One of my favorite books of the year came from a debut YA author. It didn’t seem like my normal vibe at first glance, by Alexandra Brown Chang’s By Invitation Only had me glued to my seat and I finished it in a single sitting while watching football with my husband. The pages just flew by!
By Invitation Only [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] is a dual-POV story set at an elite debutante ball in Paris. On one side, we have Piper, who is just your normal girl who recently won a major science fair. When one participant drops out, the ball offers her a spot. Piper doesn’t have much interest until they dangle a college scholarship in front of her, so she agrees to participate. Our other perspective is a nepo baby named Chapin, who has the Debutante of the Year title in her sights.
All I know about debutante balls is from TV shows and movies, so needless to say, this isn’t my scene. However, some of the things that happen in this book seem a bit outlandish even for the over-the-top rich world it’s set in. While ridiculous, I found myself not caring if it was realistic because the story was just so fun.
There’s plenty of drama (sabotage! disappearing with another debutante’s brother!) so the pages kept flying and I had a delightful time reading it. I wasn’t looking at it from a perspective of layers and depth, but I’m sure they are there if I did look. I simply had fun devouring the drama. With the state of our world the way it is, I am going to take the win where I can, and a book that allows me to forget about everything for a few hours is one that will get high marks from me.
Literary Hypewoman 
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