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Bright Young Things #1
Parlak Gençler
“Hayallerin için her şeyden vazgeçebilir misin?”
Letty Larkspur ve Cordelia Grey küçük kasabalarını geride bırakarak New York’a gelen, maceraperest iki genç kızdır. Letty’nin tek istediği, ışıklı sahnelerde şarkı söyleyebilmekken Cordelia, daha önce hiç görmediği babasının peşine düşer.
Caz müziğin hüküm sürdüğü ve ihtişamlı yaşamların yanı sıra hayallerini gerçekleştirmek isteyen insanlarla dolu bu kocaman şehirde, Letty ve Cordelia’yı sürprizler bekliyor. Cordelia kendini inanılmaz bir ihtişamın ortasında bulurken Letty kalabalıklar içinde hayallerine tutunmaya çalışıyor. Parlak Gençler, Lüks romanıyla New York Times çoksatar listesine giren Anna Godbersen’in kaleminden çıkmış ve okuyucuyu 1920’li yılların gösterişli dünyasına sürükleyen bir roman.
“Okuyucular, arkadaşlık, aşklar, yalanlar ve ihanetin zekice işlendiği bu romana bayılacak.”
-Kirkus Review
Letty Larkspur ve Cordelia Grey küçük kasabalarını geride bırakarak New York’a gelen, maceraperest iki genç kızdır. Letty’nin tek istediği, ışıklı sahnelerde şarkı söyleyebilmekken Cordelia, daha önce hiç görmediği babasının peşine düşer.
Caz müziğin hüküm sürdüğü ve ihtişamlı yaşamların yanı sıra hayallerini gerçekleştirmek isteyen insanlarla dolu bu kocaman şehirde, Letty ve Cordelia’yı sürprizler bekliyor. Cordelia kendini inanılmaz bir ihtişamın ortasında bulurken Letty kalabalıklar içinde hayallerine tutunmaya çalışıyor. Parlak Gençler, Lüks romanıyla New York Times çoksatar listesine giren Anna Godbersen’in kaleminden çıkmış ve okuyucuyu 1920’li yılların gösterişli dünyasına sürükleyen bir roman.
“Okuyucular, arkadaşlık, aşklar, yalanlar ve ihanetin zekice işlendiği bu romana bayılacak.”
-Kirkus Review
280 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2010
267 people are currently reading
14622 people want to read
About the author
Anna Godbersen
36 books3,192 followersAnna Godbersen was born in Berkeley, California, and educated at Barnard College. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,468 reviews
April 15, 2018
I just finished binge-watching Peaky Blinders, and I just re-read, and was once again disappointed by, The Great Gatsby. I picked this book up because I wanted to read something, anything, set in the 1920s. It didn’t even have to be well-researched or well-written; it just needed to prolong my foray into the world of bootleggers and speakeasies.
I have to admit that I was a bit dubious when I first spied the cover. I mean, come on, a beautiful flapper girl in an ephemeral dress, wearing a Mona Lisa smile? It led me to believe that I’d find something flighty and frivolous and romantic within these pages. Imagine my surprise when, in the first two paragraphs of the book, I found this to be not only much more somber than I first surmised, but also well-researched and well-written.
“It is easy to forget now, how effervescent and free we all felt that summer. Everything fades: the shimmer of gold over White Cove; the laughter in the night air; the lavender early morning light on the faces of skyscrapers, which had suddenly become so heroically tall. Every dawn seemed to promise fresh miracles, among other joys that are in short supply these days. And so I will try to tell you, while I still remember, how it was then, before everything changed – that final season of an era that roared.
By the summer of 1929, when the weather was just getting warm enough that girls could exhibit exactly how high hemlines had risen, Prohibition had been in effect for so long it had ceased to bother anyone much. The city had a speakeasy per every fifty souls, or so the preachers liked to exclaim on Sundays, and sweet-faced girls from the hinterlands were no longer blinded by wood alcohol, for the real stuff had become plenty easy to get. The Eighteenth Amendment had converted us all to grateful outlaws."
This book was everything I needed and more. Set in New York City during the summer of 1929, it follows the lives, loves and tragedies of three Bright Young Things: Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty. These women flocked to the city along with thousands of others during prohibition because hemlines were higher, the morals were looser, the gin flowed freely, and it was where anyone who had grown too big for their small town went to escape their drab lives in favor of something flashier.
I immediately found myself immersed within their stories. Theirs could be the cautionary tales of any countless real life flappers, heiresses or actresses that strolled the streets of New York during prohibition, and because of Godbersen’s flawless characterization, I found myself forgetting that this was fiction.
Less than a chapter in, I forgot I was even reading. Godbersen’s writing is an art form in and of itself, and sadly, it’s a dying one. In these times of short attention spans and fractured sentences, the long, beautifully descriptive passages of yesteryear are falling to the wayside. It leaves those of us who grew up with the classics and the never-ending, Dickensian style run-on sentences bereft.
So hell yes, Anna Godbersen, for penning these gorgeous, free-flowing, sometimes paragraph long sentences. Never change.
I’m going to go ahead and say something pretty controversial right now. People Who Know What They’re Talking About claim that The Great Gatsby is the quintessential roaring twenties novel. They say that it defines an era. I disagree. Because of the protagonist’s detached personality, I never really feel the frenetic energy that rages all around him. While reading Bright Young Things, I felt it. Hard.
This book perfectly captures what comes to mind when I think about the 1920s. While I was lost within its pages, something magical happened: I felt my feet tapping to the jazz that played inside my head; I heard the tinkling laughter of socialites mixing with the darker chuckles of gangsters; I found my thoughts slowed by gin; I half-turned to catch the eye of the handsome stranger who wasn’t there. I was feverish, infected by the craic of a bygone era. I forgot that I live in a cold world of computers, where people prefer to communicate through devices instead of speaking aloud.
For a few fleeting hours, I lived in a time where anything was possible. Where, for the first time in history, farm girls could find fame on stage. Where coal miners made their fortunes from contraband grain alcohol. Where oil tycoons and cab drivers rubbed elbows at underground boxing matches.
But be warned. Everything is not sunshine and roses within this book. This is not a romance novel. These girls learn hard, believable life lessons, and they’re not easy to love. These are complicated characters; sometimes flighty, sometimes wise beyond their years, sometimes tragically naïve, and sometimes frustratingly selfish. To me, their realistic portrayal was part of the genius of this novel.
Everything goes to hell for them about the 80% mark, and Godbersen builds to this moment flawlessly. By the time I climbed to the climax of the story, I was wound so tight that I was holding my breath, because I knew, I just knew, that heartbreak lay around the turn of the next page. And I was right.
And I loved every minute of it.
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I have to admit that I was a bit dubious when I first spied the cover. I mean, come on, a beautiful flapper girl in an ephemeral dress, wearing a Mona Lisa smile? It led me to believe that I’d find something flighty and frivolous and romantic within these pages. Imagine my surprise when, in the first two paragraphs of the book, I found this to be not only much more somber than I first surmised, but also well-researched and well-written.
“It is easy to forget now, how effervescent and free we all felt that summer. Everything fades: the shimmer of gold over White Cove; the laughter in the night air; the lavender early morning light on the faces of skyscrapers, which had suddenly become so heroically tall. Every dawn seemed to promise fresh miracles, among other joys that are in short supply these days. And so I will try to tell you, while I still remember, how it was then, before everything changed – that final season of an era that roared.
By the summer of 1929, when the weather was just getting warm enough that girls could exhibit exactly how high hemlines had risen, Prohibition had been in effect for so long it had ceased to bother anyone much. The city had a speakeasy per every fifty souls, or so the preachers liked to exclaim on Sundays, and sweet-faced girls from the hinterlands were no longer blinded by wood alcohol, for the real stuff had become plenty easy to get. The Eighteenth Amendment had converted us all to grateful outlaws."
This book was everything I needed and more. Set in New York City during the summer of 1929, it follows the lives, loves and tragedies of three Bright Young Things: Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty. These women flocked to the city along with thousands of others during prohibition because hemlines were higher, the morals were looser, the gin flowed freely, and it was where anyone who had grown too big for their small town went to escape their drab lives in favor of something flashier.
I immediately found myself immersed within their stories. Theirs could be the cautionary tales of any countless real life flappers, heiresses or actresses that strolled the streets of New York during prohibition, and because of Godbersen’s flawless characterization, I found myself forgetting that this was fiction.
Less than a chapter in, I forgot I was even reading. Godbersen’s writing is an art form in and of itself, and sadly, it’s a dying one. In these times of short attention spans and fractured sentences, the long, beautifully descriptive passages of yesteryear are falling to the wayside. It leaves those of us who grew up with the classics and the never-ending, Dickensian style run-on sentences bereft.
So hell yes, Anna Godbersen, for penning these gorgeous, free-flowing, sometimes paragraph long sentences. Never change.
I’m going to go ahead and say something pretty controversial right now. People Who Know What They’re Talking About claim that The Great Gatsby is the quintessential roaring twenties novel. They say that it defines an era. I disagree. Because of the protagonist’s detached personality, I never really feel the frenetic energy that rages all around him. While reading Bright Young Things, I felt it. Hard.
This book perfectly captures what comes to mind when I think about the 1920s. While I was lost within its pages, something magical happened: I felt my feet tapping to the jazz that played inside my head; I heard the tinkling laughter of socialites mixing with the darker chuckles of gangsters; I found my thoughts slowed by gin; I half-turned to catch the eye of the handsome stranger who wasn’t there. I was feverish, infected by the craic of a bygone era. I forgot that I live in a cold world of computers, where people prefer to communicate through devices instead of speaking aloud.
For a few fleeting hours, I lived in a time where anything was possible. Where, for the first time in history, farm girls could find fame on stage. Where coal miners made their fortunes from contraband grain alcohol. Where oil tycoons and cab drivers rubbed elbows at underground boxing matches.
But be warned. Everything is not sunshine and roses within this book. This is not a romance novel. These girls learn hard, believable life lessons, and they’re not easy to love. These are complicated characters; sometimes flighty, sometimes wise beyond their years, sometimes tragically naïve, and sometimes frustratingly selfish. To me, their realistic portrayal was part of the genius of this novel.
Everything goes to hell for them about the 80% mark, and Godbersen builds to this moment flawlessly. By the time I climbed to the climax of the story, I was wound so tight that I was holding my breath, because I knew, I just knew, that heartbreak lay around the turn of the next page. And I was right.
And I loved every minute of it.
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November 3, 2014
It Sucks! It Sucks! My God how this book sucks!!!!
The Twenties are my favorite time period, and F. Scott Fitzgerald is my favorite writer. So I totally get the idea of setting a fast-paced, sexy story in New York City in the Twenties, and focusing on the schemes and dreams of three "flappers" who are each chasing a different desire.
But . . . but . . . you need to have warm, likable characters. And a believable plot. And sexy boys. And you need a setting that's realistic and fascinating and detailed. But this book has none of that. Empty-headed girls, unattractive boys, a weirdly fake background that has almost no connection to the real Twenties world. Reading this book was like a long, slow death!
First of all, these three girl characters are annoying. And I mean ANNNOYING!!!! Cordelia is the best of them, she's tough and she genuinely wants to find her long-lost father, who's now a famous bootlegger. But once she finds him it takes about five minutes for her to begin lying to him and going behind his back, chasing after a boy with zero sex appeal, no energy and no character . . . but he drives a fancy car and has really nice hair. Shallow much? And this is the one girl I liked!!!
Letty wants to be a singer. She's four feet tall and has a mental age of five. When guys start whistling and clapping she is shocked -- SHOCKED -- that they care more about her body than her beautiful voice! She shows zero brain power, character, or any real interest in learning the trade of an actual musician. She's got "victim" written all over her. That's about it. Oh, and she has a dog named Good Egg. Rotten Egg is more like it!
