Splendor

Author: Anna Godbersen

New beginnings. Shocking revelations. Unexpected endings.

As spring turns into summer, Elizabeth relishes her new role as a young wife, while her sister, Diana, searches for adventure abroad. But when a surprising clue about their father's death comes to light, the Holland girls wonder at what cost a life of splendor comes.

Carolina Broad, society's newest darling, fans a flame from her past, oblivious to how it might burn her future. Penelope Schoonmaker is finally Manhattan royalty- but when a real prince visits the city, she covets a title that comes with a crown. Her husband, Henry, bravely went to war, only to discover that his father's rule extends well beyond New Yorks' shores and that fighting for love may prove a losing battle.

In the dramatic conclusion to the bestselling Luxe series, New York's most dazzling socialites chase dreams, cling to promises, and tempt fate. As society watches what will become of the city's oldest families and newest fortunes, one question remains: Will its stars fade away or will they shine ever brighter?

Just to put it out there: I demand another sequel!!! 

However, sadly, it's not to be. But, then again, I'm sure anyone reading this is tired of all my reviews on the series. But I just loved them so much! 

Again, I loved everything that I loved in all the other ones, like the characters, the openers, transitions, etc., so I won't talk about them again. If you want to read about those, you can see the reviews for The Luxe, Rumors,  or Envy.

I have to respect Anna Godbersen for all the twists she puts in her books. This was definitely the most intense book in the series, especially everything with Elizabeth. And, while I wasn't personally a fan for a few of the characters' endings (mostly because I love happy endings), I have to admit they were still wonderful! She always surprises you with everything, because nowadays we're so used to the happy ending, instead of the realistic one. But Godbersen definitely goes the realistic route. In my opinion, that's really a mark of a good author, when they're confident enough about their books that they don't feel the need to do what's happy or popular. So, kudos on that!

Also, I love how Godbersen doesn't feel the need to tell us every little thing or every piece of dialog. For example, the beginning of this novel is several months after the end of the last one, and plenty had happened in that time. She really knew what was necessary to the story and didn't waste time having to go over everything, especially the things we already know. So many authors make me so mad, because when someone asks for an explanation that we have already read, they actually make the them explain the whole thing over again! I mean, we already read it, why do we need to read it again? But there is thankfully none of that in these books, which is wonderful.

The only downfall in this book was actually some of the dialog. I thought it got a bit cheesy and overdramatic at times, which hadn't happened in the other ones. It lost some of the realism that I do love so much. But overall, it wasn't too big of a deal and I got over it. 

As you can most probably tell, I loved it. It was intense and unexpected throughout the whole thing. So, READ IT! The whole series, actually, because you won't understand what's happening if you start in the last book. But anyways, again, short review, but the series stays so consistent, that most of the things I like stay the same, so I don't want to constantly repeat everything. Next, I'm going to read a biography about-who else?- Marie Antoinette. It's called Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France by Evelyne Lever and I actually found it IN Barnes and Noble. They rarely have Marie Antoinette book IN the store, so I felt very happy and I'm excited to read it! So, I'll probably do a review on it, if I have anything to say... But if not, then I won't, but I'll post something else! 

So, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Envy

Author: Anna Godbersen

Jealous whispers. Old rivalries. New betrayls.

Two months after Elizabeth Holland's dramatic homecoming. Manhattan eagerly awaits her return to the pinnacle of society. However, when she refuses to rejoin her sister Diana's side, those watching New York's favorite family begin to whisper that all is not as it seems behind the stately doors of No. 17 Gramercy Park.

In this thrilling installment of Anna Godbersens's bestselling Luxe series, Manhattan's most envied residents appear to have everything they desire: Wealth. Beauty. Happiness. But sometimes the most practiced smiles hide the most scandalous secrets....

