A Great and Terrible Beauty

Happy Halloween, everyone! 🍂🎃💛

I hope you all have a safe and spooky time out tonight! October was an amazing reading month for me! I was able to read fourteen books, and even though I had a few duds, I also had a few of the best books I’ll read all year!

Like always, you can click the links in each of the titles if you would like to read a more in depth review of each book and see the individual trigger warnings.

➽ The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson – ★★★★★
Epic fantasy at its finest. I read this in preparation for Oathbringer! I loved this series so very much, and I’m currently reading the next book and feel just as in love with it.

➽ Without Merit by Colleen Hoover – ★★★★★
This book has recently hurt some people, so I don’t want to spend too much time talking about it, but I will say that the depression and pansexual representation meant a lot to me. And again, if you feel like you could be suffering with depression, I am always here to talk.

➽ The Ghostwriter by Alessandra Torre – DNF @ 56%
I just couldn’t do this, which is so weird because I’ve loved so many of Alessandra’s other works. Many of my friends also really enjoyed this, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. This story is about an author who is dying, but before she passes away she wants to write one final story. And this final story will be about the truth of what happened to her husband, which no one else knows but her. Unfortunately, her illness is coming quicker than expected, so she is forced to hire a ghostwriter to help her. And dark secrets and mystery ensue.

➽ 27 Hours (The Nightside Saga #1) by Tristina Wright – ★★★
In my opinion, 27 Hours had so much good, yet so much disappointment, too. This book falls completely down the middle for me. The representation is beautiful and important, but a lot of the romance was too unbelievable for me, which I feel like the twenty-seven-hour time frame really did this book a disservice. Then there is the issue with the colonization that’s very hard to unsee once you’ve seen it, and finally, the only two white main characters in the book do most of the explaining to the main characters of color about what is right. It feels bad, like, really bad. Yet, I love that any marginalized teen could pick this book up and see themselves. That, is something I can’t even put a rating on, and I cannot emphasize how important that statement is to me. This book honestly has me feeling very torn.

➽ The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (The Grisha) by Leigh Bardugo – ★★★★★
Perfection in every single way. This story collection changed my life, and will without a doubt be in my best books of 2017 list. The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic is a bind up of six fairy tales that take place in the Grishaverse, which is the same world that her Shadow and Bone series and her Six of Crows series take place! All of these are expertly crafted. All of these are so very lyrical and beautiful. All of these feel powerful and impactful. All of these are absolutely haunting.

➽ A Discovery Of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1) by Deborah Harkness – ★
Nothing offended me or anything like that, this book was just ungodly boring. I mean, there is a very alpha vampire in here that marks his territory and claims what he thinks is his, but, I mean, that’s just sort of expected in paranormal romance books about vampires, so it wasn’t anything that bothered me. A Discovery of Witches is pretty much just an adult Twilight.

➽ The Bloodprint (The Khorasan Archives #1) by Ausma Zehanat Khan – ★★★
This is the first in a series and a debut adult fantasy novel that is very diverse and truly celebrates the importance of words, and what happens when we take away basic human rights from people that are deemed lesser. This book is a good blend of magic and religion and everything in-between. This book has a very unforgiving learning curve, and a few of the aspects just didn’t sit well with me, but overall I did enjoy this one.

➽ Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) by Seanan McGuire – ★★★★★
This is another amazing installment in the Wayward Children series and it starts out right back at Eleanor West’s magical boarding school. And this book heavily centers around one of my favorite characters from Every Heart a Doorway, Sumi! From race, to sexuality, to mental illnesses, to body representation, to physical disabilities, to religious representation, this series has it all. And it’s seamlessly woven and never feels exploitative.

➽ Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff – ★★★★★
Yes, I finally read it! And you guys were right, I loved it. This story reads like a dark version of Harry Potter, to me. From the boarding school aspect, to the magic, to how they travel through the world, to the professors and their different classes, so much of this book reminds me of the wizarding world. I can’t wait to read Godsgrave next month!

➽ A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle #1) by Libba Bray – ★
This was, hands down, the worst book I’ve read maybe all year. This book is extremely racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and loves to fat and slut shame constantly. This book, like Nevernight, is also set in a spooky boarding school setting, but nothing happens until the last 100 pages, and by that point I was too offended and bored to even care.

➽ The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones – ★★★
This is a story about a girl named Dee that is struggling with abuse and anxiety from her family. She lives in a boarding school and she can see demons. One day, she decides to make a deal with one. This was a super important read that talks heavily on parental abuse, and how it can be so much more than just physical. Abuse takes many forms, and even though physical abuse is shown here, too, this book also shows a very realistic depiction of having parents who are alcoholics. There are so many parents out there that truly pick the contents of a bottle over their families, and it’s something that’s not depicted much in YA, but this book puts it on display.

➽ Paper Princess (The Royals #1) by Erin Watt – ★★★
I needed something that would be a fast, fluffy, and immersive read that would make me happy, so I picked up Paper Princess and it totally did the trick! I really enjoyed it, even though there are a lot of problematic things that I listed in my review. This is a rags to riches story, about a girl who wants nothing more than to be safe and stable, who grew up on the streets and is now thrust in the limelight of money. Also, this book has a few pretty good steamy scenes. I totally recommend this if you’re looking for a sexy new NA read.

➽ Broken Prince (The Royals, #2) by Erin Watt – ★★
And I immediately jumped right into the next book, which wasn’t as good as Paper Princess! Plus, all of the problematic content and the glorifying of bullying and violence in general was at the forefront, so it really was just a much less enjoyable read. The series also derailed a little bit, into a territory that felt very much like I was watching a soap opera with my grandmother, but it was still an enjoyable ride!

➽ Twisted Palace (The Royals, #3) by Erin Watt – ★★
And then I just decided to binge the whole series, because why not? I mean, who has strict reading lists and TBR timelines for all your ARCs? Oh, wait, I do. But this series was such a mindless, but addicting, read that brought me so much happiness. I’m not even mad. And I know that a two star rating doesn’t seem that great, but I did enjoy this series and truly couldn’t put any of them down.

October was also a special month for me, because I was able to attend the Goodreads Power User Summit! I got to connect with so many readers, reviewers, and just book lovers in general and it was such an amazing experience. Plus, it was my very first time in San Francisco, and I hope that I am able to return very soon!

I’m not sure if November will be able to beat this month for me, but I’m going to try! I also have a special trip planned for November that I can’t wait to share with you guys! I hope you all had an amazing October, and I hope you’re all having amazing celebrations tonight for Halloween! Happy reading, loves. 🍂🎃💛

Buddy Read with some amazing ladies and a traveling book, hosted by Julie over at Pages and Pens! ❤

A Great and Terrible Beauty is exactly why I am scared to read earlier decade(s) published novels that I remember were super hyped and popular. This also reads just like an early 2000s novel, with all the problematic content being there.

The basic premise of this book is a young girl named Gemma Doyle, is whisked away to a London boarding school after the death of her mother. Before her mother’s death, she is given a necklace and she is forced to realize that she is way more important and special than she ever thought! She’s the hero that can heal the realms and save the world!

Then, at the boarding school that is meant to turn these girls into desirable young ladies to be married off, Gemma falls into a group with three other girls. Basically, the four girls start out like the cast of Mean Girls (Gemma = Cady, Felicity = Regina, Pippa = Gretchen, Ann = Karen) and events quickly escalate to them becoming the cast of The Craft (Gemma = Sarah, Felicity = Nancy, Pippa = Rochelle, Ann = Bonnie). Also, let the record state that I absolutely love Mean Girls and The Craft and this book is lesser in every single aspect, but the parallels are there.

This book is extremely racist and homophobic, but it’s painted in a way that says, “This is just how it was back in 1895!” and it feels extremely bad to read. And even though this is supposed to be a book about four friends coming together and forming a secret order, I feel like the term friends should be used very loosely. There is so much catty girl hate in this book, that I truly believe my younger self would have hated this just as much in 2005 if I read it.

And the fat shaming is constant. It actually grosses me out to think about how many people read this book, read all these terrible and hurtful passages vilifying girls because they aren’t stick thin, and thought this book was okay. And how this book handles self-harm is always disgusting.

Also, to touch upon the racism more, the male love interest is from India and is constantly fetishized for being not white. His exoticness is constantly brought up and Gemma is shamed by herself and her peers for liking him. Also, the word G*psy is used constantly, and the Romani people in general are one big stereotype that is painful to read.

There are also a ton of misogynistic comments, but the book tries to battle those a bit. I’ve had many people tell me that Libba Bray is a feminist writer, but this is the perfect example of what white feminism looks like. Like, this was a fucking mess. And a late 1800s setting doesn’t excuse it.

Trigger warnings for self-harm, suicide, murder, animal cruelty, substance abuse and everything offensive under the sun.

As for positive things I can say, I will say that this was an extremely fast read! Even with this being 400 pages, I read this quickly within two days. And each chapter does end in a way that makes you want to read more.

I also really enjoyed the atmosphere of this book, especially during the Halloween season. It’s a super old and creepy boarding school, with mysteries and magic surrounding it constantly! I mean, the setting was eerie and amazing. And even though nothing much happens until the last 100 pages, this book still feels spooky.

This is just my personal opinion, and I hope you all will respect that. Also, if this is one of your favorite books then I am happy you found enjoyment from it. Overall, for me, I was super disappointed to read this. Especially because this was my first time participating in a traveling book club! But it is what it is, and I will never support a book with this much problematic and offensive content, regardless the year it was published.

This book should just be renamed to A Terrible Gemma Doyle.