– Customer review on 20/04/2011

Okay, okay, so it's teen lit, and it's quite trashy and it's like the OC for the lit generation, but hey, I still enjoyed it. The love triangles and the scandals and all the pretty, poofy, anachronistic dresses. The author seems to be far more influence by Irene Castle and the 1910s than anything else. I know. Oh, I know all this. But who am I to turn away from historical novels and relish a bit of light reading?

The writing is only so-so, and really, Godbersen could have done a bit more research on the era she was writing in (and really, how do these girls get away with so much while unchaperoned?), and okay, the romances are so cliched it's nuts. That's not why I'm giving it such a high rating. No, the reason I'm giving this trashy, teen novel is the end.

Okay, maybe not Elizabeth's ending. I saw that coming from book two. It was clear. She wouldn't divorce Snowden, so he had to die. Did I expect her to kill him? No, but the fact she got away with it, that was obvious. So, aside from Elizabeth's story, I voted it highly because of the ending.

Firstly, Carolina's story, as by this stage, she is separated from the rest of the circle. Her story had to come out, and she would clearly have a fall from grace. I really did like her story with Leland, though. Godbersen did a good job of making her sympathetic, but still with some of that mildly vindictive streak through her. I wish Carolina and Leland could have ended up happy, and maybe, possibly, they could in the future. I'm guessing Godbersen will end up writing a sequel series, but I hope she doesn't as that, I think, would ruin it. Furthermore, I like Carolina and Claire are reunited and end up pushing against the social boundaries together. Of all the stories other than Elizabeth's, this is the one I think wound up the 'happiest' in terms of 'happy endings'. Perhaps not the most believable, or happy by modern day standards, but happy enough.

And then there's Penelope. Oh, she wouldn't end up happy, either. She's far too cruel and mean to end up happy. There was her affair with the Bavarian prince, and honestly, for a little while in the middle (around the pseudo-blowjob scene, and who didn't think that when she got on her knees?) that she would end up as a Bavarian princess. I should have seen it coming that she wouldn't end up with him. After all, that would be too neat, and too happy for Penelope. But she did get what book one Penelope wanted: married to Henry.

And that leads me to Henry-and-Diana, because these two can't be separated. This is the ending that made me sit up and think, this author may actually be on to something. True love just doesn't happy. Your first love is not going to be your last love or your only love. And Diana sees this, and honestly? I think Godbersen sees this. As she sees on her website, this is a happy ending- for Diana. Diana gets to be free. She still loves Henry, yes, but she realises she can't be tied down to her first love. She gets to travel and see the world, and given she is shown to be such a free spirit all through the series, she finally gets that. Furthermore, she continues to keep up her writing job, and she gets to be out from under her mother's thumb and away from her sister's so-called 'perfect' reputation. Henry doesn't get the girl, no, but really, Henry's not a perfect man. He's a bit of a cad, really. I'm not denying that he loves Diana, but he's not perfect for her. He's a little immature, and way too much immature for Diana. She's young, yes, but she is shown to have a fairly steady head on her shoulders, and is more of a 21st century woman than a turn-of-the-century 20th century lady. She needs to see the world, grow, enjoy her youth and the like before returning to New York.

Really, I must applaud Godbersen for not falling to the pressure that teen lit presents and bring forth a clean cut, romance novel happy ending, when real life doesn't work that way.