May 31, 2009

gossip girl 1 & 2 :: cecily von ziegesar

Title: Gossip Girl #1: A Novel
Title: Gossip Girl #2: You Know You Love Me
Author: Cecil von Ziegesar
Published: Poppy, 2002
Read: May 2009; Barcelona & Mallou, Spain
Format: Kindle

Before I left for a longish trip this spring, I loaded up my Kindle with what I hoped would keep me entertained on the road. I really like the show, so I thought I'd eat this popular YA series up. I bought the first three, assuming I'd like them at least enough to get through a few short novels.

I gave the series a solid shot by reading the first two installments.
Plot-wise, they're pretty thin and I've conflated them in my mind. Basically, an omniscient, anonymous blogger called 'Gossip Girl' exposes the privileged world of Upper East Side Manhattan teens. They're precocious, beautiful and smart. Also, they go to fancy schools and have too much freedom.

This stuff is established:
- Blair Waldorf is bulimic, obsessed with Yale and mad at Serena - I don't remember why
- Serena van der Woodsen is beautiful, oblivious and effortlessly good at everything interesting
- Everyone thinks that Nate is perfect looking, but he is usually stoned and seems like a pretty bad boyfriend (to Blair)
- Vanessa Abrams is a misfit, shaves her head and makes films

- Dan Humphrey is awkwardly intense about Serena and writes her embarassing poetry
- Jenny Humphrey is busty and makes questionable decisions

I didn't finish the prequel (
It Had to Be You: The Gossip Girl Prequel), but not because the books were boring or terrible or anything. It's that the show isn't just more entertaining, it's actually much better in every important way: plot, character development, dialogue, setting, etc. I feel like the books don't do anything better than the show does. So really, what's the point, you know?

Some YA books are so clever, well-written or deliciously addictive that they appeal to a wider audience than originally intended. The GG books, or at least these first two, don't fall into that camp. Not a big deal. They weren't intended for me anyway.

Entertaining, but maybe not worth it. E
specially if you are a fan of the show. Or if you're older than 15.
3 out of 5 stars.

May 26, 2009

prep :: curtis sittenfeld

Title: Prep
Author: Curtis Sittenfeld

Publisher: Random House, 2005
Read: May 2009; NYC, Paris, Barcelona
Format: trade paperback


Nutshell: Ambitious in a big-fish-small-pond kind of way, Lee Fiora leaves her middle-class family behind in South Bend, Indiana to attend Ault, a prestigious New England prep school. There, she is confronted with the standard set of teen-angst problems: fitting in, socio-economic differences, crushes, dating and academics. We follow her 4 years at Ault and watch how she stumbles through situations that should change her, but do not.

I rarely meet a book that I absolutely don't like. The predictable and tiresome Prep, though, is an exception to this rule. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. It's character-driven, but I found Lee completely unlikeable.

2. Her unwarranted low self-esteem never eases up. She doesn't ever grow out of it, nor does she seem to want to.

3. The situations she gets into are believable enough, I guess. But the fact that she never learns from them is not. Hello? Lee? Where is your dignity?

4. The most relatable character is Lee's father, who calls her out for what she is: a whiny brat. I resented relating to this middle aged man.

5. I'm not sure what Sittenfeld wants readers to feel about Lee. But I don't think this confusion is some kind of clever or nuanced device. I think that she tries to earn sympathy for Lee through forced empathy - by way of first person perspective - and fails.

It's not like the novel was a total and complete waste of time. Sittenfeld's writing is earnest, emotional and engaging enough. Also, for me, it felt new to read a prep school story told from a girl's point of view. Of course, the girl in question is far from a strong female character and I guess that's ultimately disappointing, too. Prep seems like a wasted opportunity to showcase the evolution of a confused girl into a dignified young woman. In the end, though, it just furthers the stereotype of girls as insipid, whiny and cripplingly insecure.

Overdramatic and angsty. And not in that good way, either.

2 out of 5 stars.