| Gemma Doyle is a sixteen-year-old British girl living in India with her mother and father. The tension and nerves that have been building up come to a surface during the first chapter of the book, and Gemma and her mother get into a huge argument because Gemma wants to go back to England and her mother wants her to stay in India. They promptly run into a young boy Gemma's age and an older man, and something he says to Gemma's mother throws her into a state of panic, insisting that Gemma return home at once. A wounded Gemma runs off and becomes lost in the twisting, confusing streets of India. Coming face to face with the young Indian boy again, he corners her right before she falls into a most disturbing vision. Awakening, she runs at a mad dash to find her mother, and she succeeds... her mother is found dead inside a small Indian shop, and the events of her death hold a chilling relation to Gemma's vision.
In an ironic twist of fate, Gemma is sent to England to attend a boarding school called Spence Academy for Young Ladies. She quickly makes a friend in her roommate Ann and falls into the bad graces of the school's most powerful clique, the two leaders of which later befriend Gemma and Ann. The strange Indian boy, Kartik, keeps on appearing and warning Gemma to close her mind to the visions, for bad things will happen to those that she loves if she doesn't. Stumbling across the diary of the mysterious Mary Dowd, Gemma reads more and more about a girl who shared her own powers and belonged to a mystical group of women called the Order, whose leader was Spence's own original headmistress. Gemma is desperate to find out what it was that killed her mother, exactly what her powers are and why there were given to her, and fighting the unexpected feelings for Kartik. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book - cynical or dry-wit FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - part earth & part fantasy world Coming of age Yes Youngster becomes - a powerful magician Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Descript. of chases or violence - 30 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20 % Type of couple: - Both human, she has magical powers Main Character Identity: - Female Profession/status: Age: - a teen If magical mental powers: - can see into the future Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting Terrain Earth setting: - 19th century Takes place on Earth? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - explicit references to deaths How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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