Rudy Khoubieh Khoubieh itibaren Char Mirkamari, Bangladesh itibaren Char Mirkamari, Bangladesh

** spoiler alert ** "A Great and Terrible Beauty" is a tale along the lines of "The Little Princess" or even a bit like "The Secret Garden". Gemma Doyle loses her mother in a bizarre murder that she somehow "witnesses" remotely. In all her typical 16 year-old fashion, she had been fighting with her mother about moving from India to London for her Season. Needless to say, her father moves her to Victorian London, only to be shipped to a very odd boarding school. It's at this point in the book where it goes from obnoxious 16 year-old whining to "Mean Girls" with a paranormal bent. Gemma goes on to meet some not great friends, discovers her talent to travel between dimensions/realms, finds her mother, finds that her mother killed a little girl, and oh yeah, her misuse of her powers has set loose some pretty nasty things. I never got into this book, even if I was expecting something more like "Twilight" or even "City of Bones". The whole magical abilities bit of "A Great and Terrible Beauty" isn't fleshed out and it doesn't ever seem amazing or even cool. Plus, none of the characters are likable and the author brings up random taboo things such as: lesbianism (shocking in an all-girls boarding school in Victorian London), sex, and cutting (yes, cutting). I'm not wasting my precious reading time with the last two books because I don't care a lick for any of the characters. Read it if you must.