Last of all, there's Astrid. Astrid is just . . . horrible. I mean, I get who she's supposed to be. She's Daisy in THE GREAT GATSBY. She's the golden girl, the princess in the tower. But my god this girl ia a tedious, spoiled, annoying, shallow bitch! At least Daisy could be witty, funny, and playful when she wasn't breaking hearts. Astrid just sulks and whines for two hundred pages, literally about nothing.
Now this is not a spoiler, but the book begins with a big tease about how "one girl will be married, one girl will be famous, one girl will be dead." I'm not saying whether or not the author keeps that promise, but by the last half of the book I was literally begging for someone to die. Anyone! One little spoiled brat would be sobbing and jumping into a roadster and I would be chanting, "crash . . . crash . . . crash . . . crash!" And the little singer was bombing on stage and I was literally praying for a crazed psycho to break in with a gun and shoot her in mid shimmy. But no such luck! And every time the bootlegger's girl whipped out her six shooter and started babbling about family honor I was just praying, begging, pleading for her to shoot herself by mistake!
So now I want to explain, just in case you don't get how bad this book SUCKED, what else was missing from it. Aside from good characters, a good plot, and people you care about. Well, let's see. It's New York, in the Twenties. Jazz is hot, but . . . where are all the Negroes? Where's the Cotton Club? Where's Harlem? This is the whitest jazz age book I've ever seen! And we've got show business types all over, all talking Broadway this and vaudeville that, but . . . no Jews? Tons of bootleggers, but none from the Lower East Side? No Irish? (Okay, Cordy's father mentions the Italians, I think once.)
THE GREAT GATSBY is marred by ugly traces of racism and anti-Semitism. But at least Fitzgerald was honest about feeling threatened by all the dizzying change, the vital energy of the new groups that were challenging the world he'd always known. This book isn't like that. It's lifeless. This little girl spent years learning to imitate Fitzgerald at his silliest (endless, endless descriptions of moonlight and champagne) but she has no clue where the power and lasting vitality of his books really comes from . . . the seething tension between warring races, classes, and ethnic groups.
This book is so bland and white-bread and fake, it almost had to be written by a Barnard graduate.
The Twenties are my favorite time period, and F. Scott Fitzgerald is my favorite writer. So I totally get the idea of setting a fast-paced, sexy story in New York City in the Twenties, and focusing on the schemes and dreams of three "flappers" who are each chasing a different desire.
But . . . but . . . you need to have warm, likable characters. And a believable plot. And sexy boys. And you need a setting that's realistic and fascinating and detailed. But this book has none of that. Empty-headed girls, unattractive boys, a weirdly fake background that has almost no connection to the real Twenties world. Reading this book was like a long, slow death!
First of all, these three girl characters are annoying. And I mean ANNNOYING!!!! Cordelia is the best of them, she's tough and she genuinely wants to find her long-lost father, who's now a famous bootlegger. But once she finds him it takes about five minutes for her to begin lying to him and going behind his back, chasing after a boy with zero sex appeal, no energy and no character . . . but he drives a fancy car and has really nice hair. Shallow much? And this is the one girl I liked!!!
Letty wants to be a singer. She's four feet tall and has a mental age of five. When guys start whistling and clapping she is shocked -- SHOCKED -- that they care more about her body than her beautiful voice! She shows zero brain power, character, or any real interest in learning the trade of an actual musician. She's got "victim" written all over her. That's about it. Oh, and she has a dog named Good Egg. Rotten Egg is more like it!
Last of all, there's Astrid. Astrid is just . . . horrible. I mean, I get who she's supposed to be. She's Daisy in THE GREAT GATSBY. She's the golden girl, the princess in the tower. But my god this girl ia a tedious, spoiled, annoying, shallow bitch! At least Daisy could be witty, funny, and playful when she wasn't breaking hearts. Astrid just sulks and whines for two hundred pages, literally about nothing.
Now this is not a spoiler, but the book begins with a big tease about how "one girl will be married, one girl will be famous, one girl will be dead." I'm not saying whether or not the author keeps that promise, but by the last half of the book I was literally begging for someone to die. Anyone! One little spoiled brat would be sobbing and jumping into a roadster and I would be chanting, "crash . . . crash . . . crash . . . crash!" And the little singer was bombing on stage and I was literally praying for a crazed psycho to break in with a gun and shoot her in mid shimmy. But no such luck! And every time the bootlegger's girl whipped out her six shooter and started babbling about family honor I was just praying, begging, pleading for her to shoot herself by mistake!
So now I want to explain, just in case you don't get how bad this book SUCKED, what else was missing from it. Aside from good characters, a good plot, and people you care about. Well, let's see. It's New York, in the Twenties. Jazz is hot, but . . . where are all the Negroes? Where's the Cotton Club? Where's Harlem? This is the whitest jazz age book I've ever seen! And we've got show business types all over, all talking Broadway this and vaudeville that, but . . . no Jews? Tons of bootleggers, but none from the Lower East Side? No Irish? (Okay, Cordy's father mentions the Italians, I think once.)
THE GREAT GATSBY is marred by ugly traces of racism and anti-Semitism. But at least Fitzgerald was honest about feeling threatened by all the dizzying change, the vital energy of the new groups that were challenging the world he'd always known. This book isn't like that. It's lifeless. This little girl spent years learning to imitate Fitzgerald at his silliest (endless, endless descriptions of moonlight and champagne) but she has no clue where the power and lasting vitality of his books really comes from . . . the seething tension between warring races, classes, and ethnic groups.
This book is so bland and white-bread and fake, it almost had to be written by a Barnard graduate.
January 12, 2011
On the up and up...
‘Bright Young Things’ is the first book in Anna Godbersen’s new four-book series, set in 1929 Manhattan. The series will revolve around three young women...
Cordelia Grey leaves behind the small town of Union, Ohio and her new husband for the bright lights of New York City and an inkling that her estranged father can be found in the big apple.
Letitia Haubstadt is Cordelia’s best friend, and another Union-native leaving her indifferent family and small-minded town for the bright lights of NYC where she intends to transform herself into Letty Larkspur.
On the other end of the social strata resides Astrid Donal, a privileged young miss who is home from boarding school, desperate to have a raucous-good time. Amidst sequins and champagne, Astrid finds herself oddly charmed by her mother’s stable-boy/horse-riding instructor.
These three women come from very different backgrounds, have different ambitions and are set to play out very different fates... But, to borrow from F. Scott Fitzgerald, all three women envision New York City as their very own ‘green light’. These women who ‘beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past’...
The Real McCoy
Godbersen writes period the same way Stephenie Meyer writes vampires. It’s her niche, her hook and what sets her apart from other YA writers. Godbersen’s novels are primarily written around a period of time. The ‘Luxe’ series was set in the 1800’s, and her new ‘Bright Young Things’ is all about the 20’s Jazz Age.
Godbersen’s storylines have been touted as very ‘Gossip Girl’, with an age difference. And that’s somewhat true, if simplified. Her books are set in Manhattan and are about young, beautiful socialites living and loving it up in the Big Apple. But I think Godbersen’s period settings often convey to readers how similar we are to these young people of the past... and that some things don’t change, no matter the era. Girls still lust after boys. Boys still chase girls. We still secretly hope to make the big time and get discovered. Family dynamics and dynamites are universal and always make for addictive reading. Godbersen may be setting herself apart by basing her YA books in a period setting, but the timeframe is often superficial and second-fiddle to the characters universal struggles and experiences.
You got moxy, kid
That being said... era does dictate Godbersen’s writing. And it’s not just a matter of setting and dialogue, her writing is dripping in history, and timeliness pervades every sentence. Like her description of Cordelia’s eyes;
which were the sweet, translucent brown of Coca-Cola in a glass ...
Even that one description of eye-colour is influenced by the upcoming age of mass-market capitalism and consumerism. Brilliant.
The book’s time-warp is unique and delicious. NYC in 1929 is a buzzing metropolis of fashionable flappers, bootlegging businessmen and a clash of classes. Godbersen captures the city’s vibrancy beautifully; every moment holds such significance, even Letty and Cordelia stepping off the train platform to see an airplane sky-writing;
New York was more extraordinary than a girl from Ohio could possibly have imagined, that it was a place of wonders where the citizens used the sky as their tablet and airplanes for pens.
Even descriptions of character’s clothing become stylish still-frames under Godbersen’s talented pen;
Her dark, mannishly cut hair was slicked behind both ears, and her eyes were covered with small, perfectly round black sunglasses.
But it’s also a mark of Godbersen’s talent that characters and story don’t get lost amidst the skyscrapers and grandiose old city setting.
The Cat’s Meow
The pace of ‘Bright Young Things’ is as fast as the Charleston. Very early on in the novel Cordelia goes in search of her famous, criminal father. Letty grows stars in her eyes and seeks a life on the stage. And Astrid’s home life spins wildly out of control.
These are big storylines, but Godbersen never loses her characters to big concepts.
Godbersen keeps the story firmly about the women rather than the era, especially because in the prologue she chillingly foreshadows that of the three women;
one would be famous, one would be married, and one would be dead.
Each girl is very distinctive. From Astrid’s Daisy Buchanan-esque lifestyle (‘gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor’, thankyou Fitzgerald), to Cordelia’s creeping guilt over leaving her husband on their wedding night. These are complicated young ladies living in extraordinary times, and it is a voyeuristic joy to glimpse their helter-skelter lives.
The women are made all the more fascinating for the men in their complicated lives. Cordelia develops a crush on Thomas Schultz, son of her father’s bootlegging rival. Letty meets a crushing author called Grady Lodge who is enamoured of her talent. And Astrid is dating the filthy rich Charlie Grey, but is oddly attracted to her country club’s stable boy, Luke.
The romance is decadent and addictive, made more so by the old-world charm these men exhibit:
It was the colour of his eyes, she supposed – not quite one shade or another, and utterly unlike anyone else’s. She loved the idea of driving in a car with a boy like that. “You stick with me. I’m gonna show you what’s really hiding behind all them straight-faced facades.”
Ducky
Anna Godbersen has bought the 1920’s to modern teenagers in ‘Bright Young Things’. The book is flapper-cool, a gin-soaked raucous gala-read and head-nod to the king of Jazz, F. Scott Fitzgerlad himself.
‘Bright Young Things’ is the cat’s meow, so get ready to purr.
5/5
‘Bright Young Things’ is the first book in Anna Godbersen’s new four-book series, set in 1929 Manhattan. The series will revolve around three young women...
Cordelia Grey leaves behind the small town of Union, Ohio and her new husband for the bright lights of New York City and an inkling that her estranged father can be found in the big apple.
Letitia Haubstadt is Cordelia’s best friend, and another Union-native leaving her indifferent family and small-minded town for the bright lights of NYC where she intends to transform herself into Letty Larkspur.
On the other end of the social strata resides Astrid Donal, a privileged young miss who is home from boarding school, desperate to have a raucous-good time. Amidst sequins and champagne, Astrid finds herself oddly charmed by her mother’s stable-boy/horse-riding instructor.
These three women come from very different backgrounds, have different ambitions and are set to play out very different fates... But, to borrow from F. Scott Fitzgerald, all three women envision New York City as their very own ‘green light’. These women who ‘beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past’...
The Real McCoy
Godbersen writes period the same way Stephenie Meyer writes vampires. It’s her niche, her hook and what sets her apart from other YA writers. Godbersen’s novels are primarily written around a period of time. The ‘Luxe’ series was set in the 1800’s, and her new ‘Bright Young Things’ is all about the 20’s Jazz Age.
Godbersen’s storylines have been touted as very ‘Gossip Girl’, with an age difference. And that’s somewhat true, if simplified. Her books are set in Manhattan and are about young, beautiful socialites living and loving it up in the Big Apple. But I think Godbersen’s period settings often convey to readers how similar we are to these young people of the past... and that some things don’t change, no matter the era. Girls still lust after boys. Boys still chase girls. We still secretly hope to make the big time and get discovered. Family dynamics and dynamites are universal and always make for addictive reading. Godbersen may be setting herself apart by basing her YA books in a period setting, but the timeframe is often superficial and second-fiddle to the characters universal struggles and experiences.
