The Secret Cellar

The Secret Cellar, by Michael D. Beil, is the forth installment of The Red Blazer Girls Series. I recently reread the series, and found it—if possible—to be even better than my first time through. If I was pleasantly surprised by the first one book I was astounded by the second, and the third, and the fourth.. The plot in this book was much more interesting, with richer and more believable character development, a wider variety of settings, and a plot filled with surprise and intrigue. An added bonus was the codes and riddles the girls had to decipher; they were extremely fascinating, and it was fun to try to decode them before the characters did. The writer also has a great sense of humor—the main character, Sophie St. Pierre, is hilariously honest in her narrations, and is such a funny, relatable character that more than once did I have to make an effort to not start laughing in the middle of a crowded subway car. I also love the books portrayal of the city, with its diverse and odd variety of people and places, from the small, musty violin shop run by a kind, aged Polish-man and to a small coffee shop who's one floor is partially submerged below street level, hosting a mixture of dilapidated couches and banged-up tables, arranged artfully on a sticky floor, commonly frequented by schoolgirls in vermillion blazers, who are served by baristas with oversize glasses or pink-streaked hair.

The series follows the escapades of four teens—Sophie, Margaret, Becca, and Leigh Ann—who attend St. Veronica's School on the East Side of Manhattan. After accidentally stumbling on a decades old mystery involving a famed ring, the girls find themselves presented with multiple cases. The case the girls are working on in The Secret Cellar began with Sophie attempting to find a Christmas gift for her father. She thinks she has found the perfect one in an antique fountain pen she wins at the auction of a recently diseased old man. When she finds a message hidden in the pen written by the man shortly before he died, the girls investigate. At his large house they find a vast and magnificent room where the basement should be, empty except for a large round table depicting a perfect map of the stars, with a ceiling hand painted with the planets and zodiac constellations, walls and floors tiled in blackest granite and marble, and decorated with golden medallions set in the walls and floor that are etched with designs that they discover, when turned in the right direction, unlock a hidden door to a secret cellar holding untold riches. I cannot WAIT for the next book—I'm excited to see how the story continues. I recommend it to everyone!

Messy

After finishing Messy, a book written by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, a duo famous for their   snarky and hilarious celebrity fashion blog, I was in a state of shock. The book followed Spoiled, in which after the death of her mother, sixteen-year-old Molly Dix must go live with the father she never new she had: world-famous movie star Brick Berlin, and her gorgeous, spoiled half-sister Brooke. While at first Brooke attempts to do everything in her power to sabotage Molly, Molly endures her sister's siege, and the two become close. Along the way, Molly befriends Max (Maxine) McCormack. Messy follows Max, mainly secluded and slightly cynical, attempting to get a job to raise money for the NYU summer writing program. Desperate to get away from the notoriety-seeking people of LA, she believes she has found the perfect opportunity when an anonymous request for a blogger to write under the name of an up-and-coming teen It Girl appears online. She soon finds out that the "It Girl" is none other than Brooke, who she loathes. Both girls are shocked when the blog becomes huge, and find themselves becoming friends the more time they spend together. But it isn't long before the lie threatens to blow up in both of their faces. The who,e situation becomes very, very messy.

I read Spoiled, and thought it was entertainingly enjoyable, but I was blown away by Messy, which exceeded all of my expectations. Told from Max's perspective, It was hilarious, and brutally honest, with ironic observations about the outrageousness of Hollywood. The writing was descriptive, and I especially enjoyed the various references to and commentaries on pop culture. What really made this world of fame-fueled, image-obsessed people relatable were the desires shared by people world-wide—to be noticed, to be liked. The unique and rich personalities were the touch that enhanced the entire book. Brooke and her demanding charisma, Max and her smart snark. I think that this book appeals to a lot of people, and I highly recommend it as a future read.

Bright Young Things

Recently, I was pleasantly surprised by Bright Young Things, by Anna Godbersen. Similar to her first series, the Luxe, which followed the interweaving stories of the high society residents of New York City in 1889, the series's three books center around three friends and their exploits in the NYC summer of 1929. In the book, Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur have just escaped from the stifling confines of Union, Ohio, the small town the girls grew up in. They are heading to the city, Letty with dreams of being a singer/actress, Cordelia with hopes of finding her estranged father, Darius Grey, now an extremely rich bootlegger, profiting off the market of illegal alcohol in the age of Prohibition. When Cordelia seeks him out at Dogwood, his colossal estate on Long Island, he welcomes her. There she meets Astrid Donal, the gorgeous and vivacious girlfriend of Cordelia's brother Charlie. The girls soon become friends, but the life Cordelia has just discovered, and the life of her father, is soon threatened by Darius's rivals, the Hales.

I really enjoyed this book, much more than I thought I would. The plot was engaging and surprising, and I thought Godbersen did a great job balancing going back and fourth between the events happening to each girl. It was fast-paced without being confusing. The writing was descriptive, and I especially loved the details that were specific to 1929.  The book was also chalk full of dramatic irony. In the prologue it talks a bit about the 1920s, and the lats sentence is "at the end of the fateful summer, one would be famous, one would be married, and the other would be dead," which stays with you thought the entire book. Another piece of dramatic irony was the whole time period. I know that the stock market crash that started the Great Depression took place at the end of 1929, so I know that after this last summer, things are going to change dramatically. Overall, it was a great book, and I can't wait to see what else she has written.