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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Let down
No ending with who GG is. Glad Blair and Serena realized they don’t need the guy FINALLY! Kinda kills the feminist vibe through all the rest when all they do is fight over Nate. Surprised by the ending since everyone ends up alone.
No ending with who GG is. Glad Blair and Serena realized they don’t need the guy FINALLY! Kinda kills the feminist vibe through all the rest when all they do is fight over Nate. Surprised by the ending since everyone ends up alone.
I'm not really gonna review the book, more like the end of the series. So this was an amazing end but I think its neccesary to read between the lines.
Just so you know
technically B and S chose each other over N and walk away in the sunset. B has graduated from Yale, Serena is a semi famous actor and N has graduated from the same school of C. Speaking of C he hooked up with Blair at one point and he has completely changed for good. And D and V break up but still love each other. D is still a depressed writer and V is an uber artsy filmmaker.
This is what I reason in my head:
Nate + Serena- Ultimately, I think Serena should get Golden Boy. They'll find each other in like 10 years in an unexpected place(prob not new york) and commence a long lasting relationship. They'll both have changed as people: Serena is no longer the it girl and Nate will have a legit career. Despite everything they'll be drawn to each other because they were each other's first loves, after all. Also they were best friends from the start, and loved each other minus all the crazy drama. He chose her in the third part, and she was out the door first in the last part so that had to mean something. I refuse to accept otherwise.
Chuck + Blair- They play games with each other but ultimately they're the loves of each other's lives. They fit each other perfectly, and can keep up with each other. One day they'll rule New York together. She'll eventually return to New York and run into Chuck. She'll be over Nate who was more like her childhood dream.
Dan + Vanessa- They're a very artsy couple, so I think as a result they kinda have to have a unique relationship. They will always be on again off again and will inspire each other. Maybe they will settle one day, who knows?
Jenny + Eric - They're around the same age, and there's a sense of peace when they're together. They'll have a fun time partying together for awhile and it doesn't really matter to me if they ultimately work out.
Dan + Serena never struck me as an end game couple
a)it felt like a crush
b)she was only ever intimate with nate
c)their dynamics just weren't there
Nate + Blair don't seem right for each other
a) blair would rub it in serena's face
b) they weren't quite happy together and always felt they were missing something
c) they're better with other people
d) they didn't seem to want the same things from life
Serena + Blair-
I think they're the greatest couple of the books. Seriously, they're perfect the way they understand each other and love each other anyway. I love the notion of them choosing each other, but it can't be permanent. I mean c'mon this is B and S we're talking about, how could they stay away from their lives forever? I think that it means they'll put their friendship over everything which threatens their balance and choose to forgive each other and ignore each other's flaws so they can always maintain a beautiful friendship.
Just so you know
technically B and S chose each other over N and walk away in the sunset. B has graduated from Yale, Serena is a semi famous actor and N has graduated from the same school of C. Speaking of C he hooked up with Blair at one point and he has completely changed for good. And D and V break up but still love each other. D is still a depressed writer and V is an uber artsy filmmaker.
This is what I reason in my head:
Nate + Serena- Ultimately, I think Serena should get Golden Boy. They'll find each other in like 10 years in an unexpected place(prob not new york) and commence a long lasting relationship. They'll both have changed as people: Serena is no longer the it girl and Nate will have a legit career. Despite everything they'll be drawn to each other because they were each other's first loves, after all. Also they were best friends from the start, and loved each other minus all the crazy drama. He chose her in the third part, and she was out the door first in the last part so that had to mean something. I refuse to accept otherwise.
Chuck + Blair- They play games with each other but ultimately they're the loves of each other's lives. They fit each other perfectly, and can keep up with each other. One day they'll rule New York together. She'll eventually return to New York and run into Chuck. She'll be over Nate who was more like her childhood dream.
Dan + Vanessa- They're a very artsy couple, so I think as a result they kinda have to have a unique relationship. They will always be on again off again and will inspire each other. Maybe they will settle one day, who knows?
Jenny + Eric - They're around the same age, and there's a sense of peace when they're together. They'll have a fun time partying together for awhile and it doesn't really matter to me if they ultimately work out.
Dan + Serena never struck me as an end game couple
a)it felt like a crush
b)she was only ever intimate with nate
c)their dynamics just weren't there
Nate + Blair don't seem right for each other
a) blair would rub it in serena's face
b) they weren't quite happy together and always felt they were missing something
c) they're better with other people
d) they didn't seem to want the same things from life
Serena + Blair-
I think they're the greatest couple of the books. Seriously, they're perfect the way they understand each other and love each other anyway. I love the notion of them choosing each other, but it can't be permanent. I mean c'mon this is B and S we're talking about, how could they stay away from their lives forever? I think that it means they'll put their friendship over everything which threatens their balance and choose to forgive each other and ignore each other's flaws so they can always maintain a beautiful friendship.
What a terrible end to a terrible series. I read the books because I like the show, little did I know how different they are! The first few books were okay, but after that it went steadily downhill. I tired of the same love triangle drama, only the year and semester being the difference between books. After well over a year of seeing the last in the series still sitting on my book shelf unread, I finally got around to reading it. Mostly I just wanted to find out if the Gossip Girl revealed in the books was the same as the show. Well spoiler alert, Gossip Girl never reveals her identity!! WTF I just tortured myself reading another book for no reward! Over than that massive failure, this book combined all that I hated about the series into one boring story. The amount of brand names being dropped was pathetic. Can't the author just say that a girl stepped out of her apartment, without a full run down of what she is wearing complete with which designer the garments are from? This happens every single time anything happens. *yawn*. The worse example of over branding was naming the brand of a refrigerator that someone gets a beer out of. Not only is that pathetically unnecessary, because it's clear the characters are rich and would have the best of everything, to repeat it the very next page is ridiculous overkill! The final book is life post high school. This time though, time moves forward in large unspecified months or years, trying to cram all of college into one book. Even the author knows the series is dead. I could practically write down the formula used to create the lackluster drama. Cycle though each main character pairing a boy and a girl up. Create said romance. Create said breakup. Repeat with different characters. Intersperse with Serena and Blair loving then hating each other. None of this is new material. I no longer care who ends up with who. I just want it to end. You could basically skip the first 11 books and just read this one and not miss a thing. Especially because there were constant recaps back to past story lines. Strip out the past, the brands, and the expected relationship dramas and this book has absolutely no substance. None at all.
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Finished the whole series in a week. Definitely not a series to binge because it is pretty much the same thing in every book. But pretty much, I read these to get caught up on my goodreads challenge because I was seriously behind. it was a good brain break from the stuff I usually read and now I'm ready to get back to my normal stuff.
Or maybe I will just go on to Pretty Little Liars next.
Or maybe I will just go on to Pretty Little Liars next.
I never read any of the Gossip Girl books before other than a few excerpts...but when I learned my OTP on the show was together in this book in a big way, I had to get it and read it. Nate/Jenny 4 ever! <3
College Freshman- Nate is off traveling the world with Chips, his mentor. He heads back to NYC for New years though and hooks up with Blair. Blair goes to Yale, finally. She meets a guy named Pete and they fall in love. She spends Christmas with his big family and is excited to go on vacation with them for New Years. But then she finds out that the family has no ring no bring rule and goes to NYC by herself without her prince charming. She then hooks up with Nate on New Year's eve forgetting all about her boyfriends. Then the next day Pete shows up at Tiffany's with a ring, don't worry not an engagement ring, but then has a dramatic exit after she declines the ring, because we know what she did the night before. Serena stayed in the city to make some more movies and ends up at Thaddeus Smith's house on New Years. Dan comes home from his camping trip with his dad to his girlfriend in bed with another guy. We know that that night didn't end up well.
College Sophomore- Everyone is back for the holidays. Blair takes Pete to Chuck's new year's party and finds Serena kissing Nate and leaves. She then tells Pete that her and Nate hooked up last year and he walks out on her. Nate and Serena had a fun night, but Nate is still confused. Especially he sorta confesses to Serena that he still has feelings for Blair after S and N had sex. His mentor Chips died and he was at Deep Springs, an all-male college where they work on a farm. He made the mistake of going to Blair's hotel room after Pete walked out and she was asleep and he scared her and she was mad that he was there. Then Pete walked in on them in bed, doing nothing, and he left and Blair was so angry at Nate for fucking up her life. Vanessa was dating Hollis and they got an apartment together and he decided to make a movie about her life and it got all twisted and then before she knew it he was headed up to Iceland to film the movie. But before he went she got a puppy from Hollis and he left for Iceland for about a year. Dan got back with Serena after he made a poem about her and it was published in the New Yorker.
College Junior- I can't believe it. Chuck and Blair are dating. They both were studying abroad in Oxford England and things just sorta worked out. They spent the Holidays with Blair's father and his husband and two kids in the Waldorf Newport House. They were having a fantastic time until Nate, Serena, Dan and Jenny showed up. Nate was touring Brown while Jenny was touring RISD and they saw each other and Serena and Jenny offered Nate a ride home in the city. But their plans changed and they ended up at Blair's Newport house after a storm kicked in and they couldn't reach the city. Blair was not happy. Her father of course let them stay and for a few days. Dan and Serena had a room together and Jenny and Nate had separate rooms much less to Jenny's content. She even followed Nate up to his room and lost her virginity. Blair and Serena both had the same idea to go up to Nate's room, but they crossed paths and neither one ended up to his attic room. Nate and Jenny were all cozy the whole time they were there and Serena and Blair were jealous. Blair tried to kick them out, but her plan failed. But finally Jenny and Nate left for his boat that was docked in Newport and Dan and Serena left but not in a honeymoon state as they should have been in. Vanessa was all lonely in her apartment while Hollis was gone. He did make a surprise visit though and went to a party with some of his friends while Vanessa stayed home. She then started texting Dan and it brought up some old memories. Hollis then found her phone and saw all of her texts between her and Dan. He was furious and Hollis and Vanessa ended up breaking up. With Vanessa no where to go, she went to the Humphrey's, but Dan was not there. She hung out with Rufus and his friends for his New Year's Party. Dan and Serena came home and Dan was happy to find Vanessa, but a little surprised while Serena felt like the third wheel of a friendship.
College Senior- Blair come home to NYC and yes home. Her mother and stepfather return to NYC and throw a dinner party where everyone is anyone is invited. Blair is all by herself because Chuck is still in England. Serena decides not to bring Dan while Nate brings Jenny and they have a lot of public displays of affection which Blair's mother does not approve of. Nate is seated between Serena and Blair while his girlfriend is seated next to Blair's hot brother Tyler. Serena and Blair have lots of fun mocking Jenny's nickname given by Nate. How are you doing Meow, Meow. Serena and Blair call it truce one more time. Blair and Serena decide to breakup Jenny and Nate and hook Jenny and Tyler up. Blair and Chuck have a great time during the Holidays but it comes to an end after Blair feels like Chuck is trying to settle down to quickly. I knew that relationship would never work. Serena is disappointed that Dan will be leaving for Iowa in the fall. She then comes up with a brilliant idea to go with him and move in together. But she makes a mistake, or does Dan. Dan hooks up with Vanessa and breaks up with Serena. I guess no Iowa City townhouse for her. Nate and Jenny are still very in love, but Jenny likes to have fun. So she goes to the party Tyler invited her to after Nate falls asleep on her at his Townhouse. But good thing she left because Serena and Blair break in and I know little J wouldn't want them to see her naked. But instead of her being naked in Nate bed, Serena and Blair get almost naked in Nate's bed and surprises him. This is a sleepover gone wild with Breakfast at Tiffany's rolling, Rocky Road ice cream creating a river on the bed and all 3 of them twisted in the covers of the blankets. Good thing Jenny didn't see this because she was too busy partying it up with her old friend Elise and her new "crush" Tyler for 4 nights too notice anything with Nate. But when she does remember him she breaks up with him because she doesn't have any fun with him. 3 breakups in 1 holiday, wow. Of course though everyone shows up at Chuck's annual New Year's Bash, single or not. At the end of the night Serena and Blair run off together to go abroad in the fall leaving Nate on the curb with all of his confused feelings toward them behind. Happy New Year!
College Sophomore- Everyone is back for the holidays. Blair takes Pete to Chuck's new year's party and finds Serena kissing Nate and leaves. She then tells Pete that her and Nate hooked up last year and he walks out on her. Nate and Serena had a fun night, but Nate is still confused. Especially he sorta confesses to Serena that he still has feelings for Blair after S and N had sex. His mentor Chips died and he was at Deep Springs, an all-male college where they work on a farm. He made the mistake of going to Blair's hotel room after Pete walked out and she was asleep and he scared her and she was mad that he was there. Then Pete walked in on them in bed, doing nothing, and he left and Blair was so angry at Nate for fucking up her life. Vanessa was dating Hollis and they got an apartment together and he decided to make a movie about her life and it got all twisted and then before she knew it he was headed up to Iceland to film the movie. But before he went she got a puppy from Hollis and he left for Iceland for about a year. Dan got back with Serena after he made a poem about her and it was published in the New Yorker.
College Junior- I can't believe it. Chuck and Blair are dating. They both were studying abroad in Oxford England and things just sorta worked out. They spent the Holidays with Blair's father and his husband and two kids in the Waldorf Newport House. They were having a fantastic time until Nate, Serena, Dan and Jenny showed up. Nate was touring Brown while Jenny was touring RISD and they saw each other and Serena and Jenny offered Nate a ride home in the city. But their plans changed and they ended up at Blair's Newport house after a storm kicked in and they couldn't reach the city. Blair was not happy. Her father of course let them stay and for a few days. Dan and Serena had a room together and Jenny and Nate had separate rooms much less to Jenny's content. She even followed Nate up to his room and lost her virginity. Blair and Serena both had the same idea to go up to Nate's room, but they crossed paths and neither one ended up to his attic room. Nate and Jenny were all cozy the whole time they were there and Serena and Blair were jealous. Blair tried to kick them out, but her plan failed. But finally Jenny and Nate left for his boat that was docked in Newport and Dan and Serena left but not in a honeymoon state as they should have been in. Vanessa was all lonely in her apartment while Hollis was gone. He did make a surprise visit though and went to a party with some of his friends while Vanessa stayed home. She then started texting Dan and it brought up some old memories. Hollis then found her phone and saw all of her texts between her and Dan. He was furious and Hollis and Vanessa ended up breaking up. With Vanessa no where to go, she went to the Humphrey's, but Dan was not there. She hung out with Rufus and his friends for his New Year's Party. Dan and Serena came home and Dan was happy to find Vanessa, but a little surprised while Serena felt like the third wheel of a friendship.
College Senior- Blair come home to NYC and yes home. Her mother and stepfather return to NYC and throw a dinner party where everyone is anyone is invited. Blair is all by herself because Chuck is still in England. Serena decides not to bring Dan while Nate brings Jenny and they have a lot of public displays of affection which Blair's mother does not approve of. Nate is seated between Serena and Blair while his girlfriend is seated next to Blair's hot brother Tyler. Serena and Blair have lots of fun mocking Jenny's nickname given by Nate. How are you doing Meow, Meow. Serena and Blair call it truce one more time. Blair and Serena decide to breakup Jenny and Nate and hook Jenny and Tyler up. Blair and Chuck have a great time during the Holidays but it comes to an end after Blair feels like Chuck is trying to settle down to quickly. I knew that relationship would never work. Serena is disappointed that Dan will be leaving for Iowa in the fall. She then comes up with a brilliant idea to go with him and move in together. But she makes a mistake, or does Dan. Dan hooks up with Vanessa and breaks up with Serena. I guess no Iowa City townhouse for her. Nate and Jenny are still very in love, but Jenny likes to have fun. So she goes to the party Tyler invited her to after Nate falls asleep on her at his Townhouse. But good thing she left because Serena and Blair break in and I know little J wouldn't want them to see her naked. But instead of her being naked in Nate bed, Serena and Blair get almost naked in Nate's bed and surprises him. This is a sleepover gone wild with Breakfast at Tiffany's rolling, Rocky Road ice cream creating a river on the bed and all 3 of them twisted in the covers of the blankets. Good thing Jenny didn't see this because she was too busy partying it up with her old friend Elise and her new "crush" Tyler for 4 nights too notice anything with Nate. But when she does remember him she breaks up with him because she doesn't have any fun with him. 3 breakups in 1 holiday, wow. Of course though everyone shows up at Chuck's annual New Year's Bash, single or not. At the end of the night Serena and Blair run off together to go abroad in the fall leaving Nate on the curb with all of his confused feelings toward them behind. Happy New Year!
Why did I read this? I hate to leave things unfinished. So when I discovered that a new Gossip Girl book had been published (new is relative, in this case I mean two years after book eleven hit shelves) about the old crew taking place over their college years I couldn't not read it. The thing to remember about the Gossip Girl books these days is that they are not the television show. [Though, personally, I prefer the show.] In the books drama queen Blair and too perfect Serena were constantly bickering over pot smoking Nate, who was never able to choose between them, Dan was a coffee crystal guzzling depressive with a penchant for Goethe, Jenny was a large chested exuberant youth, Vanessa a shaved head avant garde film maker, and Chuck was... sometimes a molester of young girls and other times what can only be described as gay. The changes that were made for the show ere fine by me, but these are not those characters. Now we get to see the original characters grow up. Or not.
Christmas break of their freshman year of college Blair and Serena are still at odds over Nate, who set sail after graduation instead of choosing between them. Serena, after the success of the Breakfast at Tiffany's remake, Breakfast at Fred's (yes this was a real plotline) is a semi-famous actress, but still feels unfulfilled. Blair's met Pete, the perfect Yaley to go with the image of her perfect life, but is horrified to learn his family's not taking her on vacation with them. Dan returns from Evergreen College in the Pacific Northwest with plans to transfer to Columbia in order to be near his lady love, Vanessa, who he promptly catches cheating on him. Chuck has returned from Deep Springs, an all male college location on a working alfalfa farm in California where he applied after being rejected from every school to which he applied, a new man. Gone is his constant companion, his monkey Sweetie (she died), and gone is his trademark monogrammed cashmere scarf. Basically, he's no longer a douche (his words, not mine) in blatant pandering to fans of the show (where he's pretty much the male lead and rather appealing, at times, instead of the minor character he was here). Pretty soon they're back to their old ways of only dating each other. Dan writes a published poem about his old crush, Serena, and they start to date. Jenny returns from boarding school and falls back into a relationship with Nate. Blair sees Nate briefly, then goes back to Pete, then starts dating Chuck (television pandering again). Vanessa dates her old teacher but misses Dan. You know, pretty much what we read for eleven books before this one. Which is fine, I guess. This book is catering to a specific fan base and it stays true to that. Do we really want to see the characters grow apart because that's what is realistic? Not really. Which is the same problem most TV shows have when they reach the college years.
This book wasn't really written by Ms. von Ziegesar (neither were the last few or any of the Gossip Girl: Carlyles) but the writing is still atrocious. But at least Serena stop being so over the top perfect and Blair's antics are toned down. Maybe this is growing up in the Gossip Girl world.
Christmas break of their freshman year of college Blair and Serena are still at odds over Nate, who set sail after graduation instead of choosing between them. Serena, after the success of the Breakfast at Tiffany's remake, Breakfast at Fred's (yes this was a real plotline) is a semi-famous actress, but still feels unfulfilled. Blair's met Pete, the perfect Yaley to go with the image of her perfect life, but is horrified to learn his family's not taking her on vacation with them. Dan returns from Evergreen College in the Pacific Northwest with plans to transfer to Columbia in order to be near his lady love, Vanessa, who he promptly catches cheating on him. Chuck has returned from Deep Springs, an all male college location on a working alfalfa farm in California where he applied after being rejected from every school to which he applied, a new man. Gone is his constant companion, his monkey Sweetie (she died), and gone is his trademark monogrammed cashmere scarf. Basically, he's no longer a douche (his words, not mine) in blatant pandering to fans of the show (where he's pretty much the male lead and rather appealing, at times, instead of the minor character he was here). Pretty soon they're back to their old ways of only dating each other. Dan writes a published poem about his old crush, Serena, and they start to date. Jenny returns from boarding school and falls back into a relationship with Nate. Blair sees Nate briefly, then goes back to Pete, then starts dating Chuck (television pandering again). Vanessa dates her old teacher but misses Dan. You know, pretty much what we read for eleven books before this one. Which is fine, I guess. This book is catering to a specific fan base and it stays true to that. Do we really want to see the characters grow apart because that's what is realistic? Not really. Which is the same problem most TV shows have when they reach the college years.
This book wasn't really written by Ms. von Ziegesar (neither were the last few or any of the Gossip Girl: Carlyles) but the writing is still atrocious. But at least Serena stop being so over the top perfect and Blair's antics are toned down. Maybe this is growing up in the Gossip Girl world.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes