The Lucky Ones (Bright Young Things, #3)

The Lucky Ones (Bright Young Things #3)

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85  ·  rating details  ·  901 ratings  ·  133 reviews
In 1929, the Bright Young Things escape Manhattan's heat for the lush lawns and sparkling bays of White Cove, looking for leisure, love, and luck.

New York City's latest It Girl, Cordelia Grey, is flying high with celebrity pilot Max Darby. But Max is a private person with a reputation to uphold—and a secret to hide. A public romance with a bootlegger's daughter could cost...more
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published November 27th 2012 by Harper Teen
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Stacia ~ Mistress of Mediocrity
It's about time.



Finally, I got some real bootlegging action! It's not a real prohibition book unless some illegal liquor is consumed and guns are pulled.



And the flyboy...oh, the flyboy. I was able to fully to commit to love him this time.

OH, and...I won't let on which of the 3 err 5 male love interests said this....
LET'S GO HOME AND GET BUSY.

...but I had a moment of would this have been said in the 1920's? when reading it (and yes, it WAS in all caps). Apparently, he really wanted to get...more
KM
Feb 11, 2013 KM marked it as put-aside-for-now
*Update 4/16: I might as well just go ahead and give this book 5 stars. I mean, really. It's Anna Godbersen. How can it NOT be incredible?!

Also, freakin LOVE this cover! Not quite as gorgeous as Bright Young Things or Beautiful Days but a seriously close third! Godbersen legit struck cover gold with all her books. I'm just saying.
Samantha
I can't wait till this book comes out I just finished beatiful days and it was really good. Ahh the one bad thing I hate about starting a new series is that just came out is that I have to wait for the other books to come out:(...
Michelle
WHY DO THEY KEEP CHANGING THE DATE??????? UGH.

SOOOOOO GOOOD! I HATE THAT IT'S OVER. No more Bright Young Things. I was glued to this book as much as I could be with my busy life right now. I read it pretty quickly and didnt' want to put it down!

I dont' want to give anything away. If you haven't read this trilogy.... Give it a try.. I think you will be pleasantly suprised.

Charlotte
For most of this book, I went back and forth with my feelings. I couldn't believe this was the finale, because it just felt like another installment (and the Luxe had been four books, so I just expected it to be the same here.) It also didn't feel as exciting or compelling as the other two, until the end. I have to say, the end got rid of all of my bad feelings and the book was just as magical, probably more, than the others.

Anna Godbersen is an amazing writer. One of my all-time favorites. Her...more
Quoc
The Lucky Ones is the third and final installment of the Bright Young Things series by Anna Godbersen. The story is set in 1929 Manhattan, following the lives of 3 young women; Letty Larkspur, Cordelia Grey and Astrid Donal.

To keep the story/plot short. This story is enticed with more lust, daring moments and moving up in the glamorous life. One's life will end, another will shine and the other ending up tying the knot.

The previous two books had set the stone about the livelihood of what these...more
Shelby Boyer
Oh, Anna Godbersen. I've got such a literary crush on you.

The cynic inside me always anticipates being disappointed, but it never is. Every one of these books has impressed me. They might be a guilty pleasure, but they are stunning, beautiful, well-written and well thought out creations that make it impossible to feel guilty over loving. And love it I did. In fact, I miss it already.

This was a beautiful read. Godbersen is a master of language and moments. She has a way of spinning words togethe...more
Jason
The best book of this trilogy, The Lucky Ones, concludes these Jazz Age stories of Letty, Cordelia, and Astrid. While I do think Godbersen could have told this story in one, more tightly edited, yet longer single novel - I continue to admire her tenacity to end things on her own terms (much as she did with the conclusion of The Luxe series). Plot threads are never truly and neatly tied up; things don't always work out as you would expect in a YA novel; and while obviously a romantic, Godbersen's...more
Navem
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Brett
No one is going to accuse this frothy soap opera of a series of being anything but a light read & a guilty pleasure, but that doesn't make it bad if you're in the mood for an escape read filled with rich, beautiful people in lush settings doing things you wouldn't dream of doing yourself.

Godbersen ties up her second series of catty rich girls in historical New York (this time on a tony Long Island estate in the last year of the Roaring '20's) with a series of technicolor happenings that woul...more
Alex
Reading a book by Anna Godbersen is always a conflicting process. On the one hand, her writing is poetic and it is obvious that Godbersen can write a beautiful sentence. But it can also be like wandering into a paragraph and getting lost among words upon words upon words. Typically when Godbersen writes a descriptive phrase like "Coca-cola eyes" and "bee stung lips" she stick with it and beats you over the head with the phrase until you wish a bee would sting you in your eyes and Coca-cola would...more
Courtney Hall
A fitting end to an enjoyable trilogy. I don't want to give spoilers, but readers of the first two books will, I think, be satisfied with the endings given to the main characters. In the first book the omniscient narrator (whose identity is revealed, and confirms my initial suspicions about the character) states that by the end of the summer one of the girls will be married, one will be famous, and one will be dead. This is true, but I was really surprised when I found out which girl achieved wh...more
Sara
Dec 29, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2012
A nice end to this series. The series begins with the promise that by the end of the series one girl will be married, another a star and another dead. But which is which?

Letty is a rising star and has a romance with a movie star. But what of her career and does this romance last?

Cordeila, who is so strong and smart, has a rocky romance with a famous pilot. A secret comes out about him and he loses everything. Thom (who I like for Cordeila shows back up too). She's constantly in dangerous situati...more
GSGS
[Um, possibly spoilers...]

So confused. Is this a trilogy or not? Because the end was pretty conclusive but the "About the Author" thing said she's working on a sequel. The ending was kinda rushed...

