Like The Bold and the Beautiful, but more classy.

Released: October 12, 2010

Bright Young Things | Anna Godbersen

HarperCollins Publishers

Hardcover | 389 pages

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 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. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Luxe comes an epic new series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
     I’ve never been all that fond of historical fiction. Ask Julie from Bloggers Heart Books, she’ll tell you. I just can’t ever get caught in a story that takes place a hundred or so years before I was even a thought in my parents’ minds.
      But Anna Godbersen has always been the exception.  I read her THE LUXE series back when I was in middle school, and fell in love. Anna Godbersen wrote the most fabulous characters, with the most scandalous plots. My seventh-grade gossip-loving self ate those novels up. So I was thrilled to hear that Anna had written an all new book, the start of an all new series. BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS.
     BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS takes place in the 20s, a revolutionary time-period for women. So it’s common sense the main characters would be girls! Letty, Cordelia, and Astrid were amazingly written. As I mentioned above, it’s kind of hard for me to relate to a character who lived 100 years  before me, but Anna Godbersen writes them in a way that makes you feel as though these characters are your best friends. Which is like, a must, for me. All my favorite writers have one thing in common: they can make you feel close to their characters. Characters are my absolute FAVORITE part of any novel. A book could have the most shittiest plot, with awesome characters, and I’d still think highly of it. So, if you’re like me and love great  characterization, you should definitely check out some of Anna Godbersen’s novels.
     From reading THE LUXE series, I knew that Anna’s novels moved pretty quickly, plot-wise, but this one gave me fucking whiplash. The scandal kept me saying “Oh, dawg.” It was like The Bold and the Beautiful, but more classy.
     The setting, ah, the setting. Anna Godbersen writes New York City in a way that makes me want to get my ass on a train and move today. I’ve always loved reading NYC books,  but Anna Godbersen’s description and texture makes The City seem like a character itself. Another reason for this book to end up on The Favorite’s shelf.