A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray, is the story of Gemma Doyle, a young girl growing up in Victorian era England. Most of the book takes place at Spence Academy, a boarding school that Gemma is sent to in order to learn manners, and all other types of things in order to do what young ladies in her generation were expected to do… become the perfect wife. The school is both wonderfully realized, and mysterious at the same time. What seems like a normal school, quickly dissolves into many different mysteries to be solved.

For Gemma, she is an outsider coming into this school, both due to her family’s social standing, and her lack of refinement. All of the characters in this world, from Gemma’s schoolmates, to the teachers and beyond are deep and complex characters. Some characters may seem one way at first, but as the story goes on and information is revealed, more layers of these characters are exposed. You may find yourself falling in love with characters who at first seemed villainous, but are so beautifully real that you can’t help but connect with them.

There are so many surprises in this book that it’s hard to speak of the plot without giving anything away. At it’s core, this story is about power… the power between men and women of that time, the power of money and society, the power of believing in yourself, and of course, actual supernatural powers. Once you dive into this book, you will not be able to put it down. I love this book so much that I continue to read anything and everything that Libba Bray puts out. If you have not read this series yet, what are you waiting for? Trust me, you will love it!