Has anyone else read these!?! A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels are some of my absolute favorite books ever! They're definitely must-reads for HP fans, because the books have many similarities. And the third book, The Sweet Far Thing, is coming out this fall. I'm so excited. Has anybody else fell in love with these books as much as I have???

I love these books too! At first, I though they would be horrible but one day I just decided to pick it up and couldn't put it down. I think I read the first one that very day. I really enjoy how there are some scary books in the books that make me shiver when I read them. Not many books have that element that aren't overly scary.

ohh theres gonna be a 3rd book?? we thought it was just gonna stop at 2 because they sorta tied it up there, but yet, not really.
these books are good, a lil creepy at times, but good!!
lol
and we think taht the main girl should get it Kartik, *we forgot how to spell his name*, not that fancy shmancy english gentleman!!!!!!!!!!!

i lovee these!i thought they were amazing! and yes definitelly Kartik! and i wonder what will become of phillpa and Felicity.... that story line i found very intriguing.... I wonder if Phillipa would betray her and go after felicity? (forgive me if ive mixed names up, its been awhile)

Yeah, I find that very interesting too (and it's Pippa, btw ) I also find, like most, the Gemma/Kartik relationship intruiging. I love how they almost get together but then she offends him by saying she doesn't even think of him as Indian...it's so heartbreaking but I have a feeling they'll get together in the end.

PIPPPA!! yes yes sorry about the name mix up. i need to re read these.

I was extremely upset when he got offended by that. I think what she meant was she sees him as a person and equal instead of how other people can only see him as Indian. What do you think?
I do hope they get together!

I think he kind of had a reason to get upset and that Gemma should have been thinking; but of course that's n0t in her character so I guess they're both to blame!

I hope they get together too!

Yeah, I really so love this series and I can't wait for the third one.

I think the Kartik/Gemma relationship is very interesting.
I think Kartik had a right to get upset. He was not only hurt by Gemma saying she didn't think of him as an indian, but he was also jealous of Simon and Gemma's relationship. They clearly make up at the end of Rebel Angels becuase Gemma tells miss McCleethy(is that the right name?)she was creating a new order that consisted of the Pilion(The centaur), Asiah(Can't remeber the creature she was, but she lived in the Cave of Sighs), Felicity, Ann, and Kartik. I think the next book is going to have many surprises for us. Does anyone know the date it comes out?

Sorry i butchered some of the names, I haven't re-read in a while because I have been preparing for Deathly Hallows.

These books are so awesome! I love how Victorian England is mixed with magic!

I was so excited because Harry Potter would come out in july, eclipse by stephenie meyer in august, and the sweet far thing in september, but they changed the release date to December 26, 2007!!! Grrrr...that seems like forever. After Christmas!!!!!!

Oh well...at least I will have time to reread Deathly Hallows a thousand times!

I am in love with these books! i read them last summer and the second one made me cry really bad! i can't quite remember every single thing i've read but i remember getting chills from the books.
I mean, it's so mind-blowing, the whole Victorian style theme. I love it. It was a very satisfying read, in one word .

I have a question: was i the only one who, after reading Ms.Moore's full name (on a letter she wrote), totally figured out that she was Circe?

It always seemed really suspicious to me, the "oo"s in both names, and after doing a bit of letter-changing on a piece of paper, I got it. It was a bit of a shock, still. I couldn't believe it!

The books are amazing. I am SO going to reread them after the whole HP mania dies out a bit (I said "a bit"! no more than a bit! it's never going to "die out", folks!). I cannot wait for the release of the next book.

Did you guys find that the romance part of these books was REALLY frustrating? I couldn't help but just yell out in my head, "You LOVE HER, she LOVES YOU, what is your PROBLEM?!" ugh! Just get together and live happily ever after! I know it doesn't work that way, not at all, but i wanted more drama in that sense. She kept forgetting about him.

Well, I thought that I would make this thread alive again because The Sweet Far Thing just came out today!! Yeah, well, my bookstore had the book before today and I bought it on the 24th and today I read the book for like 12 straight hours so I could finish it and now I have a massive headache, but I couldn't put it down!!! I won't say what happens because everyone else most likely hasn't finished it. Btw its 819 pages of amazingness!!! I am now suffering from book depression which happens when I finish an amazing series.

