Nothing Can Keep us Together
by Cecily von Ziegesar
A Gossip Girl Novel
Buy From Amazon.com

As a devoted reader of the Gossip Girl novels, I’ve begun to notice a trend with them starting from about Novel #6 on. Each book since has gotten racier, naughtier, and more outrageous. The latest one, “Nothing Can Keep Us Apart” (#8) is the naughtiest of them all. And although this quality grabbed me in the first book and kept me reading, it’s begun to wear thin.

Forget what you read on the back of the book - it has little, if anything, to do with the actual story. Blair did find her “devoted” boyfriend Nate in the shower with Serena in the previous book. But she doesn’t vow revenge. Meanwhile, Serena decides to pretend Nate and her are meant to be. Too bad Nate cannot stop neither his constant crying or stealing the coach’s stash of viagra. Meanwhile Jenny Humphrey is searching for a new boarding school. She wants to find a party school, but so far is having little luck. Blair has decided she doesn’t need Nate, and hooks up with one of the most eligible young men from England. And the other characters? Up to their usual snarky, bad behavior.

And Gossip Girl manages to catch it all in her online journal, as always.

I have to admit I was disappointed with Nothing Can Keep Us Apart. For one, the story line is just unbelievably outrageous, and so far-fetched to the point of being ridiculous. Blair hooking up so easily with the British guy? Nate suddenly turning into a crybaby because he is in love with Blair? Vanessa turning into a sex maniac, among other things? I know this series started out deliciously “bad” with plenty of twists and turns, but it’s gotten way out of hand. There was more sex in this book then there is in most adult chick lit!

The entire time I read this novel, I kept raising my eyebrows higher and higher, and actually found it hard to continue reading. The parts that were bad were too bad, and the parts that weren’t were boring. Jenny’s quest failed to interest me too much, although I’m interested in reading the spinoff series “The It Girl”.

It was the ending that made me decide to not bother reading the next book in this series. The author manages to leave it where the next book will undoubtedly be R-rated. But we may find out who “gossip girl” is.

Overall, I’d have to say pass on this unless you are a die-hard, devoted fan of this series. Anyone who has steadily become disappointed with the past few books probably won’t like this one either.

Reviewed by Rian
2/5 Stars

The It Girl
by Cecily von Ziegesar
An “It Girl” Novel
Buy from Amazon

I have been eagerly awaiting The It Girl series, which many of you know is a spinoff from one of the characters in the “Gossip Girl” series. As soon as I got my copy I eagerly devoured it, hoping that the characters wouldn’t be too similar to the Gossip Girl set. Thankfully they weren’t- in fact, this was a great book, even better than I’d hoped!

You may recall from the last Gossip Girl book that Jenny Humphrey has left Constance Billard in NYC to go to a boarding school- Waverly Academy in Upstate New York. Waverly Academy is filled with rich kids with their secrets. Jenny herself is trying to move into her “New Jenny” role, meaning she isn’t going to let people get her down anymore. She wants to be more wild, more in control, more free. So far it seems to be working, as several of the popular guys in school seem to like her already. But can that be because of the rumors that keep following her around?

The other main characters in The It Girl are just as intriguing. There is Brett Messerschmidt, a gorgeous girl who is trying desperately to hide her home life while trying to snag the cute new Disiplinary Committee advisor. Then there is the stuck up and selfish Callie, whose boyfriend Easy seems to have plans that don’t include her. Callie meanwhile is trying to manipulate everyone in site, including Jenny so that she doesn’t get kicked out of school. Easy himself can’t decide if he likes Jenny or his old girlfriend Callie. And there are others…

As with the other series, this book is told from multiple viewpoints so that the reader gets to see what is going on in each person’s head. With glamourous parties, backstabbing and snobbiness galore, The It Girl kept me reading non-stop until the end. The characters were interesting and unique; and there were many little sideplots with plenty of romantic tension thrown in for good measure. The author does a fantastic job of both providing a juicy, intriguing plot and sparking major interest in the next book in the series.

Despite the plot being a bit unrealistic, and the strange way that so many of the girls had boy names, I loved this book and cannot wait for the next!

Overall I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes a gossipy good teen novel.

Reviewed by Rian
5/5 Stars

The Revenge of the Wannabes
by Lisi Harrison
A “The Clique” Novel
Buy From Amazon.com

There is nothing like reading a good novel filled with gossip, good fun, revenge and sneaky plots. If you are looking for such a read, this is your novel. This is the third book in the bestselling teen “Clique” series.

Alicia Rivera is rich, beautiful and tired of following the popular and feared Massie Block around. Although they are both part of the extremely popular and coveted “clique”, Massie Block clearly runs the group and expects all of the girls to do what she says. For instance, the girls have a mandatory Friday night sleepover every week. But one Friday Alicia decides to branch off and have a sleepover of her own. After all, Massie can’t get mad over that, can she? Especially if Alicia’s jazz dance classmates are invited.

But apparently Massie can, and does, get mad. Thus begins a rivalry between Massie and Alicia that starts off innocently enough but quickly spirals out of control. The girls stop at nothing. Alicia is determined to start her own Clique now and steal away the members of the original. Massie is determined to make Alicia regret ever going against her and will stop at nothing.

With a non-stop action-filled plot, plenty of beautiful and cool characters, I found this book to be a wonderful read. Once I started this novel I simply couldn’t put it down! Author Lisi Harrison does a wonderful job of getting into the minds of these girls and making the reader side with them. I found myself siding with both characters at different times throughout the book.

One thing about this book is that it’s hard to tell how old the girls are. They seem to be in middle school (I actually thought they were teens at first) but I think by the way it’s hard to discern the ages makes this book that much more enjoyable for even adults to read.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to all readers of all ages. It’s a wonderful teen chick lit novel filled with backstabbing, friendship, and good fun.

Reviewed by Rian
5/5 Stars