meganbmoore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meganbmoore) wrote2008-07-03 07:10 pm
meganbmoore) wrote2008-07-03 07:10 pm
Entry tags:
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
After her mother’s death, sixteen-year-old Gemma Doyle’s family returns to England. Having lived in India all her life, Gemma often fought with her mother about being allowed to go to school in England, including the night her mother died. When she arrives in Spence Academy in London, however, her experiences are far from what she had expected. Her roommate, Ann, is a “charity case” who is looked down on by the other girls for both her status and her stutter, Gemma herself is “odd” for her foreigner status, and Gemma also has visions with a bad habit of coming true. Two of the girls who bully Gemma and Ann, Felicity and Pippa, however, soon become their friends.
Not long after her arrival, Gemma acquires the diary of Mary Dowd, a student of Spence Academy from twenty-five years before. In her diary, Mary tells of how she and her friend, Sarah, became involved in something called The Order and learned witchcraft. Soon, Gemma and her friends are following in Mary and Sarah’s footsteps, as well as becoming obsessed with the mystery of the two girls, and what happened to them. In addition, a young man named Kartik has followed Gemma from India, for reasons relating to her mother’s death.
And now those of you who were linking me to reviews while I was reading can relink me.
Not long after her arrival, Gemma acquires the diary of Mary Dowd, a student of Spence Academy from twenty-five years before. In her diary, Mary tells of how she and her friend, Sarah, became involved in something called The Order and learned witchcraft. Soon, Gemma and her friends are following in Mary and Sarah’s footsteps, as well as becoming obsessed with the mystery of the two girls, and what happened to them. In addition, a young man named Kartik has followed Gemma from India, for reasons relating to her mother’s death.
The plot for this book has the potential to be all kinds of glorious Victorian gothic girl power, and even though I don’t really like any of the characters, I do love the story. There are, however, enough problems to drown a person. The most glaring is the choice of the first person present tense narrative. Though I prefer third person myself, first person is a very useful narrative tool, not only for limiting perspective, but also for creating the unreliable narrator. Present tense, however, is something that should be used very, very sparingly, and only when it adds to the story. Here, it detracts. Not only does it give the book a “play-by-play” feel, killing a lot of the suspense, it also gives the book an almost unbearably modern voice. While the problems the girls face are true to the times, their attitudes and personalities are far too modern. While I suspect they’d still feel modern, I don’t think they’d feel anywhere near as modern had the book been told in the past tense.
In addition, the girls never really quite feel like friends. At one point, Felicity, angered at being abandoned by her father on Assembly Day (all the girls were disappointed by their families in one way or another) makes the commented that they’re all unloved, damaged and abandoned. Girls desperate for something, to be special, and that they thought they could be something, do something, be special, but were wrong in the end. In theory, this should be the basis for their friendship, bind them together and give them a sense of family, purpose, and belonging. (The scene itself is actually probably the most compelling scene in the entire book, and is really what made me go “oh, that’s why I’m reading it!”) And yet, it never really does. From time to time, there are hints of the bond of real friendship, but most of the time, it seemed that they never grew beyond staying together because of their feeling of “want,” and the fact that no one else wanted them.
Then there’s the subject of Kartik. He’s supposed to have followed Gemma back from India, but the portrayal of him and his people are more in line with the typical portrayal of gypsies. In addition, his relationship with Gemma, what little there is of it, seems to be purely fueled by lust for the forbidden on her part, and we aren’t really given an insight into his motives and feelings. I have hopes, though, that the relationship will be better developed in the other books in the trilogy. Another thing I hope to see developed is Ann’s problems. Early in the book, it’s revealed that Ann is a cutter, and yet, the only time it’s addressed is when Gemma threatens to reveal her secret to others if she doesn’t do what Gemma wants.
And yet, despite the flaws, there’s something very compelling about the book. The first 100 or so pages are a bit of a chore to get through, and yet, once I got past that point, I couldn’t stop turning the pages. Despite it’s flaws, so many of the elements-the Victorian setting, the mystery of Mary and Sarah, the mysterious lover, the desperation of the girls’ combined with the school and the expectations placed on them, the supernatural elements-combined to make a compelling story, even as it frustrated me.
In addition, the girls never really quite feel like friends. At one point, Felicity, angered at being abandoned by her father on Assembly Day (all the girls were disappointed by their families in one way or another) makes the commented that they’re all unloved, damaged and abandoned. Girls desperate for something, to be special, and that they thought they could be something, do something, be special, but were wrong in the end. In theory, this should be the basis for their friendship, bind them together and give them a sense of family, purpose, and belonging. (The scene itself is actually probably the most compelling scene in the entire book, and is really what made me go “oh, that’s why I’m reading it!”) And yet, it never really does. From time to time, there are hints of the bond of real friendship, but most of the time, it seemed that they never grew beyond staying together because of their feeling of “want,” and the fact that no one else wanted them.
Then there’s the subject of Kartik. He’s supposed to have followed Gemma back from India, but the portrayal of him and his people are more in line with the typical portrayal of gypsies. In addition, his relationship with Gemma, what little there is of it, seems to be purely fueled by lust for the forbidden on her part, and we aren’t really given an insight into his motives and feelings. I have hopes, though, that the relationship will be better developed in the other books in the trilogy. Another thing I hope to see developed is Ann’s problems. Early in the book, it’s revealed that Ann is a cutter, and yet, the only time it’s addressed is when Gemma threatens to reveal her secret to others if she doesn’t do what Gemma wants.
And yet, despite the flaws, there’s something very compelling about the book. The first 100 or so pages are a bit of a chore to get through, and yet, once I got past that point, I couldn’t stop turning the pages. Despite it’s flaws, so many of the elements-the Victorian setting, the mystery of Mary and Sarah, the mysterious lover, the desperation of the girls’ combined with the school and the expectations placed on them, the supernatural elements-combined to make a compelling story, even as it frustrated me.
And now those of you who were linking me to reviews while I was reading can relink me.