midnightbookgirl 's review for:

Vixen by Jillian Larkin

3.0

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Just finished this a few hours ago. I'm really loving the new trend of YA books placed in the roaring 20's. There's something about flappers and Prohibition that make for a great coming of age story. I thought Larkin did a good job of setting the atmosphere of Chicago in the 1920's. The reason the book only gets 3 stars is that I really had a hard time connecting with the main characters with the exception of Clara. Gloria seems selfish and astonishingly naive at times, although I really liked that her romance wasn't the usual dangerous/broody/poor boy from the wrong side of the track but rather with a talented piano player, who happens to be black in an era where relationships between black men and white women are still very taboo. Lorraine was the worst character for me- shallow, childish, impulsive and self-centered. There's just not much to like about her, although it's hard not to feel a little bad for her- Marcus, the boy she has carried a torch for, is bff's with Gloria, and is now suddenly enamored of "country Clara". Clara and Marcus are by far the best part of this book, I liked uncovering Clara's secrets and it was interesting to see if Marcus was playing a game or truly falling for her. I might not have loved Vixen, but I'm invested enough to read the sequel.