Review: Vixen by Jillian Larkin

Author: Jillian Larkin

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Page Count: 432 pages, Paperback

Date Published: August 9th 2011 (first published December 14th 2010) 

Goodreads Description:

 Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?
Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .  

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . .

 My Thoughts: It was just fabulous! 

Vixen is set in the 1920s, which is my favorite time-period to read about. This is why I can easily say that I LOVED this book! I have said this a million times before and I'll say it a million times more, I was born in the wrong era!

The story moves incredibly fast and is really well written. I never got bored, not once. It was a great change from all the paranormals and dystopias that are so huge in YA books. I have always had a fascination with this time-period, as I mentioned before, but I don't have much luck in finding good books set in it. Larkin made me forget about our modern world for the day that it took me to read this novel and it felt like I was transported back in time to the world of Gloria, Lorraine and Clara. The story changed from the point of view  of each girl every chapter, but once again I was impressed with how flawlessly the author pulled this off. I was never confused as to what was happening, as it was all chronological. The characterization in this book was phenomenal. Each girl had their own lives, their own struggles, their own flaws. Each of them have very different lives that show us unique aspects of the decade. I loved that Larkin was able to show Lorraine in a way that, although her actions should make the reader despise her, she was really just a damaged and jealous girl in need of a hug. 

Now, onto the romance side of things. Of course! This was a part of Vixen that both bugged me and intrigued me. The fact that Marcus and Gloria are just friends was delightful. No love-triangle there, with the forbidden love and the best friend. It was obvious that there was no way that could happen, which made me extremely pleased. That type of triangle gets a bit old after a while, don't you think? So I suppose I should actually specify the 'forbidden love' as Jerome Johnson, the African-American piano player. It was sort of an almost love at first sight situation with Gloria and Jerome, but of course it blossomed into something more. I felt as if their relationship took of very quickly and there wasn't a lot of time in between when they were singing in the basement and when they were sipping hot chocolate at the ice rink. It was sweet, but a little fast in my opinion. I don't even know why I think that, but I do. Then there's Sebastian, Gloria's fiance. No doubt about it, I didn't feel any sympathy for him at all. He was just a lying, cheating pig in my eyes. GO JEROME!

The end of this novel was crazy. I was kind of expecting it, but not so much that I didn't enjoy it. The shock of it all was a huge twist from the romantic scene right before. It left me craving more of this incredible world that Larkin wrote about and I really wanted to go talk to my great-grandmother to see if she could tell me any stories of her mother in the twenties. Vixen is the perfect novel for anyone who takes interest in the Roaring Twenties and I'd recommend it to anyone who is getting tired of the same old YA material, (that I enjoy, of course) and are needing a break. Larkin has written a novel that is intricate and detailed, suspenseful and amusing. I loved every minute of it and I can't wait to get my hands on Ingenue, once it is restocked in the bookstore.


Just wanted to throw this out there before I finish: I'm sorry I haven't been on much lately. I've had hours and hours of homework each night this week and lots of tests. I will be on more this weekend and hopefully set up a schedule for the next few weeks so that I'm more organized.

Have a great day/night everyone!
Happy reading!
-Kristy