You got moxy, kid
That being said... era does dictate Godbersen’s writing. And it’s not just a matter of setting and dialogue, her writing is dripping in history, and timeliness pervades every sentence. Like her description of Cordelia’s eyes;
which were the sweet, translucent brown of Coca-Cola in a glass ...
Even that one description of eye-colour is influenced by the upcoming age of mass-market capitalism and consumerism. Brilliant.
The book’s time-warp is unique and delicious. NYC in 1929 is a buzzing metropolis of fashionable flappers, bootlegging businessmen and a clash of classes. Godbersen captures the city’s vibrancy beautifully; every moment holds such significance, even Letty and Cordelia stepping off the train platform to see an airplane sky-writing;
New York was more extraordinary than a girl from Ohio could possibly have imagined, that it was a place of wonders where the citizens used the sky as their tablet and airplanes for pens.
Even descriptions of character’s clothing become stylish still-frames under Godbersen’s talented pen;
Her dark, mannishly cut hair was slicked behind both ears, and her eyes were covered with small, perfectly round black sunglasses.
But it’s also a mark of Godbersen’s talent that characters and story don’t get lost amidst the skyscrapers and grandiose old city setting.
The Cat’s Meow
The pace of ‘Bright Young Things’ is as fast as the Charleston. Very early on in the novel Cordelia goes in search of her famous, criminal father. Letty grows stars in her eyes and seeks a life on the stage. And Astrid’s home life spins wildly out of control.
These are big storylines, but Godbersen never loses her characters to big concepts.
Godbersen keeps the story firmly about the women rather than the era, especially because in the prologue she chillingly foreshadows that of the three women;
one would be famous, one would be married, and one would be dead.
Each girl is very distinctive. From Astrid’s Daisy Buchanan-esque lifestyle (‘gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor’, thankyou Fitzgerald), to Cordelia’s creeping guilt over leaving her husband on their wedding night. These are complicated young ladies living in extraordinary times, and it is a voyeuristic joy to glimpse their helter-skelter lives.
The women are made all the more fascinating for the men in their complicated lives. Cordelia develops a crush on Thomas Schultz, son of her father’s bootlegging rival. Letty meets a crushing author called Grady Lodge who is enamoured of her talent. And Astrid is dating the filthy rich Charlie Grey, but is oddly attracted to her country club’s stable boy, Luke.
The romance is decadent and addictive, made more so by the old-world charm these men exhibit:
It was the colour of his eyes, she supposed – not quite one shade or another, and utterly unlike anyone else’s. She loved the idea of driving in a car with a boy like that. “You stick with me. I’m gonna show you what’s really hiding behind all them straight-faced facades.”
Ducky
Anna Godbersen has bought the 1920’s to modern teenagers in ‘Bright Young Things’. The book is flapper-cool, a gin-soaked raucous gala-read and head-nod to the king of Jazz, F. Scott Fitzgerlad himself.
‘Bright Young Things’ is the cat’s meow, so get ready to purr.
5/5
November 5, 2010
I've been anticipating this novel, since I first heard the rumors of it's existence. Bright Young Things did not disappoint! I'm a huge fan of Godbersen's Luxe series, but Bright Young Things now tops it.
The story revolves around three young girls. Letty, Cordelia and Astrid. You will love them! One of the things that I loved most about this novel was how very well written each character was. They all had very distinct qualities. Qualities that led them down very differing paths! I would even go as far as saying that this novel really is about Letty, Cordelia & Astrid and not really about the era at all. (And that PROLOGUE!! GAH! It definitely has me intrigued... I might have it figured out, but I really hope I'm wrong)
Historical fiction isn't for everyone... but I think that despite being set in the 1920's the themes in this novel are universal, and are still very relevant to what teen girls go through today. This would be an awesome "starter" historical fiction for someone that's wanting to try out the genre!
As far as plot goes, it was fast. There really never was a dull moment. One thing that did bother me, was how Letty and Cordelia split up.... the girls have essentially grown up as best friends, yet at the first little spat they have in New York, they end up going their separate ways.... and they don't really worry too much about how the other is faring...? That bothered me. BUT at the same time... since they did split up and go their separate ways, we get to experience two totally different aspects of the 1920's.... which I won't say much more about.
I don't really want to go into the storyline, because I hate when people give things away, and this is one of those times that you want to discover those fun and unexpected things for yourself..... but I will say.... Oh Thom... I'm heartbroken, I really am!
And those last few chapters! Oh, my goodness! I need book two, like yesterday!
Believe me Doll, you need this book! It's the Bee's Knees!
The story revolves around three young girls. Letty, Cordelia and Astrid. You will love them! One of the things that I loved most about this novel was how very well written each character was. They all had very distinct qualities. Qualities that led them down very differing paths! I would even go as far as saying that this novel really is about Letty, Cordelia & Astrid and not really about the era at all. (And that PROLOGUE!! GAH! It definitely has me intrigued... I might have it figured out, but I really hope I'm wrong)
Historical fiction isn't for everyone... but I think that despite being set in the 1920's the themes in this novel are universal, and are still very relevant to what teen girls go through today. This would be an awesome "starter" historical fiction for someone that's wanting to try out the genre!
As far as plot goes, it was fast. There really never was a dull moment. One thing that did bother me, was how Letty and Cordelia split up.... the girls have essentially grown up as best friends, yet at the first little spat they have in New York, they end up going their separate ways.... and they don't really worry too much about how the other is faring...? That bothered me. BUT at the same time... since they did split up and go their separate ways, we get to experience two totally different aspects of the 1920's.... which I won't say much more about.
I don't really want to go into the storyline, because I hate when people give things away, and this is one of those times that you want to discover those fun and unexpected things for yourself..... but I will say.... Oh Thom... I'm heartbroken, I really am!
And those last few chapters! Oh, my goodness! I need book two, like yesterday!
Believe me Doll, you need this book! It's the Bee's Knees!
September 7, 2011
After tackling a graphic horror novel, I was in the mood for something easily digestible. Combine that with a recent binge at Borders' liquidation sale, & presto -- the perfect chance to start Ms Godbersen's new series.
The plot is fairly straight-forward; in fact, the tidiest summary comes courtesy the cover blurb, so read that if you're still in the dark. :P But for those who are familiar with THE LUXE series, BYT's style & overall flavor are similar. I was hoping for a cameo from some of the (now middle-aged) LUXE socialites...but no. All these characters are new. Unlike the LUXE books, there are only three main focal points, so they have longer scene continuations; Ms Godbersen has also opted against a one-by-one chapter focus, & the reader spends more time with each girl instead of cycling rapidly between p.o.v. I like Letty (the sweetheart) & Astrid (the spoiled flapper); I'm not so fond of Cordelia, but she's interesting enough to follow. (And no, there's no villainess a la Penelope Hayes. ;)) The setting initially threw me for a loop because I'm not well-versed in the jazz period, but everything settled in after the first few chapters.
For all their candy-like melodrama, I'm not afraid to admit enjoying Godbersen's novels. Of course there are overwrought moments -- runaway new brides, bootlegger parties, murders, a mother who consorts with boys her daughter's age, a girl who is unwillingly roped into a striptease...etc, etc. But Godbersen's books do something that precious few 'escapist' YA novels are willing to do -- they take risks with resolution. The author isn't afraid to have her characters do stupid things & suffer the consequences later. She's not afraid to damage those who don't deserve it, whether by accident or the selfish behavior of others. Furthermore, she's not afraid to buck the expectations that ___ & ___ simply MUST end up together!! Sometimes you really DON'T get what you want. Sometimes you DO need to settle for a second choice. Sometimes you really CAN'T have your cake & eat it too...which is a realism that many YA novels don't take into account, whether period melodrama or contemporary paranormal.
The plot is fairly straight-forward; in fact, the tidiest summary comes courtesy the cover blurb, so read that if you're still in the dark. :P But for those who are familiar with THE LUXE series, BYT's style & overall flavor are similar. I was hoping for a cameo from some of the (now middle-aged) LUXE socialites...but no. All these characters are new. Unlike the LUXE books, there are only three main focal points, so they have longer scene continuations; Ms Godbersen has also opted against a one-by-one chapter focus, & the reader spends more time with each girl instead of cycling rapidly between p.o.v. I like Letty (the sweetheart) & Astrid (the spoiled flapper); I'm not so fond of Cordelia, but she's interesting enough to follow. (And no, there's no villainess a la Penelope Hayes. ;)) The setting initially threw me for a loop because I'm not well-versed in the jazz period, but everything settled in after the first few chapters.
For all their candy-like melodrama, I'm not afraid to admit enjoying Godbersen's novels. Of course there are overwrought moments -- runaway new brides, bootlegger parties, murders, a mother who consorts with boys her daughter's age, a girl who is unwillingly roped into a striptease...etc, etc. But Godbersen's books do something that precious few 'escapist' YA novels are willing to do -- they take risks with resolution. The author isn't afraid to have her characters do stupid things & suffer the consequences later. She's not afraid to damage those who don't deserve it, whether by accident or the selfish behavior of others. Furthermore, she's not afraid to buck the expectations that ___ & ___ simply MUST end up together!! Sometimes you really DON'T get what you want. Sometimes you DO need to settle for a second choice. Sometimes you really CAN'T have your cake & eat it too...which is a realism that many YA novels don't take into account, whether period melodrama or contemporary paranormal.
February 17, 2011
For most of the book, I was bound and determined to give it 3 stars. I was alright with the story but not overly impressed. The characters were fine, but I'm still partial to Diana and Henry from this author's other series The Luxe.
Then, the last 75 pages hooked me from out of nowhere. I should have known that Godberson was going to pull the rabbit out of the hat. After all, nothing should shock me now after the complete emotional rollercoaster that Luxe took me on.
Who is Thom? Is he good or bad? What about Charlie? Is he redeemable, or just a cad? Will Letty once again find the nice man she left behind for one not quite as nice? There are so many unanswered questions that I'm sure will not be so easily resolved in the next book, already knowing this author's style of storycrafting!
A fun twist has been the addition of the flapper era. It's been enjoyable to learn about New York's seedy nightlife, and the patrons who frequent the speakeasies of the time period. Even though we've fast forwarded 20 years from the Luxe, it's nice to see an attention to detail that this author makes in capturing the little things another writer might leave out. I can almost imagine the clothes, the cars and the clubs in my head.
The characters feel a little bit recycled from her other series, but I'll give it a pass for now and see how they develop. Can't wait to see what happens next!
Then, the last 75 pages hooked me from out of nowhere. I should have known that Godberson was going to pull the rabbit out of the hat. After all, nothing should shock me now after the complete emotional rollercoaster that Luxe took me on.
Who is Thom? Is he good or bad? What about Charlie? Is he redeemable, or just a cad? Will Letty once again find the nice man she left behind for one not quite as nice? There are so many unanswered questions that I'm sure will not be so easily resolved in the next book, already knowing this author's style of storycrafting!
A fun twist has been the addition of the flapper era. It's been enjoyable to learn about New York's seedy nightlife, and the patrons who frequent the speakeasies of the time period. Even though we've fast forwarded 20 years from the Luxe, it's nice to see an attention to detail that this author makes in capturing the little things another writer might leave out. I can almost imagine the clothes, the cars and the clubs in my head.
The characters feel a little bit recycled from her other series, but I'll give it a pass for now and see how they develop. Can't wait to see what happens next!
April 5, 2012
That is what I want to tell you about: the girls with their short skirts and bright eyes and big-city dreams. The girls of 1929
Cordelia Grey and long-time best friend, Letty "Larkspur", flee their boring, sleepy Ohio town and head to New York City. Their reasons for leaving differ: Cordelia longs to meet the father she never knew and Letty wants to see her name in lights. Meanwhile, Astrid Donal is a sparkling socialite, but not everything in her life is perfect, particularly when it comes to her boyfriend, Charlie Grey.
