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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Best Gossip Girl book yet! I just hope this isn't the last of it.
I'm not going to write an elaborate review on this because I think it is safe to say that my opinion on these books is biased. I love this series and I basically grew up with them during High School. This last book in the series is somewhat different than the previous ones, as it checks in with our friends from the Upper East Side every New Year's Eve for three (or four?) years straight. I loved finding out how Serena, Blair, Nate, Dan, Chuck and Vanessa were doing and the ending was satisfying.
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Just then, the dark sky lit up with fireworks. A cab sailing the street honked in celebration . In the night air, Nate thought he could hear Serena and Blair's laughter, though he knew that was impossible; they were too far away by now.
But as we know, in this city anything is possible.
Flashback to 2008 or 2009: in a surprising move due to the popularity of the then-hit television series, Gossip Girl came back for one final look into our beloved teenagers lives as they explore adulthood and come home for the holidays during breaks in university. Much like the final books and spin-offs of the original series, it is penned a ghost writer and not Cecily herself.
I Will Always Love You, or as I like to call it: the pitiful (but still fun) attempt at drawing in fans of the television series and unnecessarily destroying the characteristics of the books, takes place over the course of four years and is told in the usual rotating narration and blog entries. We’re split up to focus ONLY on the four years of holidays our kids have as breaks from classes.
(I’m being a bit dramatic: the installment wasn’t horrible it just wasn’t Gossip Girl in the way longtime readers wanted it to be. There were some redeeming qualities to it, though, like the endgames. Which is why I've still given it a high review like the rest of the series.)
Continued @ BOOKEDJ.
Just then, the dark sky lit up with fireworks. A cab sailing the street honked in celebration . In the night air, Nate thought he could hear Serena and Blair's laughter, though he knew that was impossible; they were too far away by now.
But as we know, in this city anything is possible.
Flashback to 2008 or 2009: in a surprising move due to the popularity of the then-hit television series, Gossip Girl came back for one final look into our beloved teenagers lives as they explore adulthood and come home for the holidays during breaks in university. Much like the final books and spin-offs of the original series, it is penned a ghost writer and not Cecily herself.
I Will Always Love You, or as I like to call it: the pitiful (but still fun) attempt at drawing in fans of the television series and unnecessarily destroying the characteristics of the books, takes place over the course of four years and is told in the usual rotating narration and blog entries. We’re split up to focus ONLY on the four years of holidays our kids have as breaks from classes.
(I’m being a bit dramatic: the installment wasn’t horrible it just wasn’t Gossip Girl in the way longtime readers wanted it to be. There were some redeeming qualities to it, though, like the endgames. Which is why I've still given it a high review like the rest of the series.)
Continued @ BOOKEDJ.
PREVIOUS BOOKS
I’d like to talk (very shortly) about the previous books. Gossip Girl is a series of 13 books and a lot can happen. If you aren’t familiar with Gossip Girl, here’s the storyline in a nutshell: gossip and scandals from today’s Upper East Side teenagers. I think that’s about it. I have to admit, I had some trouble with some characters and their personalities. But that didn’t resist me from stop reading all the books because it’s just so juicy and addicting.
THE LAST BOOK
I was quite happy how everything turned out. First of all, the division in the book was really nice. There were different parts so the time jumps were bigger, and for me this was positive. The other books told the story of about 2 weeks so sometimes the story was getting tedious. Second of all, the character development made me really happy. I had some problems with certain characters. They weren’t what I expected and for all the previous books, they stayed pretty much the same. That’s maybe a disadvantage (in the other books, not in this one). Now, there’s also the TV show Gossip Girl and I think Cecily got some ideas from there. I don’t want to make the wrong deductions but there was a plot and I didn’t see it coming. And at last, the end of course. It was a very open ending and it disappointed me. I had expected a bit more information. For me, it was too open and now I’m kind of waiting for another book that can tell us a bit more. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t mind open endings but you have open endings and you have really open endings.
Generally, I really liked this book and it’s funny because I also liked the very first book. The beginning and the end.
I’d like to talk (very shortly) about the previous books. Gossip Girl is a series of 13 books and a lot can happen. If you aren’t familiar with Gossip Girl, here’s the storyline in a nutshell: gossip and scandals from today’s Upper East Side teenagers. I think that’s about it. I have to admit, I had some trouble with some characters and their personalities. But that didn’t resist me from stop reading all the books because it’s just so juicy and addicting.
THE LAST BOOK
I was quite happy how everything turned out. First of all, the division in the book was really nice. There were different parts so the time jumps were bigger, and for me this was positive. The other books told the story of about 2 weeks so sometimes the story was getting tedious. Second of all, the character development made me really happy. I had some problems with certain characters. They weren’t what I expected and for all the previous books, they stayed pretty much the same. That’s maybe a disadvantage (in the other books, not in this one). Now, there’s also the TV show Gossip Girl and I think Cecily got some ideas from there. I don’t want to make the wrong deductions but there was a plot and I didn’t see it coming. And at last, the end of course. It was a very open ending and it disappointed me. I had expected a bit more information. For me, it was too open and now I’m kind of waiting for another book that can tell us a bit more. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t mind open endings but you have open endings and you have really open endings.
Generally, I really liked this book and it’s funny because I also liked the very first book. The beginning and the end.