Is that the third book in the series? I've been wondering when it would come out. Another question, is it in paperback or just hard cover? I hope its in paperback, because I want it to match the other two when I buy it.

The third one is only in hardcover at the moment.

I picked it up last night and Borders already had it for 20% off and on display in the adult hardcover new fiction section so they are obviously expecting this to be a bestseller and not only displaying it in the children's section.

I enjoyed the first two very much and am really looking forward to reading the final installment of the trilogy this weekend. I did find that I enjoyed the Victorian London and boarding school scenes much better than the magic alterative world scenes. I just felt they were stronger and more original. The magical land scenes...well I felt I had seen those before in too many other books. Obviously they didn't prevent me from enjoying the books but I do think they keep the series from being really great in my opinion.

They are very visual books. As I read them I could easily see them being made into movies.

*dances* i just got my copy of the sweet far thing yesterday! i was so excited. I really really like the cover too, i think its my favorite of the three. i cant wait until we've all finished.

I love these books but most people I talk to have never read them or heard of them! I saw the third one on display a couple of days ago I was freaking out like how did I not know that this was out! I feel better knowing it just came out though




ha no I got it too for the same reason you did and because her middle name seemed suspicious like it was just the letters leftover or something...oddly it was the only time I have ever been any good at anagrams and such



Oh wow yes! especially when Gemma tells Kratik that she doesn't seee him as Indian and he gets all hissy and she is depressed, then she totally forgets about him until he shows up again. They are both amazingly oblivious but that is one of the things that make the books interesting to read i suppose

Did anyone else finish The Sweet Far Thing yet? If so, I can't wait to discuss it!

I just started Great and Terrible Beauty after seeing the first two on sale at Borders after Christmas and so far i like it. I hate that i had to skip to the end of the thread to avoid being spoiled!

It is a little creepy at times, but in a good way. I do not know if i coule read it right before going to bed with all of the imagery of the moving shadows! I hop eto finish the first two soi can jonin the discussion!

Okay I finally finished the third one. I think it is my least favorite of the trilogy. I sort of had to force myself to finish it and ended up skimming parts of it just to get through. I liked the ending, however, so that sort of saved it for me. But I was disappointed. I really enjoyed the first book as well as the second. There was something distinctly different with this third one.

i must say that i am the opposite. I thorougly enjoyed this last one, quite a bit. I think Gemma finally came into her own, she voiced her own opinions, and she steppped into that role of having others around her but having to do the actual deed herself on her own. I liked all the twist and turns that we took, i found the other two just a tad more predictable than this last one. I also was quite proud of felicity when she finally was brave enough to let Pippa go and see that she truly had gone into the winterlands, and could not be saved. Even though i was fillledd with anger when Ann gave up on her career and went to her cousins, but i thought it was excellent character development and quite right of Gemma to help her.

I thought that the 3rd book dragged a bit. Well, at least for the first 300 pages it did. But I thought the ending was...decent. I think it could have been better but it also held true to the tone of the other books. I cried non stop through the end. Overall, it wasn't too bad.
Oh, and I especially liked the way Bray didn't state things outright. She left a lot of things open for interpretation...

I just finished reading 'A Great and Terrible Beauty' and man I'm hooked!! That has got to be the most fascinating book I've read after HP!!! And it's also so damn honest!! Now I've ordered 'Rebel Angels' and 'The Sweet Far Thing ' on amazon and can't wait to get my hands on them!!

I've even picked my ideal cast for a potential movie!!

Rachel Hurd-Wood as Gemma Doyle

Picture 1

Saoirse Ronan as Felicity Worthington

Picture 2

Anna Popplewell as Pippa Cross

Picture 3

Hannah Taylor-Gordon as Ann Bradshaw

Picture 4

Claire Forlani as Virginia Doyle

Picture 5

Natalie Portman or Scarlett Johansson as Hester Moore (they both fit the part of the sweet, popular, smooth-talking, rebellious art-teacher)

but I can't seam to find my Kartik!! Any ideas?


