A Great and Terrible Beauty
Reviewed by Giuli Galiano
Because the cover is so pretty, and because it is a New York Times Bestseller, A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray, stole my attention. I love how the beginning of the novel starts off with a quotation. Whenever a story has a quote in the introduction, it immediately hooks me into reading further.
Bray uses descriptive language to describe the streets of India in raw detail. I always see pictures and hear people speak about the poverty in parts of India and how some cities are clouded in dust and pollution. Bray's stylistic use of detail and specific images bring this observation to life and makes the reader feel like they are walking through the crowded streets of an Indian market place.
My only complaint so far is that the first chapter is confusing. I understand some sort of mystical storm happens upon the narrator, Gemma, and her mother as they are walking through the market place but I'm not quite sure what exactly happened. The same event reoccurs when the narrator moves to London to go attend private school. I hope I found out why this mystical storm and its subsequent spirits keep appearing to Gemma! A friend who has read the book told me it has something to do with superpowers, so the book is bound to get quite interesting!
Because Writer's/Reader's Workshop ends on Feburary 8th, I don't have much time left to read the book - I'm paranoid about loosing the the media center's copy, so I've been storing it in Ms. Weiss' desk. I must find out what happes, though, so I plan on finishing A Great and Terrible Beauty by next weekend. With midterms going on this week, I'm going to brave it and take it home because I am looking forward to reading it during this half day week and at night.
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