Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee
Envy
Anna Godbersen
Historical Fiction
Challenge
319

1. Right now in my book, the characters have all come back from Florida after a very eventful trip. While in Florida, much drama ensued, including Henry claiming he would divorce Penelope, but then shortly later breaking his promise to Diana that they had never shared a bed. When Diana spots them looking much like a couple on a balcony, she feels betrayed. She is especially upset because she just got over him, until he got her hopes up again by claiming he would leave Penelope, to be with her. Meanwhile, Carolina left the trip early when she recieves a telegram that Longhorn, her friend and sole confident died while she was away. She is just about to go to the reading of Mr. Longhorn's will when I stopped reading. Also, while in Florida, Elizabeth has been acting sick the whole trip, and while she visits Pelelope one time, Penelope plants in her head that she is pregnant. When she tells her mom of her speculations, her mom insists that she get married, as to avoid scandal for the whole family. Still heartbroken over the loss of her late husband Will, she visits her friend and preferred fiancee, Teddy Cutting. Unfortunately for her, Teddy just left for the military. Heartbroken and confused, the chapter ended with Elizabeth thinking about her choices for the future.

2. As the book continues, I am liking it more and more. It's getting more and more interesting and it keeps getting even more scandelous. As new secrets are being uncovered, and new plans are being made to increase their status in society, the book gets more fun to read. Each chapter is faster to read, since the plot is more interesting as the book goes on. At first, I wasn't loving the book, since I didn't really remember what happened in the previous books, but now I'm really enjoying it. Everything that has happened in the series so far is coming back to me, and I am finding it harder to put the book down. I almost don't want to reach the end though, because I know the book will end in a cliffhanger, and I will want to know what happens so bad until I get the fourth and last book in the series, Splendor.

3. Another theme that I have noticed in the book so far is greed. Penelope is the best example of greed in this story. She really wants it all, the money, the guy, and the high place in society. Her greed causes her to do really hurtful things though, including blackmailing her husband, Henry so he will marry her, and blackmailing Elizabeth with the information that she was in love with an employee of the family, a scandal that Elizabeth's mother would do anything to keep from the public. Another extremely greedy person is Carolina. She comes from a poor family, and was a former servant of the Holland family. Despite her poor roots, and her new spotlight in society, she still wants the money and the power. Even after her friend and one of her sources of income dies, she isn't worried for the most part about his death, but rather the fact that she won't get any of the money that he used to give to her. Instead of appreciating all he gave her while he was alive, she is only concerned for her future and how she will get money next. Other characters such as Henry's father also display greed, but those two characters are the biggest example of the theme I chose.

4. My favorite character has changed since the last time I posted. My favorite character used to be Diana, but since then I've grown to like her sister, Elizabeth more. Elizabeth has just been dealt a bad hand. Her husband is dead, she's forced to live a lie, and she may or may not be carrying her late husband's child, a child that the world can never know was his. To make matters worse, the person that could have possibly been the one to make her life better, Teddy Cutting has just gone off to war, right when she needed him most. She doesn't really have anyone to turn to, except for her sister, but even Diana is a little distracted by heartbreak at the moment. She'll have to marry someone soon, according to her mother, and a loveless marriage is not what she needs right now. I feel the most sympathy towards Elizabeth, after all she has been put through, and she's a genuinely nice person. The only thing I don't like about her, is that she seems weak. Although she has gone through a lot, she also has done nothing to help her family since she's been back. She was also a little selfish for running away from her family when they needed her most, but I can understand why she did it.

5. My least favorite character has also changed since I posted last. My least favorite character used to be   Carolina, but it is now Penelope. Although I still dislike Carolina, my hatred for Penelope is greater. The thing that makes her the worst in my mind is the fact that she doesn't appreciate anything she has. Her family is wealthy and she is beautiful, and yet she still wants more. Instead of finding a guy that would love her just as much as she loves him, she insists on having Henry as a husband, which really ends up making both of them miserable. She's cunning and devious, and uses those powers to her advantage. Whenever she can, she'll use a secret against someone as to boost her own image. Everything about her rubs me the wrong way, and the fact that her style sense is less elegant, and more scandalous, makes her seem so much less classy than she would think it does.

6. I think a lot is going to happen in the last part of the book. I think that Diana will find a way to embarrass herself while she is with Penelope's brother, who is making a game out of trying to seduce her. I think that Penelope will use whatever she does against her as another piece of added insurance so that Henry doesn't leave her. I think that Henry will end up leaving her though, but Diana will not be able to forgive him for breaking her heart so many times. My guess is that Carolina will also be left a lot of money in Longhorn's will, but something will happen and she will spend it foolishly and will be back to square one and broke again. I think that Teddy will either die at war, or come back earlier than he was expecting, and Elizabeth might write him to come back, so she can marry him. I hope he comes back so Elizabeth can at least marry someone she has some feelings for.