• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 11, age appropriate for kids over 13; suggested age 13.

• Is it any good?

  3.0

• Common Sense says

  Engaging start to bestselling Gemma Doyle trilogy.

Why We Rated This for Ages 13 and Up

The good stuff

• Messages:

   As the girls become friends, they learn about each other's struggles. On the negative side, book characters invoke negative stereotypes of Gypies, suggesting they are dangerous and "filthy thieves." 

What to watch out for

• Role models:

  The book includes both negative and positive role models. On the one hand, Felicity and Pippa are mean to Ann, playing pranks, putting her down, and falsely accusing her of stealing. They break rules, try to manipulate adults, and exclude other students from their group. They prefer to live in a fantasy world and ignore warnings about using their power in real life. They make mischief with this power rather than changing anything for good.  Pippa is insensitive. The girls blame their teacher for corrupting them, to deflect getting in trouble. Felicity seeks her own power, accusing Gemma of wanting the realms all to herself. On the positive side, the girls chafe against the restricted gender roles and societal expectations in the late 1800s. Pippa worries they'll become "living ghosts, haunting each other with what could be." Gemma insists her unpopular friend be included in the clique. Gemma comes to accept her mother's death and take control of her own destiny.

• Violence:

  A dark shape devours a man. To avoid being devoured as well, Gemma's mother commits suicide by stabbing herself with a knife. When Gemma sees her mother's body, "a deep red pool of blood widens and flows beneath her lifeless body." A decaying creature with a skeletal face and snake hair chases Gemma. Pippa would rather die than face an arranged marriage with a 50-year-old. Ann cuts herself. Felicity slaps Pippa in the face. Two girls are killed in a mysterious fire. Mary and Sarah sacrifice a child, with Mary smothering her with her bare hands. The girls (except Gemma) get naked, chase, and kill a deer, hitting it in the head until it's pulpy. Felicity scrapes Kartik in the chest with a sharp stick. The creature tries to control Gemma.
• Sex:

  Gemma's brother asks if she's "still chaste." Felicity has a secret relationship with a Gypsy. Felicity kisses Gemma full on the lips. The girls discuss "carnal" acts and Felicity says, "I'm going to have many men." Reading a diary, Felicity says she thinks Mary and Sarah are "Sapphists," who "prefer the love of women to men." Gemma dreams about almost having sex (with some detail), where he touches "a place I haven't let myself explore." A satyr peeks under the hem of a girl's dress.
• Language:

  "Bastard," "hell."
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Gemma's father is addicted to laudanum, an opiate. He also smoked a hookah while in India. The girls drink liquor together and pressure Ann even when she doesn't want to: "Drink or you're out of the club." Gemma is hung over the next morning and says she will only drink sherry, not whiskey, from then on. 

What Parents Need to Know

About A Great and Terrible Beauty

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