connection to a shadowy group call the Order. It's there that her destiny waits...if only she can believe in it (Book Blurb).

Almost one year after purchasing this book, I decided to give it a try. I was looking for something different after finishing the Twilight Saga and thought that this would do the trick. The premise sounded so good. Plus, this young adult novel has received wonderful reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. However, despite my best intentions, this book took me almost two weeks to read.

Gemma, herself, is a like able character. And her story is interesting. I just don't know if it moved too slowly for me or if I was still on an Edward Cullen high but I found myself really struggling to finish this book. Finally on about page 325 (out of 400), I felt like the book picked up speed and I actually began enjoying it. I do want to see what happens with the Realms and whether or not Gemma can defeat the evil Circe, so I will be reading the two other books in the trilogy. I just think I'll be giving myself a break before starting them.

I'm curious to see what other readers felt about this book. Stop by and let me know :)



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree -- just did not get into this one. And I felt very disappointed, too, because it came very highly recommended by a friend! I just thought it was all sort of cartoonish and hokey, and the whole "Realm" thing seemed like a stretch. I haven't gotten the next one in the series, and I probably won't.

Sunnysmileqt said...

If I do choose to read the next one in there series I'll let you know if it's any better. I just felt with this one, I was costantly waiting for that big AH HAH moment (you know when the story got good...lol).

Anonymous said...

I understand about coming off one of Meyer's books...lol! Everything else seems to pale.

Anonymous said...

People have raved about this series but I thought it was just so-so. I read all three books in the series and reviewed them on my blog. I would suggest the Vampire Academy series but I saw you already bought the first book :)

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