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A review by chrissymcbooknerd
It Had to Be You by Cecily von Ziegesar
3.0
So, I must start by admitting that I actually did *not* read the Gossip Girl series before reading the prequel -- but, I did watch Season 1 of the show. And, while I'm admitting things here, I actually *did* really, really enjoy the TV show -- embarassingly so -- and I can't deny that my obsession with streaming GOSSIP GIRL on Netflix was part of the reason I pretty much stopped reading at the end of this past year. Oops.
Given that I've only seen the television show, and haven't read a single GG book before the prequel, my mental images were specifically of Blake Lively and Leighton Meester -- not necessarily of Serena and Blair as they're written. As such, I'm not sure if book 1 of this series differs tremendously from the first few episodes of the TV show -- because most of the "secrets" and "surprises" seemed to be things that were either blatantly stated in the television show, or they were at least heavily alluded to in such a way that nothing was really unpredictable or exciting here. And, it's not all necessarily the same as the show either, of course. Like, the Blake/Leighton drama over Nate was much more exciting on television than this lovey-dovey Serena/Blair dispute in the book. I somehow assumed Dan and Vanessa had known each other *much* longer than this prequel suggested. And, I knew Jenny was a bimbo -- but not THIS much of one, I guess. Oh, and Blair definitely pulls off the bitch factor better on television, for sure.
I kept forgetting these kids were, like, fifteen years old in the prequel. I found myself just pretending they were older. The writing style was a bit clumsy and awkward because, well, sentences just don't flow as well if they're specifically constructed more around the quantity of name-dropping than the quality of the storyline, I think.
I'm reading the first official GOSSIP GIRL novel next, and I'm hoping that things get a bit more interesting from here. Honestly, I don't think I would have continued to trudge through these 400+ pages if I hadn't loved the show so much -- and, I do still think the show is better. But, I'm all for a nice, frivolous, air-headed read, so I'm not ready to give up quite yet...
Given that I've only seen the television show, and haven't read a single GG book before the prequel, my mental images were specifically of Blake Lively and Leighton Meester -- not necessarily of Serena and Blair as they're written. As such, I'm not sure if book 1 of this series differs tremendously from the first few episodes of the TV show -- because most of the "secrets" and "surprises" seemed to be things that were either blatantly stated in the television show, or they were at least heavily alluded to in such a way that nothing was really unpredictable or exciting here. And, it's not all necessarily the same as the show either, of course. Like, the Blake/Leighton drama over Nate was much more exciting on television than this lovey-dovey Serena/Blair dispute in the book. I somehow assumed Dan and Vanessa had known each other *much* longer than this prequel suggested. And, I knew Jenny was a bimbo -- but not THIS much of one, I guess. Oh, and Blair definitely pulls off the bitch factor better on television, for sure.
I kept forgetting these kids were, like, fifteen years old in the prequel. I found myself just pretending they were older. The writing style was a bit clumsy and awkward because, well, sentences just don't flow as well if they're specifically constructed more around the quantity of name-dropping than the quality of the storyline, I think.
I'm reading the first official GOSSIP GIRL novel next, and I'm hoping that things get a bit more interesting from here. Honestly, I don't think I would have continued to trudge through these 400+ pages if I hadn't loved the show so much -- and, I do still think the show is better. But, I'm all for a nice, frivolous, air-headed read, so I'm not ready to give up quite yet...