Envy

Envy
By Anna Godbersen (432 pages)
Published by HarperCollins
Bookish rating: 4

Envy is the third book in Godbersen's Luxe series, a historical young adult series that I'm a little embarrassed to enjoy to the extent that I do. The story is bubblegum, the characters are jerks and seem to be modern-day folks put into pretty ball gowns and white ties with tails, but you know what?

I totally love reading these books.

Envy is, actually, very well written. Godbersen conveys a very clear sense of time and place, from Manhattan to Florida (our characters take a little jaunt south in book 3.) True, I'm not super comfortable with the "young adult" designation, as the characters, three books in after all, deal with marital strife and their conniving reaches new levels usually saved for your grandma's soap opera, but at the same time, it being 1900 in Manhattan, the characters are, well, teenagers. Folks got married off very, very young.

The fact that the series ranks among the New York Times bestsellers tells me that, pragmatically,  the young adult genre has plenty of room for the Luxe series. So there's that.

One quibble: In Florida, Godbersen makes much of the fact that on the beach, people wear their historically accurate "swimming costumes" with chaperone patrolling the beach for any impropriety. And yet, after evening drama, there two separate instances where a heroine runs, angst-filled, onto the beach or grass, and Godbersen describes sand or blades of grass between toes.

Proper attire, I assure you, demanded stockings. Even in Florida. This was 1900, y'all.

The series includes one final book, and you're kidding yourself if you think I don't have book 4 on my nightstand. Envy is a strong third book, easily carrying us with lots oomph to book 4. Recommended.