Name: Bright Young Things
ISBN: 9780061962660

Bright Young Things

Briar's Reviews

I have been yearning to read Bright Young Things for YEARS. I saw this cover and fell in love (yeah, yeah... don't judge a book by it's cover... but it's so PRETTY) and knew I had to read it. If you add in all the other factors of this book: 1920s, New York, Gatsby references and some excellent YA nostalgia, you've got me!

This book felt like a YA through and through. Love triangles, overly dramatic characters, daddy issues, mommy issues, lost friendships and more! All of this was packed in and tied with a bright gold, 1920s styled bow. Saying that, this book would have been way more enjoyable to me if I read it back when it came out (during my youthful, high school years). Like I said in some of my short, little tidbit reviews - it reminds me of the TV show Gossip Girl by in the 1920s. It's full of the goofy high school drama we all lived on back in the day (well, back in my day).

The drama we live off in this book is due to Astrid, Letty and Cordelia. Cordelia never knew who her Father was, and when she moves to New York she ends up finding him! He's a mob boss (he reminds me of a younger Sonny Corinthos from General Hospital, but in the 1920s) and she also has gotten a hefty fortune and new brother out of it. Oh, did I mention she falls in love with her mob boss's enemy's son? Yup, that level of drama. Letty wants to be a singer, and she goes down some shady paths by mistake to chase that dream. Astrid was already in New York and is dating Cordelia's new (yet old) brother Charlie. 

I loved their stories because they were so addicting. I began to really feel for these characters and got mighty frustrated near the end when there's a cliffhanger leaving all of them hanging. Not one single happy ending in sight! Not yet anyways. I pretty much have to read the next books to feel like any sort of ending happens to these characters. Seriously, the life lessons these girls face are BRUTAL. It's heart breaking... so if you wanted a lovely, fluffy, romantic YA novel... RUN IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. Well, maybe. The sequels might have a more happy ending but I don't have those books in my hands yet.

One of the big pluses in this book was the Good Egg comment. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby and the West Egg, East Egg debacle. I really hope that name was in reference to Gatsby, but a girl can never be sure!

To be honest, I was really anticipating an epic YA novel. Every book store I went into during the 2010s had this book perched right out front and advertised EVERYWHERE (in my area, anyways). When I finally got my hands on this book I was salivating, ready to devour it... and it kinda felt like it fell short for me. I honestly expected more.

I do want to read the rest of this series because it's a really enticing book, buuuuut I hate cliffhangers and this book was SUPER depressing. I get it, the 1920s were roaring but the Great Gatsby was pretty depressing, but leaving this book like THAT? It hurt my soul! At least give us one happy thing to end on so I'm not left feeling cheated! Also... some of the bad guys seem good and some of the good guys seem bad. I left that portion of the book wondering who the heck I was supposed to be cheering for. 

Three out of five stars.

Kwan Ann Tan

Not bad- I was expecting another airheaded, fluffy book, but it has substance, and is quite meaningful!

Shannon Arputharaj

This book had so much potential to be fantastic. It just wasn't; the city life could have been described more. However, it did leave off on such a note that I will have to read the sequel. I think that her books are always like that. All three that will be in a series have to be read back to back to back; it's like it's one whole big book. So if you have the time, I guess read it. I may have just stretched the book out too long and because of that not been able to really get into it. It's good enough :)

Bright Young Things

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