The Luxe

by Anna Godbersen...okay, I must confess I read this book because it is being CHALLENGED (for those of you not in the Library world, this means that someone read this book and has asked for it to be removed or reconsidered from the Library collection). So, of course my interest was definitely piqued. All of the reviews I read recommended it for young adult readers and didn't really say anything negative about it...so I had to dig deeper. Anyway...I was 48 pages into it before someone lit a cigar or cigarette...which was one of the concerns....this book takes place in 1899...a time when most people were thinking more about how they appeared to others and less about health. Okay...so this book is a turn of the 20th century book with a lot of themes similar to GOSSIP GIRLS (a little more modern version of the same group of people). I must confess I LOVED this book...I can't wait to read the next one...and I never would have picked it up had it not been challenged at all. Interesting. As a teen I would have TOTALLY read this book. I was into the bodice ripping romance, historical romance, doomed lovers, etc at 16 years of age. I will also share that reading about sex at 16 didn't influence me to HAVE sex. But the sex scenes aren't particularly explicit and while there is drinking, partying, etc...I would say this was par for the course in this time period. The thing that REALLY hooked me was that it seems that each chapter starts with a quote from something from that time period, whether literature, magazines or newspapers from that era. I thought that was especially cool. This has made me curious about the reference to drinking, smoking, drugs and sex in many of the classics and literature that we tag as something everyone should read! So...I am on a hunt...do you know if your favorite classic or piece of literature has references to any of these things? If so, please share. I have to say that when I read something, this is not what sticks out in my mind...it is the plot, the characters and the outcome...anything that happens extra I sometimes don't notice as much...maybe I should.