Warning: This review
contains spoilers for Vixen by Jillian Larkin.
Gloria Carmody and
Jerome Johnson fled Chicago for New York to escape the mob and the
police after Gloria killed a man. They thought that their love would
be enough to get them through – but a white woman and a black man
living together will need a lot more than that to get a happy ending.
After witnessing another murder, Jerome's sister Vera knows that New
York is about to get even more dangerous for the pair, but can she
find them to warn them in time? Meanwhile Lorraine Dyer, formerly
Gloria's best friend, is also trying to find them – but in her case
she wants revenge on Gloria. As for Clara Knowles, former 'Queen
Sheba of the flapper scene', she may be back in New York but she's
not going back to the speakeasies and parties. She's happy with
quiet, respectable Marcus Eastman. Until she gets an intriguing
offer...
I was worried that the
main characters all moving from Chicago to New York would feel forced
and that Larkin might not be able to capture the atmosphere of the
Big Apple as well as she did her previous location. Happily, the
worries were misplaced – Larkin is absolutely wonderful at drawing
the reader in and I could almost taste the illicit booze as I was
reading this one. I mentioned when reviewing book one that if there
was a tiny fault it was perhaps the length of time taken
scene-setitng – this one is much faster moving, with a murder in
the very first chapter. As previously, Larkin's writing style is
gorgeous and draws you in to the action as well as the setting.
As well as the
excellent descriptions of the time and place, Larkin is also great at
creating strong characters. All four narrators here have distinctive
voices and are easy to care about, while the various love interests,
especially Jerome's friend Evan who helps Vera search for him, are
attractive but realistically portrayed. I was especially impressed by
the changing relationship between Gloria and Jerome, now past the
first stages of love and having to work at being a couple despite the
problems of racism and the danger they're in. It's also enjoyable to
see real people from the time period, including Louis Armstrong and
Al Capone, either appear or get a mention.
I'm absolutely
desperate for the next in this wonderful series, which the epilogue
sets up beautifully – but I'm also appreciative that there's more
of a sense of resolution to this one than there was to Vixen.
Larkin's ending managed to both give me a satisfying conclusion to
this part of the trilogy while also leaving me eagerly waiting to see
what happens next – the best of both worlds!
Really strong
recommendation, fans of YA historical novels shouldn't miss this
superb series.
Sounds like an exciting series! I'm always amazed how many books and authors I've not heard off! Sometimes it's exciting and sometime I wish there were more time for me to read. Enjoyed your review, thanks.
ReplyDeleteKatja @ YA's the Word