Review: Bright Young Things

BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS
Anna Godberson

Bright Young Things follows the story of three young girls living in New York City during 1929 -- the Jazz Age. The story opens with Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur - two small-town Ohio girls - catching a train to New York City. While Letty hopes to become an actress or singer, Cordelia hopes to find the father she never knew. Once in the city, the girls' paths diverge as Letty winds up working in a speakeasy and Cordelia manages to find her rich, bootlegging father. She also meets the third focus of the book, Astrid Donal, a young socialite in love with Cordelia's half-brother.

As excited as I was about this book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I loved Anna Godberson's previous Luxe series so much and because the two are so similar it's difficult to read Bright Young Things without comparing the two. The setting here is incredible, capturing the glamour, ritz, and precarious balance of the time. It's absolutely beautiful and throughout the story there's this feeling of this can't last, as if I was just waiting for other other shoe to drop because I knew the perfection of these character's lives would have to end sooner or later. And this, as it turns out, is sort of the problem with the book; everything seems too perfect and for much of the novel it remains that way. There's a lot of set-up and backstory here and while it gives the book a laid-back, glitzy feeling, it also means that the book eventually starts to drag.

Each of the characters is different and unique, from starry-eyed Letty to tough-as-nails Astrid. However, in spite of that I felt a lack of connection with them for the most part. For the most part I didn't feel myself emotionally invested in Astrid or Letty's stories and while I loved Cordelia I found it difficult to swallow a few of the decisions she made, especially after traveling so far to find her father (if you've read the book you may know what I'm thinking of here). The relationships in this book were also a bit less than what I was hoping for. Though each girl had a love interest throughout the story I found it difficult to really root for any of the pairings and the book's focus on them really slowed it down for me.

To call the voice of this novel flawless might be a stretch, but not much of one. Godberson has a true gift for writing passages that manage to be sad, beautiful, and hopeful at the same time and there are certain lines here that I thought were absolutely perfect. Overall, this is a glitzy, glamorous, and slow-moving novel that, as great as it is, really does feel like the first in a series, which is a something of a drawback. There's a lack of connection to the characters and relationships, however there's also a huge sense of possibility and what-will-happen-next here that really raises the book up.

*this review is part of the Teen {Book} Scene Tours

The Saddest Ending of All Times & Ever

A while back Adele, from Persnickety Snark did a post on the marriage of Jo and the professor (surely he had a name, right?) in Little Women. In it, she asked us what elements or events in a certain book are things that we just can't move past. When I first read her post I thought that, for me at least, there wasn't really anything I could think of. Generally, even if I don't agree with how certain characters end up or how a storyline goes in a book, I trust that the author knows what he or she is doing. After all: it's not my story; it's the author's.

And then, when Anna Godberson's new novel Bright Young Things arrived in my mailbox, I remembered. That one book, that one thing that I just can't get over. And I wish the book I cared that much about was a classic like Little Women, but it's not. It's the last book of Godberson's Luxe series -- Splendor.


Let me backtrack.

A couple of years ago I bought the novel Luxe. I don't remember why exactly, because I'm not usually a fan of Gossip-Girl type books or historical, but the cover was so beautiful and it was in paperback at Wal-Mart and I wanted something to read. And to say that I loved it would be an understatement. Luxe completely pulled me into its chaotic, glamorous, gossipy pre-20th-century world. I went out and bought the second book in the series (Rumors) the day after finishing the first book. Incredibly, I loved the second book even more. The characters! The intrigue! The twists and turns! In all honesty, the Luxe series just got better and better...

...and then I got to the fourth and last book, Splendor. And not to spoil anything for those of you who might read it, but do you know what the last couple of chapters did to me? They destroyed me, that's what. Characters I had held my breath for and cheered on since the beginning got endings that I was wholly unprepared for. What went down as one of my favorite YA couples of all time didn't end up together. Can I help it if, in my mind, I still imagine that they wound up together? Even if the ending doesn't support this theory at all? Because that ending? Let's just say IT WAS NOT SMILES TIMES IN THE LAND OF JORDYN. There was much anger. And sadness. And omg I cannot get over it. (Yes, I read the author's explanation of the ending. It did not help how sad it made me and how not-right it seemed.)

Now. Let us think of happier things, shall we? Whoever can tell me where the reference "we are not smiles times" comes from IS THE WINNER. (Of what? Of WINNING, der. Bragging rights.)

Top 10: Series

I promised more top 10 lists, didn't I? Well, starting from the top I'm going to be tackling the topics over at Random Ramblings Top Ten Picks meme. (When I come up with more of my own topics, I'll post those, too. I'm such a sucker for top 10 lists.)

1. Baby-Sitters Club, by Ann M. Martin. It's not the most consistent, not the best writing, not the best anything, but it is one of my great literary loves. It was the first series I was hooked on that wasn't somehow, in some way, related to school. These were my trashy novels (ha!), the books my mother disapproved of, the characters I couldn't quite believe and still loved. The BSC was my obsession and, like so many of my obsessions, I haven't quite gotten over it yet.
2. Luxe, by Anna Godberson. Despite the fact that the last book in the series, SPLENDOR, was the single most disappointing book of my young life, I love this series. It's incredible. Though it's been compared numerous times to Gossip Girl, there's a certain flair here, a spark that only comes with really, really great books. There are lines in these novels that struck such a chord with me when I read them and continue to hit close to home long after. The characters here, their lives and choices and how the story unfolds is just amazing.
3. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares. Come on. It's sort of iconic, right?
4. Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket. One of the most inventive, imaginative series out there. This is the type of series that the first time you discover it, the first time you read the books, is pure magic and though it never seems quite the same in subsequent readings, that magic, wonderful feeling stays. The feeling of discovering something amazing, something completely different.
5. Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins. MOCKINGJAY might just be the best YA novel I've ever read and on the whole I loved the entire journey from heart-aching beginning to the painful end. Collins is a master of world-building and setting, and as a result this is one of the best series out there.
6. Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson. Though this series isn't over yet, the books are definitely some of the most hilarious and crazyawesome that I've come across. It helps, of course, to have Spencer Martin (love!) as a main character, but it helps even more that Johnson's trademark internet-humor is here and even if the rest of the series was crap (it isn't) that alone would probably carry it.
7. Peaches, by Jodi Lynn Anderson. Less well-known than the traveling pants series, this is another story of friendship, love, and heartbreak. And though it's lower on the list, in a lot of ways I prefer it. The characters have less epic storylines, but the setting is so incredible, the character's growth is so real, and it's such a gem of a series that it's a bit sad it never got the large readership it deserved.
8. The Naughty List, by Suzanne Young. Another series that isn't finished yet, this is a funny, cute, cute series. Spies, cheerleaders, and skeezy boyfriends make for a winning series here. Seriously, reading these books is like eating a piece of pie. MADE OF RAINBOWS AND SUNSHINE.
9. Uglies trilogy, by Scott Westerfeld. One of the first dystopian series I read, it's an incredible and futuristic read. The characters are sharp, the world-building is sharper, and nothing here feels lacking.
10. Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. Yes, seriously. Because as much as the last book sucked and as much as I hated Edward and thought his relationship with Bella was completely abusive, I loved the emotions of this book. And, yes, I loved Bella.