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. ( )

I've been sitting here for about 30 minutes with this window open, trying to figure out how exactly to go about reviewing this book. Bright Young Things is one of those stories that took me a while to be invested in, but once I was it was with fervor! I'm just stumbling a bit on how to describe precisely what about it didn't sit right with me. This will likely be a rambling review, so if you are afraid, don't read on. If you are brave, well away we go!

First of all, I loved the character development that Anna Godbersen put into place in Bright Young Things. Each and every character that is brought into the story is fleshed out beautifully, and as a reader you really get to see deeply into their lives. My favorite character was definitely Astrid. Her carefree attitude and her ability to talk her ability to use her silver tongue to talk her way out of situations was fabulous! Honestly, it was her character that I believed in the most, and understood the most.

The other part of this book that I really loved was the setting. The "Roaring 20's" has fascinated me since I was younger. I love how this was such a time of change, such a time of progress for women. Sure, a lot of it was still seen as scandalous by the older generation, but these women were brave and bold. They did, said, and wore what they wanted despite the consequences. It's amazing! Anna Godbersen manages to bring this time period to life with beautiful clarity, and show it to the reader in different ways through they eyes of her various characters. It was a delight!

However my love for this book was hampered by some of the decisions made by the characters in the storyline. Perhaps if I had grown up during this time period I would understand, but it seemed to me that there was so much selfishness within Cordelia. Her character especially drove me crazy. Some of the scenes just felt forced and slowed the plot down for me. That being said, the overall progress of the story was very slow for me until I neared the end of the book. Yes, I understand a lot of it was used to build characters. Still, it was tough for me to get immersed fully in the story. It wasn't until the end that I was caught up, and reading fervently to find out what happened. The ending was fantastic, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes next.

As you can see from my rambling review, I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed it overall, but it wasn't one of my favorites of the year. I do believe though that if you have an affinity for historical fiction and a love of Contemporary fiction combined, you'll fall in love with this book. It's already been affirmed for me by some other readers I've talked to. My point is that this book may not have been my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean you won't love it! Definitely give it a read. ( )

The girls of 1929...just pages into the book we learn that “long before the next decade rolled around...one would be famous, one would be married, and one would be dead”.

How’s that for a start? Before we’ve even met the characters, we know their fates.
That pulled me in right away. And when I realized this was book 1 in a 3 book series, I ordered the second one because I assumed there was no way we’d know what happened at the end of this book.

The characters are three young women. Letty and Cordelia are best friends, they are from a small town in Ohio. Letty dreams of being a star and Cordelia dreams of meeting her father.

Astrid runs with the wealthy crowd but isn’t rich herself. She dates Charlie, son of the famous bootlegger Darius Grey.
Darius also happens to be Cordelia’s father. So, just as Letty and Cordelia part ways, Cordelia and Astrid’s lives intersect.

I liked this unique take on a story set in the twenties. I feel like I’ve never read a book set in this timeframe with such young characters. These girls are barely out of high school. Normally, the books I’ve read set in the 1920’s have featured characters in their twenties and thirties. While this might not seem like a huge difference, it has meant the stories are about married women usually. And they can be at very sad, jaded points in their lives. Have you read Z about Zelda Fitzgerald? Great book but so sad at times.
I found it really refreshing to read about characters who are young and not jaded or hurt by the unique atmosphere of the twenties. They just feel excited about what ever big moment is around the corner.

I liked Astrid best I think, Letty second. Cordelia can be a bit hard to love at times.

Book 2 is in the mail and I look forward to resuming the story of these characters and I will definitely keep reading till I find out which one died, which one got married and which became a star. :) ( )

**I DNF'd this book at 72%**

I could probably rant for DAYS on why these girls are just plain awful but I'll try to keep it short and logical.

I'm not going to sugar-coat it either: these girls seemed like complete idiots to me. And I get it, Cordelia and Letty are supposed to be the naive young girls from the country trying to make it in the big city on their own. That's the premise of the story and I can forgive that. But they literally lack any intelligence. Sames goes for the "big city girl" Astrid. The elevator just doesn't reach the top floor for any of these girls.

It doesn't help that they are all very selfish girls either. They all think the universe should revolve around them (and I truthfully think Letty does believe it revolves around her) and so they act like it does. They don't give any thought about the impact their actions with have on anyone and that drove me bananas!

And when you detest the leads, you count on the plot to keep you interested but there really isn't much of one here. Unfortunately, this is a very character driven story. You really are just following these girls through their mundane lives of bad decisions and selfish actions. It's very boring to read/listen to.

Check out more spoiler-free book and series reviews on my blog SERIESousBookReviews.com as well as read book series recaps!

Full Review: http://wp.me/p7hLUw-260
Actual Rating: 2/5 ( )

Not sure I like this as much as I did Luxe... but that certainly won't stop me! ( )