Saturday, August 13, 2011

Bright Young Things

Review Time! Anna Godberson is the author of The Luxe ( Gossip Girl in the 1800's) and Bright Young Things is the first book in her second series which is set in the Jazz Age :) The two series are completely unrelated, the second book Beautiful Days comes out next month! Thanks to Penguin for the copy!

( Goodreads) The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the Roaring Twenties.



Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York's glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star…


Cordelia is searching for the father she's never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined—and more dangerous. It's a life anyone would kill for . . . and someone will.


The only person Cordelia can trust is Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia's brother, Charlie. But Astrid's perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets.
 
The Short Story? - I loved Bright Young Things! The excitement, the era, the girls and the glam! Everything about Bright Young Things screams "READ ME". Fantastic characters, a scandalous plot and beautifully written! Handsome young men, ambitious young girls, all the glam of the 20's and one epic swoon-worthy masterpiece! Historical fiction is totally awesome!

The Long Story? - To be completely honest, I wasn't the biggest fan of The Luxe series. It was good but after a while it got really boring. I think it was partly because putting aside ball gowns and parties, the 1800's was a little stifling and boring. I was a little hesitant about starting Bright Young Things in fear of not liking it but now I regret keeping it on the shelf for so long!

The main difference I find when I compare The Luxe to Bright Young Things is that the plot was so much more exciting! It could be because the Jazz Age was exciting and glamorous or that it's simply better written but I was hanging onto every word from the start to the finish! Exciting, unpredictable, delicious scandals and dirty secrets! This is so cliched but " It's like Gossip Girl in the 1920's" beautiful rich girls, handsome young men, dirty secrets, ambitious dreams and lots and lots of twist and turns! Addicting and beautiful, Bright Young Things kept me up way past my bed time!

The characterisation was fantastic! One thing I love about Godberson's books is that there are more than one protagonist and that the story alternates between the characters. It's like reading different stories but somehow they're all connected! I have to say that my favourite character in the novel was Cordelia. Her segment of the novel made me flip forward to find the next chunk! She's funny, flirtatious, beautiful and a great friend! Letty was great but I found her annoying more often than not, she was naive and had a massive ego. She was such a meanie to Cordelia and in the end she still came to rely on her. Astrid the last of our trio was what I dubbed as the "wild child". Naive New Yorker, she took Cordelia under her wing and she's really a great friend.  Thom, was an excellent contribution to the novel, I loved him at the start but at the end I (kinda) hated him, what he did ( or what I thought he did was unforgivable. Every character had unique qualities and they were all very well developed!

Lastly, Godberson's a fantastic writer. She definitely knows how to tell a good story! Well-written and excellently planned out. Lots of research clearly went into the novel unless of course, Godberson turns out to be a vampire who actually lived through the Jazz Age. Great use of language and excellent use of third person perspective! I look forward to reading more of Godberson's work!

Bright Young Things is a wonderful work of historical fiction. Pure entertainment, exciting, addictive and glamorous! This one is for all the girls out there! Not a reader? Doesn't matter, everyone got to love Bright Young Things! Handsome young men, dirty secrets, delicious scandals and bright young things, what's not to love? This one is a keeper!

Rating - 5/5

Badass Bookie xx

3 comments:

  1. Loved this book! I'm so excited for the second one to come out. I haven't read the Luxe series so I might read it while waiting. Cordelia was also my favorite character. :) Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a great review! I haven't read any flapper books like the Luxe series or Vixen or anything like that though. I certainly can't wait!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm glad to hear this is more exciting than The Luxe... I mean, I plan to finish reading the series, but I skim a lot. I look forward to reading this one more now, thanks :)

    ReplyDelete