A Great and Terrible Beauty  - Libba Bray

I heard a lot of great things about this book so I saw it at the shop and thought I'd give it a try. IT WAS AWESOME. i liked that it took place in India at the beginning and that's something you don't really see in a lot of books. The main reason i got this book is because i absolutely adore the Victorian era and it gave me a new insight on the boarding schools at that time. The characters were ok but i wish we'd seen more of Kartik. The only thing that lacks in this book-in my opinion-was the romance. i hoped to see a little bit more of Gemma and Kartik together other that him spying on her and telling her what to do all the time.                                                                                     The other thing i didn't really like was Gemma's friends. Pipa was okay i guess but she came out a little vain to me. Anne i don't really like-Gemma said a few times that they were her friends but I've seen a couple of times when Anne doesn't support Gemma just because it would make her less cool. I guess she thinks since everyone already makes fun of her there's no reason to add to it or something which totally proves she's not a very good friend and the whole pity thing she had really made me hate her-grow a spine Anna and stick by your friends, stop pitying yourself and stand up! And as for Felicity I didn't like her because to me it seemed that she was only Gemma's friend because she could take them through the portal.                                                           The main plot was very interesting and I liked the way the author incorporated the legend into Spence Academy. Other than that this book was awesome and a fun read!!! i can't wait to read more about Gemma and hopefully a little more romance!