Gossip Girl, The Carlyles #1 (Gossip Girl Novels) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Once upon a time, the Upper East Side was ruled by three glamazons - Serena van der Woodsen, Blaire Waldorf, and Nate Archibald. But, upon growing up, our favorite drama queens, fashionistas, and stoners up and left the enchanted New York City playground they called their home, off to bigger and better things. Someone has to take their place, of course. Which brings us to a new trio of troublemakers - the Carlyle's.

The Carlyle triplets - Baby, Avery, and Owen - may have been born with silver spoons in their mouths, but they never had a chance to make their mark on the world - until now. Raised in the countrified Nantucket , the triplets were always comfortable, residing on piles of money; but were more used to the country bumpkin ways of public school and crawfish catching. Since the death of their grandmother, however, they have relocated to the Upper East Side , and they're looking to take it by storm. Well, at least two of them are.

Baby is too wrapped up in the boyfriend she left behind to do anything remotely ladylike, preferring to spend her days torturing the Constance Billard teachers, and skipping class. Avery is determined to take over her deceased grandmother's role of society hostess, doing what she can to make friends via updated tea parties. And Owen just wants to find the girl he hooked up with over the summer. But finding her may just cause bigger problems than he could have ever imagined.

Jack Laurent is just back from Paris where she was kicked out of an illustrious ballet program that could have set her budding dancing career on fire. Instead, she preferred snacking on petit fours, and dreaming about her boyfriend, J.P. Cashman, ravaging her. But suddenly J.P. isn't as attentive as he once was, and Jack has decided to take out her frustrations in one of two ways: making the lives of Baby and Avery Carlyle a living nightmare, and indulging in a little retail therapy. Better watch out, Jack. Your AmEx may just run dry.

Rhys Sterling and Kelsey Talmadge have been blissfully happy since kindergarten when he asked her to be his Valentine. Since then, they have been through thick and thin with one another, and Rhys is convinced that the two of them will someday be married. But after a summer of globetrotting, Rhys is confused by the distance Kelsey has suddenly placed between the two of them, and can only think to turn to his new pal, Owen for solace. Better watch your back, Rhys; Owen may just be the one you should be running from.

I'm not sure if Annabelle Vestry penned any of the original GOSSIP GIRL books; but whether she did or not, she has done a fabulous job of creating new characters who will be just as adored as the old ones. Vestry's writing is catchy, addicting, and completely engrossing; while her characters possess the same qualities. While each character is unique in their own way, Vestry has placed many of them in the shadows of characters from the past. Baby Carlyle is quite similar to Serena van der Woodsen in the sense that she is effortlessly beautiful, and the eye of some taken guys. Jack Laurent and J.P. Cashman have succumbed to falling into the footsteps of Blair Waldorf and Nate Archibald - complete with dysfunctional relationship. And Avery Carlyle manages to make herself known via a slight resemblance - personality wise - to Blair Waldorf. That said, each of the characters bring a new set of drama to the table that provide countless laughs, tears, and whispers; and by the time you reach the end, you'll be hungry for a second dose. Gossip Girl is back...with a vengeance.

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

I am a 69-year-old man who is quite out of touch with the generation portrayed in this book. I have no idea how realistic the book is. I generally read only nonfiction and picked this book up thinking it was a satire on young adult books. Reading it from that perspective it was very enjoyable. There is a lot of humor in it, and a lot of humorous side comments. The author doesn't take herself or the contents very seriously.

To the extent it realistically portrays the young generation, I am shocked. I neither condemn nor praise their lifestyle, but if the book is realistic, it ought to be read by my generation, most of whom are probably as out-of-touch as I am.

Avery, Baby, and Owen Carlyle moves into Blair Waldorf's old place on the Upper East Side. Avery immediately wants to be a teen socialite, Owen is desperate to find the girl he fell for the summer before who lives in NY as well and Baby just wants to go home to Nantucket. As they all quickly find out what they want isn't easy. Avery's makes enemies with the wrong girl in school: popular girl Jack Laurent. Owen quickly finds out that the girl he wanted is the girlfriend of his only friend Rhys Sterling and Baby tries to get herself in trouble so she can be expelled and go home.
It's a good start to a new series and a lot of people are going to make the mistake of comparing the Carlyles and the other characters to the old characters of the now retired original series but you have to see it in a different light as a different series which is what it is. There is very little mention of the old characters in the blog and readers will have to know that the B in the book isn't Blair and the J isn't Jenny. Unlike in The It Girl, the characters aren't cookie cutters of the ones in the original Gossip Girl series. Although this book is mainly about the triplets, the character that makes the book interesting is Jack, who is supposed to be the Blair (or queen bee) of this series although if you ask me she's more like Cammie from the A-List. Jack stands out in the series and I can't wait to see what she does next since I know she wants revenge on the Carlyle girls after what happens at the end. So far none of the guys work for me. Just like with the original series there are only two main ones: Owen and Rhys and one supporting one, J.P. (Jack's boyfriend) whose point of view we don't get to read. Owen is a little too egotistical about his looks and Rhys is too sensitive after his breakup with Kelsey who isn't worth it anyway but there has only been one book so hopefully they will improve throughout the series. I hope the series doesn't get stale and boring like The It Girl did after the first three books, though.
Grade: B+