Dead Magic Society

A Great and Terrible Beauty (Libba Bray) - This book was hilarious to me because it was Dead Poets Society, only with girls and magic instead of boys and poetry. And when I say this, I don't mean it had some of the same themes, I mean it was pretty much exactly the same; it's like the author watched Dead Poets Society, took notes, changed the characters to girls (major points, though, for making them actual girls -- sometimes catty, sometimes kind -- and not boy clones), mashing them up a bit, and added a magic subplot. Somewhat repressive but high-falutin' school? Check. Inspiring teacher? Check. Shy student? Check. Student forced into familial expectations? Check. Student enthralled with romance? Check. Meetings in a cave out in the woods where readings are done and rebellious things are said across a fire? Check. And of course all the plot points are the same, meaning that if you've seen DPS it's not even a case of guessing the plot points ahead of time, it's more a case of checking them off against your list of corresponding DPS scenes ("let's see, we haven't had the obligatory heartwarming scene with the teach-- ah, there it is.")