It seems no one else has read the book yet so I'll jump in with some commentary.
I seem to say this about everything we read but -- generally I liked the book, but there were also some glaring FIRST NOVEL!!! errors in my eyes, enough so that I may not care to read the sequel, Rebel Angels.
Gemma's sense of humor is hilarious. But that is also part of my problem with the story -- Gemma's personality and sense of humor is modern. I'm all for "girls who do things," as Robin McKinley says, but this sounded like a bunch of high school girls from down the street dressed up in Victorian clothing, mouthing 21st century ideals. This isn't a bad thing in itself, and I can usually overlook it in books, but it distracted me, brought me out of the narrative. That is BAD.
Bray did an excellent job capturing the power struggles of the girls within their friendships, and their especial cruelty, as in the escapade with Pippa's new gloves and who gets to wear them. Later on, despite herself, Gemma is glad when Felicity chooses to stay instead of walking to Pippa. We want friends, we want to be chosen.
THE REALM.
First, that's a dumb name. I'm sorry; it's just stupid sounding. Better to call it Virtual Reality World! Motto: Why would you ever leave? The girls get addicted to it. Power corrupts... And the whole transference of power that allows them to bring it out of the REALM is never explained. It is instantaneous, too easily achieved and used recklessly. It was not earned. This is cheating and stinks of juvenile wish-fulfillment and a cop-out on the behalf of the author.
I don't know if it's because A Great and Terrible Beauty is a first novel (though the author has written plays and short stories) (those are different creatures) or just a miss on the editor's judgement, but the obvious leadup to Gemma's noticing the missing photo (pg 326 in my TPB) was HORRIBLE. Don't spell things out! Don't TELL the reader; show them! Gemma goes on and on about noticing smudgy bits on the walls: "Funny how I never noticed that before," "So much I haven't noticed," "But it's a night for seeing things for the first time." Awkward, creaky and OBVIOUS. Get it over with and notice the missing photo already!
There is a lack of orginality in some of the plot twists. Mary Dowd is Gemma's mum?! No way! The cool teacher is dismissed?! Bastards!
My final criticism is on the poor blocking of the scenes with the monster/Circe?/mother? at the end. I don't understand what happened or how they escaped. Overall, it was obviously set up for a sequel (series?). I don't know. Maybe it's just overkill of the "We are girls with magic powers and we kick ass and look cute at the same time! Yay!" and there seems to be so much of that out there right now.
Eunice, didn't you do a paper in YA about secrets? I kept thinking back to that all through this book -- how secrets are powerful.
PS - The girls' meeting in a cave SO reminded me of Dead Poets Society.
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4 comments:
Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. Trying, ill-written fluff filled with characters I didn't even enjoy hating and completely improbable events and characterizations that Bray totally does not earn. I said this to Kristin when I SAW HER IN THE FLESH IN SAN FRANCISCO THREE DAYS AGO HOORAY!: the book clearly thinks it's cute and clever, and able to make lighthearted fun of melodrama -- but it descends into the depths of melodrama right quick and can't come up for air. It's stupid and pretentious drivel and it makes me mad that it has such a pretty cover because it's pulp and it deserves to look like pulp.
Verdict: Mediocre and Terrible Story.
Ouch.
I wasn't going to post, since I didn't get around to reviewing the book until recently (although I did finish the book in time), and because my opinion doesn't differ much from those already posted. But Sarah made me.
I didn't expect to like it. After reading just the first two chapters (in which there's all sorts of disgruntled and snotty teenager remarks, followed by the confusing "vision" and murder of her mother), I doubted I'd even be able to finish the book. I made a deal with myself that if I still hated it by page 50 (I was reading the large print version, so there were about 500 pages), I wouldn't finish it. But I did, because it was easy garbage reading.
The plot didn't make much sense, especially with all the "realms" nonsense. But then I don't really pay attention to details, so I didn't mind the plot holes. However, I can't stand the fantastical other dimension. It falls under my category of fantasy because it doesn't follow the basic laws of physics or life as I know it.
So the Realms pissed me off. Somehow, I was able to ignore it. But by the end of the book, it was too predictable. I usually don't get foreshadowing, but this was just too obvious. I didn't feel for any of the characters, and I didn't care what happened to them. I think the only reason I kept reading was because it was large print and I didn't need my glasses.
I am a horribly pushy person, yes.
But thanks for posting! It's for posterity's sake!
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