Customer Reviews

Glee: The Beginning: An Original Novel (Glee Original Novels)

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

 

 

I read the book online and am glad to have not bought it. It is factually in accurate. first off, its the beginning of their sophomore year. In the first season, Rachel mentions that this is her first year in glee. Therefore, Sandy's firing and all of that happened yet. The pilot establishes that the glee club didn't exist until Mr. Schuester resurrected it. Why, because Sandy was fired. If you assume that the pilot began in September then the firing happened shortly after Rachel became a part of glee.
The author obviously only gave a curiosity glance at the source material before writing the book. Also events are mentioned that have never even been suggested in the series, like Rachel doing the announcements, Or Cheerios money drives. (Brittany wasn't even a character until episode 3 and Santana didn't have a name until episode 2)
So if you are for something that fits the canon and will add to the goodness that is glee, this isn't it. The Fanfiction author TheMinsk on [...] writes better works that this.
So reasons to not by the book:
1) ignores the pilot for the most part (by not remembering that there is only 9 months to fit 21 episodes)
2) It amplifies the characters way too much
3) mentions items and songs that couldnt exist yet for the characters (OMG by Usher)
4) ignores what little established pacing and continuity existed in pilot and first season.

Yes it is a prequal, don't waste you money. Don't bother with foreign exchange either. Send money to the fanficton authors, or Ryan Murphy

Aside from a few Sue Sylvesterisms and the reveal of the names of Rachel's two gay dads, Glee: The Beginning is largely forgettable. I read this book while browsing in a bookstore and saved myself some money. Glee: The Beginning is confusing in several parts especially to Gleeks who pride themselves on reasonable knowledge of the TV series, something the author apparently does not have. The novel is supposed to set itself up to dive immediately into the pilot episode of the TV series, but several parts (i.e. Mr. Ryerson's dismissal per Rachel's "outing" him) are skipped over completely. The part that threw me the most was a side reference to Usher's "OMG"...a song that only recently became popular, yet this story was supposed to have taken place over a year ago!

In short, Glee: The Beginning is forgettable fluff. Save yourself some money by not purchasing it; if you really want to read about your favorite Gleekers, read a Glee TV script or, if you're really desparate for new stuff, the Glee section of sites like [...] is full of people who could probably write a more fact-accurate account.

To be fair, there is some interesting back-story with the Quinn, Finn, Santana and Puck love triangle (love square?) Other than that, though, this very short book is filled with so many distracting inconsistencies with the show that it's just not enjoyable. It really doesn't seem as though the author watched any Glee before sitting down to bang out a manuscript -- it may well be based entirely upon written character bios.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I actually did pay for this book on my Kindle and now really regret the wasted money. Learn from my mistake: read the reviews before you buy.

Entertaining book, but the author did not incorporate much of Glee's storyline (especially the Pilot episode) as I would have liked to have seen. It appears the author did not watch all the episodes of Glee in season 1 before writing this book. While it's a fairly good book on its own, fans of Glee will be disappointed that the book did not fill in the gaps or give enough back story to make this a complete, good prequel to the pilot episode and to the show itself. I would have liked to have seen a series aimed at older Gleeks like myself, but this series for Young Adults is adequate.

If you're anything like me, the two thoughts you had upon learning that Glee had a novel coming out. The first was something like "really? must they go over the top with this?" and the second was something like "what's the good of a book anyway? the whole fun of the show is in the music!" So my immediate thought when I heard about it was that there was no chance I'd want to read it. Curiosity got the better of me though I decided to skim the first page (rather than judge a book by its cover, I usually judge it by the first page) and what I read was surprisingly interesting.

Not compelling in a "this a great emotional novel" sort of way, just interesting. The writer, Sophia Lowell (her name is hidden in the inside of the book and absent on the cover), did a good job in particular of capturing Rachel's bizarre personality. Rachel is so inexplicable in attitude and behavior, that I think it takes a good deal of skill to balance them in a way that makes her believable. Lowell managed it.

We had an opportunity to see how the Finn-Puck-Quinn relationship came about which was a little disappointing only in so far as Quinn is a decently deep character on the show but had little depth at all in the book. Mercedes also had surprisingly bland motives when it came to her story (basically she had a crush on Kurt because he didn't ignore her).

Most interesting was Tina, Kurt (and by that extension Mercedes), and Rachel. Basically, Tina, Kurt, Mercedes, and Artie were the sole remaining members of the Glee club and they were in trouble. Basically, though not untalented, they lacked the leadership of someone who knew arrangement not just how to sing. (They also lacked a teacher to give them guidance.) This is where Rachel came in. Kurt, realizing that Rachel could sing, invited her to join the club without consulting the others. Mercedes was upset about her loss of spotlight (and Kurt's lack of faith in her), but this did provide Tina with the kick she needed to overcome her low self esteem.

Ultimately, the book serves as just a small view of how the club and plot lines began and though it would definitely be more interesting as an episode than written out, it was still fun enough to make the read enjoyable. (Perhaps it was just being able to imagine exactly how they would speak and act in the situations provided.)

I love, LOVE Glee and was thrilled when I was offered a review copy of this first official Glee novel. I first started this novel when I got it late in August but didn't finish it before this week. When I first started reading I just wasn't in the right mood so I decided it was best to put it aside for a little while and try later. I'm so glad that I didn't force myself to finish this book the first time around. In the cold, dark and snowy November nights reading Glee has been just the vitamin injection I needed. It was such a light and funny read.

