A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray
A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray
21 Rating(s)
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A Great and Terrible Beauty

Author: Libba Bray

Narrator: Josephine Bailey

Unabridged: 11 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/24/2004

Synopsis

The first book in the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling Gemma Doyle trilogy, the exhilarating and haunting saga from the author of The Diviners series and Under the Same Stars.

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?

“A delicious, elegant gothic.”—PW, Starred

“Shivery with both passion and terror.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Compulsively readable." --VOYA

A New York Times Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A Book Sense Bestseller
BBYA (ALA/YALSA Best Book for Young Adults)
Iowa High School Book Award
Garden State Teen Book Award
Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award

About The Author

Libba Bray's two novels, A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels, both became New York Times bestsellers. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and their son, cat, and two goldfish.

Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Tanisha on 2008-12-03 11:08:56

After reading all the great reviews of this book I decided to give it a try. It was very disappointing. The characters were frustrating and unrelateable and the story seemed was very undeveloped and seemed to drag on. I love YA series but this one I won't be continuing.

AudiobooksNow review by Christine on 2008-12-26 16:03:38

I liked the atmosphere of this book, but not much happens and you don't really learn what's going on.

Goodreads review by Regan on August 21, 2018

DNF***......more

Goodreads review by Rick on November 08, 2013

Okay, so I was a little slow discovering this, but since Rebel Angels just came out, I figured I would read the first in the series first. The novel can best be described as Gothic fantasy. Lots of Victorian atmosphere and ruminations about the claustrophobic restrictions on women in that time perio......more

Goodreads review by Emily May on March 30, 2012

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 proper......more

Goodreads review by Joyzi on December 25, 2010

Shall I tell you a story? A new and terrible one? A ghost story? Are you ready? Shall I begin? Once upon a time there were four girls. One was pretty. One was clever. One charming, and one… One was mysterious. But they were all damaged, you see. Something not right about the lot of them. Bad blood. Big d......more

Goodreads review by Hailey on October 01, 2015

4.5* Libba Bray never seems to disappoint and this was no exception! I really loved this one! I love the time period and all the witchiness and the characters were awesome, it was great!......more

Quotes

A Reader's Digest Best Book for Teens of All Time!

“A delicious, elegant gothic.”—PW, Starred

“A Gothic novel touched by modern conceptions of adolescence, shivery with both passion and terror.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A true boarding-school drama, full of cattiness, Victorian repression, and steamy schoolgirl dreams of being ravished by virile gypsies.”—The Bulletin, Recommended

"This classic boarding school drama with gothic tones deals with real issues . . . a compulsively readable story." --VOYA 

"[An] engrossing, imaginative Victorian-era novel . . . An unconventional book that entertains to the end and stays with you long after." --BN.com

“A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy . . . an impressive first book in what should prove to be a fascinating trilogy.”
—Amazon.com

“An interesting combination of fantasy, light horror, and historical fiction, with a dash of romance thrown in for good measure…Recommend this to fantasy fans who also like Sherlock Holmes or Mary Russell.”
—School Library Journal

“There’s no doubt the mystical elements, along with a touch of forbidden romance, will draw a large, enthusiastic audience.” —Booklist

*

A New York Times Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A Book Sense Bestseller
BBYA (ALA/YALSA Best Book for Young Adults)
Iowa High School Book Award
Garden State Teen Book Award
Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award

Awards

  • ALA Best Books for Young Adults
  • Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award
  • Texas TAYSHAS High School Reading List
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