Bright Young Things

I can admit, I wanted to read this book just because of the cover....look how pretty it is...

when I saw it, I didn't even care what the book was about.  I just wanted to see that pretty cover again.  Then, I found out that it was available for free download on amazon here.  And that it was a great read made it even better!  I downloaded it right then and there, started it Sunday morning and finished it that afternoon!

Here is the summary from the above amazon page:

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. 

I loved this book.  I'm a history geek at heart, and I love a good historical fiction.  While I didn't fact check the book (and I totally would have on wikipedia if something didn't ring true), I'm pretty sure everything was as close to accurate as it could have been.

From the beginning, I was drawn to all the characters.  I was sitting on my couch trying to think of which gal was my favorite, Cordelia, Letty or Astrid, and each of them have this quality about them that makes you feel like you want to know them better.  While I wouldn't have made the same choices Cordelia made (in the beginning and with boys), but hey, sometimes your friends make bad choices.

The only thing that I didn't like was the ending (and I don't want to give away what happened), but I felt like I could have seen part A coming a mile away, and part B was rushed.  Thats ok, it still made sense to the character and it wasn't horrible, I would have just liked more.

If I taught high school, I wouldn't have any problem having this book in my classroom.  Especially, if I could tie it in with other Roaring 20's books and do a text set or lit unit. 

For fun, you can also visit Anna Godbersen's website and learn all about the girls, and the next book in the Bright Young Things series.