Sigh. It was as fluffy and unwholesome as always but still enjoyable. Still, three love triangles happening simultaneously?
Cordelia: Max & Thom
Letty: Grady & Valentine
Astrid: Charlie & Victor


... Isn't that against one of those law thingies???

However I did find one of the year's most qu...more
Lennis
This was the fun quick read I expected it to be. I kept having to remind myself that this series is supposed to take place over the course of three months. That is a lot of action for this time period! I would have liked to see more character growth throughout the series. Letty keeps making the same naive decisions with the same consequences. The ending also seemed a bit abrupt. I enjoyed reading this but was left with a bit of an empty feeling.

It's odd that everywhere online, this series is cal...more
Annie June
Anna Godbersen's Bright Young Things ends with this last installment, and the ending is a fair bit underwhelming. This doesn't mean the book was bad, but this was a trilogy that had two strong first books, and it's difficult to watch as the final book just doesn't seem to hold its own.

Positive to note, though, is that Godbersen's writing is again very strong. I haven't read her Luxe series, but from what I've heard, this new series of hers has progressed her writing well. Without her skill this...more
Valerie
Okay so this third book in the bright young things trilogy didn't hold me as engaged as the first two. It took me a long time to finish it. I got a little bored. The ending was good. (view spoiler)[ I was right about who would be famous, who would be dead, and who would be married, just the details of how I got wrong, because it changed throughout the book. (hide spoiler)] I really would recommend this series to anyone that loves the jazz era. I felt like I was transported back to 1929. I'm both...more
Ashley Yuan
It's 12 am and my heart is weeping buckets. As usual Godbersen finished her story with a bittersweet twist. No one, no author has ever written epilogues as beautiful and heart wrenching as Godbersen.
At first the series seemed like a pointless read but my dear readers once you read that epic conclusion you will truly just feel; the glamour, the dying beauty of the 20s and that wistfulness that lingers in the last few pages.
I was left satisfied with each girls well deserved fate of course I wouldn...more
Elise Tan
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Cass -  Words on Paper
Hooray! There's a synopsis now, along with the beautiful new cover. :) Can't wait!!!
Jessica
I loved this book and once again wish I could rate on a half scale so it would be 4.5. Godbersen's writing is truly amazing. She is able to capture a place in time so well by writing a simple sentence. As with the Luxe series, you fall in love with New York all over again and get swept into the lifestyles of the bootleggers, rich and famous, and also people who did not have it so easy. The ending was great finally ending the anticipation of which of these "bright young thing" would die. Bittersw...more
Manda
More of a 3.5, honestly. The outcome teased by the anonymous narrator (whose identity is finally confirmed) since the beginning book of the series finally plays out, and not in the way I had expected.

(view spoiler)[As the first one stated, by the end of this book one girl is married (Astrid), one is famous (Letty), and one dies (Cordelia). It was the death that was a little surprising, even though I knew it was coming eventually, mainly because it wasn't at all how I thought it was going to go d...more
Erika Schoeps
This book is ridiculously addictive. it's not a classic, and it's not a book for the ages, but it's amazing. I was hooked from the beginning, but I must admit that I have a deep bias because I'm in love with the Jazz Age. I enjoyed this series more than "The Luxe" series, but also, I believe Godbersen's writing is improving. The character development is deeper, and Godbersen manages to make every character loveable. I couldn't hate any of them. They're unique and human and you cannot resist. The...more
Lexi
Getting into this book was difficult only because I read this series as the books released. So I hadn't read about Cordelia, Astrid, and Letty since Beautiful Days came out. It wasn't until the middle of the book that I was in a comfortable familiarity with the story line again. So try to read the books close together if you can.

This conclusion to the Bright Young Things series was really good for me. Although I only gave it three stars, I still liked it quite a bit. Everyone debates over which...more
Alice Hardy
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Melody
Wow. So this book series brings back memories, so many. I read on my nook at work when it's slow and no one is coming in, and I share books with one of my coworkers. Well before either of us had nooks we read Anna Godberson's Luxe, series on paperback. Soo long ago hah. I had completely forget about this flapper series until recently.

Well it picks up where the last ones left off, and let me tell you it is as captivating as ever. I remember before thinking Letty was the most irritating girl ever...more
K
The Lucky Ones is the conclusion to the Bright Young Things trilogy and starts 2 weeks after the conclusion of Beautiful Days. Letty has moved into a fancy apartment with a fancy movie star and his fancy movie star wife (yeahhh, no way that ends well) and Cordelia is dating a pilot who has light enough skin to pass for white. It’s still 1929, so film stars are glamorous and even in New York black kids can be lynched for passing for white. Hmph. Astrid married bootlegger Charlie in a fit of roman...more
Beaniebop
Apr 07, 2013 Beaniebop rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone
Recommended to Beaniebop by: Goodreads
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Brittany
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Emma
Originally on Books Forget Me Knot.

I honestly don’t even know what to say. Finishing the breathtaking and heart-pounding conclusion to Anna Godbersen’s Bright Young Things trilogy was bittersweet. It’s been days since I read the last sentence of the novel which left it’s unique mark on me. I couldn’t imagine a better, full-filling ending to one of my favorite historical fiction series’.

With that said, it’s very hard to be non-spoilery when this is the final book in the series, but I will try.

The...more
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How it ended *Spoilers* 5 14 Apr 30, 2013 09:23pm  
The Lucky Ones: A Bright Young Things Novel (ebook)
The Lucky Ones: A Bright Young Things Novel (Paperback)
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Anna Godbersen was born in Berkeley, California, and educated at Barnard College. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband.
More about Anna Godbersen...
The Luxe (Luxe, #1) Rumors (Luxe, #2) Envy (Luxe, #3) Splendor (Luxe, #4) Bright Young Things (Bright Young Things, #1)

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