I enjoyed myself immensely with this book. It had soapy drama, it had a sexy Jazz Age setting, it had glittery lights of New York, and, oddly enough, it had a bit of realism to it.
I can't really say if I had a favorite character. I liked how independent Cordelia was, but she almost felt too competent (especially given where she started). Also, SUPER surprised how she slept with a boy, was forced to marry him, and then ran away after the wedding! (TOTALLY would never expect something like that!) Letty, on the other hand, was the complete opposite: I was sure the girl was going to crumple in on herself at the drop of a hat. Astrid was definitely fun, as a spoiled rich brat, but then that also didn't endear her to me. Charlie was a two-timing scuzz-bag...but the emotional scene with him and Astrid threatened to bring a tear to my eye. Paulette was so sweet and big-sisterly to Letty...except when she wasn't.
What I can truly take away from this is: the characters are real people. They have things you like about them...and they have things you don't. They have strengths, and they have weaknesses. And so while I didn't have a favorite character, I also can't say I openly hated or despised any one of them.
(Okay, except maybe for Cordelia's aunt. Seriously, I know religious people can be nutjobs, but some aren't so judgmental. And I *KNOW* that that wouldn't necessarily be time-period appropriate, but I just wanted to throw that out there.)
The story overall was entertaining. Now, I did find Cordelia's "hunt" for her father painfully easy--all she needs to do is go to his home, claim to be Fanny's daughter, and boom, that's it? But I enjoyed Cordelia getting to know her dad and brother, befriending Astrid. And Letty trying to live on her own was good too (even if she was painfully naive and somewhat dense). Astrid's story was probably most interesting though. Having a mother who married and divorced so frequently, the upset her life went through, dealing with her boyfriend issues, and her final decision with Charlie were very compelling.
I was pretty impressed with the setting. I can't say if it is 100% accurate, but it did make me journey to Wiki and do online searching (and listening to 1920's jazz music!). And my very cursory findings agree pretty nicely with how Godbersen describes her setting. Now, I don't know how a more intense study would hold up, but since I wasn't looking for a hard-core historical, I was fine.
After a prologue that introduces an unknown narrator (is it important who that is?), the prose is in third person omniscient, which means we can flip in and out of the girls' heads at any time. At first, it was rather jarring, but then I got the flow of it and actually kinda liked it. Honestly, I feel it is one of the better written stories in third person omniscient that I've ever read.
If you want to read a light YA story set in the Jazz Age, this is a perfect book. The characters feel real, the setting is atmospheric, and the stories are a nice getaway. I'll definitely be checking out the sequels.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Very mild language.
Cordelia sleeps with John; her aunt forces her to marry him afterwards. Astrid's mother has been married many times; her step-father flirts with other women while married to her mother. Cordelia's father has a girlfriend, and it is hinted they are intimate. Letty is conned into performing at a strip show; she runs off before discarding too many clothes.
Cordelia's father is a bootlegger and surrounds himself with gunmen. There are a few shootouts or discussions of shootouts (nothing too violent).
Cordelia Grey and long-time best friend, Letty "Larkspur", flee their boring, sleepy Ohio town and head to New York City. Their reasons for leaving differ: Cordelia longs to meet the father she never knew and Letty wants to see her name in lights. Meanwhile, Astrid Donal is a sparkling socialite, but not everything in her life is perfect, particularly when it comes to her boyfriend, Charlie Grey.
I enjoyed myself immensely with this book. It had soapy drama, it had a sexy Jazz Age setting, it had glittery lights of New York, and, oddly enough, it had a bit of realism to it.
I can't really say if I had a favorite character. I liked how independent Cordelia was, but she almost felt too competent (especially given where she started). Also, SUPER surprised how she slept with a boy, was forced to marry him, and then ran away after the wedding! (TOTALLY would never expect something like that!) Letty, on the other hand, was the complete opposite: I was sure the girl was going to crumple in on herself at the drop of a hat. Astrid was definitely fun, as a spoiled rich brat, but then that also didn't endear her to me. Charlie was a two-timing scuzz-bag...but the emotional scene with him and Astrid threatened to bring a tear to my eye. Paulette was so sweet and big-sisterly to Letty...except when she wasn't.
What I can truly take away from this is: the characters are real people. They have things you like about them...and they have things you don't. They have strengths, and they have weaknesses. And so while I didn't have a favorite character, I also can't say I openly hated or despised any one of them.
(Okay, except maybe for Cordelia's aunt. Seriously, I know religious people can be nutjobs, but some aren't so judgmental. And I *KNOW* that that wouldn't necessarily be time-period appropriate, but I just wanted to throw that out there.)
The story overall was entertaining. Now, I did find Cordelia's "hunt" for her father painfully easy--all she needs to do is go to his home, claim to be Fanny's daughter, and boom, that's it? But I enjoyed Cordelia getting to know her dad and brother, befriending Astrid. And Letty trying to live on her own was good too (even if she was painfully naive and somewhat dense). Astrid's story was probably most interesting though. Having a mother who married and divorced so frequently, the upset her life went through, dealing with her boyfriend issues, and her final decision with Charlie were very compelling.
I was pretty impressed with the setting. I can't say if it is 100% accurate, but it did make me journey to Wiki and do online searching (and listening to 1920's jazz music!). And my very cursory findings agree pretty nicely with how Godbersen describes her setting. Now, I don't know how a more intense study would hold up, but since I wasn't looking for a hard-core historical, I was fine.
After a prologue that introduces an unknown narrator (is it important who that is?), the prose is in third person omniscient, which means we can flip in and out of the girls' heads at any time. At first, it was rather jarring, but then I got the flow of it and actually kinda liked it. Honestly, I feel it is one of the better written stories in third person omniscient that I've ever read.
If you want to read a light YA story set in the Jazz Age, this is a perfect book. The characters feel real, the setting is atmospheric, and the stories are a nice getaway. I'll definitely be checking out the sequels.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Very mild language.
Cordelia sleeps with John; her aunt forces her to marry him afterwards. Astrid's mother has been married many times; her step-father flirts with other women while married to her mother. Cordelia's father has a girlfriend, and it is hinted they are intimate. Letty is conned into performing at a strip show; she runs off before discarding too many clothes.
Cordelia's father is a bootlegger and surrounds himself with gunmen. There are a few shootouts or discussions of shootouts (nothing too violent).
October 29, 2010
Wow. WoW. WOW.
I want to be a flapper. Right now. With the fringe and the headbands and the pearls and the feathers. I want to smoke (candy) cigarettes out of impossibly long holders and attend late night parties with jazz bands and not wake up 'til 2pm.
That would be an awesome life. But it's not mine, so I'll opt to live vicariously through three fictitious beauties--Cordelia, Astrid, and Letty.
I adored this book. I've not read Godbersen's Luxe series, but you're darn straight that I'm gonna bump it up the TBR. Reading Bright Young Things was a seriously enjoyable experience. Unfortunately I had a bunch of prior obligations to tend to while reading this one, so I didn't get to devour it in a few hours for the optimum experience like I'd preferred. This sounds full of cheese and cliche, but I felt like I was there. I felt like I knew these girls and we were BFFs.
Cordelia's journey was by far my favorite. Watching her search for her long lost father was both heartwrenching and inspiring to me. Heartwrenching because, hello, the chick didn't have a dad. Inspiring because her choice to put her comfort zone aside to pursue what she really wanted out of life took a whole crapload of kahones. And oh! How I loved Thom and all the pretty, pretty things he whispered.
Letty was the most relatable...the shy, insecure but insanely talented girl-who-doesn't-know-she's-beautiful (at least the shy/insecure parts.) I really sympathized with her story. She finally grew a pair and started to make a name for herself... and her story is vastly inconclusive. I'm so excited that this is a series, but GOOD GOD I DON'T WANT TO WAIT.
Astrid reminded me of one of the girls in the Pretty Little Liars series, except infinitely more awesome. Astrid is the kind of person I'm completely fascinated by, because she's always down for a good time, to offer a coy smile while concocting a mischievous scheme, or to flirt her way to the VIP section. I could never do any of those things, so Astrid's type is a sort of anomaly to me. Either way, I loved her and her easy-going demeanor with a hidden depth.
If you like fun, read this book. If you like speakeasies and jargon like "baby" and "darling" (I like to think they pronounce it dahhh-ling, like Cruella DeVille, but not so puppy-skinningly), read this book. If you like pretty covers and judge books upon just that, this book has a fabulous cover as well!
Are you sold?
Are you buying the book right now?
GO!
I want to be a flapper. Right now. With the fringe and the headbands and the pearls and the feathers. I want to smoke (candy) cigarettes out of impossibly long holders and attend late night parties with jazz bands and not wake up 'til 2pm.
That would be an awesome life. But it's not mine, so I'll opt to live vicariously through three fictitious beauties--Cordelia, Astrid, and Letty.
I adored this book. I've not read Godbersen's Luxe series, but you're darn straight that I'm gonna bump it up the TBR. Reading Bright Young Things was a seriously enjoyable experience. Unfortunately I had a bunch of prior obligations to tend to while reading this one, so I didn't get to devour it in a few hours for the optimum experience like I'd preferred. This sounds full of cheese and cliche, but I felt like I was there. I felt like I knew these girls and we were BFFs.
Cordelia's journey was by far my favorite. Watching her search for her long lost father was both heartwrenching and inspiring to me. Heartwrenching because, hello, the chick didn't have a dad. Inspiring because her choice to put her comfort zone aside to pursue what she really wanted out of life took a whole crapload of kahones. And oh! How I loved Thom and all the pretty, pretty things he whispered.
Letty was the most relatable...the shy, insecure but insanely talented girl-who-doesn't-know-she's-beautiful (at least the shy/insecure parts.) I really sympathized with her story. She finally grew a pair and started to make a name for herself... and her story is vastly inconclusive. I'm so excited that this is a series, but GOOD GOD I DON'T WANT TO WAIT.
Astrid reminded me of one of the girls in the Pretty Little Liars series, except infinitely more awesome. Astrid is the kind of person I'm completely fascinated by, because she's always down for a good time, to offer a coy smile while concocting a mischievous scheme, or to flirt her way to the VIP section. I could never do any of those things, so Astrid's type is a sort of anomaly to me. Either way, I loved her and her easy-going demeanor with a hidden depth.
If you like fun, read this book. If you like speakeasies and jargon like "baby" and "darling" (I like to think they pronounce it dahhh-ling, like Cruella DeVille, but not so puppy-skinningly), read this book. If you like pretty covers and judge books upon just that, this book has a fabulous cover as well!
Are you sold?
Are you buying the book right now?
GO!
May 23, 2012
Well, I agonized over giving this 1 or 3 stars, and eventually settled on 2. The book has serious pros and cons. While I wasn't expecting much to begin with, I WAS expecting something compulsively readable, soap opera-ish, glam. Bright Young Things was that, but I was also expecting better heroines.
Expectation: spunky, tough-yet-beautiful, street-smart, forward-thinking flappers
Reality: whiny deluded DUMB AS FUCK teenagers who continually get themselves (and anyone and everyone who is so unfortunate to come into contact with them) into a shitload of trouble. You wouldn't believe the luck these girls have in the city -- but what do they do to EVERY FREAKING OPPORTUNITY, no matter how amazing or perfectly unrealistic? Without fail, they fuck it up!!
That was my main problem with the book, anyhow. I liked Cordelia's character until she started messing around with Thom, which I just *knew* was a bad idea (that's not a spoiler, you see it coming a mile away). I hated Lettie from the beginning. She's such a baby, & on top of that suffers from special snowflake syndrome. I adored Astrid until she... well, I don't want to spoil this. If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about. She was a strong, independent female character until she did THIS particular thing, and the entire time I was face-palming.
It's not that I can't appreciate flawed characters. I actually like my characters flawed. But DUMB characters? That's something I can't deal with.
So, congratulations Anna Godberson. You had a perfect opportunity to create kick-ass female characters in an era where women were definitely starting to feel empowered but SO TYPICALLY made them into brainless idiots dependent on the males. Bravooo.
