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niori_1709) wrote2020-07-18 05:29 am
niori_1709) wrote2020-07-18 05:29 am
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Book Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty- Libba Bray
As you may have noticed by now, I have a love of historical fiction. I just can’t seem to gt enough of itsfdg, and Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty is one of my favourites.
Set in the Victorian era, the story begins in India, where Gemma Doyle, a young British woman, lives with her family. One terrible day, a man approaches Gemma’s mother and warns her that by day’s end she would be dead. With that, Gemma has her first vision. Gemma is shipped off to a finishing school in England (much to her delight) and it is there, along with her three new friends/frenemies that she discovers her newly developing powers. She discovered she can enter The Realms, a magical world full of mystery. Of course there are dangers lurking both inside and outside The Realms, one of them being Kartik, a young Indian boy who has followed her. He says that he knows the only way to protect her, but it’s obvious that he’s hiding things too.
Though the plot alone is enough reason to read this book, another reason the book is so good is the characterization (another thing I love- well written characters). The four main girls are complex: Pippa and Felicity are both popular snobs, yet insecure. Ann is a quiet outcast who has true talent and would give anything to change herself. Then there’s Gemma, who will not change herself to fit in and yet does risky things in order to prove herself. Along with all that we get an amazing look at the Victorian era, a historical period where morals were unbending and society rigid. We’re shown the pressures that the girls are under, how they’ve expected to conform to what society expects of them and how they’re supposed to give up their individuality. All in all this is one of my favourite books- historical, fantasy, suspense, and even a little forbidden romance all mixed into one beautifully told narrative that will keep you entranced until the very last word.
Set in the Victorian era, the story begins in India, where Gemma Doyle, a young British woman, lives with her family. One terrible day, a man approaches Gemma’s mother and warns her that by day’s end she would be dead. With that, Gemma has her first vision. Gemma is shipped off to a finishing school in England (much to her delight) and it is there, along with her three new friends/frenemies that she discovers her newly developing powers. She discovered she can enter The Realms, a magical world full of mystery. Of course there are dangers lurking both inside and outside The Realms, one of them being Kartik, a young Indian boy who has followed her. He says that he knows the only way to protect her, but it’s obvious that he’s hiding things too.
Though the plot alone is enough reason to read this book, another reason the book is so good is the characterization (another thing I love- well written characters). The four main girls are complex: Pippa and Felicity are both popular snobs, yet insecure. Ann is a quiet outcast who has true talent and would give anything to change herself. Then there’s Gemma, who will not change herself to fit in and yet does risky things in order to prove herself. Along with all that we get an amazing look at the Victorian era, a historical period where morals were unbending and society rigid. We’re shown the pressures that the girls are under, how they’ve expected to conform to what society expects of them and how they’re supposed to give up their individuality. All in all this is one of my favourite books- historical, fantasy, suspense, and even a little forbidden romance all mixed into one beautifully told narrative that will keep you entranced until the very last word.