A Great And Terrible Beauty By Libba Bray (1st Novel in the trilogy) ----Review #3"

Gemma Doyle isn't like other girls. Girls with impeccable manners, who speak when spoken to, who remember what their station, and who will lie back and think of England when it's required of them. No, sixteen-year old Gemma is an island unto herself, sent to the Spence Academy in London after tragedy strikes her family in India. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma finds a chilly reception. But she's not completely alone...she's been followed by a mysterious young man, who warns her to close her mind against the visions. For it's at Spence that Gemma's power to attract the supernatural unfolds; there she becomes entangled with the school's most powerful girls and discovers her mother's connection to a shadowy group called the Order. It's there that her destiny waits...if only she can believe in it.
(From the back of Book of 'A Great And Terrible Beauty' by Libba Bray)

WOW! Where do I begin? The writing style is...different. It's written mostly in diary type style where it's all Gemma's point of view including the narriation. At first this was really weird for me to read this type of style so I was really slow at reading it, but as the novel progresses her writing style changes. Did anyone notice that? Or was that just me? I mean read the first page and then read a page that's near the end and I think you can notice it. Anyways, theirs a reason this book is a bestseller, it's because it's a really good story and it's interesting. The writing is unique and different which sets it apart from other books. It's wonderfully described and almost instantly you can imagine the characters and the places and you really feel as if your the characters and this is happening to you. Their is many quotes in the book which I adore to death and will probably almost always treasure. Such as: "In every end, there is also a beginning.", "You mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating."

It's a excellent book I'm not going to lie, it can be long in parts and be slow and their wasn't enough of the mysterious young man as I would of like their to be. Also the biography on the back of the book only got my attention because of the supernatural part, if it hadn't had said that then I probably wouldn't have read it. I think even though I enjoyed this book, and it's the start of the trilogy, I will not read the sequel of it for a while. I think these book need to be taken in small portion, I don't think I could real all three of them in a week or two weeks to be honest. Also while I was reading this book I couldn't stop thinking about another book that is kind of similar to it so that really put a damper on me reading this. I have no negative things to say about this book it's simply amazing. Yes it can be slow at times, but that's pretty much it. I enjoyed it overall and hope people who haven't read this will. Or who are thinking of reading this will. My favorite character was Gemma because me and her are both very similar.

Author:Libba Bray
Publisher: Random House
Ratings: