Genre: YA FictionAuthor Website: www.theluxebooks.com
One Word Review: Mediocre
First Line: “Fifty years ago, every American girl wanted to be a European princess.”
Synopsis: “A spring turns into summer, Elizabeth relishes her new role as a young wife, while her sister, Diana, searches for adventure abroad. But when a surprising clue about their father's death comes to light, the Holland girls wonder at what cost a life of splendor comes. Carolina Broad, society's newest darling, fans a flame from her past, oblivious to how it might burn her future. Penelope Schoonmaker is finally Manhattan royalty—but when a real prince visits the city, she covets a title that comes with a crown. Her husband, Henry, bravely went to war, only to discover that his father's rule extends well beyond New York's shores and that fighting for love may prove a losing battle.” -GoodReads
Jess’s Review: If a debutante's greatest fear is that the public will lose interest in her; then her fear became a reality in Splendor. It was only because I was invested in the series that I enjoyed Splendor as much as I did. Frankly, there is not one thing in the book that could not have been accomplished in book three. The book is slow to get going, the story lines tired and predictable and in the end it felt like beating a dead horse. The ending was rushed and left me feeling like the rest of the book was just a filler to get to the last 50 or so pages. Carolina is on the cover of this book and to me she was a peripheral character and not capable to carrying most of the book. Like Kath, I think the series would have been better off as a concise trilogy. Hmm, where have I heard that before? Cough, Cough Stephanie Meyer...ahem. I am very partial to trilogies. I think you must have one heck of a story line to carry more books and keep my interest. However, I'm glad I saw this one through. I liked seeing how each character ended up and that each character seemed to get their just desserts. The series was a fun one and this one was fun as well, just to a much lesser degree. I say the series is definitely worth your time and that Splendor is easy to skim!
Reading Order:
Book One: Luxe
Book Two: Rumors
Book Three: Envy
Book Four: Splendor
Kind of a disappointment, huh? I vote for trilogies, no more of these series being drug out so that the author and publishers can make more money. =)
ReplyDeleteI just read this last week and actually really enjoyed it. It's not the best of the series, and I was kind of disappointed with how some of the characters turned out, but overall, I thought it was a good end. I love this series.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
ReplyDelete