The Roaring Twenties: Double Review

I hope everyone had a nice holiday season. We had a lovely Christmas with lots of chocolate and a darling 2 year old squealing over every tiny thing.
Now that things have settled down a bit, I can hopefully get back into the groove of reviewing! I must confess I haven't been reading nearly as much, but I noticed a definite trend in the past couple of weeks: The roaring twenties! That exotic decade where women are devastatingly feminine but tried so hard to hide their figures under boyishly cut dresses. Where speakeasies and the prohibition were the hot topics, and long hair was so passe. It was a decade that almost didn't seem to fit between the 1910s and 1930s. And here we are almost 100 years later, as if we can't help being fascinated. And really, you can't.

Bright Young Things, by Anna Godbersen
Young Adult, 2011

from the publisher:
Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York's glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star. . . .
Cordelia is searching for the father she's never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined - and more dangerous. It's a life anyone would kill for . . . and someone will.
The only person Cordelia can trust is Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia's brother, Charlie. But Astrid's perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets.
Across the vast lawns of Long Island, in the illicit speakeasies of Manhattan, and on the blindingly lit stages of Broadway, the three girls' fortunes will rise and fall - together and apart.

I've had this on my Shelfari bookcase since I heard it was coming out, and then was very patient until my library finally put it on the hold shelf for me. Anna Godbersen wrote the Luxe series and I was a big fan of her writing and creativity. She doesn't fail this time around. Her first paragraphs immediately transport you back to the 20s and within a few words you're caught up in the excitement the author has concocted for you.
The characters are thankfully each their own unique person, and the streets of New York are delightfully captured by Godbersen without seeming cliche or touristy. Cordelia's new relationship with her father was believable, but her new relationship with brother Charlie was odd. I never quite understood whether they liked each other or not - the trust there seemed to hang on an edge one minute and be solid the next. However, I'm sure many questions will be answered in Beautiful Days, the sequel due out December, 2011.

Graded a B+.
(Note: The plot was a B-; the writing brings it up.)



And then a similar book, a debut this year was published around the same time. Was I skeptical? Absolutely. Anna Godbersen has one thing going strong for her - she can write. No matter how good of a plot Vixen had, could it live up to those expectations?

The Flappers: Vixen, by Lila Fine and Jillian Larkin
(Note: Lila Fine is mentioned on this particular cover and fantasticfiction.co.uk. However, only Jillian Larkin is given credit in the copy I read and on Amazon.)
Young Adult, 2010

Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle - and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she's engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago's most powerful families, Gloria's party days are over before they've even begun . . . or are they?
Clara Knowles, Gloria's goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch - but Clara isn't as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she'll do anything to keep hidden. . . .
Lorraine Dyer, Gloria's social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria's shadow. When Lorraine's envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone's going to be very sorry. . . .

The story line is intriguing. I expected many similarities to Godbersen's book, although there were less than I had anticipated. The plot keeps moving and you learn to love one of the characters, hate the other, and wonder about the third. And then of course there is Marcus. What would we do without men like Marcus haunting our books and making the girls fall in love with him? A fun wrench in the bike, the plot overall was decent. In its own way, in fact, just as good, if not better as Godbersen's plot. However, the writing didn't quite reach the high expectations I set for it - perhaps I should have read this one first.

Graded a B-.
(Note: The plot is about a B/B-, the writing keeps it at a B- overall.)

And the sequel, Ingenue, is also due out next year. Perhaps another double review? :)