Friday Book Report: Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

Welcome to 1929, where prohibition is in full effect, and men willing to bring alcohol to the masses become kings.  New York is ruled by these kings and the young flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes age of the flapper.  Anna Godbersen delivers a story of three young women searching for their own goals and dreams in Bright Young Things.  It was published in 2010 by HarperCollins Publishers.

Cordelia Grey is too big for her small town of Union, Ohio and so she escapes with her best friend, Letty Larkspur to the allure and glamour of New York City, just hours after Cordelia’s wedding.  Cordelia is searching for the father she’s never known, famous bootlegger Darius Grey.  She not only finds her father, but also a brother, Charlie, and a new friend in Astrid Donal, Charlie’s socialite girlfriend.  Cordelia soon discovers that family is most important to Darius, and she’s forced to choose between her newly found family or a promising romance with the handsome Thom Hale.

Letty dreams of seeing her name light up Broadway.  All she’s ever wanted to do was sing and perform on-stage, but she soon discovers that New York is full of young women with the same dreams, and the reality of her situation soon sets in.  After a falling out with Cordelia, the innocent and naïve Letty struggles on her own to find her way in the city that can dash a young girl’s dream in a blink of an eye.

Astrid Donal is a young flapper that seems to have it all, money, beauty, and the love of Charlie Grey, heir to Darius Grey’s bootlegging industry.  She’s spoiled and she knows it.  But she too is just a young woman with dreams of her own, and her seemingly perfect appearance covers up a slew of family secrets and flaws.

I had really high hopes for this book.  I thought the times of the flapper and prohibition would be an interesting read, but this book just fell flat for me.  I did enjoy the scenes and the description of the New York City scene in 1929, but that was about all I enjoyed.  I thought the author did a very nice job describing the city and the people during the times.  It was interesting to read more about how society’s came together and socialized more with one another during prohibition.  I did like that part of the book, but that was about it.

My main problem with this book were the main characters involved.  I just could not get on board with Cordelia or Letty.  I liked Astrid well enough, at least she knew who she was and wasn’t afraid to show it.  But Cordelia really got on my nerves.  She’s selfish.  She marries back in Ohio but leaves her husband just hours after the wedding.  Why marry him at all?  There are three books in this series, so perhaps he comes into play later on?  If that’s not the case it’s a realy crappy thing for Cordelia to do.  She runs off to New York with her friend Letty, but as soon as they have one fight, she abandons her.  Once she finds her father, I would expect her to bend over backwards to please him.  But nope, her father asks her to stay away from rival bootleggers, but she goes behind his back and sees them anyway.  She never did one thing that wasn’t for anyone other than herself throughout this entire book, and that really bothered me.  I guess she kind of redeems herself towards the end, but overall I did not like her character and really had a hard time reading about her.

Letty is just too naïve for her own good.  Her small-town mind can’t quite grasp the big city rules, and it was frustrating to read.  I suppose it’s realistic that the bright lights of the city can overwhelm a small-town country girl, but her sheer stupidity wasn’t realistic at all.  She’s new to the city and the rules of New York, so why not go out with a complete stranger and expect only good things to happen.  Any girl in her right mind would not do that, past or present.  It’s just asking for bad things to happen.  I didn’t like reading about Cordelia because of her selfishness.  I didn’t like reading about Letty because she was dumb.

I can’t really recommend this book because of the characters involved.  The storyline is actually pretty good, once you get past the foolishness of the characters.  But I can’t enjoy a book based solely on the storyline.  I need good, well-developed characters to make the book entertaining, and that just wasn’t the case with Bright Young Things.  Perhaps the second and third books in the series are better, but after reading the first, I just don’t think I can stomach trying to read more about Cordelia or Letty.  I have to give this book a C grade, it took me forever to finish because I just wasn’t interested in it, the characters drove me crazy, and while the storyline is readable, there wasn’t much going on and really nothing happens until almost the end of the book.  I suppose it’s just plot development for the second book, but I’m not going to waste my money on book #2 when I felt so disagreeable towards the first.   The title is “Bright Young Things” but I really think a more fitting title is “Stupid Young Girls.”