Flight into Fantasy

Title: A Great and Terrible Beauty
Author: Libba Bray
Genre: Young adult historic fantasy
Source: Bookshare
Reason for Reading: I’ve had this book on my TBR pile for ages, and I was finally inspired to read it, thanks to a random whim.

Synopsis:

It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. 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?

My Thoughts: I was surprised by this book. I mean, it had garnered a lot of hype everywhere, and so I was relatively certain I’d enjoy it, but I wasn’t really expecting very much. A rollicking fantasy adventure, maybe some backstabbing girl rivalries, maybe a climax at the end which would lead nicely into the sequel. In short, I was expecting a slightly more advanced Harry Potter. What I got was so much more than that, though.

First, the characters. Gemma and her friends are all very flawed people. Gemma, our first-person narrator, does not try to sugar coat any of these flaws, not even her own. Secondly, they don’t quite behave in the ways I was expecting. If this had been another book, Gemma and Ann Bradshaw, the girl she gets as a roommate, would have been bullied and abused by the more popular Felicity and Pippa. Instead, Gemma and Felicity, after a rocky start, become best friends, and through that friendship, Gemma lets Ann into the popular clique. I really like that choice of Bray’s, because it seemed more realistic, and it was a nice departure from the usual tropes.

I also liked that none of the characters had all the answers. Gemma learns that she has some unusual powers, but she has to make missteps before she learns how to control them, and she doesn’t always make the right or the best choice. This made for uncomfortable reading at times, because there were moments when I was practically shouting at the book, “Oh, Gemma, don’t do that!” And then she did, and bad things would happen, but I’d never quite know when or how.

Obviously, I came to love these girls. I liked unconventional, snarky Gemma, pathetic, plain Ann, romantic, flighty Pippa, and confident, power-hungry Felicity. I want to read more about them, because they have stuck in my head as interesting characters even several days after I finished the book.

As for the plot, it’s quite twisty as well. I don’t want to go into great detail, but again, there were surprises for me, an the story turned out to be quite a bit darker than I was expecting. There was also a satisfying ending, so I didn’t feel I was manipulated into reading the next two books in the series. I will, because I love the characters, but not having to deal with a cliffhanger is awesome.

It should also be noted that this is the first book in quite a while where my days in fandom have reared their heads. I am now a die-hard Gemma/Felicity shipper, even though I am fairly certain my hopes will be dashed.

One last note. I’ve begun to try and take note of the writing in the books I’m reading, and I have to say that Ms. Bray is a wondefrful storyteller. Normally, present tense narratives aren’t my thing, but in this book, I didn’t even notice because it all flowed so naturally.

Final Thoughts: This is an engaging start to a trilogy that I can’t wait to read further. It comes very close to being a keeper book for me, and the only reason it isn’t is because at the time I was reading, I didn’t want something quite as dark as I got.

Final Grade: A strong B+.

P.S. Clearly, I am either not as picky a reader as I like to tell myself or I was drinking the Kool-Aid as I was reading. See below for less squeeful reactions to this book.

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