Review: Vixen by Jillian Larkin

Vixen by Jillian Larkin

Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.
Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?
Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . .

From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . when anything goes.

Review: 

I loved, loved, loved this book! In my attempts to tackle my TBR shelves from a few years ago I have been picking up some of the older titles I own and this was one of them. I have no idea why I took so long to read it because everything about Vixen seems like the perfect book for me. I am extremely happy I finally read Vixen as it was a heart-pounding, romantic, and dramatic read that left me eager to get a copy of the sequel. 

Vixen was told from the point of view of three different girls: Gloria, Clara, and Lorraine. Each of them had very different personalities and experiences. Gloria was the rich-girl engaged to one of the most eligible bachelors in Chicago: Sebastian Grey. The only problem is Gloria longs for the freedom and adventure of the flapper lifestyle. Then there is Clara. Clara is Gloria's cousin who everyone thinks is a lowly farm girl with no fashion sense or lust for adventure, but Clara has much more to her than meets the eye. Finally, the third point of view comes from Lorraine. Lorraine wants everything that Gloria has and will do most anything to prove that she is better than Gloria. All three of these girls were fascinating characters to read about and I never found myself wishing it was only told from one of their perspectives. I loved seeing how all of their stories tied together.

The setting was one of the best parts of Vixen: the 1920s in Chicago. The combination of speakeasies, gangsters, romance, and deception made for an impossible-to-put-down read. There was a lot of action and plot twists that kept the story moving and the last few chapters were especially intense. There were a variety of secondary characters introduced and no one was ever as they seemed.

This is definitely a series I wish got more attention because not only is it action-packed with an awesome setting and characters, but it is also extremely well-written. I enjoyed seeing how Larkin incorporated the popular phrases and slang from the time and the description of the fashion was a ton of fun. Vixen was a powerful first book and I am eager to see where Larkin takes things in book two. I highly recommend this series even if you are not usually a fan of historical fiction because there is so much more to Vixen than that. I've already put Ingenue on hold at my library and cannot wait for it to arrive so I can dive back into Gloria, Lorraine, and Clara's worlds.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

December 14, 2010/Delacorte Books for Young Readers/421 Pages/Young Adult/Book One

Source: Publisher (ARC)

Other books in this series: Ingenue (Book Two) and Diva (Book Three)

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads