The Lucky Ones, Anna Godbersen

This book was read for the 2013 Don't Let It End Reading Challenge hosted by Fiktshun.

Description

My thoughts: Reading any book by Anna Godbersen is bound to be quite a whirlwind. There's the luxurious scenery, the parties, the presence of the rich, beautiful and famous, and the girls in the center of it all, hiding secrets and trying to make it. Both the Luxe series and this one are great at evoking the time in which the stories occur, and both are very good at not leaving me indifferent. I enjoy reading them, almost like a guilty pleasure, even if the main characters do drive me nuts.

The middle book of this trilogy, Beautiful Days, was the weakest of the three, and it actually managed to get me mad at everything in the book. I was frustrated with the Roaring Twenties' hedonism as it was shown, and I really hated two of the three main characters.

When I think about it, I still do hate and despise those characters. Astrid is still a vapid, indecisive girl who gets too easily distracted with shiny things, and Letty still is so, so dumb, and has everything handed over to her, not having to fight ever for anything she wants, not having the guts to try to achieve it. But there's some sort of evolution in them that I appreciated.

And I remember I kinda dislike a few of the main characters in the Luxe series, so disliking characters isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's probably a sign of good characterization, since not everyone is likeable. Well, as long as I can somewhat respect them and their motives in the end, I consider myself satisfied. And this time around, I was satisfied.

I didn't mention Cordelia. I do adore Cordelia, she's smart, sassy, brave and she sets out to do things she's never done before. Her ending... she didn't deserve it. The other girls got the endings they didn't deserve, and Cordelia didn't get the ending she did deserve. I mean, it's perfect, story-wise, but I hate her ending. I hate it with a burning passion.

Funnily enough, I kinda like most of the boys that surround these girls. Max is adorable, and I love his bond with Cordelia. Victor developed a cute crush on Astrid that became something more. And Grady, poor Grady, was pining throughout the whole trilogy for Letty.

Charlie is a moron, really, and a bully, and he uses his brawns instead of his brains, but I can see the allure of a personality like him. Valentine, on the other hand, was really too good to be true. As for Thom, even though I couldn't forgive him for his role in what happened to Darius, I managed to understand and I pitied him, in the end.

The story was much more engaging this time around, and I found myself devouring the pages to know what would happen. We got to see some new aspects of these characters' lives, and meet some new people. And it all ended with a bang... wow, I didn't think I'd get to see the consequences of bootlegging and the Prohibition, but I'm glad I did. It's not bootlegging until there's a shooting or two.

The epilogue was quite interesting. It evoked The Great Gatsby for me - I think that was probably the author's intention - because it had that sad, longing feeling of Nick's narration. I enjoyed it. Actually, I wished we got to see more of Billie, almost like she was a fourth girl, because she sounds awesome. And I wished that Billie got to tell the whole story, not just the first book's prologue and the last book's epilogue. I think she would have made as an interesting narrator as Nick: both not exactly in the middle of action, both describing to the reader a tragedy - the loss of an era.

Pages: 384

Publisher: Harper (HarperCollins)

Beautiful Days, Anna Godbersen

I'm submitting this book to the 2012 YA Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by YA Bliss.

Description

Review: Once again, Anna Godbersen tells us a tale of frivolous and rich girls in the Roaring Twenties. Yet, I don't enjoy this series as I did The Luxe series. In those books, girls were idle and did nothing but go to parties and stab each other in their backs, but at the same time some serious situations happen to them. In here, girls go to parties and drink and dance, but nothing really important ever happens to them, at least for 90% of the book.

I don't know, I guess this way of life just bugs me - I don't really relate to it. The girls fluctuate between a state of "hot and cold", with no consequences, with no life lessons, without growing up. Astrid (the character I most despise) is the poster girl for this - she gets mad at some perceived offence, then delighted at some random small happiness about ten seconds later. She does this especially with Charlie, but the poor guy never realizes that this happens. Such a ground for a solid relationship, huh? Since Astrid has nothing going on for her but Charlie, story-wise, her chapters are the most annoying for me.

Letty is a little weak-characterized for me as well, though at the same time I somewhat like her character for being such a naïve, pathetic character. In Beautiful Days, she indulges in the Cordelia and Astrid's rich lifestyle without even fighting for her dream, as she tried in the first book. When something big happens in the end, it is lessened for her lack of trying - it seems all is handed out to her without even trying.

Cordelia ends up as my favorite character. She is almost the prototype of "self-made man", except she's a girl woman. She at first enjoys the good life, but then realizes she must achieve something, and work hard for it. I love the storyline about "The Vault", and I wish we could have seen more of the setting up of the club. I am really curious about Max Darby, and I'm rooting for him and Cordelia.

It sounds like I hated it, but it's not like that - it just wasn't that great, and I missed the Gossip Girlness that The Luxe had. But the setting is quite interesting - the city and the country, the fashion and the riches, the clubs and the all-nighters - which is ironic, given I dislike this era's hedonism, at least how it is portrayed in this book. I'm still hopeful that the third book will be much better, maybe even end with a bang - specially when one keeps in mind what was mentioned in the prologue in the first book (one of the girls would be famous, one would be married, one would be dead... I certainly have my predictions and hopes) - sounds exciting!

Pages: 368

Publisher: Harper (HarperCollins)

Paixões Secretas (Envy), Anna Godbersen

I'm submitting this book to the YA Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by YA Bliss.

Sinopse

Opinião: Ok, nunca poderia deixar aqui a minha opinião sem mencionar isto, mas pergunto-me que diabo terá passado pela cabeça dos editores da Presença para publicarem o primeiro e o segundo livro da série com dois meses de intervalo, mas terem feito os leitores esperar DOIS... LONGOS... ANOS... para poderem ler o terceiro. Honestamente, é assim que se perde leitores. Pessoalmente, estava pronta a rifar os dois primeiros livros e comprar a série toda em inglês quando finalmente decidiram publicar este no Verão.

Ah, e outra coisa, dois anos para obter este *magnífico* [sarcasmo] trabalho de tradução e revisão? Quanto à última, fartei-me de ver trocas de número e género, para não falar de se trocar algumas vezes os nomes aos personagens. Quanto à tradução, eu cheguei a perguntar-me se não terão metido o livro no Google Translator, e pronto, tradução feita. Porque não se traduz "white lies" por "mentiras brancas", mas sim "piedosas". Porque não se traduz "The friends I have left" por "Os amigos que deixei", mas sim por "Os amigos que ainda me restam" (leiam o contexto, minha gente, o contexto!).

E porque é que, por amor de tudo o que é sagrado, ainda ninguém percebeu que os americanos dizem "first floor" para se referirem ao "rés-do-chão", e "second floor" para "primeiro andar"? Já não é a primeira vez que me queixo disso aqui no blog. Enfim, há mais razões de queixa, eu ia marcando com post-its as páginas com asneiradas, mas a certa altura perdi a paciência e limitei-me a ler, erros e tudo. Depois admirem-se que as pessoas comecem a ler cada vez mais em inglês.

Ok, fim da rant. Simplesmente achei muito frustrante ler o livro em certas partes. Quanto à história, teria sido melhor ler o livro mais perto dos outros, ou tê-los relido antes deste, mas a autora faz um bom trabalho a reenvolver o leitor na história. Que, já agora, é um total guilty pleasure, uma Gossip Girl da viragem do séc. XIX para o XX, em que é tão divertido ler sobre meninas da alta sociedade que se metem em sarilhos e escândalos a cada virar da esquina.

Primeiro temos a Elizabeth. Achei-a muito apagada, com o desgosto pelo que aconteceu no fim do Rumores (Rumors). Estava a torcer pelo Teddy, que tem uma paixoneta por ela desde sempre, mas parece que (ainda) não é desta.

A Diana... pobre rapariga, não sei porque é que ela atura o Henry. O rapaz é tão indeciso, mesmo bordejando no cobarde, que não consigo ver o que ela vê nele. No primeiro livro não tinha percebido porque é que eles se envolveram, no segundo adorei a ideia do amor proibido deles, mas neste livro comecei a enjoar dos dois. A Diana, no entanto, cresceu e conseguiu tornar-se a minha personagem feminina favorita.

A Penelope... ugh, que miúda mais mimada, parva, (inserir insulto)! Não a suporto, como é uma menina rica que tem tudo, convence-se que tudo está ao seu alcance, e os constantes momentos de ócio permitem-lhe perder-se em cogitações e paranóias que a deixem sempre no topo. É a personagem mais sem substância, e a que aposto que vai acabar a série sem evoluir nadinha.

A Carolina... eh, acho que se ela não existisse os livros continuavam a ser o mesmo. A história dela de ascensão social é divertida de ler, mas tão... morna... e com tão pouca influência na história das outras raparigas que eu me pergunto o que é que ela ainda anda ali a fazer.

Uma coisa de que me dei conta é que a autora é óptima a criar personagens femininas que não nos deixem indiferentes, mas ainda tem que trabalhar as personagens masculinas, que não se destacam muito. No entanto, adoro que não tenha receio de matar alguns personagens e fazer coisas terríveis aos outros, porque torna a história muito mais realista.

Espero que o último livro feche satisfatoriamente o destino destes personagens, que seja um livro delicioso e, sobretudo, que não leve dois anos a ser publicado.

Título original: Envy (2009)

Páginas: 280

Editora: Presença

Tradução: Maria do Carmo Figueira

Bright Young Things, Anna Godbersen

I'm submitting this book to the YA Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by YA Bliss.

Description

Review: Welcome to the Roaring Twenties. Life is good, bootleggers run speakeasies, and women adhere to the new lifestyle known as flapper. And Anna Godbersen does it again, managing to turn New York yet again into a glamorous city, but this time in 1929 (instead of 1899 in the Luxe series).

This time around, we follow three girls: Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Hale, that come from Ohio in search of two different things, the first to be a star, and the second to meet her dad; also, Astrid Donal, a rich, flapper girl who seems to have it all, but somehow something is missing.

I loved to know more about the kind of life girls would have in the 1920's. If one were in a rich family, life would be composed of an endless string of partying, going to country clubs and sleeping late. If one were not as lucky, they might find themselves working at a speakeasy or struggling to make it as an actress or singer. But women were liberating themselves from many of society's strict rules, and life was as glamorous as it could be.

The girl protagonists were pretty interesting to meet, as they struggled with the good and the bad in their lives in this crazy time. I found that something Cordelia did was incredibly stupid (I don't care how gaga you're over a guy, you don't ever tell him the family's secrets), but she paid for it big time, so I'll overlook it. As for my favorite, it's a tie between Cordelia and Astrid, but I don't want to become too attached to any of them, because as far as I can tell, Anna Godbersen likes to surprise us with sudden deaths and the likes of it.

The story felt a bit introductory, but was satisfying nonetheless. The story's climaxes and twists were pretty obvious to me, but were exciting as well. Some new characters are introduced toward the ending, but the story is self-contained and ends with closure enough for the book to be read alone. (Although I'm really dying to know what the girls will do next! Thankfully the next book comes out in September.)

I'm very interested in keep reading about society and culture in the 1920's, and I am most excited about reading about the Crash of 1929. This book occurs during early summer of 1929, so Black Tuesday and the end of an era is close by. Beautiful Days, here I come.

Oh, and I must gush over the cover. The tradition of having one girl main character in it is followed (Astrid is in this cover, and Cordelia in Beautiful Days's), and the tradition of girl in a gorgeous dress is as well! Thank you so much, Harper's art department!

Pages: 400

Publisher: HarperTeen (Harper Collins)