I have a secret. Gossip Girl is my guilty pleasure television show. I don’t really believe in guilty pleasures, but Gossip Girl is trashy enough to make me feel a little guilty. I love the original and the reboot. I was always curious about the book series. Chick-lit isn’t really my genre if there isn’t a suspense or thriller angle to it, but I wanted to read the original source material. The author, Cecily von Ziegesar, was born in New York City to a German noble family, and the luxurious lives of her characters were based off of her own experiences and upbringing. The Constance Billard School for Girls is based on an exaggerated version of Ziegesar's own alma mater, Nightingale. This book is a prequel novel to the first book in the series. Our story begins with three inseparable, completely gorgeous fifteen-year-olds, Serena van der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, and Nate Archibald. Blair has loved Nate and his glittering green eyes since she was in Bonpoint onesies. Nate wishes Blair's beautiful best friend, Serena, was the one with the crush. And Serena has a secret she's keeping from them both. Content warning for slurs. The writing style feels like an actual nepotism baby wrote it, which really establishes the gossip column atmosphere of the story. It was interesting seeing the difference in characterization between the characters and comparing the television show to the original source material. I wouldn’t recommend reading this book if you aren’t interested in reading about rich spoiled brats. The characters in this book are much younger than they are depicted in the first book, so much of the characterization is very juvenile and less about the usual rich socialite vibe.

This book is mostly about these characters when they were younger rushing to grow up and acting older than they are, which can be relatable for kids around that age. If you are interested in reading this series, I recommend starting with the prequel or going straight to the first book. If you are planning on skipping the prequel, I wouldn’t recommend returning to it afterwards because many reviewers have said that the prequel doesn’t offer much story if you have already read the first book in the series. I intentionally read the prequel book first as if it were the first book in the series. I recommend this book for younger girls who are getting into reading for the first time and want something trashy and fun, or people who are huge fans of the Gossip Girl franchise and want anything that they can get from it. If you do want to read this book, I recommend going into it knowing that the writing is poor and comes off as the beginning of an exaggerated nepotism fantasy, and that the plot is paper thin and the characters are a vehicle to explore mild high school drama surrounding rich kids. Not much really happens here, and it does feel like a cash grab. This book was hard to rate and reminded me that the one to five star rating system is flawed. My rating system is based solely around my enjoyment and not if the book is objectively good or not. While I did technically enjoy it, rating it three stars would be giving it too much credit. I chose to rate it two stars, which is usually a signifier that I did not enjoy it, but for me it signifies that I did enjoy it but it is simply not on the same level as the other books that I have rated three stars. It was obvious that this prequel book was made to cash in on the success of the series, but I’m still curious enough to continue reading on to the actual first book in the series.