....despite all that, though, like I said, it WAS compulsively readable (even though it was FAR from well-written, let's make that clear ((also, Anna, get better comebacks for characters!!))) and I did really enjoy the setting. I will probably read the next book just to see where she takes things from the explosion of cliff-hangers cum psychopathic plot twists that the ending was comprised of.
Expectation: spunky, tough-yet-beautiful, street-smart, forward-thinking flappers
Reality: whiny deluded DUMB AS FUCK teenagers who continually get themselves (and anyone and everyone who is so unfortunate to come into contact with them) into a shitload of trouble. You wouldn't believe the luck these girls have in the city -- but what do they do to EVERY FREAKING OPPORTUNITY, no matter how amazing or perfectly unrealistic? Without fail, they fuck it up!!
That was my main problem with the book, anyhow. I liked Cordelia's character until she started messing around with Thom, which I just *knew* was a bad idea (that's not a spoiler, you see it coming a mile away). I hated Lettie from the beginning. She's such a baby, & on top of that suffers from special snowflake syndrome. I adored Astrid until she... well, I don't want to spoil this. If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about. She was a strong, independent female character until she did THIS particular thing, and the entire time I was face-palming.
It's not that I can't appreciate flawed characters. I actually like my characters flawed. But DUMB characters? That's something I can't deal with.
So, congratulations Anna Godberson. You had a perfect opportunity to create kick-ass female characters in an era where women were definitely starting to feel empowered but SO TYPICALLY made them into brainless idiots dependent on the males. Bravooo.
....despite all that, though, like I said, it WAS compulsively readable (even though it was FAR from well-written, let's make that clear ((also, Anna, get better comebacks for characters!!))) and I did really enjoy the setting. I will probably read the next book just to see where she takes things from the explosion of cliff-hangers cum psychopathic plot twists that the ending was comprised of.
October 3, 2019
I have been yearning to read Bright Young Things for YEARS. I saw this cover and fell in love (yeah, yeah... don't judge a book by it's cover... but it's so PRETTY) and knew I had to read it. If you add in all the other factors of this book: 1920s, New York, Gatsby references and some excellent YA nostalgia, you've got me!
This book felt like a YA through and through. Love triangles, overly dramatic characters, daddy issues, mommy issues, lost friendships and more! All of this was packed in and tied with a bright gold, 1920s styled bow. Saying that, this book would have been way more enjoyable to me if I read it back when it came out (during my youthful, high school years). Like I said in some of my short, little tidbit reviews - it reminds me of the TV show Gossip Girl by in the 1920s. It's full of the goofy high school drama we all lived on back in the day (well, back in my day).
The drama we live off in this book is due to Astrid, Letty and Cordelia. Cordelia never knew who her Father was, and when she moves to New York she ends up finding him! He's a mob boss (he reminds me of a younger Sonny Corinthos from General Hospital, but in the 1920s) and she also has gotten a hefty fortune and new brother out of it. Oh, did I mention she falls in love with her mob boss's enemy's son? Yup, that level of drama. Letty wants to be a singer, and she goes down some shady paths by mistake to chase that dream. Astrid was already in New York and is dating Cordelia's new (yet old) brother Charlie.
I loved their stories because they were so addicting. I began to really feel for these characters and got mighty frustrated near the end when there's a cliffhanger leaving all of them hanging. Not one single happy ending in sight! Not yet anyways. I pretty much have to read the next books to feel like any sort of ending happens to these characters. Seriously, the life lessons these girls face are BRUTAL. It's heart breaking... so if you wanted a lovely, fluffy, romantic YA novel... RUN IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. Well, maybe. The sequels might have a more happy ending but I don't have those books in my hands yet.
One of the big pluses in this book was the Good Egg comment. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby and the West Egg, East Egg debacle. I really hope that name was in reference to Gatsby, but a girl can never be sure!
To be honest, I was really anticipating an epic YA novel. Every book store I went into during the 2010s had this book perched right out front and advertised EVERYWHERE (in my area, anyways). When I finally got my hands on this book I was salivating, ready to devour it... and it kinda felt like it fell short for me. I honestly expected more.
I do want to read the rest of this series because it's a really enticing book, buuuuut I hate cliffhangers and this book was SUPER depressing. I get it, the 1920s were roaring but the Great Gatsby was pretty depressing, but leaving this book like THAT? It hurt my soul! At least give us one happy thing to end on so I'm not left feeling cheated! Also... some of the bad guys seem good and some of the good guys seem bad. I left that portion of the book wondering who the heck I was supposed to be cheering for.
Three out of five stars.
This book felt like a YA through and through. Love triangles, overly dramatic characters, daddy issues, mommy issues, lost friendships and more! All of this was packed in and tied with a bright gold, 1920s styled bow. Saying that, this book would have been way more enjoyable to me if I read it back when it came out (during my youthful, high school years). Like I said in some of my short, little tidbit reviews - it reminds me of the TV show Gossip Girl by in the 1920s. It's full of the goofy high school drama we all lived on back in the day (well, back in my day).
The drama we live off in this book is due to Astrid, Letty and Cordelia. Cordelia never knew who her Father was, and when she moves to New York she ends up finding him! He's a mob boss (he reminds me of a younger Sonny Corinthos from General Hospital, but in the 1920s) and she also has gotten a hefty fortune and new brother out of it. Oh, did I mention she falls in love with her mob boss's enemy's son? Yup, that level of drama. Letty wants to be a singer, and she goes down some shady paths by mistake to chase that dream. Astrid was already in New York and is dating Cordelia's new (yet old) brother Charlie.
I loved their stories because they were so addicting. I began to really feel for these characters and got mighty frustrated near the end when there's a cliffhanger leaving all of them hanging. Not one single happy ending in sight! Not yet anyways. I pretty much have to read the next books to feel like any sort of ending happens to these characters. Seriously, the life lessons these girls face are BRUTAL. It's heart breaking... so if you wanted a lovely, fluffy, romantic YA novel... RUN IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. Well, maybe. The sequels might have a more happy ending but I don't have those books in my hands yet.
One of the big pluses in this book was the Good Egg comment. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby and the West Egg, East Egg debacle. I really hope that name was in reference to Gatsby, but a girl can never be sure!
To be honest, I was really anticipating an epic YA novel. Every book store I went into during the 2010s had this book perched right out front and advertised EVERYWHERE (in my area, anyways). When I finally got my hands on this book I was salivating, ready to devour it... and it kinda felt like it fell short for me. I honestly expected more.
I do want to read the rest of this series because it's a really enticing book, buuuuut I hate cliffhangers and this book was SUPER depressing. I get it, the 1920s were roaring but the Great Gatsby was pretty depressing, but leaving this book like THAT? It hurt my soul! At least give us one happy thing to end on so I'm not left feeling cheated! Also... some of the bad guys seem good and some of the good guys seem bad. I left that portion of the book wondering who the heck I was supposed to be cheering for.
Three out of five stars.
December 19, 2010
OK, so I've gotta be totally honest here. I didn't really like this nearly as much as I thought I would. Not that it was bad, but I've been loving on the Luxe series, so I had high hopes for this one, set at the peak of the roaring '20s. All the detail is there: the speakeasies, the drinking, the dancing, the music, the naivete, the ennui, the glamour, the grime, and...did I mention the drinking? Yeah, there's a lot of drinking. And sleeping til the wee hours of the afternoon. So that's all fine and dandy, but then there's the plot. I had quite a time of suspending my disbelief for the sake of the story. I mean, sure, why couldn't a girl from Ohio who thinks her father just might be that really famous bootlegger out in New York head on out to the big apple and find him within a week of arriving? Yeah, and is accepted almost immediately. The characters are interesting enough, but I never felt like we got to know them as distinctly as the girls from Luxe. Maybe it's all the booze. It makes them all sound nearly the same, though they have varying degrees of experience with the New York scene. Our ladies from Ohio are obviously still figuring it out, while resident Astrid is completely savvy, if a bit on the arrogant and flippant side. She is a pretty good friend to Cordelia though, so I suppose I've got to forgive her. Overall, not a bad start. I might even keep on reading just to see who dies (don't worry, it's not a spoiler, you'll find this out in the first few pages).
July 6, 2011
Expectations: I thought this would be an entertaining read. A consuming piece of escapism. I like historical fiction and I was really looking forward to Godbersen’s take on the 1920s.
Vs.
Reality: Honestly, I struggled with the writing in this book. The idea was fine, I just don’t feel like it was executed as well as it could have been. I frequently found myself stumbling over awkward turns of phrase and clunky descriptions, to the point where I would stop reading to think, “Wait, what?” and have to re-read sentences and paragraphs. For this reason I didn’t ever feel absorbed by the story, just kind of detached. I eventually started turning the corners of pages down to mark some of the more heavy-handed prose so I could re-read them later and practice editing.
I can’t say that I felt connected to any of the characters in this story. I didn’t like or dislike them. I simply didn’t care about them.
Further, I don’t rate this as historical fiction. There was so much potential in the setting and the period, but I just found the story fell flat and the depiction of New York in the Roaring 20s lacked the authenticity I was looking for. For me, the strongest part of the book was the opening, before the actions moves to the city.
I know this book has a lot of fans, but I just have to say it just wasn’t for me.
Vs.
Reality: Honestly, I struggled with the writing in this book. The idea was fine, I just don’t feel like it was executed as well as it could have been. I frequently found myself stumbling over awkward turns of phrase and clunky descriptions, to the point where I would stop reading to think, “Wait, what?” and have to re-read sentences and paragraphs. For this reason I didn’t ever feel absorbed by the story, just kind of detached. I eventually started turning the corners of pages down to mark some of the more heavy-handed prose so I could re-read them later and practice editing.
I can’t say that I felt connected to any of the characters in this story. I didn’t like or dislike them. I simply didn’t care about them.
Further, I don’t rate this as historical fiction. There was so much potential in the setting and the period, but I just found the story fell flat and the depiction of New York in the Roaring 20s lacked the authenticity I was looking for. For me, the strongest part of the book was the opening, before the actions moves to the city.
I know this book has a lot of fans, but I just have to say it just wasn’t for me.
Want to read
May 10, 2017Visit my blog for the link to the free download. :)
December 2, 2017
CHECK OUT THE REVIEW HERE -
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January 16, 2011
Nowhere NEAR as good as The Luxe. This book made me want to strangle someone. Preferably all the willfully stupid female characters ("What's that Dad? Don't date the son of your most dangerous business enemy? But he's nice. Also, there can't be any harm in showing him our very secret tunnel out of the mansion.")
May 13, 2012
From the moment I started this, I could 100% tell it was written by the same author as the luxe series. I'm not saying that is a bad thing, anna godberson knows her niche. I would have liked to see her write a book from just one point of view. This book along with the luxe novels have too many similialarities. i.e. 2-3 young society girls telling the story, a ton of the story revolves around a boy, her writing style, the lack of emotional depth, etc. I know it sounds like I hated the book, I really didn't. I'm just not impressed with it either and I found myself only caring about 1. Character, cordelia.
Meh. I will probably give # 2 a go, but I am in no hurry whatsoever.
N,ow since I'm typing this on my phone, I am done writing this review. Any of your who review like this on a normal basis deserve a medal!
3 Stars.
Meh. I will probably give # 2 a go, but I am in no hurry whatsoever.
N,ow since I'm typing this on my phone, I am done writing this review. Any of your who review like this on a normal basis deserve a medal!
3 Stars.
September 15, 2022
✈️"Нещо ярко и непознато проряза небосклона...и в крайградските клубове и в тайните барове хората оставиха чашите си за миг, и си спомниха за своите стари и най- красиви мечти. Може би изходът беше в летенето, може би нашата неспокойна кръв щеше да намери своя бряг в безкрайния въздушен океан.
🍾Но по това време всички вече се бяхме оплели здравата в нашия начин на живот; и ерата на джаза продължи; поръчахме си още по едно."
Ф. Скот. Фицджералд
"Ехо от ерата на джаза"
📚С този цитат започва поредицата "Богати и красиви" на Ана Годбърсън. Тя ни пренася в дните на Сухия режим в Америка. ,1929-та година - най- трескавото време на 20-ти век. Без да са шедьоври книгите ни дават достатъчно ярка картина за периода от златното време на джаза, зората на авиацията и киното, и контрабандата на алкохол. Естествено, не липсват семейни тайни, вражди и препятствия преди животът да се усмихне на три млади момичета.
Запознах се с героите във втората част, тъй като открих поредицата при една оферта в "Озон". И неясно защо напоследък никой не си прави труда да посочи, че някоя книга е свързана с още няколко. Така че логично потърсих и останалите части, а междувременно прочетох третата част електронно.
📚 Много обичам да си издирвам книги от преди десетилетие, които съм виждала през годините. И с луксозни корици корици със златни букви.
📚Започвали ли сте някоя книжна серия не от началото и събирали ли сте впоследствие останалите части? Или обичате да си вземете всичко по ред на номерата?
🍾Но по това време всички вече се бяхме оплели здравата в нашия начин на живот; и ерата на джаза продължи; поръчахме си още по едно."
Ф. Скот. Фицджералд
"Ехо от ерата на джаза"
📚С този цитат започва поредицата "Богати и красиви" на Ана Годбърсън. Тя ни пренася в дните на Сухия режим в Америка. ,1929-та година - най- трескавото време на 20-ти век. Без да са шедьоври книгите ни дават достатъчно ярка картина за периода от златното време на джаза, зората на авиацията и киното, и контрабандата на алкохол. Естествено, не липсват семейни тайни, вражди и препятствия преди животът да се усмихне на три млади момичета.
Запознах се с героите във втората част, тъй като открих поредицата при една оферта в "Озон". И неясно защо напоследък никой не си прави труда да посочи, че някоя книга е свързана с още няколко. Така че логично потърсих и останалите части, а междувременно прочетох третата част електронно.
📚 Много обичам да си издирвам книги от преди десетилетие, които съм виждала през годините. И с луксозни корици корици със златни букви.
📚Започвали ли сте някоя книжна серия не от началото и събирали ли сте впоследствие останалите части? Или обичате да си вземете всичко по ред на номерата?
August 11, 2010
SOOOOOO excited to find out that Anna is releasing a new series. I LOVE reading about the past and times before me!!! Im sure this series will be just as great as The Luxe series.. hopefully with a better ending this time.
October 30, 2017
4.5 rating. This book was so good! I love the 20s and enjoyed visiting the magical era through this book!! It is about three very different girls living in New York during last summer of the Jazz Age.
I think Cordelia was my favorite character, even though she made some foolish decisions. Actually, all of the girls were foolish and sometimes childish...but I think that was fitting and just because they weren’t mature yet or had the leisure of being lazy and silly.
I felt like Mr. Grey was basically Gatsby if he had kids. LOL. But he was more compassionate and not disillusioned like Gatsby. Actually, I found his kindness toward his long-lost daughter a bit odd and untrustworthy.
Charlie was sweet and I understood that he meant well. I liked that he was a rougher person until you got to know him better, and he was a real sweet, softy.
I didn’t get any vibes that Thom was sinister...so I have a hard time believing that he is bad. But I don’t know, I didn’t really like him anyway.
Letty was my least favorite girl. I found her slightly annoying and naive. She didn’t do anything important.
I really enjoyed reading this book!! It was so not as scandalous as I was worried. It was a very gentle novel full of intrigue, romance, and excitement rich with descriptions of the dazzling 20s! If you loved The Great Gatsby and wanted a YA take on the 20s time period, then this book is excellent!
I want to read the sequel!!
I think Cordelia was my favorite character, even though she made some foolish decisions. Actually, all of the girls were foolish and sometimes childish...but I think that was fitting and just because they weren’t mature yet or had the leisure of being lazy and silly.
I felt like Mr. Grey was basically Gatsby if he had kids. LOL. But he was more compassionate and not disillusioned like Gatsby. Actually, I found his kindness toward his long-lost daughter a bit odd and untrustworthy.
Charlie was sweet and I understood that he meant well. I liked that he was a rougher person until you got to know him better, and he was a real sweet, softy.
I didn’t get any vibes that Thom was sinister...so I have a hard time believing that he is bad. But I don’t know, I didn’t really like him anyway.
Letty was my least favorite girl. I found her slightly annoying and naive. She didn’t do anything important.
I really enjoyed reading this book!! It was so not as scandalous as I was worried. It was a very gentle novel full of intrigue, romance, and excitement rich with descriptions of the dazzling 20s! If you loved The Great Gatsby and wanted a YA take on the 20s time period, then this book is excellent!
I want to read the sequel!!
July 17, 2023
I have been searching for Jazz Age romances to read and came across this — but it is not a romance. There’s no compelling couples, no sexual tension… but once I shifted my mindset, I enjoyed it as a light read and a window into the roaring 20s in New York.
Anna Godberson is a great writer, and there are some incredible scenes in here (the plane, near the end). But it was hard to love this book, because I didn’t really care about the characters: one was dumb (Letty), one was insanely vain (Astrid), and the third (Cordelia) I did find compelling, but then her story was fairly ludicrous. (She finds her long-lost gangster dad within 24hrs and is immediately accepted into the family.)
The timeframe was ludicrous too: basically everything happens within a week.
Anna Godberson is a great writer, and there are some incredible scenes in here (the plane, near the end). But it was hard to love this book, because I didn’t really care about the characters: one was dumb (Letty), one was insanely vain (Astrid), and the third (Cordelia) I did find compelling, but then her story was fairly ludicrous. (She finds her long-lost gangster dad within 24hrs and is immediately accepted into the family.)
The timeframe was ludicrous too: basically everything happens within a week.
March 12, 2012
I'm sincerely perplexed by all the stellar reviews this book is getting... perhaps some people need to read Fitzgerald for comparison. Once again I'm glad that I get new books from the library and don't just snap up every novel that gets a little buzz. I'd have been angry if I'd spent any money on this book.
The idea isn't bad. It's The Great Gatsby for 21st century YA readers. Unfortunately, it's been watered down for modern palates, rendering the luscious Jazz Age tinny and cheap. Cordelia and Letty escape their rural Ohio town for the glitz and glamour of NYC. Cordelia wants to find her father, who's a famous bootlegger, and Letty wants to be a star. Along the way, they hook up with socialite Astrid, a wannabe Daisy with twice the shallowness and none of the wit or charm, forget instantly all about their humble roots and get caught up in wish-fulfillment Cinderella fantasies that inevitably come tumbling down around their ears.
I had few expectations of this book besides being a quick, fairly entertaining little read. Even so, it disappointed. The main issue was with the three girls - they're unbearable! Letty looks and acts like she's twelve years old, despite being seventeen, and her naivete is irritating. Astrid is selfish and coquettish in a vulgar way, ultimately weak when faced with the possibility of losing her philandering boyfriend whom she doesn't really seem to love. Cordelia is arguably the strongest and most sensible of the bunch, and even she betrays her father (whom she's spent years yearning to meet) after falling in love at first sight with the son of his sworn enemy. The Romeo and Juliet trope is very tired, not to mention that Cordelia is out of her mind with adoration after knowing this boy for all of a week. All three girls think rather highly of themselves for no discernible reason so when their miraculous ascents are halted by some clumsy deus ex machina, I felt relieved and vaguely gleeful.
Speaking of deus ex machina, all of the characters spend the entire book being carried along by the tide of plot. They are all passive heroines, letting things happen to them instead of making things happen. The plot is your bog-standard Cinderella wish-fulfillment tale, and it's mind-numblingly cliche. Godbersen's writing style is decent, but the prose is rather flowery and quite purple at times; someone should tell her that not every noun needs an adjective. I wasn't expecting some great literary work, but I spent a large part of the book being annoyed at one thing or another, so I don't consider that a success.
The idea isn't bad. It's The Great Gatsby for 21st century YA readers. Unfortunately, it's been watered down for modern palates, rendering the luscious Jazz Age tinny and cheap. Cordelia and Letty escape their rural Ohio town for the glitz and glamour of NYC. Cordelia wants to find her father, who's a famous bootlegger, and Letty wants to be a star. Along the way, they hook up with socialite Astrid, a wannabe Daisy with twice the shallowness and none of the wit or charm, forget instantly all about their humble roots and get caught up in wish-fulfillment Cinderella fantasies that inevitably come tumbling down around their ears.
I had few expectations of this book besides being a quick, fairly entertaining little read. Even so, it disappointed. The main issue was with the three girls - they're unbearable! Letty looks and acts like she's twelve years old, despite being seventeen, and her naivete is irritating. Astrid is selfish and coquettish in a vulgar way, ultimately weak when faced with the possibility of losing her philandering boyfriend whom she doesn't really seem to love. Cordelia is arguably the strongest and most sensible of the bunch, and even she betrays her father (whom she's spent years yearning to meet) after falling in love at first sight with the son of his sworn enemy. The Romeo and Juliet trope is very tired, not to mention that Cordelia is out of her mind with adoration after knowing this boy for all of a week. All three girls think rather highly of themselves for no discernible reason so when their miraculous ascents are halted by some clumsy deus ex machina, I felt relieved and vaguely gleeful.
Speaking of deus ex machina, all of the characters spend the entire book being carried along by the tide of plot. They are all passive heroines, letting things happen to them instead of making things happen. The plot is your bog-standard Cinderella wish-fulfillment tale, and it's mind-numblingly cliche. Godbersen's writing style is decent, but the prose is rather flowery and quite purple at times; someone should tell her that not every noun needs an adjective. I wasn't expecting some great literary work, but I spent a large part of the book being annoyed at one thing or another, so I don't consider that a success.
April 26, 2015
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Bright Young Things Review
_________________________________
Full formatting of this review at link above.
What can I say about BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS...
I guess I should start with the fact that it isn't horrible, per se. There just isn't any substance, nothing to keep you interested or nothing to make you really care.
It is, like Godbersen's other books, fluffy and light, holding no real purpose or moral of the story. It is unlike her other novels in the fact that these characters had no souls. Not literally, because this is historical fiction-not fantasy-but I mean soulless in the way they were one-dimensional, shallow husks of characters. I hated every single one of them, even the ones that weren't spoiled rich girls. I actually cared about the characters in THE LUXE, I wanted them to be happy and achieve their dreams. This this book I kind of wish one of them would die, like we are promised in the beginning:
"...One Will Be Married, One Will Be Famous, and One Will Be Dead."
Which, by the way, brings me to my point where this tells us how all the characters are going to end up so why read the series? It is literally written out for you on who's future is going to be whose so unless you are completely unable to put two and two together, this entire series is kind of a waste of time.
Maybe I had too high of hopes for this one because I liked her other novels and was really excited about the time period. Who doesn't love the twenties? But it failed miserably at trying to capture the essence of "The Jazz Age." Because even though it was 1929 and the times were "winding down" or whatever, there is so much potential here.
The prologue was my favorite part, it made me genuinely excited for the book:
“It is easy to forget now, how effervescent and free we all felt that summer. Everything fades: the shimmer of gold over White Cove; the laughter in the night air; the lavender early morning light on the faces of skyscrapers, which had suddenly become so heroically tall. Every dawn seemed to promise fresh miracles, among other joys that are in short supply these days. And so I will try to tell you, while I still remember, how it was then, before everything changed-that final season of the era that roared.”
Where is this book? I want to read this book!
So overall: terrible characters, squandered potential from the time period, predictable plot, but a fluffy read that somehow, some way, keeps you reading until the end.
Bright Young Things Review
_________________________________
Full formatting of this review at link above.
What can I say about BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS...
I guess I should start with the fact that it isn't horrible, per se. There just isn't any substance, nothing to keep you interested or nothing to make you really care.
