This novel had some promise. At the very least, the beginning was enticing. While the rest of the story may not have been as elegantly written, the story was alright enough.
Historical fiction, especially when
involving the Victorian era, is an enticing genre. Sprinkle in some fantasy and
it all sounds very promising. However, the mash-up turned out to be awkward and
confusing in A Great and Terrible Beauty. The beginning of the story had a
certain appealing feel to it. It was a unique perspective of an upper-class
English girl living in India with her family. Her mother’s murder created an
interesting mystery, so I expected more from the story. But the book completely
shifted in style and content once the narrator, Gemma Doyle, moved to an
English boarding school. She befriended several cruel, unlikeable girls. I
didn’t feel much attachment to those side characters, and I found them to be
shallow, and the group’s friendship to be hollow. Moreover, there was suddenly
a random fantasy aspect to the story. After discovering a diary of a witch,
Gemma experiments with magic, despite a strange Indian boy telling her not to.
That was another issue I had, because the boy came out of absolutely nowhere
and seemed to have no importance other than a few random scenes of warning Gemma
against using magic. But then all of a sudden Gemma was attracted to him, and
they were in a quasi-relationship. I got whiplash from this novel, with its
jumpiness and awkward blend of genres. I finished feeling confused and tired.
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