Godbersen, Anna. 2008. Rumors: A Luxe Novel.It's sad (but in this case sad-but-true) when the best thing about a novel is the cover. Releasing (according to Amazon) on June 3, 2008, Rumors is the sequel to the largely delightful but lusty teen novel Luxe. (Read my review here.) The first novel I found to be a guilty but highly enjoyable indulgence. A soap opera in historical costumes if you will. But this second one was a huge disappointment. Don't hate me. I'm just being honest. I found it boring. Really really boring. The characters seem lifeless. It's one thing for characters to be fleshed-out stereotypes. It's quite another when even the superficialness of the stereotypes lack the appearance of the appearance of life. Penelope. Diana. Lina. They all lacked the spark of life, of interest. Never have I been so bored with a novel. That along with the ending, killed any pleasure I might have gotten from reading this one.
Rumors, for me, is such a contrast to the first novel, Luxe. Luxe had life. It sparkled with interest. I cared about the characters--for the most part--and I wanted to know what happened next. Unfortunately that interest didn't transfer over to the sequel. The characters that before I had found so interesting, so fun...now were as dull and lifeless and as pointless as could be.
Penelope wants Henry. Diana wants Henry. Henry wants Diana but won't go after her because of Elizabeth's so-called "death." Henry's friends tell him NOT to go after Diana. No one is happy. Everyone is manipulative or calculating. There are a few new characters introduced, but it wasn't enough to keep me interested in this mindless entertainment.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
11 comments:
Can I say that part of me is glad this is so bad? The first one really didn't merit a sequel... there wasn't enough depth in it to spin out. And I'm glad to see my instincts were right.
The cover is beautiful, though...
Oh dear. I haven't read The Luxe yet, but have got it, basically because of the cover!
Marg:
The Luxe is good--relatively speaking. It is one that I might classify in the guilty, secret reading. It's very indulgent, very rich. It worked for me. Not in the "best book in the entire world" way...but I liked it. I really liked it.
The second book, not so much. I think it will still sell like crazy. If I remember the first one sold really well, I want to say it spent some time on the NYT bestsellers list. Because readers were so enamored, so in love, with the first...I can't imagine this one not doing well either. When they see it on the shelf, they're going to want to buy it or check it out. I was disappointed though.
Melissa, I agree, I really didn't see the need for a sequel. I liked the first one well enough. But I thought it ended in a good place. Much much better if it had been left alone. The ENDING of this second book is truly awful.
Oh dear - I have The Luxe on my wish list and I think I'll stick with that one - thanks for the heads up
O now I am disappointed. I was really looking forward to this novel. I loved The Luxe and this is just too sad.
Ouch!
So what exactly happens at the end? I want spoilers now!
Trisha
I quite enjoyed Rumors, though I admit it lacked the same spark as the first.
Hope you don't mind, I've linked to your review here
i think you are entitled to your own opinion but for me rumours was just as good as the luxe as is the third book envy.
i think rumors was just as qood as luxe but i hated the ending. i literally cried:(
oh gosh! I loved Luxe and thought that Rumors was a good sequel but hated the ending it ruined the whole book for me.
I did not read the first novel. This book was horrible. The end was terrible and it lacked interest. I wanted to read to the end just in case it wasn't as bad as I thought. I feel like i've wasted time reading this.
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