Well, I was so excited to read this, and thanks to a friend (Hi Robin!) I was able to get a hold of an advance reader copy- yay! I felt so, well, fancy. After hearing (ok, reading) some buzzy stuff about the book, I was convinced this would be huge. Maybe it will be- I mean, how many YA books get namechecked on Gawker???But.
I am so sorry to report that in this reader's eyes, the book didn't really work.
Too many affairs, too implausible- it reached a kind of Harlequin-level silliness. Which can be magnificent- if it works, but I don't think it did, and I am kind of crushed.
Good girl Elizabeth is from an old society family, and her marriage to Henry is all settled- or is it? It turns out that Elizabeth has a tendresse for the stable boy, and her scheming maid... oh, heck. You can fill in the blanks, I'm sure.
I was so tantalized by the initial sell - Gossip Girl crossed with Edith Wharton - that I still have to kind of love it, just for the idea, but the actualization really didn't work for me. Bummer.
The Luxe (coming out in hardcover next month)
Quality: 6 Popularity: 9 Overall: 15
(Popularity points coming from fantastic cover and pre-release buzz)
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