**Edited by modertator to change pictures to links**

I finshed The Sweet Far Thing quite a while ago. (I loved it by the way! ) I have been looking at a lot of people's casting choices for the movie and the majority think Rachel Hurd-Wood should play Gemma. I've always pictured her with stronger features, though; Rachel looks a bit to 'innocent' to me. I'm still not sure who I would pick, but I found this the other day and think they did a fairly good job: (it is a trailer made for the book, not the movie!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow7FDsYYIbE

This series has to be my second favorite. I just finished The Sweet Far Thing a week ago--and I loved it. I couldn't believe the ending! None of my friends have finished it yet, so I have no one to discuss it with yet.

I can't imagine a good cast for a movie of A Great and Terrible Beauty--it's going to be a lot of work to find anyone to fit any of the girls.

I love, love, love and love this series!! It's the best one I've ever read, it's so intoxicating, stimulating and addictive!!!! It's a mystery, a thriller, a comedy, a romance all wrapped into one; an hymn to human potential and failure. Such an honest and daring book, exploring some of the darkest corners of human existence and still in such a poetic way!!


Actually this is one really great video, I quite like it but still I stick to my choices. Rachel Hurd-Wood leaped into my head as Gemma the moment I started reading 'A Great and Terrible Beauty' and followed me all the way to 'The Sweet Far Thing' And she does look sweet and innocent and fragile but were is it stated in the books that Gemma isn't. Gemma is strong and stubborn and brave and goes through a lot of both physical and psychological pain and Rachel can handle all this very well. These clips will give you a pretty good idea of her acting and what she got through in 'An American Haunting' and just how great she can handle dark characters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5__hNU0Mmk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT5n29BW8Cc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApQNygdEH7E

The user has uploaded the entire film on youtube only she/he did it backwards, the titles are uploaded on page 4 and the beginning on page 5.

I also loved her testimony in Sherlock Holmes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H6w-uuspBc

That girl can act that's for sure!!

And Saoirse Ronan...the girl is up for an Oscar at age 13!! There is something about Saoirse's eyes that scream Fee to me, so smooth and melancholic but always aflame with strength and determination!! There's someting raw and honest about her acting. She'd make a remarkable rebellious, irreconcilable, adventurous, cruel, selfish, broken Fee!!

As for Pip, she must be someone of breathtaking beauty, someone you can't take your eyes of nor can you forget. Kartik saw her after their little bath in the lake and couldn't shake her beauty out of his mind, not even Gemma's kiss couldn't make Pip's memory fade away; and even though beauty is in the eye of the beholder I can think of only two British-teenage girls of such beauty and since I already picked the first as Gemma that only leaves Anna Popplewell as Pip. The clear blue eyes, the full bloody-red lips, the pitch-black hair...she's got Pip written all over her.

Now Ann is truly a tricky one, can't bring myself to decide which actress suits my picture of Ann best. I'm torn between Hannah Taylor-Gordon (who unfortunately might be too old already and doesn't have blue eyes), Sarah Bolger (who'd really be a great choice, LOVE her acting) and Emma Watson (who's highly unlikely to jump into a new magic-fantasy-saga after HP)

for the rest of the characters I'd pick:

Claire Forlani.....as Mary Dowd/Virginia Doyle
Natalie Portman .....as Miss Moore/Circe/Sarah Rees-Toome (simply cause I can't see my original choice,Romola Garai, as a vicious, power-hungry witch that sacrifice children do monsters!)
Helena Bonham Carter.....as Miss McCleethy
Emma Thompson.....as Mrs. Nightwing
Judi Dench.....as Eugenia Spence
Gary Oldman.....as Mr. Fowlson
Ralph Fiennes or Jason Isaacs.....as Mr. Doyle
James or Oliver Phelps.....as Tom Doyle
William Moseley or Alex Pettyfer.....as Simon Middleton
Brenda Blethyn.....as Madam LeFarge
Rosamund Pike.....as Mrs.Worthington
Daniel Craig.....as Admiral Worthington
Geoffrey Rush.....as Lord Denby
I can't seam to find an Amar since I'm not familiar with a lot of Indian actors but I imagined him quite like Omar Sharif when he was younger. The fearsome figure in black from 'Lawrence of Arabia'. Naveen Andrews could possibly be a good choice?

