A Great and Terrible Beauty

holy crap, it's dead poets society, only with real magic rather than the magic created by poetry.

that's very irritating.

also, i think this is why i have not been reading YA: the characters are stupid because they are teenagers. they do stupid things that i cannot at all relate to. they are melodramatic and simple minded and it's painful to read. that isn't necessarily the fault of the author, she knows her audience and they probably do relate quite a bit. i am not them.

the writing, though prone to teenager-y flights of over indulgence, is good. there are some masterful bits that are worth remembering.