Customer Reviews

The Carlyles (Gossip Girl)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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+

Maybe this series just needs some time to really take off, but I didn't find this latest series quite as cattily addictive as the other ones were. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it a lot, it was a fun, light beachy read that followed a lot of the same types of storylines that I have come to expect.

But for some reason, it all felt less fresh than it did in the other Gossip Girl books. Like the author knew what had to happen for drama's sake and plodded through writing that storyline regardless of whether it felt real. When I read author interviews, they often say that the characters took on a life of their own and that they, the author, often didn't know how it was all going to turn out.

The lack of that unscripted freshness really did damage to this book, I think.

That said, I sound like I must not have enjoyed it, but I did. I read it in a couple days and it was nice having something light and fun to read. I liked having new characters to get to know and having them go to some familiar places.

It's just that after enjoying the other series so much for its newness and freshness, it is disappointing to find this one lacking sizzle. I'll probably buy the second one and see if it picks up, but if I feel the same about that I won't continue reading. I didn't like the manufactured feeling of the drama.

Now after all this time of Gossip Girl, we think of Serena, Nate, Blair, Chuck, Little J and so on but we are staring over fresh with triplets that make up the Carlyles. Avery, Baby and Owen.

Is it a little hard to get used to the idea that there is a brand new cast for Gossip Girl and sometimes the original is always better but give this book a chance. It is pretty good and I did enjoy it and will continue reading.

So I was in a Gossip Girly kind of mood and decided to give The Carlyles a shot. I don't mind that someone not named Cecily Von Ziegesar wrote the book, I'm used to reading ghostwritten stuff from back when I was a kid in the 90's and read The Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High. What I'm NOT used to is the ghostwriter NOT sounding anything like the original author. Annabelle Vestry tries way too hard, name-dropping obscure brand names that no 14-year-old reader in her right mind would ever care about. (This coming from a person who devoured Vogue since pre-puberty and could spit out names of models, photographers and designers faster than any other kid her age could spit out names of Pokemon.) Naming a few relevant big name designers per chapter? Fine. Naming designers of tables and brand names of French wines? Uh... Why?

Why? I pondered as I lay in my queen sized bed covered in Laura Ashley, typing away on my Toshiba laptop while sipping on a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf raspberry ceylon iced tea, my Laura Lippman shellacked fingernails glistening dramatically.

If you liked the above sentence, you will love this book.

Anyway, the reason the book is getting 3 stars despite the bad writing is because I'm pretty sure CVZ actually outlined the plot and designed most of the characters. The situations and drama seem consistent with the Gossip Girl books and the story itself was actually exactly what I was in the mood for. My only complaint besides the writing style being sub-par is all the drinking and smoking. A little bit is fine (honestly I'd rather not see any at all though.) but when swimmers start throwing beer cans around in the locker room and ballerinas start smoking it makes me sad. I guess I have this pet peeve of wanting athletes (and children!) to respect their bodies. It feels like the author(s?) don't care about the messages they are sending at all. They are just puking out more books to make more money. As a 30 year old lover of YA books, it doesn't affect me,(except my eyes kind of hurt after I roll them so much) but if you are a parent and worry that your kid might take this book too literally, you might want to sit down and talk with him/her about whats acceptable in a fantasy book vs. what's acceptable in reality.

I absolutely love the Gossip Girl books, but this one was not the same. Although I did think it was alright, nothing beats Blair, Serena and the old gang. Even the writing style seems somewhat different. The previous books seemed much more glamorous than these and the characters aren't very likeable. Overall it was alright, but definitely not as good as the others! We want to see what happens to the old gang in COLLEGE - the original series should have been continued!

I had read all of the Gossip Girl and It Girl books leading up to The Carlyles #1 and was looking forward to its release. Well, I was very disappointed when I started reading it. The new characters are bland to me and it was just plain hard to get into. I would recommend all of the novels in the It Girl series and all of the Gossip Girl books up until The Carlyles. I just found this book very boring and couldn't finish it.

im actually surprised that i didnt like this book so much. im a huge fan of gossip girl series (and the show), but this book wasnt even close to how addicting and great the other series were. i miss the old cast and their storyline. i wasnt drawn to any particular character, and some of their storylines were predictable.

basically this book is about three triplets(avery, owen, and baby) who come to ny, and try to get acquainted with the city. avery wants to be friends with the popular girls and become the student council. owen is inlove with his new friends girl friend, and baby hates ny and wants to go back to where she used to live.
thats pretty much the basic storyline.

what i did like about the book was the way the author writes. cecily von ziegesar, is one of my favorite authors. i like her flow in the book, and the way it doesnt drag on.

overall, this wasnt my favorite gossip girl series, but as a devoted fan ill give it another chance with the next book.

Meet the Carlyles, a new trio to hit the Gossip Girl Scene! Owen, Avery and Baby! Get ready for the triple threat!

Owen, the testosterone of the three, is very hot and a swimmer (I like him already)! Envied in Nantucket by his player persona, he only has eyes for one girl. The girl of his dreams.

Avery. Poor Avery all this girl wants is to fit in! Is that too much to ask?! Her scheme of perfect attempts leaves her no better off than before, it isn't until she really lets loose and things get a little crazy, that things start going her way.

Baby can't wait to get kicked out of her snobby private school and have her mother send her back to Nantucket into the waiting arms of her stoner bf. She doesn't find anything in New York worth sticking around for, that is until she meets J.P. Although he is as preppy as they come, he makes even her hippie heart skip a beat.

You know what I think about drama, so what was I thinking, picking up a book called Gossip Girl! Broadening my reading horizons! And guess what! I didn't hate it! I dare to say that I even enjoyed it! I really liked getting to know the characters and getting to know their roles in the plot. Yes, I hated Jack, I mean who wouldn't the girl is a biatch! Baby, Owen and J.P. are my favorites! I guess I must do okay with drama in small doses. I do have to say that I am a Gossip Girl virgin, I haven't read any of the first series, so my review is a little bias due to that. So, if you were a big fan of the first series, I can't tell you how this one will compare. All I know is, I will definitely be reading the next book You Just Can't Get Enough coming out in October! I know, I don't know what has come over me, it must be the sizzling weather!

You know you love me,
The Story Siren