A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

A young woman suffers the horrible and violent loss of her mother and is sent away to a Finishing School in England, away from everything and everyone she has ever known. Spence School for Girls is a Gothic mansion hiding many secrets that Gemma Doyle is destined to discover.

Turning a group of girls from enemies into a circle of trusted friends, Gemma finds she has a connection to other realms and has visions that lead the girls to a world never before imagined. Soon the power they all discover becomes a tantalizing possibility instead of the stifling future as a Victorian wife, but the temptation brings with it an evil that could devour them all.

This book was a complete joy from beginning to end. It has so many elements that make it enthralling. Paranormal, romance, historical, an old fashioned ghost story, there is literally something for every literary taste.

The novel features young ladies and is labeled as Young Adult, but I found it to be captivating at any age. I enjoyed it as much as my daughter did. The Victorian Age proffered a setting different and perhaps more mature than contemporary fiction, fully engaging adult and teen readers alike.

The author uses several metaphors to express the repression of young women in that time period. The dutiful responsibility, the lack of freedom and choice, and yet the splendor of it all is captured with aplomb.

The mystical aspects to the story were somewhat far reaching and require the reader to suspend their disbelief and have faith that the author will connect all the dots.

Parents of younger readers should be cautioned that there is a rather steamy dream sequence and instances of drinking and stealing.

Courtesy of C2Ks Kwips and Kritiques