I feel that the author did a great job staying true to the series, well except for one important thing, there's no sound(but hey that is a little to much to ask for). Some of my favorite scenes from the novel were the ones between Quinn and Puck. I have to say that reading about Puck makes me go a little weak in the knees, I have to admit that I have a slight crush on him.

If your a fan of Glee, like I am, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy this prequel. I cannot wait to read the next Glee novel Glee: Foreign Exchange.

I'm still struggling on how to describe this venture from the screen to the page. There is some good stuff in this book and stuff really not so good stuff. But overall I'm glad I read it.

In this book we get more of everything from the characters, Rachel is more annoying, Finn is a little more dumb, Quinn is meaner. I sort of wish they hadn't been. But I think this comes from being inside of the characters head instead of being a spectator. I did like seeing how Quinn and Puck got together and how Rachel and Finn first bonded, stuff like that.

The book speculates that Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, and Artie were all in Glee Club before Mr. Schuester takes over (with Rachel joining in the book). I re-watched the pilot to see how they match up and I can't say I'm fully on board with them already all being in the Glee Club. Of course someone had to be in the Glee Club before, the old memebers wouldn't just all drop out when the old teacher was fired but still, something doesn't sit right with me. Why did they all have to audition for Mr. Schuester and it didn't seem like they really knew each other let alone had already performed as a Glee Club already.

A few horrible unforgivable NO moments I came across included Puck being referred to as Puck Puckerman, when in fact his real name is Noah. And the word Gleeks being uttered in the book. hell no! But besides that it was a fun book and I'm glad I read it. It does have some flaws but I'll live with it. Will be interesting to see where in time the next book, Glee: Foreign Exchange takes place.

I'm so glad I didn't waste a dime on this book. I was able to read it online, and I could tell it was going to be terrible from the very beginning, but I kept reading out of curiosity. Not only are there several blatant inaccuracies and plot holes, but the writing is just awful. It reads at an elementary school level. The only interesting part of the entire story was the Quinn/Puck backstory, which was as flimsy as the rest of it. I hated the way that the author had to constantly draw attention to Mercedes' ethnicity, trivialized Kurt's interest in boys, and played up the most basic parts of each character without any grace or subtlety. The entire thing is almost insulting to the fandom, in my opinion. The things that make Glee so wonderful are difficult, maybe impossible to completely translate into text. It takes the charm out of it. Even if this book had been well-written, I think it'd still feel like a bad pantomime. I've read better fanfiction that is far more worthy of publishing than this.

I will start by saying that this book is definitely more of a young adult read. That being said, it didn't stop me from enjoying it. I bought several copies for my other Gleek family members and friends, and we all enjoyed it. There are a few inconsistencies, but there are even more interesting angles and tidbits. The important thing to remember is that while these are stories within the Glee universe, much like fan written fiction, this is NOT going to be considered canonical. So who cares if every single details is perfection? I particularly enjoyed Rachel's attempt to pull them all together, and the back story between Quinn and Puck and Santana. In addition, the musical numbers were written well enough that I could see the performances in my head. Not as good as Glee, true, but still a lovely addition for Gleeks who love to read and want more of the world they love so much.
Moms, your young Gleeks, especially those who enjoy reading, will get a kick out of this. Further more, while the story line has some, shall we say, dating life lessons, it's nothing that kids don't already have to deal with. If they're allowed to watch the show, which is already mostly clean and wholesome, then this book is absolutely safe grounds. And while some people say that Glee is too adult, again, it's things that kids really have to deal with. And more importantly, as with the show and as with the book, they both show the CONSEQUENCES of bad behavior.
In addition, it comes with a beautiful pull out poster that any Gleek will love. I've already read the second Glee book, and I can't wait to read the third. (Glee: Foreign Exchange: An Original Novel (Glee Original Novels) Glee: Summer Break: An Original Novel (Glee Original Novels)) All in all, if you love Glee and don't mind minor details being slightly different, then this really is a great read. Not A+ material, but certainly a solid A for effort. Give it a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Thanks for your time folks.
Sincerely, R.A. McDowell

I am a total "Gleek," and I have been in love with the show since the very first episode. I'll spare you the details. But of course, I had to read the Glee book that answers my burning questions about what happened before the t.v. show kicked off, such as what grades the main characters are in, and how did Puck and Quinn wind up in bed together? I have a life, just not on Tuesdays.

Anyways, the book is true to form, right down to Sue Sylvester's hilariously-vile comments, Finn's adorable naivety, Rachel's incredibly self-involved attitude, and Kurt's sense of style. I also appreciated that the book helped me to better appreciate Artie's and Tina's characters, as I got to see how they interacted with each other and the thoughts that went through their heads. Tina apparently has an artistic side that comes out in the novel. I also got to see more of the difficulty that Artie deals with daily using a wheelchair. All of the other familiar characters make appearances, as well, such as Miss Emma Pillsbury, Will Schuester, and even sweaty Jacob.

The only thing I was really missing while reading the novel was the lack of music and singing. The characters did "sing" and "dance" to particular songs, but it helps to take advantage of Youtube if you want to have the full experience.