Everything Glittered

3.25 stars

A YA mystery set during Prohibition and starring a Sapphic MC sounds absolutely amazing, and it was a fine read, but I was disappointed by a lot.

The way the mystery unfolded was kind of all over the place, and the reveal felt out of the blue and not in the fun way. The Sapphic polyamory that was hinted at was the main reason I kept going, and I was disappointed in that too. Props to the author for trying something different genre-wise because that's really brave to do. The historical landscape was pretty interesting, and I liked that the story tackled some harder topics like the rampant homophobia, bribery, and corruption in Washington.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

3.5/5
Bootleggers, speakeasies, and the daughters of well-to-do families.

Gertie loves her best friends Millie and Clara, she's never far from either seeing as they all attend a finishing school together. She is also very fond of their headmistress Mrs. Rose, who inspires Gertie heavily. Unfortunately, Mrs. Rose is found murdered and it throws the entire school into turmoil. Gertie has to fight her own perceptions, anti-gay laws, prohibition, her family, and her own friends to solve the murder properly.

Set against the roaring '20s, this story is about friendship, love, truth, justice, and acceptance.

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I really enjoyed this book. The atmosphere was perfect, I loved all the details! I'm not a huge history buff so I found no issues with show more anything that depicted the world of 1920s Washington.

The characters were really fun. I really enjoyed watching Gertie grow up and question her own perceptions and ideas about the people and society around her. I think Clara might be my favourite though out of the three. I had some issues with Gertie's trust and judgement. She was incredibly hostile to people who didn't deserve it and quickly trusting of people who didn't deserve it. Call it being naive but it bugged me.

The pacing was fine for me until near the end with a sudden plot twist that really starts the ball running towards the end. The ending gets pretty chaotic, but it didn't bother me and I kept up. I was happy with it and satisfied enough with the ending.

Overall, it wasn't bad. Pacing got rushed at the end and there were some weird choices by Gertie, but I would recommend it.

I'm happy to have gotten this from my local library! Check out yours and read it or'request that they buy it! show less

Gertie was friendly with the headmistress, Mrs. Rose, of her boarding school. When Mrs. Rose is brutally murdered in her room, with bottles of booze strewn around, rumors begin to fly. It is Prohibition and alcohol is obviously illegal. Could Mrs. Rose have been hanging out with unsavory people? With threats of closing the school and Mrs. Rose's name and reputation being smeared, Gertie and her two friends, Clara and Milly, need to solve the murder and hopefully save their school.

Set in the late 1920s, Everything Glittered deals with teenage girls trying to participate in the flapper life by visiting speakeasies and dancing like flappers. Along the way, the three girls develop feelings for each other and need to understand those show more feelings. And, of course, they need to solve a murder which definitely takes them to unsavory parts of town but also opens their eyes to the fact that Prohibition makes alcohol illegal, but that doesn't mean that everyone follows the law...young and old, rich and poor alike.

The story is great, the characters realistic and interesting. A typical wonderful book by Robin Talley. I can't wait for her next book. Hopefully it won't be long in the writing. show less