A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray
Books are published by the tens of thousands and there is no editor in the world that could possibly parse the marketing juggernauts to determine what is worth putting on her shelf and what isn’t.
In the end it’s up to readers to suss out the best examples of the best and to turn us on to what merits 3 or 4 hours in an easy chair.
This young reviewer has The Open Critic intrigued by Libba Bray’s, A Great and Terrible Beauty to say the least. The premise that there are worlds where dreams come true is a literary device ripe with potentiality. And for children, it mines, their still developing sense of the possible. Likewise, readers, children and adults alike, all know of those ephemeral moments where dreams intrude … if only.
Felicity stares at the fire. “You still assume there is a God, Ann? With all we’ve seen?”
A Great and Terrible Beauty
Book Review by Deuphine Apedaile
Grade Six, Central Middle School
I absolutely adored A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray, the say at the very least! Sometimes i coldnt fall asleap cause i couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to happen next and why did so and so do this and what was the meaning of that and wishing that i could go into the bok and meet the characters or know them! It was magical, mysterious and dark … The setting (England, late 1800s) set a perfect mood.
Visions, Adventures and A Great and Terrible Beauty
A Great and Terrible Beauty is about a girl named Gemma who lived in India her whole life. On her sixteenth birthday she had a strange vision (I won’t give it away) and later that day the vision comes true. After her mothers death she is sent away to a finishing school “Spence Academy for Young Ladies” in England to become more “ladylike.” There she befriends clever Ann, beautiful Pippa and charming Felicity. Together they have dark, fabulous adventures in other realms!
There are 2 realms that they talk about in the books; “The Winterlands” and errr…Im not quite sure of the name of the other one. The one with the unknown name is where they (Gemma, Felicity, Ann and Pippa) have all their adventures where they explore.
A Great and Terrible Beauty,
A Place Where Dreams Come True
It’s a place where all your dreams can come true. If you want to be able to sing wonderfully you just have to wish for it and it will come true (while you’re there); it’s where grass turns into butterflies when you touch it; it’s paradise, the place that every person dreams of, its where you visit in your dreams and of course there’s the creatures; luring water nymphs, a ship with a real gorgon head, the poppy wariors and many many more! .
The winterlands on the other hand is where the corrupted spirits go and where all the evil is.
A Great and Terrible Beauty, The Open Critic Verdict
I would definately recommend this book for anyone who is interested in dark, mystical stories, the victorian age, or stories that dont always end “happily ever after.” A Great and Terrible Beauty is also great for any age!
If you enjoy books like this or have read this book i would also recommend “A Northern Light”, “Twilight” and the series, “Song of the Lioness”.
External Links
- A Great and Terrible Beauty, Excerpt
- A Great and Terrible Beauty, Official Site
- Libba Bray, About the Author
Tags
A Great and Terrible Beauty, Book Review, Fantasy Literature, Libba Bray, Random House, Spence Academy, The Open Critic, Youth LiteratureAbout The Open Critic
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- Published:
- 04.07.07 / 10am
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