FREE A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY PDF Libba Bray | 416 pages | 02 May 2006 | SIMON & SCHUSTER | 9780689875359 | English | New York, United States A Great and Terrible Beauty - IMDb Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. In this debut gothic novel mysterious visions, dark family secrets and a long-lost diary thrust Gemma and her classmates back into the horrors that followed her from A Great and Terrible Beauty. Lonely, guilt-ridden, an In this debut gothic novel mysterious visions, dark family secrets and a long-lost diary thrust Gemma and her classmates back into the horrors that followed her from India. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to? Get A Copy. HardcoverA Great and Terrible Beauty. More Details Original Title. Gemma Doyle 1. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see A Great and Terrible Beauty your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about A Great and Terrible Beautyplease sign up. Is this a good book? Karen Kimbrough I A Great and Terrible Beauty sure at first if I liked it or not. It's not as as full of the supernatural as the books I'm used to, but I kept reading. I was attracted to …more I wasn't sure at first if I liked it or not. I was attracted to the themes of coming-of-age, tragedy, and the idea of bullies amid the Victorian era. It was high-fashion to be "into" elegant paranormal, so these young girls delving into something "more" was gothic yet cute? They didn't know what they were doing. If you're looking for a scary novel, this really isn't it, but if something more intellectual, more like an old- fashioned 's movie is to your liking; you'll like it. I mean it's written so that a teen would understand it, but it's not just full of blood either. It is rather sad most of the time though. Despite that, I did like it. Has this book got A Great and Terrible Beauty romance? Becky Yes, but it is a slow delicious build. Much better than Twilight's Edward in my opinion. See all 12 questions about A Great and Terrible Beauty…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Oct 14, honestly mem rated it did not like it Shelves: fictionspeculative- fictionyoung-adultbooks-you-should-never-read. A Great and Terrible Beauty is neither great nor beautiful, though it is indeed -- wait for it! The characters are simple and one-dimensional, their actions both petty and selfish. I find it difficult to believe any one of the four girls at the heart of the story cared for one another, much less anyone else. The story meanders, often digressing into lengthy passages that do little A Great and Terrible Beauty anything to advance the characters or the story. As the story progresses, drawing to its predictable A Great and Terrible Beauty is neither great nor beautiful, though it is indeed -- wait for it! As the story progresses, drawing to its predictable and dissatisfying conclusion, it becomes clear that Ms Bray has mistaken style for subtance and that her prose is not stylish enough to support this belief. Most offensive, however, A Great and Terrible Beauty the racial and sexual content within the book. The male lead a young man from India is sexualized and fetishized for his "exotic" appearance and culture; other Indian characters are shown as either submissive or violent. The Romani people wandering the schoolgrounds suffer from even greater stereotyping: the men are portrayed as slovenly, ignorant, and sexually aggressive towards the white schoolgirls; the women are docile and suitably mystical. Her treatment of the female characters is also questionable. Though these Victorian girls wander about with A Great and Terrible Beauty un- Victorian sensibilities and though Ms Bray makes a weak attempt to decry the injustices of a society so quick to condemn the expression of feminine sexuality, the story itself does not support this modern take on the Victorian era. The girls submit to their male counterparts or pine helplessly from a distance. Sexual and romantic relationships between men and women often contain obvious and disturbing power imbalances or violent undertones. The relationship between the four girls is emotionally shallow and deeply petty, motivated by mutual dislike and composed of backstabbing and bullying tactics. And though Ms Bray is quick to condemn the indignities and horrors of an arranged marriage, she is also quick to condemn her protagonists when they dare to act instead of react. It's a confusing mix of self-righteous pulpit pounding and misogyny, with the A Great and Terrible Beauty result being I wanted to put my fist through the admittedly lovely and eyecatching cover. My one relief is that I had the sense to borrow this from the library instead of buying it outright. I do not recommend it. View all 89 comments. Shelves: fairy-talesyoung-adult. This book is what it is: a young adult novel. That said, it's a very good one. You can read the summary on the book's page, so I won't go into that here. I loved the juxtaposition of Victorian England, colonial India, and the fairy world. The protagonist doesn't belong in any of them, and she recognizes that, which sets up the whole story: the outsider tries to find her niche. I didn't care for any of the other main characters, mostly because I felt that the protagonist, Gemma, was treading on thin This book is what it is: a young adult novel. I didn't care for any of the other main characters, mostly because I felt that the protagonist, Gemma, was treading on thin ice by being friends with them. I liked Gemma - I've read reviews that said she was selfish, angry, and petty, and she can be - but what sixteen-year-old isn't? The friendship between Gemma and the other three girls is based on a desire for freedom as well as the tenuous sharing of secrets - I don't think the girls were ever meant to appear as the best of friends, even on a good day, so the reviews that criticize the friendship being shallow puzzle me. I mean I thought the story flowed really A Great and Terrible Beauty and had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing - it's also a really quick read and I was sorry when it ended as soon as it did. The visits to the fairy realm were really a delight to A Great and Terrible Beauty - pure escapism for the characters as well as the reader. And not without a dark edge. Finally, it was a little racy, which I thought was pretty awesome for a YA novel. It's hard to write a teenage sexual awakening while so much other stuff is going on, especially without being sordid, cheesy, or flowery. Bray does this really well - and the male love interest is your typical aloof, charming, vaguely dangerous, devastatingly hot, man-of-few-words character. I can hear the swoons of teenage girls everywhere. Hell, even I sighed once or twice. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next A Great and Terrible Beauty books in this series. View all 8 comments. May 20, Emily May rated it really liked it Shelves: young-adult, historical- fictionfantasyromance. I don't know why for so long I just assumed I wouldn't like historical fiction, it's not as if I don't love history - I picked it for one of my A levels in college. But, I guess it's just one of those genres that sounds tedious and you imagine it to be all oppressed sexuality and prim and properness. Diana Gabaldon forever changed my mind with her oversexed and aggressive depiction of history and it was only a matter of time before I looked towards other works of historical fiction. This book I don't know why for so long I just assumed I wouldn't like historical fiction, it's not as if I don't love history - I picked it for one of my A levels in college. This book is both everything I expected and also everything I didn't expect. It's set for the most part in a boarding school for educating girls in the art of being 'ladies', or A Great and Terrible Beauty other words: wives. The girls were expected to be reserved, polite and, most importantly, beautiful. This I was prepared for. A Great and Terrible Beauty - Wikipedia It is told from the perspective of Gemma Doylea girl in the year Gemma leaves her home in India to go to a boarding school in England after her mother dies. Once there, she is plagued by clairvoyant visions as she looks into the magical secrets of the school with her three friends Felicity WorthingtonPippa Crossand Ann Bradshaw.