It is, like Godbersen's other books, fluffy and light, holding no real purpose or moral of the story. It is unlike her other novels in the fact that these characters had no souls. Not literally, because this is historical fiction-not fantasy-but I mean soulless in the way they were one-dimensional, shallow husks of characters. I hated every single one of them, even the ones that weren't spoiled rich girls. I actually cared about the characters in THE LUXE, I wanted them to be happy and achieve their dreams. This this book I kind of wish one of them would die, like we are promised in the beginning:
"...One Will Be Married, One Will Be Famous, and One Will Be Dead."
Which, by the way, brings me to my point where this tells us how all the characters are going to end up so why read the series? It is literally written out for you on who's future is going to be whose so unless you are completely unable to put two and two together, this entire series is kind of a waste of time.
Maybe I had too high of hopes for this one because I liked her other novels and was really excited about the time period. Who doesn't love the twenties? But it failed miserably at trying to capture the essence of "The Jazz Age." Because even though it was 1929 and the times were "winding down" or whatever, there is so much potential here.
The prologue was my favorite part, it made me genuinely excited for the book:
“It is easy to forget now, how effervescent and free we all felt that summer. Everything fades: the shimmer of gold over White Cove; the laughter in the night air; the lavender early morning light on the faces of skyscrapers, which had suddenly become so heroically tall. Every dawn seemed to promise fresh miracles, among other joys that are in short supply these days. And so I will try to tell you, while I still remember, how it was then, before everything changed-that final season of the era that roared.”
Where is this book? I want to read this book!
So overall: terrible characters, squandered potential from the time period, predictable plot, but a fluffy read that somehow, some way, keeps you reading until the end.
March 20, 2017
This and other reviews can be found on The Psychotic Nerd
ACTUAL RATING: 3.5
MY THOUGHTS
After reading Rumors, the second book in The Luxe series by the same author, I was worried about this book. What I learned from Rumors was that Anna Godbersen isn't afraid to tear apart your heart. I went ahead and picked it up, knowing what may come, and I actually ended up enjoying this book a little bit more than The Luxe series.
This book is from three perspectives: Cordelia, Letty and Astrid. Cordelia and Letty are best friends that have left their rural town for the big city of New York. Though, for different reasons. Letty wants to make it big and become famous. Cordelia is there to find Darius Grey, a famous gangster that she believe is her father (that left when she was a baby). Astrid, on the other hand, has grown up in New York in luxury. She's currently dating Darius Grey's son and befriends Cordelia. But, of course, shenanigans ensue and everything isn't as simple as it seems.
First of all, I love the setting! This book takes place in the 20's and it felt entirely feel. I admit, I enjoy books that take place in the 20's, it's such an interesting era, but I actually felt like I was in the 20's. Everything was very well-detailed, including the big city.
Also, I love how Anna Godbersen begins her books. I usually hate Prologues that take place in the future, but hers only vaguely hint at what's to come, making me turn the pages faster to figure things out!
One reason why I might've enjoyed this a teensy bit more than The Luxe is how I didn't hate any of the points of view. In The Luxe, there are some perspectives of, basically, the villains and it makes me so upset when I read from their demented perspectives. I actually liked the girls in this book, I didn't love them and they have their flaws, but none of them are Penelope! Though, I did dislike something Cordelia does at the very very beginning (that poor boy).
This book has lots of drama, of course, which generally isn't something I love. This is probably why I can't give this a 4, though, there's less drama in this book than The Luxe. Boy, is that series crazy. Anyway, I still enjoyed this book and the drama, which kind of makes me feel guilty...
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this is a great historical fiction for those who enjoy the 20's, drama, and books featuring the elite. I enjoyed this book and plan on continuing the series.
ACTUAL RATING: 3.5
MY THOUGHTS
After reading Rumors, the second book in The Luxe series by the same author, I was worried about this book. What I learned from Rumors was that Anna Godbersen isn't afraid to tear apart your heart. I went ahead and picked it up, knowing what may come, and I actually ended up enjoying this book a little bit more than The Luxe series.
This book is from three perspectives: Cordelia, Letty and Astrid. Cordelia and Letty are best friends that have left their rural town for the big city of New York. Though, for different reasons. Letty wants to make it big and become famous. Cordelia is there to find Darius Grey, a famous gangster that she believe is her father (that left when she was a baby). Astrid, on the other hand, has grown up in New York in luxury. She's currently dating Darius Grey's son and befriends Cordelia. But, of course, shenanigans ensue and everything isn't as simple as it seems.
First of all, I love the setting! This book takes place in the 20's and it felt entirely feel. I admit, I enjoy books that take place in the 20's, it's such an interesting era, but I actually felt like I was in the 20's. Everything was very well-detailed, including the big city.
Also, I love how Anna Godbersen begins her books. I usually hate Prologues that take place in the future, but hers only vaguely hint at what's to come, making me turn the pages faster to figure things out!
One reason why I might've enjoyed this a teensy bit more than The Luxe is how I didn't hate any of the points of view. In The Luxe, there are some perspectives of, basically, the villains and it makes me so upset when I read from their demented perspectives. I actually liked the girls in this book, I didn't love them and they have their flaws, but none of them are Penelope! Though, I did dislike something Cordelia does at the very very beginning (that poor boy).
This book has lots of drama, of course, which generally isn't something I love. This is probably why I can't give this a 4, though, there's less drama in this book than The Luxe. Boy, is that series crazy. Anyway, I still enjoyed this book and the drama, which kind of makes me feel guilty...
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this is a great historical fiction for those who enjoy the 20's, drama, and books featuring the elite. I enjoyed this book and plan on continuing the series.
September 20, 2022
I've never been a very avid young adult reader. The genre bothers me and I feel annoyed when I see young mines burrowed into a book with nothing to teach them. (Hate me if you wish, it's quite alright.) But Anna Godbersen's novels have always made me want to read them, and for many reasons. needless to say when I heard of her release of a new series I was eager to pick it up and eager to read it. Now that I've finished it, I'm reminded once again of her powerful writing style.
First of, Anna Godbersen's novels, including 'Bright Young Things,' are always juicy. There's drama, gossip, deep characters, and her historically accurate prose just makes me giddy. (I'm an extremely proud history major and geek.) When you sit down to read one of her novels you are investing you time into something that I believe is extremely worthwhile.
This particular volume of hers follows two girls from a mid-western town who run away for the big city. Set in the 1920's, they encounter flappers and speakeasies, shifty women and handsome rum-runners. While one has dreams of seeing her name up in lights, another looks for family she never knew. What follows is the first book in a series that will follow their undoubtedly dramatic, yet of course entertaining, lives in New York City.
I think the most inspiring thing concerning Godbersen's novels is the emotion she can pull from the reader. Personally I was shocked, excited, pissed, happy, heartbroken, and absolutely in love while I read through these pages. The girly in me squeed over the gorgeous fashion and the nerd in me may have drooled a few times over the accurate representation of the people, places, and things that filled the pages. There are characters you wish you could call your own friends, characters you want to glomp, characters you love to hate, and characters that you wish you could maim or seriously injure. The pages seem to reflect to you their story, while you reflect back your reactions to every twist and turn.
So yes, a college gal who can't even stand to walk past the young adult section in her local bookstore is calling this one of her favorites, hands down. If that's not enough to get you to read this book then I don't know what is.
First of, Anna Godbersen's novels, including 'Bright Young Things,' are always juicy. There's drama, gossip, deep characters, and her historically accurate prose just makes me giddy. (I'm an extremely proud history major and geek.) When you sit down to read one of her novels you are investing you time into something that I believe is extremely worthwhile.
This particular volume of hers follows two girls from a mid-western town who run away for the big city. Set in the 1920's, they encounter flappers and speakeasies, shifty women and handsome rum-runners. While one has dreams of seeing her name up in lights, another looks for family she never knew. What follows is the first book in a series that will follow their undoubtedly dramatic, yet of course entertaining, lives in New York City.
I think the most inspiring thing concerning Godbersen's novels is the emotion she can pull from the reader. Personally I was shocked, excited, pissed, happy, heartbroken, and absolutely in love while I read through these pages. The girly in me squeed over the gorgeous fashion and the nerd in me may have drooled a few times over the accurate representation of the people, places, and things that filled the pages. There are characters you wish you could call your own friends, characters you want to glomp, characters you love to hate, and characters that you wish you could maim or seriously injure. The pages seem to reflect to you their story, while you reflect back your reactions to every twist and turn.
So yes, a college gal who can't even stand to walk past the young adult section in her local bookstore is calling this one of her favorites, hands down. If that's not enough to get you to read this book then I don't know what is.
October 1, 2017
I love reading books set in the Jazz Age. I've often thought if I found a time machine, the first thing I'd do is set it to the 1920s so I could be a flapper. So when I came across this book on Good Reads, I immediately requested it from the library, not realizing until I was a few chapters in that it's YA. Not that I mind reading young adult books--I've read more than my fair share, probably--but in this case, the setting seemed a bit sanitized. The characters were all in their late teens, hanging out in speakeasies, drinking and flirting--I was like, "Drat, and this is going to have to be PG-13 at best."
That aside, I did enjoy the story in a fun and frothy way. The setting was a nice vicarious trip to the 1920s. The characters were completely lacking in common sense--in the case of Cordelia, so immature that she should move back to Ohio in shame after what happened because of her foolishness--but that's OK. I'll probably track down the next book in the series just to see what happens to the idiots.
Read for Bookworm Bitches 2017 Catch up Challenge
That aside, I did enjoy the story in a fun and frothy way. The setting was a nice vicarious trip to the 1920s. The characters were completely lacking in common sense--in the case of Cordelia, so immature that she should move back to Ohio in shame after what happened because of her foolishness--but that's OK. I'll probably track down the next book in the series just to see what happens to the idiots.
Read for Bookworm Bitches 2017 Catch up Challenge
June 17, 2013
Mindless and entertaining enough, but no substance at all. If Cordelia has enough nerve to make the move to NYC, then why didn't she have enough nerve to do it without marrying that poor boy? Also, Cordelia's lifelong dream has been to reunite with her father, but as soon as she finds him, she becomes obsessed with some boy. You just met your father and fulfilled your ultimate dream. How about you keep it in your pants for a few minutes and spend some time with him instead of sneaking out and lying constantly to hang out with your boyfriend of five minutes who you have fallen instantly in love with? You're super-awesome at keeping secrets, too. How long after your brother let you in on a pretty important secret did you decide to betray him and share that information with your father's arch nemesis? Was it 30 seconds, or did it take the full minute? A dumb, selfish, a-hole is what you are, Cordelia. I wish that airplane had hit you you sorry heifer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2020
On the positive side, the writing was good and the story flowed well. The perspectives jumped a fair amount but with the right pacing, I felt. However, these three girls, especially Cordelia, are awful human beings. There’s only so much you can excuse to naïveté - most of that selfishness and apathy is personality. When hearing about tragedy befalling each other, or anyone, they think about how it will affect their next chance to hook up with their latest love interest. Whenever anyone tries to help them, they ignore the advice but take the help, financial or favor, without a thank you or appreciation. If they’re asked for something in return, they never do it. They brush off every obligation with some wittily-written quip and a “toss of their golden/coal black hair” and say “I’ll make it up to you.” I’m sure in the next two books, based on the insensitive of these women so far, they won’t remember. Their entitlement is way too strong for me to finish this series, I’m shocked I made it through but it was sheer willpower to give it a chance since a friend had recommended it. But I would skip it.
Minor spoiler, these happen in the first 40 or so pages:
The reaction to successfully finding your father you’ve never met was agonizingly awful. Being not only accepted, but welcomed AND waited on hand and foot, respected and adored - all he wants to do is spend time with Cordelia - and she brushes him off to sneak out with boys. Even Astrid does the same, even if an event is in her honor. Shockingly terrible role models.
Minor spoiler, these happen in the first 40 or so pages:
The reaction to successfully finding your father you’ve never met was agonizingly awful. Being not only accepted, but welcomed AND waited on hand and foot, respected and adored - all he wants to do is spend time with Cordelia - and she brushes him off to sneak out with boys. Even Astrid does the same, even if an event is in her honor. Shockingly terrible role models.
