The Luxe tells the story of five teenagers in Manhattan in 1899. Elizabeth Holland and younger sister Diana Holland are completely different. While Elizabeth is proper, Diana is rebellious. However, Elizabeth has a dark secret. Henry is the most wanted bachelor of Manhattan. Elizabeth’s “best friend,” Penelope Hayes, is jealous of Elizabeth. Then there is Lina Broud, Elizabeth’s servant. Lina dreams of being a society girl herself. Due to family issues, Elizabeth must marry the gorgeous Henry Schoonmaker who she has no desire to wed. Things get more complicated when Elizabeth learns that Penelope is in love with him. However, Henry is in love with an entirely different girl…
Honestly, I was not sure if I would enjoy this book. I usually do not read Gossip Girl-esque books. They just don’t seem like something I would like. I decided to give The Luxe a chance because I heard so many good things about the series and my friend wanted to see if it was a book I thought she would like. Most importantly, I absolutely love the pretty dresses on the cover. heh. 😉
Overall, I liked The Luxe. Hands down, my favorite characters were Diana Holland and Henry Schoonmaker. Together, they saved the novel from being unenjoyable. I loved Diana’s rebellious streak. It made her interesting. Lina and Penelope just seemed desperate to me, and that was a big turn-off. Elizabeth was an okay character. While I know Godbersen purposely chose not to make Elizabeth too exciting (that was Diana’s part), Elizabeth was just too boring. Even her secret could not compensate for the rest of her boringness.
Now let me just talk about the romantic Henry Schoonmaker. I was definitely head-over-heels for him. I mean, just look at his last name. Schoonmaker. It almost looks like Swoonmaker. I can’t wait to read more about him in the series.
And is it me, or would this make a great TV show?
Tower of Books 