A Great and Terrible Beauty

By: Libba Bray

Narrated by: Josephine Bailey

The first book in the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling Gemma Doyle trilogy, the exhilarating and haunting saga from the author of The Diviners series and Under the Same Stars.

It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma’s reception there is a chilly one.

To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence’s most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to?

“A delicious, elegant gothic.”—PW, Starred

“Shivery with both passion and terror.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Compulsively readable." --VOYA

A New York Times Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A Book Sense Bestseller
BBYA (ALA/YALSA Best Book for Young Adults)
Iowa High School Book Award
Garden State Teen Book Award
Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award©2003 Libba Bray; (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

A Reader's Digest Best Book for Teens of All Time!

“A delicious, elegant gothic.”—PW, Starred

“A Gothic novel touched by modern conceptions of adolescence, shivery with both passion and terror.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A true boarding-school drama, full of cattiness, Victorian repression, and steamy schoolgirl dreams of being ravished by virile gypsies.”—The Bulletin, Recommended

"This classic boarding school drama with gothic tones deals with real issues . . . a compulsively readable story." --VOYA

"[An] engrossing, imaginative Victorian-era novel . . . An unconventional book that entertains to the end and stays with you long after." --BN.com

“A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy . . . an impressive first book in what should prove to be a fascinating trilogy.”
—Amazon.com

“An interesting combination of fantasy, light horror, and historical fiction, with a dash of romance thrown in for good measure…Recommend this to fantasy fans who also like Sherlock Holmes or Mary Russell.”
—School Library Journal

“There’s no doubt the mystical elements, along with a touch of forbidden romance, will draw a large, enthusiastic audience.” —Booklist

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A New York Times Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A Book Sense Bestseller
BBYA (ALA/YALSA Best Book for Young Adults)
Iowa High School Book Award
Garden State Teen Book Award
Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award

Favorite

This series is one of my favorites as a young adult! So glad I can listen to it since I’ve read and re-read the hardbacks many times already.

A Great and Never Terrible Book!

Read this back in high school and wanted to see if it lived up to my memories. I was not disappointed. I loved the "about the author" tid bit at the end. It made me feel as though I now knew the author.

literally my favorite series

do yourself a favor and start the series its juicy af, beautiful story telling, hints of romance that dont overtake the entire plot with mushy shit and so much beautiful fictional world building :)

pros and cons

I am not a teen reader, I was recommended this book by a friend so i downloaded all the audible titles in the series. I would say that the pros and cons for thses books are about equal.

Pros:
Interesting story and good charcter depth
Good flow from the first book to the last while keeping each book enjoyable in themselves.

Cons:
Fairly predictable. Heroine not very likable. By the time you get to the end all you can think is "Surely she must know better by now!"

All in all I would suggest these books as an enjoyable listen good for a car trip. But you won't be blown away and asking for more.

One of my all time favorites

Would you consider the audio edition of A Great and Terrible Beauty to be better than the print version?

I have listened to and read this book multiple times and have enjoyed the text and audio experiences in different ways. It is always fun to hear how someone else voices characters as opposed to how you do in your head. I can't say it was better, though. Just different.

What did you like best about this story?

Everything. The themes, the strong female characters, the complex experiences they have

What about Josephine Bailey’s performance did you like?

The characters really felt unique. She did a great job giving them each their own feel.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Ooof. Too many!! Especially when it comes to the Pippa character.

Any additional comments?

Great read for teen girls and women looking for a story that isn't dominated by male characters. Truly excellent.