WOW! Where do I begin? The writing style is...different. It's written mostly in diary type style where it's all Gemma's point of view including the narriation. At first this was really weird for me to read this type of style so I was really slow at reading it, but as the novel progresses her writing style changes. Did anyone notice that? Or was that just me? I mean read the first page and then read a page that's near the end and I think you can notice it. Anyways, theirs a reason this book is a bestseller, it's because it's a really good story and it's interesting. The writing is unique and different which sets it apart from other books. It's wonderfully described and almost instantly you can imagine the characters and the places and you really feel as if your the characters and this is happening to you. Their is many quotes in the book which I adore to death and will probably almost always treasure. Such as: "In every end, there is also a beginning.", "You mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating."
It's a excellent book I'm not going to lie, it can be long in parts and be slow and their wasn't enough of the mysterious young man as I would of like their to be. Also the biography on the back of the book only got my attention because of the supernatural part, if it hadn't had said that then I probably wouldn't have read it. I think even though I enjoyed this book, and it's the start of the trilogy, I will not read the sequel of it for a while. I think these book need to be taken in small portion, I don't think I could real all three of them in a week or two weeks to be honest. Also while I was reading this book I couldn't stop thinking about another book that is kind of similar to it so that really put a damper on me reading this. I have no negative things to say about this book it's simply amazing. Yes it can be slow at times, but that's pretty much it. I enjoyed it overall and hope people who haven't read this will. Or who are thinking of reading this will. My favorite character was Gemma because me and her are both very similar. ( )

A quite solid book, this is my favorite so far in the currently popular 'teens encounter a magical world' trend (most of the others, such as Tithe, Wicked Lovely, and Wondrous Strange, involve faeries.).

The setting is glorious, and there are moments when the book manages to evoke the Gothic glory of books like Jane Eyre. The remote girls' boarding school is the right amount of mysterious, creepy, and absolutely normal, and the characters who inhabit it serve the plot well.

That said, there are some things I wish had been better done - Bray's Victorians tend to sound like 21st century girls in corsets and petticoats. I try not to let this bother me overmuch, as I think it makes the core group of girls more relateable to current teen readers, but a more gifted author could have kept the Victorian mindset and still managed that task, particularly given the plot device of a world where these girls, for the first time, experience what it is to have power, and to be allowed to desire. Bray tries to intertwine these facts with the girls' growing restlessness and chafing against expectations they have been faced with all their lives, but it falls short.

One reason it does so is that the magic of Bray's realms is not quite magical. The scenes where the girls work toward opening the door are alive with wit and character and excitement - but once they actually achieve their goal, the realms fall quite flat, and in fact, the second half of the book starts to slide downward.

This is a book that reads solidly and manages to almost do something really interesting with women and power and desire and pressure in the Victorian era. I really do wish it had managed it, but as it is, I'll take what I can get. ( )

I almost didn't make it through this book, and as it is I skimmed through the last fifty pages or so. This is the first book in a trilogy based upon a Victorian-age teenager who discovers her mystical powers while attending a boarding school near London.

A small bookseller recommended this book to me on the basis that I enjoy historical fiction, which is astonishing because this book bastardizes the historical period to such an extent you can't even suspend your disbelief. Gemma and her three "frenemies" from school think, talk and behave like modern-day teenagers in corsets. None of the characters are believable or likable in any way. The backdrop of the magical realms into which Gemma and her friends visit and the danger lurking there is not compelling enough to make up for the dismal character development.

I read the book to preview it as a possible gift for my seventh-grade niece. I will pass. Perhaps the author felt her characters had to have modern sensibilities in order to engage young adult readers, but I think it's condescending to assume that a girl of one era can't relate to a girl of another, especially once they understand the difference between the cultures and expectations of the historical period and the modern day. Books should both entertain and educate. This one falls short on both counts. ( )

Reviewed by Lisa Prolman in School Library Journal (v. 50 no. 2 (February 2004) p. 141) Found through HW Wilson collection
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.login.ez...

This book had me hooked from the start. As the novel opens, Gemma Doyle has just turned 16. Though her parents are English, Gemma has always lived in Bombay, India, where her father does business. Gemma is a wonderfully strong-willed and rebellious character. All she wants in life is to go to London, meet people her own age, and experience all the privileges a girl of her standing is entitled to. When she finally gets to London, nothing happens the way she wanted it to. The Spence Academy for Girls is Gemma's start on a fantastical adventure.
I loved the blending of historical fiction and fantasy. The fantasy world that Libba creates is as realistic as the English boarding school Gemma attends while in the real world. In some ways, it is reminiscent of The Chronicles of Narnia, though Gemma and her friends travel back and forth more easily, and with more control. Gemma is head-strong and confused about what life expects from her. She makes a few friends at school: Felicity, Pipper, and Ann. Their friendship starts on rocky ground and is always imperfect. Libba does a wonderful job showing how teenage friendships can be both fickle and extremely loyal at the same time. Gemma, Felicity, Pipper and Ann all make their choices, and accept the consequences of those choices, some of which are quite dire, very maturely.