Common Sense Media Review
Engaging start to bestselling Gemma Doyle trilogy.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 4 parent reviews
Based on 19 kid reviews
Kids say the book is praised for its engaging storytelling, character development, and dark themes, appealing mostly to older teens due to mature content. Readers appreciate the blend of fantasy and historical fiction but caution that it may not be suitable for younger audiences due to references to serious issues such as substance abuse and self-harm.
- mature themes
- intense character development
- dark storytelling
- suitable for older teens
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
Sixteen-year-old Gemma is sent to a girls' boarding school in England after her mother's mysterious death. Gemma's visions give her the power to enter another realm where illusions seem real. Here, unlike in the stifling real world for proper young ladies in 1895, Gemma and her friends can pursue whatever most delights them. Emboldened by their new power, the young women refuse to acknowledge the realm's darkness until it threatens to destroy them.
Is It Any Good?
The friendship among the girls is marred by inconsistency, and the plot lurches a bit, but the novel's core mystery is still satisfying. Set in a time of corsets and Latin lessons, A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY contrasts the freedom of a fantasy world -- and the dark edges of power -- with Victorian society's constraints on women. This juxtaposition of detailed worlds forms the book's heart.
The start of a trilogy, A Great and Terrible Beauty resolves enough to serve as a standalone but leaves an evil character's identity and its heroine's future open for the sequels.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about their heart's desire. Do teens identify with Pippa's wish to find true love, or Ann's desire to be beautiful, or Felicity's craving for power?
Miss Moore, one of Gemma's teachers, tells the girls that the mind is a garden that requires cultivating. Do you agree? How do you "cultivate" your mind?
Miss Moore also says "There are no safe choices. Only other choices. . . Every choice has consequences." How does that apply in your life?
This book has supernatural elements; why do you think this type of book is so popular right now?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Delacorte Press
- Publication date : December 1, 2003
- Number of pages : 415
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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