A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

I wanted to like this but I felt like half this story was a cheap knockoff of A Little Princess. Girl losses a parent, has to leave India to go to a strict boarding school. The other girls don't like her, she befriends a girl who is unpopular or a “charity case”. I liked the beginning, but once they went back to England I lost all interest. I Googled the ending and I'm glad I didn't waste anymore time on this book. Huge let down

Elitist, over-romanticized, anachronistic crap. Which is too bad, because Bray isn't a bad writer and the story was interesting enough to keep me mostly engaged (I slept through some of it - audio version).

4.4
This was a reread of an old favourite that I was planning to donate.
I didn't think I'd even finish it, but it really surprised me, I still really enjoyed it. I love the setting, I love some of the characters, I love the magic.
I'm now looking forward to rereading the rest of the trilogy.

This book is a nostalgic read for me and will always be one that I love. Gemma is insufferable, but she feels like family. Ann still sucks in every way. And Felicity will always be that bitch to aspire to. I love that most of the fantasy books made nowadays has a main character that is more similar to Felicity than Gemma.