The Luxe by Anna Godbersen review

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen ( Luxe #1)

bought


Synopsis from Goodreads
In the self-contained world of young Gilded Age Manhattan socialites, Elizabeth and Diana Holland reign supreme. Or so it seems. Scratch the surface, though, and you can detect festering jealousies that threaten to topple them. Elizabeth suffers a more literal fall when her carriage overturns and she is carried away by the swift East River current. That's only the beginning of the action and suspense in The Luxe, the launch volume in a teen series by Anna Godbersen.

* * *

Disregard the synopsis. It's absolutely non-related to what's happening in this book. 
Let me tell you first, for the price of 10 pence in my local library sale, this book was an absolute delight.


The pace, the intrigues, the characters and the historical nuances were amazing. I loved the tiny passages like RSVP for the party or short phrases from the newspaper articles or secret notes... They truly helped you to immerse yourself in the story.


The Luxe tells you about Elizabeth Holland, New York society beauty, creme De la creme, whose mother forces her to marry Henry Schoonmaker, a young rich playboy, whose father wants to involve himself into the political scene and needs a good image for his family. Henry is a troublemaker suffering from ennui, so a perfect wife with pristine reputation is supposed to help him settle down.


Both Elizabeth and Henry are complex characters harboring secrets which can ruin them and their families. There is plenty of envy, desperation, jealousy and hatred in this book, but there is also pure impossible love and a raw show of inequality, a huge gap between poor and rich in 19th century New York society.


You can see that I enjoyed this book immensely, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Plus, I can't stay away from such gorgeous covers...

Favorite quote:

It's the craziest thing, but i can't stop thinking about you.

* * *

Шикарная книга! Совершенно неожиданно она меня втянула и не отпускала до самого конца. 


Элизабет, Пенелопа, Диана и Генри оказались сложными и многосторонними характерами. Я нашла, что мне было невозможно кого-то любить или ненавидеть. В этой книге нет просто чёрного и белого, и поэтому она кажется более жизненной.

Я восхищалась интересными историческими нюансами - как например, пассажами из газет или приглашениями на вечеринку или секретными записками. Чувствовалась историческая обстановка напыщенного Нью-Йорка 19-го века и реалии огромной пропасти между богатыми и бедными слоями общества.


Мне кстати, больше всего понравились Генри и Диана. И конечно, обложки (см.выше) превосходные. Определённо буду читать продолжение Марлезанского балета. Если вы любите исторический YA, эта книга для вас!

8.5/10