Bright Young Things

by:  Anna Godberson
published by:  Harper

The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the roaring twenties.



Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey have escaped their small Midwestern town to chase their big city dreams. In New York, they meet Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have everything she could ever want.


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 thoroughly enjoyed The Luxe series so I had high hopes for this book.  It lived up to expectations in my opinion.  It was somewhat similar to The Luxe series except that it was set during the Summer of 1929. 

Letty and Cordelia were both very likeable characters.  Astrid was kinda eh.  I think she was the girl you were supposed to not like, but there wasn't much about her to not like.  

This book reminded me a lot of The Great Gatsby.  If that's a book you liked, I think you would find this book pretty interesting.  The back of the book  indicates that it'll be a series and it should be an interesting time period to continue this story of affluent young women.  I'm looking forward to the next book already.

The Luxe Series

by Anna Godbersen

Turn of the Century catty girls and fabulous dresses is the 2 second version of the 4 book series. I finally finished up the 4th book recently. The order, by the way, is The Luxe, Rumors, Envy, and Splendor. The whole time I was reading them it seemed to me that it would make a great show on The CW...probably not one I'd watch, but that type of teen melodrama doesn't exactly appeal to me. The books are classified as Young Adult which is right on target. Even though they're fairly long they're very easy to read and not complicated. Parents of teens need not worry there's no cussing and any sex is glossed over. My favorite thing about these books were the etiquette tips from the 1900s scattered throughout...my my how far we've come.  Overall I thought they were a fun, light read...perfect read for the beach.