Rumors

Rumors, much like its prequel, The Luxe, is a bewilderingly addicting read that’s heavy on drama and light on almost everything else. Godbersen’s writing is full of pretty dresses and vicious intrigue and starcrossed romance.
In many (if not most) areas where this series succeeds, Rumors far outdistanced and outperformed The Luxe. The gossip was juicier, the plot twists were more scandalous, and plot was more fast-paced and engrossing. Essentially, any fan of The Luxe should be supremely satisfied with Rumors.

As a character-driven reader, the lack of strong leads in Rumors is disappointing. What Diana and Elizabeth Holland, Lina Broud, Penelope Hayes, etc. all do is interesting and entertaining, but I think that if they were three-dimensional personalities, it would be even better. Anna Godbersen balances a lot of narratives and perspectives in her overaching storyline, and sometimes her characters sounds too similar to each other. Giving each narrating personality a defining voice would smooth things out quite a bit, in my opinion.

On a plot level, Rumors is fraught with emotions and backstabbing and cruel plot twists. The drama, for my personal taste, was a bit too extravagant and flamboyant. Toward the last 50 pages, things got a little out of control, causing much eye-rolling on my part. On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea what silly road-block Anna Godbersen is going to throw into her characters’ path to completely happiness. There are still two more books left in this series, and I’m half-curious/half-afraid to see how everything ends up.

Statistically speaking, I’d say only .5 out of every 10 books is surprising or unique enough that I don’t know the basic plot outline by the end of the first chapter. So that is one good thing Rumors has going for it.

Overall, I think Rumors has a definite appeal for a certain demographic. As someone who exists solely on the fringes of that group of readers, Rumors may have been a bit too much for me to handle. Contrived drama goes a long way with me. I do think, however, that Anna Godbersen deals well with the assignment she was contracted to fulfill. Certainly, the Luxe series is far from terrible.

Reader reviewed by Ana

I really enjoyed the Luxe. I love this sort of thing, the historical scandal, and pretty dresses and romance.
And I still like Rumors, but I found it to be just a little bit lacking.  Probably because I knew how it was going to end (thanks to the stupid reviewers on Amazon who write reviews with spoilers in them without bothering to put SPOILER ALERT at the top of them), and I was seriously disappointed in the ending.  I mean, really! It goes so completely wrong, and (spoiler alert?) the good guys lose and the bad guys win, for the time being (I guess).
Right now, I am 3/4 of the way through Envy, and it is soooo redeeming this series, at least for me. It's just better. So, those disappointed with Rumors, hang on....just hang on.
Age group: 14+, for some implied sexual situations/sexuality (vague, but it also has very very  bad consequences), drinking references (also with consequences), and (very) mild language.