So, just for reference and in case you didn't realize it, I most definitely did not write the italicized part above. I have made an executive decision based on the fact that I hate writing plot summaries because I never know what to tell everyone about and what to let them read themselves, so normally I give WAY too much away. So, I stole the idea of letting the author explain the plot of the book, since they know exactly what they want the reader to know going into the book, from about a million other review blogs.... It might just be laziness on my part, but I like to think the best summary comes from the person who wrote the whole book. =D So, from now on, I think I'm going to get the plot explained by posting what the back or the inside cover says the book is about. 

So, anyways, on to the actual review of this book! As with the past two books, I loved it, although maybe not as much as I loved the other ones. However, I still really enjoyed the chapter openers, transitions, the balance of all the different stories of the characters, and the time period, but I've talked about all of those in the other reviews. So, you can read about that stuff in my posts about The Luxe and Rumors.

I only had two problems with this particular book that I didn't have with the rest of the series, and they kind of disappointed me. My first was that a few of the chapters were dragging in my opinion. I've never felt like I didn't want a certain character's part to come up before, but I definitely felt like that for most of  Lina/Carolina's parts turned up after she returned from Florida. Also, her parts were really disjointed after that, as well. In one chapter she was back in the hotel after her return, in the next she was working for another society lady, in the next she was trying to get a job in a dressmaker's shop, and then she was at the will reading. But they were relatively short chapters, so it was all good, and we got to the parts I was more excited to read. =D

The other problem was predictability. I guessed Carolina and Elizabeth's big problems in the beginning of the book and so I wasn't very surprised when they happen. I'm used to having my jaw drop in this series, and I have NEVER predicted something completely correctly until this book. However, the ending was still completely unexpected, so that's the most important, because it was definitely setting up the next (and final!) novel. 

A new point that I loved that I didn't really think about until this book (but it was still really present in the others!) was that the author definitely succeeds in making you have feelings about the characters. I personally hate Penelope with a passion and I really hope she falls in a ditch in the next book, and I admit I smiled at the very end when she was upset. I feel really bad for Diana and Elizabeth because of their lost loves and really hope the end of the story is going to make them happy!!! You can also really tell that Henry has lost his way, and while he's trying to fix it, everything he does seems to make the situation worse and I feel for him. However, my opinion changes a lot about Carolina. I don't hate her, but I definitely don't like her, since she's pretty much the cause of the biggest problem. But, that's ok. I think that Anna Godbersen is doing a really good job with developing her characters and making each one unique from the other, which a lot of authors fail at when they write from the different point of views. 

So, I definitely loved the book, and I recommend it, along with the rest of the The Luxe series! As for me, I'm going to read the last book in the series, Splendor. Sorry if you're tired of those reviews, but I want to read it, so I'm going to! I'm just a selfish person, I guess. =D But, as always, if you have any comments, questions, recommendations, or anything, leave a comment! I just love those. =D 

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Rumors

Author: Anna Godbersen

I literally finished this book about ten minutes ago and I'm STILL shocked!! Rumors was incredible and just as good as the first novel in the series: The Luxe. It's so insane! Just for reference, if you haven't read the first book, but plan to, I recommend NOT reading this review because there will be spoilers from The Luxe, but I'll try not to give away anything important for the second book! Don't you just hate when people do that?

So, this book centers on Elizabeth Holland, Diana Holland, Penelope Hayes, Lina Broud (aka Carolina Broad), and Henry Schoonmaker. As you'll know from the first book (if you read it!), Elizabeth had faked her death to escape from marrying Henry, because she was in love with her stableboy, Will Keller. She also knew that her little sister, Diana, was in love with Henry, and he with her. So, Elizabeth was finally reunited with Will in California, while New York's society is still in mourning for her death, except for those who knew that Elizabeth was actually still alive: Diana and Penelope. Henry is initially extremely upset because he believed that Elizabeth had killed herself to escape him, but when he finds out the truth from Penelope, who was trying to get Henry for herself, he finally realizes that he and Diana could be together. From there, a series of betrayals, gossip, secret deals, and even blackmail take place. Put that together with the extremely unexpected ending, and you have a great plot! I couldn't put the book down! I literally spent my last night of spring break reading! 

