Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Review: Gossip Girl

Publisher's Weekly ---At a New York City jet-set private school populated by hard-drinking, bulimic, love-starved poor little rich kids, a clique of horrible people behave badly to one another. An omniscient narrator sees inside the shallow hearts of popular Blair Waldorf, her stoned hottie of a boyfriend, Nate, and her former best friend Serena van der Woodsen, just expelled from boarding school and "gifted with the kind of coolness that you can't acquire by buying the right handbag or the right pair of jeans. She was the girl every boy wants and every girl wants to be." Everyone wears a lot of designer clothes and drinks a lot of expensive booze. Serena flirts with Nate and can't understand why Blair is upset with her; Blair throws a big party and doesn't invite Serena; Serena meets a cute but unpopular guy; and a few less socially blessed characters wonder about the lives of those who "have everything anyone could possibly wish for and who take it all completely for granted." Intercut with these exploits are excerpts from www.gossipgirl.net (the actual site launches in February), where "gossip girl" dishes the dirt on the various characters without ever revealing her own identity amongst them. Though anyone hoping for character depth or emotional truth should look elsewhere, readers who have always wished Danielle Steel and Judith Krantz would write about teenagers are in for a superficial, nasty, guilty pleasure. The book has the effect of gossip itself once you enter it's hard to extract yourself; teens will devour this whole. The open-ended conclusion promises a follow-up. Ages 15-up.

Me --- I have watched a few episodes of the CW's Gossip Girl and was instantly attracted to its ridiculousness. I immediately knew I wanted to read the books and it has taken me awhile to venture into the YA section of the library. The first installment in von Ziegesar's series is just as ricdiculous as the show. I am glad I have the image of the actors in my mind and I think it's nice to have the show in mind while reading. I am not ashamed to admit I love to tread mindless trash, and this is just that. But, I mean how can you resist a bunch of spoiled teenagers acting like 20 somethings? Completely unbelievable but at the same time it drags you into the craziness. It MAKES you want to be as lucky as them.

You know you love me.. xoxo.. :)

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1 comment:

Amber said...

I LOVE Gossip Girl (the show) it's one of my favourites!

I read the first book when I was younger but never got into them!