August 30, 2024
Last night, my husband pulled the blue Nationwide pet insurance blanket over his head and said, "You are the weirdest person to insist on finishing books you absolutely hate."
Dear reader, he is right but I can't quit my "punishment," as I like to call it.
This time, however, I was bludgeoned with such a subpar, "that's not writing, that's just typing!" pile of Jazz age bullshit that I must cry uncle. A novel that takes place over TWO WEEKS but felt like two millennia. With three "heroines" who are the DUMBEST, most venal idiots to ever grace the pages made from a dead tree.
I got this book as a Free Friday when I worked at Barnes and Noble. Don't even ask if I am going to read the rest of this "trilogy."
Remember how I said I'd do better? I have another Godbersen book I got for Free Fridays, The Luxe. I swear I will delete it and not read it. That's a promise I make to myself!
Dear reader, he is right but I can't quit my "punishment," as I like to call it.
This time, however, I was bludgeoned with such a subpar, "that's not writing, that's just typing!" pile of Jazz age bullshit that I must cry uncle. A novel that takes place over TWO WEEKS but felt like two millennia. With three "heroines" who are the DUMBEST, most venal idiots to ever grace the pages made from a dead tree.
I got this book as a Free Friday when I worked at Barnes and Noble. Don't even ask if I am going to read the rest of this "trilogy."
Remember how I said I'd do better? I have another Godbersen book I got for Free Fridays, The Luxe. I swear I will delete it and not read it. That's a promise I make to myself!
Read
February 2, 2021I DID IT! I'm going to spoil the hell out of this, but I can't imagine it's on anyone's tbr lol.
I have owned this book since it came out in 2010 and when I was fifteen and this book was the kind of thing I like to read. I'm no longer 15 and don't enjoy this kind of book anymore, but I was determined to banish it from my physical tbr forever. AND I FINALLY DID IT.
All in all, it wasn't that bad, but it had some ridiculous moments at the end that all happened together and caused me to laugh at the book. The character Letty is a wet Lettuce (hehe) and it's a pet peeve of mine when characters are naive and make their own misfortune with how little they know about the world. Actually, no - multiple people told her to stay away from the person who upset her, so it's her fault. I'd be surprised if someone paid a nameless singer $35 in 2021, nevermind 1929.
And then there's Cordelia who finds her long lost father, only to be seduced by her father's enemy into revealing a hidden tunnel to his house, which then gets her father shot TWO WEEKS after she met him. And he dies.
This is a series and I have a sick curiosity to find out what happens, but it may be the wiki pages for me.
I have owned this book since it came out in 2010 and when I was fifteen and this book was the kind of thing I like to read. I'm no longer 15 and don't enjoy this kind of book anymore, but I was determined to banish it from my physical tbr forever. AND I FINALLY DID IT.
All in all, it wasn't that bad, but it had some ridiculous moments at the end that all happened together and caused me to laugh at the book. The character Letty is a wet Lettuce (hehe) and it's a pet peeve of mine when characters are naive and make their own misfortune with how little they know about the world. Actually, no - multiple people told her to stay away from the person who upset her, so it's her fault. I'd be surprised if someone paid a nameless singer $35 in 2021, nevermind 1929.
And then there's Cordelia who finds her long lost father, only to be seduced by her father's enemy into revealing a hidden tunnel to his house, which then gets her father shot TWO WEEKS after she met him. And he dies.
This is a series and I have a sick curiosity to find out what happens, but it may be the wiki pages for me.
June 24, 2012
Brb.
Falling off a cliff.
.
.
All I wanted was a light summer read for the heat wave that's not leaving New Jersey right now.
That's not too much to ask, right?
Ugh.
Everything about Bright Young Things was bad. I'm not even lying to you when I say that. This is the epitome of a bad book. Epitome because the cover looks gorgeous, but the inside is death itself.
I really, really enjoyed The Luxe and I went into this book expecting great things, so what exactly happened????!!
The characters were one-dimensional, the writing was fucking horrible, and the plot was slow and uninteresting.
Godbersen's writing style is a bunch of bad description. Description that's so over described that I was just waiting for the sentences to end. There were run-on sentences every fucking where. The passages were so over descriptive that I understood what the author was trying to say within the first few words. It was so over descriptive that half of the book is description about the most mundane things ever. But mainly, the author does that shit I told you I hate. And this is probably my fiasdfkjaskfjasdfasdfth time pointing it out:
“… for I like to pee…”
“… for she ran away laughing…”
"…for I poop…"
“…for I was tired…”
“…for I was scared that we would die…”
“…for the room was dark…”
"…for I didn't like her…"
“…for in that moment…”
You can find some other way to describe those shits. God.
IT'S REALLY NOT THAT DIFFICULT.
Why do people make things so fucking troublesome?
Other examples of her horrendous writing:
"She knew the timetable by heart, for running away was an obsessive fantasy that had carried no special urgency until the dawning hours of that particular day, when the notion that she was to be married had ceased to seem absurd and faraway, and she had begun to apprehend it with a kind of dread" (Godbersen 7).
"But the newest girls to alight in Manhattan could not possibly have known yet how pregnant with possibility every closed door should appear to them" (Godbersen 52).
LOL. Pregnant?? I'm sorry, but the word pregnant just sticks out like a fucking sore thumb. Every closed door is PREGNANT with possibilities???? HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH
"By then she knew that the flaky, crescent-shaped pastries they brought in the morning were called croissants, and she had gathered―although she still hadn't heard anything to confirm it―that the bizarre flowers filling the tall, rectangular silver vases all over the room were calla lilies, even though they were more austere and futuristic than any lily she had ever seen, like flowers that grew on the moon (Godbersen, 118).
What are you even saying???????????
Bad diction. Bad syntax. Just bad writing.
NEEEEXT.
The only character I was invested in was Cordelia. I already said this my status update, but I'm going to say it again. I admire and fucking hate her guts. Basically, Cordelia runs away from home because she wants to meet her bootlegger father. But you should know that Cordelia has a husband back home. Yeah, man. And the reason why she married that man was because she had sex with him and everyone found out. OHHHHH HOT DAMN. Shit just got real. whaddaskank.
Before I address the other characters, I have something to point out before I go insane.
Darius Grey, Cordelia's father, the bootlegger she wanted to find and does find, IS LITERALLY DORIAN GRAY.
LITERALLY.
Even his name is just like Dorian Gray. Everyone knows The Picture of Dorian Gray, right? By Oscar Wilde, one of the best writers in the world. How can you not? It's so iconic. But if you don't, Dorian Gray is basically about this beautiful man who lives a secret, double life. In the day, he is a classy, good person who wants to live his life to the fullest. At night, he's a hardcore opium user who takes pleasures in girls and maybe guys. I don't know. Homosexuality in that book is a gray area. But anyways, Dorian Gray is special because he's obsessed with staying young forever. In fact, he trades his soul for eternal youth.
And look what Darius Grey says: '"I thought I'd live forever...'" (Godbersen, 150)
I didn't finish this book, but I'm pretty this Darius Grey character is parallel to Dorian Gray. They're both people who do scandalous shit at night and throw crazy-ass parties.
Of course, Darius can't be compared to Dorian.
Letty and Astrid are both petty people with petty problems. That's all I have to say.
I wish Godbersen actually did research on this time period. Especially the names. Here's a website I think you should use next time: CLICK
I stopped on page 180 and I don't plan on continuing. The plot is building up super fucking slowly, and I'm tired of it.
All joking aside, I promise you I was bored to tears reading this piece of crap.
Sayonara, Godbersen. Never picking up another book from you again, even if that means giving up on The Luxe series.
--
I'm not drunk, I'm just intoxicated by you.
Falling off a cliff.
.
.
All I wanted was a light summer read for the heat wave that's not leaving New Jersey right now.
That's not too much to ask, right?
Ugh.
Everything about Bright Young Things was bad. I'm not even lying to you when I say that. This is the epitome of a bad book. Epitome because the cover looks gorgeous, but the inside is death itself.
I really, really enjoyed The Luxe and I went into this book expecting great things, so what exactly happened????!!
The characters were one-dimensional, the writing was fucking horrible, and the plot was slow and uninteresting.
Godbersen's writing style is a bunch of bad description. Description that's so over described that I was just waiting for the sentences to end. There were run-on sentences every fucking where. The passages were so over descriptive that I understood what the author was trying to say within the first few words. It was so over descriptive that half of the book is description about the most mundane things ever. But mainly, the author does that shit I told you I hate. And this is probably my fiasdfkjaskfjasdfasdfth time pointing it out:
“… for I like to pee…”
“… for she ran away laughing…”
"…for I poop…"
“…for I was tired…”
“…for I was scared that we would die…”
“…for the room was dark…”
"…for I didn't like her…"
“…for in that moment…”
You can find some other way to describe those shits. God.
IT'S REALLY NOT THAT DIFFICULT.
Why do people make things so fucking troublesome?
Other examples of her horrendous writing:
"She knew the timetable by heart, for running away was an obsessive fantasy that had carried no special urgency until the dawning hours of that particular day, when the notion that she was to be married had ceased to seem absurd and faraway, and she had begun to apprehend it with a kind of dread" (Godbersen 7).
"But the newest girls to alight in Manhattan could not possibly have known yet how pregnant with possibility every closed door should appear to them" (Godbersen 52).
LOL. Pregnant?? I'm sorry, but the word pregnant just sticks out like a fucking sore thumb. Every closed door is PREGNANT with possibilities???? HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH
"By then she knew that the flaky, crescent-shaped pastries they brought in the morning were called croissants, and she had gathered―although she still hadn't heard anything to confirm it―that the bizarre flowers filling the tall, rectangular silver vases all over the room were calla lilies, even though they were more austere and futuristic than any lily she had ever seen, like flowers that grew on the moon (Godbersen, 118).
What are you even saying???????????
Bad diction. Bad syntax. Just bad writing.
NEEEEXT.
The only character I was invested in was Cordelia. I already said this my status update, but I'm going to say it again. I admire and fucking hate her guts. Basically, Cordelia runs away from home because she wants to meet her bootlegger father. But you should know that Cordelia has a husband back home. Yeah, man. And the reason why she married that man was because she had sex with him and everyone found out. OHHHHH HOT DAMN. Shit just got real. whaddaskank.
Before I address the other characters, I have something to point out before I go insane.
Darius Grey, Cordelia's father, the bootlegger she wanted to find and does find, IS LITERALLY DORIAN GRAY.
LITERALLY.
Even his name is just like Dorian Gray. Everyone knows The Picture of Dorian Gray, right? By Oscar Wilde, one of the best writers in the world. How can you not? It's so iconic. But if you don't, Dorian Gray is basically about this beautiful man who lives a secret, double life. In the day, he is a classy, good person who wants to live his life to the fullest. At night, he's a hardcore opium user who takes pleasures in girls and maybe guys. I don't know. Homosexuality in that book is a gray area. But anyways, Dorian Gray is special because he's obsessed with staying young forever. In fact, he trades his soul for eternal youth.
And look what Darius Grey says: '"I thought I'd live forever...'" (Godbersen, 150)
I didn't finish this book, but I'm pretty this Darius Grey character is parallel to Dorian Gray. They're both people who do scandalous shit at night and throw crazy-ass parties.
Of course, Darius can't be compared to Dorian.
Letty and Astrid are both petty people with petty problems. That's all I have to say.
I wish Godbersen actually did research on this time period. Especially the names. Here's a website I think you should use next time: CLICK
I stopped on page 180 and I don't plan on continuing. The plot is building up super fucking slowly, and I'm tired of it.
All joking aside, I promise you I was bored to tears reading this piece of crap.
Sayonara, Godbersen. Never picking up another book from you again, even if that means giving up on The Luxe series.
--
I'm not drunk, I'm just intoxicated by you.
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