Now, usually, I'm not a big fan of those books that switch between different characters' points of view, because very few people can effectively make a graceful transition between them. However, Anna Godbersen does a very good job! I like how each character has their own chapter, instead of everything switching mid-chapter. I thought it made it a lot less confusing than other books like this. 

Once again, I loved the little chapter openers! I thought they helped the transitions a lot, because they made the switch between chapters less abrupt and smoother. They also gave you a clue about what was going to happen in each chapter, even if they were a bit ironic a lot of the time. But most of all, I think that they make you feel more involved in the story and like you're there. 

I loved the fact that it was set in the late 1800s and that the story lead right up to December 31st. I thought it was a good place to end the story and I think will make the next book seem like a new beginning for everything. 

And really, I think that's all I want to talk about right now. Sorry if the review is too short! But, overall I LOVED it. I highly recommend them to everyone! I actually went out to the bookstore last night to get the next book in the series, Envy, so that I could just continue on with the story. And now I'm extremely glad that I did, because I just HAVE to know what happens next! So, that's what I'm going to start reading as soon as I press the lovely Publish button. I'll get the review up soon!

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

The Luxe

Author: Anna Godbersen

I've had this book on my bookshelf for quite awhile now and I haven't gotten to it, pretty much because most of my Marie Antoinette books happen to be on the same shelf and I got distracted. haha. So, I finally read it and I loved it!

The basic plot was Elizabeth Holland is forced by her new circumstances and her sense of family duty to marry Henry Schoonmaker, a man she hardly knows and, coincidentally, is also being forced to marry Elizabeth due to his father's political aspirations. Henry had been secretly seeing Elizabeth's best friend, Penelope Hayes, a vain, spoiled, bratty socialite. She gets angry about their surprise engagement, and plots behind Elizabeth's back to end the relationship. However, unbeknownst to Penelope, both end up falling in love with someone else. Henry finds himself falling for Diana, while Elizabeth has had a long standing relationship with her stableboy, Will, who also happens to have a secret admirer, Elizabeth's maid, Lina Broud. 

The book had everything it promised to have: romance, scandal, luxury, betrayal, and more. It's told from the perspectives of Elizabeth, Diana, Penelope, and Lina, and they each add significantly different points to the plot. Lina and Penelope show how much bitterness comes about from unrequited love and also a certain naivete when it comes to the difference between one-sided love and mutual affection and also love and lust. Diana shows the innocence of first and true love while Elizabeth allows us to see the affects of a forbidden love and the duty one feels to society and to family. 

The plot also went along at a good pace, and I never got bored. There was always something happening and I hated putting the book down. However, at some points, the plot went just a bit too fast and jumped around too much. For example, towards the end of the book, you see Elizabeth go to meet Penelope, and then the next page, she's being reported dead! You do receive an answer in a few chapters, but I was confused when I read that.

I'd also like to add really quick that I really enjoyed the little snippets of books, newspapers, diaries, or letters that came before every chapter. It kind of gave you a little warning of what was coming, but still not giving it away. It also helped me feel like I was more a part of the period and that I was actually reading the same things the characters were. I love things like that, and I thought it was a really nice touch.

I personally love historical novels, but I've never before read one that took place in the late 1800s. This was my first and now I really want to read more from that time period. The people and the places and the parties were very luxuriant and interesting. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Rumors, and I'll be sure to review that once I actually buy it!

So, I would highly recommend this book! And I'm sorry if my review is too short or not detailed enough, but I had a time limit to write this and I'm now about 16 minutes over that time limit. haha. So, as always, please feel free to email me at Kristi_Reads@ yahoo.com and discuss the book, or give your opinion on my review, or to just talk about books in general! I think I'm going to read Marie-Therese: Child of Terror by Susan Nagel next, and I'll make sure to review it! It's going to be my first review of a nonfiction book! 

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi