The first book in the critically acclaimed New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Gemma Doyle trilogy, the exhilarating and haunting saga from the author of The Diviners series and Going Bovine.It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, … boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma’s reception there is a chilly one.
To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence’s most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to?
“A delicious, elegant gothic.”—PW, Starred
“Shivery with both passion and terror.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Compulsively readable.” –VOYA
A New York Times Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A Book Sense Bestseller
BBYA (ALA/YALSA Best Book for Young Adults)
Iowa High School Book Award
Garden State Teen Book Award
Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award
more
I was sooooo into this series when I was younger, and there was supposed to be a movie made of it, and I think the deal fell through or something. I was/am crushed. This would be an amazing movie.
Different, clever and entertaining. I love the characters. I never got bored reading this and it is well written. Can’t wait to read the next one!
This was the first book I picked up by Libba Bray when I was in high school and it changed my life. Amazing book and trilogy.
This is a YA series, but it was my FAVORITE as a teen. Recommended for young adults or whoever loves YA fantasy.
This is the first in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy. Even though it’s the shortest of the three, I think it’s the strongest.
Picture this: it’s the early 1900’s. Gemma Doyle goes to Spence Academy and meets some girls. Magic and mayhem ensue.
This is such a fantastic YA portrayal of that awkward time when we’re all not sure of our bodies or where we belong in the world.
But, on the magic-side, there are so many wild and wonderful conflicts that she faces.
But it’s really Libba Bray’s writing that drew me in. She has this really amazing narrative style. The way she describes things, I could see it, feel it taste it.
In fact, when I read her books I had to stop reading them. I read them through once and I loved them so deeply and read them so fast that I was worried my own writing would be influenced by hers to the extent people might notice. (I did the same thing with Harry Potter.)
That is the highest compliment I can give Libba Bray (and J.K. Rowling). I’m so influenced by their work that I was concerned I might end up mimicking it. #justwriterproblems
This first book is one you should totally try out. I think you’ll find Gemma Doyle real and relatable. Not to mention that the situation she’s in is equally terrifying and fascinating.
This has to be one of my favorite YAF novels.
This was my first favorite book. It pulled me apart and put me back together. It made me fall in love with reading.
Mystical and magical. Bray takes you with her brave young heroine on harrowing and fantastic adventures. Don’t count on being able to put it down.
I thoroughly enjoyed this magical historical fiction! Interesting characters, intriguing magic, and high stakes!
This book started out really good with a lot of mystery built around the story line. The mystery and the magical element alone were enough to keep me flipping pages. Gemma was awesome to read from because she was smart and sharp when it came to the typical mean girls at the boarding school. I was glad that she did not try to gravitate towards the mean girls, but at the same time she wanted to be a part of the in crowd and was a little mean when it came to her roommate.
I thoroughly enjoyed most of this book until it got to the end of the book and Gemma decided to make all kinds of terrible decisions. This really disappointed me because she had been such a great character throughout the whole book. She just lost all her brain cells towards the end.
I will say I did like the depiction of the time period. It was enjoyable to read about how women were expected to act, behave, and how/who they would marry. This book does a good job of showing what was expected of women during this time and how they were treated.
All in all, I did enjoy most of this book. Some of the magical elements were a little disappointing because I was expecting so much more from this book and it fell a little flat. I did really enjoy the mystery of it all with Gemma discovering what was happening to her, what happened to her mother, and the mysterious deaths at the school. I will continue on with this series.
loved this entire series. I would lose myself in the pages as I read. It was easy to read and very immersive. As I read each of the books in this series I feel deeper in love with each character. I was so bumbed that it was never made into a movie. It definitely should be on the big screen!