Early Review: Capital Girls

Author: Ella Monroe
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Series: Capital Girls # 1

CAPITAL GIRLS by Ella Monroe is the first book in a glitzy, fast-paced, fabulous new young adult series set against the backdrop of Washington, D.C. In it, we meet four young women, best friends forever, who must navigate life as the children of some of the most powerful people in the nation. With that life comes not only awesome vacations, beautiful clothes and A-list parties, but also scandal, heartache, danger and the ever-present paparazzi who seem to have a knack for catching them when they're up to something bad!

Bold, bright colors, need I say more? All of these summer hues on the front cover coincide very nicely together. Blues, reds, oranges, and yellows are all so welcoming! The setting of this book was what really got me. I have read so many books about four girls in Los Angeles, Paris, New York City, but I can honestly say that I do not think I have ever read one that took place in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C.

This book, for me, was like the perfect mix of Pretty Little Liars and Sex in the City! It was fast-paced and kept my attention, literally, until the last page in which I was literally like, “WAIT! That’s all you are giving me!” So yes, the book ends on a cliffhanger and if you get into the book as much as I did you will be dying of agony once you flip that last page. It was not until that last page that I actually realized that this book was planned to be part of a series.  I am still in amazement at how much this book drew me in. I honestly felt like I was in an episode of Pretty Little Liars.

This book is about four friends who are all somehow wrapped up in the web of politics that is our nation’s capital. The book starts off with the death of one of them. Already the author had me. When there is a death of course you want to know how or why? And this death may have been foul play. This book was totally not what I expected, but in a good way. The girl that was recently laid to rest immediately had my attention as well. I wanted to meet her and I was wishing, secretly, that she were still alive. The way the other three girls described her was so wild and vivacious and I was sooooo bummed out that she was not able to speak for herself in the book!

The characters are literally like a soap opera and it was nice to be into a book like I was with this one. I have read all day and I was not stopping until I finished it. You are constantly trying to figure out what is up with each character and what secrets they are hiding and why. The “Capital Girls” were my favorite part, of course. This was the name that they called themselves. They each had dreams of pursuing big time colleges and were each defying the wants and desires of their parents. They were a tight unit together and when you start to learn more about each of them you, like me, may find yourself questioning their loyalty to one another!

Jackie Whitman was my favorite Capital Girl. She was known as Washington D.C.’s IT girl and was dating the president’s son, Andrew Price. Oh, and FYI, in this book the president is a women! Yep, I know how freakin’ awesome!! Jackie was still mourning the loss of her deceased best friend and was having a hard time coping without her around. Jackie had some insecurities but I believe that is what drew me to her as a character. Even though she was the most popular of the girls and had the most to lose, she was constantly trying to break away from what society expected of her. I really grew to relate and LOVE Jackie. I was often wondering if she was named for Jackie Kennedy!

By the end of the book you are going to find yourself questioning each girl and her motives, even the one that cannot speak for herself! I was flabbergasted by the end of the book and I cannot wait unit Fall 2012 when the next in the series is expected to be released. What a nice change of setting and an amazing author who really knows how to add depth to characters. I was really connected to each of them and wanted to know more and more about their lives as the pages turned. Such a great summer read and I HIGHLY recommend it!

***A HUGE thanks to the publishers at St. Martin’s Press for my copy of Capital Girls which was given to me in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion***