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A review by nickartrip102
Something Dangerous by Penny Vincenzi
3.0
After finishing No Angel, I had planned to give myself more time before continuing with Penny Vincenzi's The Spoils of Time trilogy. Unfortunately, the cover of Something Dangerous kept catching my eye and I couldn't resist the temptation. I had to know what the Lyttons were up to! In the second volume, Adele and Ventia Lytton, Celia’s twin daughters, take the leading role. It’s 1928 and six years have passed since the ending of No Angel. The twins are celebrating their eighteenth birthday, whiles Giles is making the most of his start working at the family’s publishing house. Barty spends time in New York and gets dangerously close to Laurence, Robert’s stepson.
Spoilers below:
The way I picked up this book and immediately devoured the first hundred pages! I loved reading Vincenzi’s Wicked Pleasures, but this is like an entirely different experience. I wasn’t sure that I would quite like Adele and Venetia, they were awful little brats in No Angel, but I absolutely fell in love with them (although it did take longer for me to actually like Venetia, the poor, dull girl.)
I started out as a big fan of Adele, she’s the more reserved of the set. When Venetia eventually marries Boy Warwick I felt awful for poor Adele! I had never really considered the unique relationship between twins before, but I couldn’t fathom losing your closest person to an entirely new life in such a complete way. That’s why I was rooting for her to carve out a little happiness for herself! I also loved the way she refused to backdown to Celia’s suggestion she should quit her job as the photographer’s assistant or whatever her job title was. I was also happy when she eventually got together with Luc, but…this also made me feel like a hypocrite because of how much I hated Abbie.
Venetia and Boy. Ugh. I genuinely felt kind of terrible for Boy, he tried so many times to connect deeper with Venetia, but she simply didn’t seem interested. I would give Boy all the attention! Sleeping with Abbie though? How common. I fully supported her decision to divorce Boy, although I really wish we had seen some sort of conversation between Ventia and her grandmother, Lady Beckenham, about this.
I was starting to lose faith in these girls until suddenly I fell back in love again. I love the way Venetia became a sort of young Celia, confident in herself and her career. When she and Boy found their way back to each other I was over the moon. And then a nervous wreck that Boy would die without finding out about their post-divorce child! Adele also found her strength and her journey from France back to England had me on the edge of my seat. I stayed up way past my bedtime to make sure she was safe!
Lady Celia Lytton. In No Angel, I said she was very much a Carrie Bradshaw. An interesting character to follow, but not at all likeable. Her becoming infatuated with Hiter and Nazism was the last straw! What an awful woman! I was happy that she came to her senses, but even happier when Adele didn’t brush this aside.
Barty the saint. I was glad she finally showed show weakness in this book. At the end of the novel when she isn’t given any shares in Lyttons I was devastated on her behalf. I’m not the biggest fan of her character, I find her to be the least interesting to read about, but the constant refrain of but you’re not a Lytton felt cruel. She has given up so much for the family that it felt unforgivable. Sure, I love Adele and Ventia, but the rest can kick rocks. I was proud of Barty for making the decision to leave for New York and even more delighted with her new found position in the world. What a great turn of events.
My personal highlight from Something Dangerous is the ridiculous and nearly incestuous relationship that develops between Kit and Izzie. I honestly didn’t see this coming when I started the book, mostly because of the age difference between the characters. Izzie is only fourteen when the adult Kit declares his love for her. However icky, this was a great way of making good use of all the potential drama of this story. As awful as this may sound I was hoping the would make it to Gretna Green. Celia deserves the horror of their relationship. I was glad when Lady Beckenham called out Kit for trying to deprive Izzie of her childhood. My lowlight was forgetting about the existence of Jack Lytton. He’s only mentioned once or twice in the book and I really loved his character in the first novel.
Spoilers below:
The way I picked up this book and immediately devoured the first hundred pages! I loved reading Vincenzi’s Wicked Pleasures, but this is like an entirely different experience. I wasn’t sure that I would quite like Adele and Venetia, they were awful little brats in No Angel, but I absolutely fell in love with them (although it did take longer for me to actually like Venetia, the poor, dull girl.)
I started out as a big fan of Adele, she’s the more reserved of the set. When Venetia eventually marries Boy Warwick I felt awful for poor Adele! I had never really considered the unique relationship between twins before, but I couldn’t fathom losing your closest person to an entirely new life in such a complete way. That’s why I was rooting for her to carve out a little happiness for herself! I also loved the way she refused to backdown to Celia’s suggestion she should quit her job as the photographer’s assistant or whatever her job title was. I was also happy when she eventually got together with Luc, but…this also made me feel like a hypocrite because of how much I hated Abbie.
Venetia and Boy. Ugh. I genuinely felt kind of terrible for Boy, he tried so many times to connect deeper with Venetia, but she simply didn’t seem interested. I would give Boy all the attention! Sleeping with Abbie though? How common. I fully supported her decision to divorce Boy, although I really wish we had seen some sort of conversation between Ventia and her grandmother, Lady Beckenham, about this.
I was starting to lose faith in these girls until suddenly I fell back in love again. I love the way Venetia became a sort of young Celia, confident in herself and her career. When she and Boy found their way back to each other I was over the moon. And then a nervous wreck that Boy would die without finding out about their post-divorce child! Adele also found her strength and her journey from France back to England had me on the edge of my seat. I stayed up way past my bedtime to make sure she was safe!
Lady Celia Lytton. In No Angel, I said she was very much a Carrie Bradshaw. An interesting character to follow, but not at all likeable. Her becoming infatuated with Hiter and Nazism was the last straw! What an awful woman! I was happy that she came to her senses, but even happier when Adele didn’t brush this aside.
Barty the saint. I was glad she finally showed show weakness in this book. At the end of the novel when she isn’t given any shares in Lyttons I was devastated on her behalf. I’m not the biggest fan of her character, I find her to be the least interesting to read about, but the constant refrain of but you’re not a Lytton felt cruel. She has given up so much for the family that it felt unforgivable. Sure, I love Adele and Ventia, but the rest can kick rocks. I was proud of Barty for making the decision to leave for New York and even more delighted with her new found position in the world. What a great turn of events.
My personal highlight from Something Dangerous is the ridiculous and nearly incestuous relationship that develops between Kit and Izzie. I honestly didn’t see this coming when I started the book, mostly because of the age difference between the characters. Izzie is only fourteen when the adult Kit declares his love for her. However icky, this was a great way of making good use of all the potential drama of this story. As awful as this may sound I was hoping the would make it to Gretna Green. Celia deserves the horror of their relationship. I was glad when Lady Beckenham called out Kit for trying to deprive Izzie of her childhood. My lowlight was forgetting about the existence of Jack Lytton. He’s only mentioned once or twice in the book and I really loved his character in the first novel.