Book Review: Diva by Jillian Larkin

Diva

By Jillian Larkin

Release Date: July 10, 2012

Source: Publisher

Summary: Parties, bad boys, speakeasies—life in Manhattan has become a woozy blur for Clara Knowles. If Marcus Eastman truly loved her, how could he have fallen for another girl so quickly? Their romance mustn't have been as magical as Clara thought. And if she has to be unhappy, she's going to drag everyone else down to the depths of despair right along with her.

Being a Barnard girl is the stuff of Lorraine Dyer's dreams. Finding out that Marcus is marrying a gold digger who may or may not be named Anastasia? A nightmare. The old Lorraine would have sat by and let the chips fall where they may, but she's grown up a lot these past few months. She can't bear to see Marcus lose a chance for true love. But will anyone listen to her?

Now that the charges against her have been dropped, Gloria Carmody is spending the last dizzying days of summer on Long Island, yachting on the sound and palling around with socialites at Forrest Hamilton's swanky villa. Beneath her smile, though, Gloria's keeping a secret. One that could have deadly consequences . . .

Review: I haven't read the first two books of this series, but I was really intrigued when I saw that it was about flappers in the 1920s. I love that era, but I have never actually read a young adult book set in that time, so I knew I was in for a treat!

The book starts out with Gloria being released from jail and agreeing to spy on a playwright in order to earn her freedom. The whole background of her situation and how everyone was related to one another was very confusing in the beginning, but that's because I haven't read the first two books. I think as a reader who is familiar with this series, they will be able to follow along much better than I did. Despite my lack of background knowledge, I was able to pick up enough to follow along for the rest of the story. 

Aside from the confusion, Diva definitely held the notorious Roaring Twenties storyline. There were fabulous parties, speakeasies, fashion icons, and just crazy lives in general. I really grew to like Lorraine, Clara, and Gloria and their individual stories and personalities. There was some mystery with how Forrest, the playwright, could be so young and so wealthy, along with where Jerome went and all of these conspiracies fit together. It seems like no one can stay out of trouble and there is some heart that's breaking around every corner. 

All of the characters are definitely unique in their own ways, but that just makes the story so much more interesting. The parties are fantastic and their lives are just so much different from ours today that I couldn't get enough of the time period. I really wish that I had read the first two books in the series so that I could spend more time in this era and really get the most out of the final book of the series. If you're a fan of the first two novels, definitely pick up the final book! And if you haven't read them, I would recommend checking out the first book of this series because I know it has to offer a fun story about an era that was pure fabulousness.