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.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Cover better than story
Comment: This book was dull. It seemed to me like a diary.

There is two sisters, Elizabeth and Diana Holland. They are the elites of 1899 Manhattan.

There is Penelope Hayes who is Elizabeth's "best friend".

And then there is Lina Broud who is the Holland's servant with her sister.

Lina is in love with Will, the Holland's coachman, who is in love with Elizabeth who pays him visits at late hours.

The Hollands are in financial trouble so the pressure is on Elizabeth to marry rich and save the family.

This is where Henry Schoonmaker comes in. He is a complete lady's man. He's out-going, like to have fun, and - well, a man.

He had a secret thing going on with Penelope right before the proposal he was forced to give.

Along the way, Diana, who like to have fun and be free, falls in love with Henry who falls in love with her as well.

The story is ok. There's too much information on little things like meetings and such. The characters are also made too much. The bad people are awful and easy to hate, and the good people are loveable and easy to feel sorry for.

I recommend this book for a library check-out.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: You win some, you lose some...
Comment: The Luxe had its good and bad. On the good side, it did keep me entertained. It wasn't overly long, and it did have a few good moments. On the bad side, the characters were all flawed- which is a good thing, except they were all so flawed that I couldn't tell exactly who I should root for. Elizabeth was too timid and let herself be pushed around, but for the most part she was believable, as was her sister Diana (who was easily the best character). Then, you had Henry, the drunk, Penelope, the jerk, and Lina, the mean maid. Neither Penelope nor Lina had any sort of redeeming qualities that I could see. It seemed like they were more of plot devices than actual people. I found it hard to like either one of them- barley tolerated Henry, and reading from different povs is tedious when you hate half the cast.

Some people have talked about the historical accuracy. I cannot comment as I know very little about the Victorian era. I will agree that it read like Gossip Girl with pretty dresses, and if you happened to like Gossip Girl, you'll probably love this. I just wouldn't use it as research for a history project.

Over all, it's a fairly decent read. I've read better, but I've definitely read worse. I liked it enough to give the sequal a chance.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A different angle
Comment: I picked this up from the local library, just because I had heard a lot about it and wanted to see for myself. I'm a lover of historical fiction in general, and an avid reader of teen romance.

This book was certainly interesting, but not what most historical romance enthusiasts are looking for. Unlike the traditional sweeping tales of great passion, motive, and easy to relate to characters, the reader is forced into the perspective of a bystander for the most part. Although the main character may be assumed to be Elizabeth, we rarely see any part of her inner self. For those of us who read to become someone else, this may be rather disappointing. However, the book is skillfully written to produce a feeling of superficiality as it creates its characters and their societal appearance through the amount of their perspectives we are shown. For example, Elizabeth is only superficially known to those around her, thus we only get superficial narration from her. Dianna is known as a romantic and a deep thinker, so we get very detailed and full narration from her. I will admit, however, that the amount of characters we are given can be a bit much. The amount of plot lines require that the supposed "main" story be put on hold, which can be annoying.

I honestly don't like the he said she said horror that is today's soap opera, gossip girl, "girlfriend" movie that true lovers of this book adore, but find myself intrigued, nonetheless by the story presented by Ms. Godbersen. While her story may not be the properly flowing romance that many disappointed readers seeking a traditional read crave, it is certainly a book worth pondering.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: NOT for teens.
Comment: Ok I am 32 and have daughters and I would not let them read these books. Call me a prud but everyone has sex with everyone else. Hey you like the guy why not sleep with him, but I guess it's more dramatic because back then they wern't supposed too but I don't think we should alow it now. The writing was good and the story was ok but let your daughter get married first before she reads a book like this.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Didn't keep my interest
Comment:
I'd suggest the Great and Terrible Beauty Series instead; at least in that series, the characters are entertaining and relatable. The Luxe is all over the place and superficial.

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