I'll never be able to find a Kartik cause I love this character way too much and noone is going to be good enough for the part.

I know that if, or should I rather say when, those books are turned into movies I'll be deeply disappointed cause I've already grown way too fond of the characters and way too attached to me casting choices and it's impossible that I'll get my dream cast.

Oh, well!! It doesn't matter as long as those books get some of the attention they deserve!!

I finally got to read The Sweet Far Thing, and it was really good! I have to say it is my favorite of the series. The ending was really sad, I cried for a good five minutes because I was so upset. I guess that just goes to show how well it was written!
It would be nice if these books were made into movies. It would be fascinating!

I love the books but all I can say is WHY KARTIK!! I heard somewhere that they were going to be made into a movie? Does anyone know if thats for sure, or just gossip? I think the series would make a great movie.

Apparently they are making it into a movie; I looked it up on imdb and it had a page, though there was not much information on it. Basically the page just said who was writing the script and had some plot keywords. I do hope it comes soon; it would be interesting how they translate everything from the book onto the screen.

I've only read A Great and terrible Beauty and A Sweet Far Thing, and enjoyed them both. I really want to read Rebal Angels though.

Wow! What rave reviews for this series!! My curiosity is definitely peaked. Even though I don't need to add any more books to my yet-to-read pile, I just ordered the three books in this series, and I am eager to get them.

I just finished A Great and Terrible Beauty and am about halfway through Rebel Angels. I really like this series, even though it was not what I expected. I've always been interested in England in that time period, so that's one on the plus side for this series, but I still don't like the way women were regarded. I can't wait to get home tonight and continue reading it. I am starting to believe that maybe Miss Moore is not be the sweet lady she seems, and maybe Miss McCleethy is the good guy. Or maybe I've been watching too many Inspector Lynley Mysteries shows.

Bellatrix66, I agree with you about Kartik. There is nothing about him that sounds all that appealing, and in fact, he seems to be a little on the obnoxious side. Perhaps he will get better further in the book.

Actually Camara, I was referring to something that happens to Kartick in the final book..I actually love Kartick but I agree he can be a little obnoxious

Oh, sorry, I misread it. Now I really am eager to see what happens to Kartik in the final book. Someone mentioned it has a really sad ending, so I will probably be clenching my gut when I start getting to that point.

No one has mentioned this, but I like the Q & A section in the back of the books. I wish more books had that.

I finished this series over the weekend, and I liked it very much.

Bellatrix 66--I did like Kartik much better by the end of the third book because his character deepened after it was revealed what he had been keeping from Gemma. I wasn't crazy about what happened to him in the end, but I understand that for Gemma to leave England and go to the US to start fresh, she needed to leave everything and everyone behind. Even though she loved him, her freedom-seeking would not have been the same if he had traveled with her.

I loved Mrs. Nightwing in the end. What a terrific character.

I did not like how for the first 2 3/4 books, Gemma continually gave into the whiny demands of Felicity, Ann and Pippa. I kept hoping that she would start to understand the gravity of the situation and her responsibility, and at least try to stand firm and make the right decision, even if it was not clear what that was. Kowtowing to her friends was not likely to be the right thing.

My very favorite part of the whole series came when Gemma unleashed on Mr. Denby at the "gentlemen's club" with Tom witnessing the whole thing. When Denby realized Gemma would no longer be intimidated and actually became afraid of her--well, that was unbelievable! And Tom's reaction there and in the coach afterwards was great, where he did a bit of backing down himself.

I looked at the front of the book where the copyrights and Library of Congress info is printed, and noticed that the author's actual name is Martha E. Bray. I'm assuming the "E" stands for Elizabeth, which made it kinda neat that Martha and Elizabeth were two characters in the books.

The Gemma Doyle trilogy is the BEST fantasy series ever written, even better than Harry Potter!!! I absolutely love it and Gemma has made it on top of my favorite literal characters list.