Okay, so obviously we know by now that there's no real point in these books except to be a fun, quick, light reading. I mean, seriously, there's no plot. Not even a beginning, middle, and end. It's like reading someone's biography - someone very rich and famous and could do anything they want. If there was a plot, it felt repetitive and we kept going back in the same circle. I don't know exactly how there could have been 12 books when I feel like I've learned that nothing has changed in these characters. Not much, anyway. There's barely any character development and this last book mirrors the prequel so much (which happened six years ago) it's ridiculous.
But if we forget about the plot, I can't help but feel sympathetic to these characters anyway. Blair, Serena and Nate make such a frustrating triangle, but the kind that you know just can never be resolved. So it might as well be that they all end up alone again in the end. I'm also wondering if the book now has started following the show (now that's a first!) due to the Chuck/Blair hook-up (made possible by Chuck's miraculous change of character) and the return of Dan/Serena. It's interesting to say the least. In the end, this book makes for such a guilty pleasure, and if you forget that it's supposed to have a plot, and basically all the cardinal rules in writing, you might just enjoy it.
But if we forget about the plot, I can't help but feel sympathetic to these characters anyway. Blair, Serena and Nate make such a frustrating triangle, but the kind that you know just can never be resolved. So it might as well be that they all end up alone again in the end. I'm also wondering if the book now has started following the show (now that's a first!) due to the Chuck/Blair hook-up (made possible by Chuck's miraculous change of character) and the return of Dan/Serena. It's interesting to say the least. In the end, this book makes for such a guilty pleasure, and if you forget that it's supposed to have a plot, and basically all the cardinal rules in writing, you might just enjoy it.
Another installment in the Gossip Girl series. The clan of the Upper East Side have made it to college, or well most of them have. This novel starts around Christmastime, and proceeds by jumping year to year to the same time. Every year something dramatic happens, big plans are made, and by the end everyone it seems, have gone their separate ways. This novel was filled with gossip, but didn’t feel as entertaining as past novels. The characters this time around came off as annoying, and a little hard to read. The first eleven novels spent so much time talking about these characters getting into college, that once they finally got there, not much time was spent there. It felt like Ziegesar rushed through it all; the way this novel ended means more is to come, like the world will never end, which at this point feels like it may need to.
IQ "And that's what I feel like college is all about. Figuring out what's important to you in life, the thing you'll follow to the end of the earth. Figuring out what you care about most", Dan pg. 191
So was this book not actually written by Cecily von Ziegesar? Because the cover just says 'created by'....the writing didn't seem as funny nor as satirical as it usually does so that's why I ask but then again its been about 2 years (I think) since I've last read a book in the Gossip Girl series. Anyway, I'm glad Dan at least got something out of his college experience. The problem with the book always taking place over Christmas break in between college years is that it was hard to tell if the characters progressed at school and then just regressed back at home or if they really went through 4 years of college without maturing (which is possible I suppose, especially when we look at certain members of Congress, or just other adults we see on the news doing dumb things). The ending wasn't a surprise, I just wish the plot hadn't been just 'who will Nate choose' especially I've never felt that Nate has been given a personality that makes it easy to understand why everyone loves him, he's a boring stoner! I also hated that for about a year Vanessa does nothing, we don't even hear about her college classes she just mopes after a guy. Ugh
I did like the gossip girl tidbits/check-in/advice given as usual, and like the characters, I actually didn't care if we learned about gossip girl's true identity. The site (in the book) is just a fun, guilty pleasure that the characters no longer even mention. None of the various relationships seemed that forced (even with Nate, it was more so when the book droned on about how Nate couldn't choose a girl), it makes sense that you would go through various relationships with friends in your same group or on the outskirts of your group. This book was enjoyable but not as much as I remembered and I actually wish we had followed Vanessa and Dan more. I did like the nod to Jenny, I read some of the novels about her at Waverly but I stopped and have no intention of picking them up again (not because they were bad but because I'm no longer interested) and I felt her storyline was really cute and genuine. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU is a good in-between read, especially during the school year when you have less time to read for pleasure.
So was this book not actually written by Cecily von Ziegesar? Because the cover just says 'created by'....the writing didn't seem as funny nor as satirical as it usually does so that's why I ask but then again its been about 2 years (I think) since I've last read a book in the Gossip Girl series. Anyway, I'm glad Dan at least got something out of his college experience. The problem with the book always taking place over Christmas break in between college years is that it was hard to tell if the characters progressed at school and then just regressed back at home or if they really went through 4 years of college without maturing (which is possible I suppose, especially when we look at certain members of Congress, or just other adults we see on the news doing dumb things). The ending wasn't a surprise, I just wish the plot hadn't been just 'who will Nate choose' especially I've never felt that Nate has been given a personality that makes it easy to understand why everyone loves him, he's a boring stoner! I also hated that for about a year Vanessa does nothing, we don't even hear about her college classes she just mopes after a guy. Ugh
I did like the gossip girl tidbits/check-in/advice given as usual, and like the characters, I actually didn't care if we learned about gossip girl's true identity. The site (in the book) is just a fun, guilty pleasure that the characters no longer even mention. None of the various relationships seemed that forced (even with Nate, it was more so when the book droned on about how Nate couldn't choose a girl), it makes sense that you would go through various relationships with friends in your same group or on the outskirts of your group. This book was enjoyable but not as much as I remembered and I actually wish we had followed Vanessa and Dan more. I did like the nod to Jenny, I read some of the novels about her at Waverly but I stopped and have no intention of picking them up again (not because they were bad but because I'm no longer interested) and I felt her storyline was really cute and genuine. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU is a good in-between read, especially during the school year when you have less time to read for pleasure.
I can't help it, these books have always been a guilty pleasure!