I received a book in the mail this week. It has one of those covers that made me look twice. I was intrigued for many reasons, the biggest two being: (1) the book is a YA (young adult) offering; and (2) it takes place in 1899. It’s described on the back cover as: “GOSSIP GIRL meets the GILDED AGE” and I find that incredibly clever from a promo perspective.
The book is The Luxe by Anna Godbersen, who I believe is a book reviewer. Here’s the info:
Pretty girls in pretty dresses, partying until dawn.
Irresistible boys with mischievous smiles and dangerous intentions.
White lies, dark secrets, and scandalous hookups.
This is Manhattan, 1899.
Beautiful sisters Elizabeth and Diana Holland rule Manhattan’s social scene. Or so it appears. When the girls discover their status among New York City’s elite is far from secure, suddenly everyone—from the backstabbing socialite Penelope Hayes, to the debonair bachelor Henry Schoonmaker, to the spiteful maid Lina Broud—threatens Elizabeth’s and Diana’s golden future.
With the fate of the Hollands resting on her shoulders, Elizabeth must choose between family duty and true love. But when her carriage overturns near the East River, the girl whose glittering life lit up the city’s gossip pages is swallowed by the rough current. As all of New York grieves, some begin to wonder whether life at the top proved too much for this ethereal beauty, or if, perhaps, someone wanted to see Manhattan’s most celebrated daughter disappear…
In a world of luxury and deception, where appearance matters above everything and breaking the social code means running the risk of being ostracized forever, five teenagers lead dangerously scandalous lives. This thrilling trip to the age of innocence is anything but innocent.
Anyone reading YA?
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This one is in my TBR pile. It was a definite impulse buy from Amazon, but I haven’t had a chance to crack it open. It was definitely the “Gossip Girl meets Gilded Age” tag that intrigued me, though.
by Caro Kinkead December 6th, 2007 at 1:12 pmI love the YA books. I just found Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series and I love it. My oldest niece suggested it and now I can’t wait for the next one!
by Liza December 6th, 2007 at 1:45 pmI read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The first YA I picked up since I was oh….a YA! LOL
I saw this cover at B&N and was intrigued. I think I might have to buy it…
by Karen Erickson December 6th, 2007 at 2:16 pmI confess, I’ve yet to read a YA, but a very close friend recently signed a two book contract, so I know I’ll be reading hers! I want this book, if for no other reason than because of the cover - it’s beautiful!
And I’m a cover whore from way back.
by stephanie feagan December 6th, 2007 at 3:22 pmAlthough now that I look a little more closely, what’s up with that dress? It’s like as big as a small boat.
by stephanie feagan December 6th, 2007 at 3:25 pmI have never read a YA, but this one sounds good.
by Estella December 6th, 2007 at 4:35 pmI got this one sent to me as well - the cover is gorgeous. I think it looks very interesting and can’t wait to read it.
by MG Braden December 6th, 2007 at 6:51 pmThis one looks interesting. Will you be reviewing it on PBR?
by vanessa jaye December 6th, 2007 at 6:54 pmI have a huge wishlist full of YA books. So far I bought Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and can’t wait to read it. I also want to read Richelle Mead’s YA books and Scott Westerfeld. It’s the paranormal YA’s that I am most interested in.
by RachaelfromNJ December 6th, 2007 at 7:37 pmI read it! I really enjoyed it. It definitely has the flavor of an Alloy book, right down to structure and cast of characters, but it’s fun, and I love that time period. I’ll definitely be picking up the next in the series. It’s one of those, “Man, why didn’t I think of that!” kind of premises. And the cover is to DIE for (in the copyright page, they have attributes to the author, alloy, the cover designer, and the DRESS designer, Justin Alexander.)
by Diana December 6th, 2007 at 8:16 pmI’m going to show my ignorance, Diana - what’s an Alloy book? And hey, that’s righteous about the dress designer.
by stephanie feagan December 6th, 2007 at 9:02 pmI have some in my pile, and I’ve read a few. This one sounds interesting, considering the topic and the time period. I’d be more likely to read it set in 1899 than if it were set in 2007.
by Stacy ~ December 7th, 2007 at 9:15 amI haven’t read any YA, but THIS one will be my first! The premise is very intriguing and I absolutely love the cover!
by Lucie Simone December 7th, 2007 at 11:00 amIsn’t this cover beautiful? I agree the dress is boat-sized. It takes up about 4/5ths of the cover, but it’s gorgeous. It totally caught my eye.
I do plan to review it for PBR. It will be a nice change from what I’ve been reading lately. Thanks to a deadline and the holiday, the review won’t be up until January. Look for it then.
by HelenKay December 7th, 2007 at 11:12 am[...] I found it interesting that HelenKay Dimon mentioned receiving a copy of The Luxe just the other day in her blog. Interesting because The Luxe had been an impulse purchase for me, a pre-order about a month before it’s release date. My eye was caught by the cover with its enormous skirt and the idea of “Gossip Girl” meets “Age of Innocence.” I first saw it, read the description and thought, “That’s interesting.” I didn’t order, though; it took several instances of the books showing up in my recommended list before I clicked through. [...]
by The Mess in Progress » On Impulse December 8th, 2007 at 7:04 amI haven’t yet, but I’m thinking about starting and this book is one of the reasons why! It doesn’t matter that the protagonist is a teenager, I like the promise. And it has a great tagline - Edith Wharton meets Gossip Girl. How intriguing is that? Another reason to check out this genre is that I have two teenage daughters and one of them just finished a book series that sounded interesting with numbers in the titles - Firsts, Seconds, Thirds, Fourths. I forget the actual titles, but the lead character is Jessica Darling. Anyway, that sounded interesting.
by Margay December 8th, 2007 at 8:01 amStephanie, Alloy/17th Street Productions is a book packager. Actually, they are THE book packager for YA — they do all the big series, like gossip girl, Travelling Pants, etc. Alloy authors share the copyright and the income with the company, and depending on your contract with them, the company has various amounts of creative control over the product. Sometimes Alloy books are ghostwritten (Sweet Valley High) and the actual authors get a flat fee. They have big story meetings and toss around ideas which are then assigned to particular authors. There’s a lot of other deals that are made, depending on the book. It’s a bit like hte equivalent of a TV production company.
You can usually spot an Alloy book style, if you read YA.
by Diana December 8th, 2007 at 9:45 amI loved Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse.
by Tren December 9th, 2007 at 2:24 pmI read a lot of YA, not always romance, but I really enjoy historical novels, especially Anne Rinaldi.
That book cover is gorgeous! Wish I had a dress like that one….
by Vicki Hale December 10th, 2007 at 9:47 amThanks, Diana, for the explanation. Who knew?
by stephanie feagan December 10th, 2007 at 9:15 pmI did buy this book today at Borders. I’m unsure when I’ll actually read it, but that’s never stopped me from buying a book before. HaHa!