A Great and Terrible Beauty

Book review by Stephanie Dunnewind, Common Sense Media
A Great and Terrible Beauty Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 13+

Engaging start to bestselling Gemma Doyle trilogy.

Libba Bray Fantasy 2003
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Parents say

age 17+

Based on 6 reviews

Kids say

age 13+

Based on 19 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this book.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know this Victorian Era-set novel involves the supernatural, including girls who visit with the dead and help spirits cross over into the afterlife. It has a few sexual moments and a fair amount of violence, including a suicide and sacrificial killing of a child.

Community Reviews

ruth J.
ruth J. Adult
May 15, 2018
age 18+

I don't understand

I found this book in my library and wanted to see if I could get some quick info on this book, which happened to be in this database. I have not read the book but already know that I'm going to weed it from my library based on others' reviews. I don't understand how in the sex section, two strong words are mentioned, however, what other reviewers read and mentioned is not included. This book sounds disturbing and horrible.
victorianmermaid
victorianmermaid Adult
August 6, 2015
age 16+

Very interesting

This was a really good book. Set in the Victorian era, which is my favorite era. This book talks about violent deaths, magic, same sex encounters are talked about, other sexual activities, and underage drunkenness. But for the mature reader who likes fiction, this is a good read.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 6 parent reviews

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

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Themes & Topics

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