Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen

Beautiful Days (Bright Young Things #2) by Anna Godbersen
Release Date: September 20, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Library

Summary:

For the bright young things of 1929, the beautiful days seem endless, filled with romance and heartbreak, adventure and intrigue, friendship and rivalry.

After a month in New York, Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur are small-town girls no longer. They spend their afternoons with Astrid Donal at the Greys' lush Long Island estate and their nights in Manhattan's bustling metropolis. But Letty's not content to be a mere socialite. She is ready at last to chase her Broadway dreams - no matter the cost.

Cordelia is still reeling from the death of her father at the hands of Thom Hale, the man she thought she loved. Now she is set to honor Darius Grey's legacy... and take her revenge.

Promised to Cordelia's half brother, Astrid is caught up in a world of dazzling jewels and glittering nights - and the sparkle is blinding. Charlie Grey is a gangster playing a dangerous game; and for Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty, the stakes could be deadly...

The roaring twenties is one of my favorite eras in the 1900's-- seriously I was born in the wrong decade. I love reading about the 20s. The glamorous dresses, the parties, the prohibition, everything.

I picked up Bright Young Things about a year ago, and I loved that first book. It had everything-- murder, romance, secrets, revenge, all the thrilling things necessary in a good book, it had it. This book (Beautiful Days) was not exactly a disappointment, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting from what I have read on the first book. It was much slower paced, there was a lot of opportunity to bring up the unresolved matters of the first book that needed to be solved. I don't know if the author is planning on addressing those matters on the third book, but that is my prediction.


What this book did bring was new characters, and the characters that were introduced on the first book, were developed in this one. Particularly Max, the handsome pilot that Cordelia saved from a plan crash in the first book. But I expected more of Cordelia as a character, she is my favorite character, and I expected her to really take revenge on the death of her father, but as I recall she did almost nothing.  I hope she can do something in the next book.


Again, it all comes back to the first book or the third book. To me, this book was just a book to explain everything and to increase the suspense, but it fell a little bit short. However, I will definitely be reading the third book, I cannot wait to find out what happens to the bright young things. Anna Godbersen's hypnotic historical writing will keep on amazing me, how vivid the historical scenes come to life with her animated writing. You  can visualize the feathery headbands, hear the music, and immerse yourself in the glamorous world she has created.


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*All links and summary from Goodreads.com