Gossip Girl, Psycho Killer [Paperback]

Cecily von Ziegesar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2011 | Series: Gossip Girl

Welcome to New York City's Upper East Side, where my friends and I live, go to school, play, and sleep-sometimes with each other. It's a luxe life, but someone's got to live it . . . until they die.

So begins Gossip Girl, Psycho Killer, a re-imagined and expanded slasher edition of the first groundbreaking Gossip Girl novel, featuring all new grisly scenes and over-the-top gore by #1 New York Times bestselling author Cecily von Ziegesar.

Just as in the original story, Serena returns from boarding school hoping to make amends with her BFF Blair Waldorf--things just haven't been the same since Nate Archibald came between them. But here's where our dark tale takes a turn: Serena decides that the only way for her to make things right with Blair is to eliminate Nate. If that means killing him, well, c'est la vie. Her attempted murder doesn't go unnoticed by Blair, however, who isn't about to let Serena kill whoever she wants-not when there's Cyrus Rose and Chuck Bass and Titi Coates and everyone else who's ever irritated Blair to get rid of first . . . .

American Psycho's Patrick Bateman has met his match in Manhattan's newest, most fabulous trendsetting serial killers, Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cecily von Ziegesar grew up in Manhattan and attended a small, private girls' school on the Upper East Side. She began writing poems and short stories and fantasizing about murdering people as soon as she could hold a pen. Gossip Girl was her first novel. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, daughter and son, and two nearly hairless cats named Pony Boy and Woody. She hasn't actually killed anyone--at least, not yet.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Poppy; 1 edition (October 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316185094
• ISBN-13: 978-0316185097
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #628,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars It could have been so good.... September 30, 2011

By That Girl You Love

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Let me preface this by saying that I have loved Gossip Girl long before Leighton and Blake assumed the identities of B and S. As an aspiring commercial YA fiction writer, Cecily had a huge influence on me with her breezy prose and light-hearted treatment of semi-real privileged UESiders.

Also, let me say that I was really excited by this concept back when it was first announced. It had so much potential... until I ordered it and read through the first few chapters. Note, there might be a few points considered "spoilers", but trust me, you don't care.)

I understand the concept of these type hybrid books--inserting a certain theme with the original text to change the meaning completely, so don't go screaming at me for not getting it. I get it. Promise.

Here are my issues:

1. The writing seemed almost lazy. Anytime the main character held something or thought something, it was almost like a CTRL+F and replace had been performed for "martini" and "dagger". Blair gets mad at the slovenly Cyrus Rose? She pictures strangling him with a string of hot dogs from the vendor downstairs, along with everyone else at the party. Seriously. I expected more from this--carefully set up motives and targets with development and a slightly ironic twist. Instead, it's just the original text with "strangle", "disembowel", and "stab" inserted at random words--almost to the point of nonsense. I think that brings me to my second point:

2. I'm not a weak-stomached girl. I read lots of crime novels...I didn't flinch at the Kill Bills and Dexters of the world. I've seen every zombie movie to date. But. This was almost too...sick for me. Describing in detail how Serena's poison will melt someone's eyeballs, or how someone will be stabbed into a pulp--I felt uncomfortable. This wasn't carefully set up Blair and Chuck plots--punishing people who deserved it like avenging angels they are (spinoff!), but just random melee. I couldn't even get past the first few chapters because I was so turned off.

I suppose I expected something different from this. A darker Gossip Girl with motive and elaborate schemes resulting in death. Not random gore and sloppy writing. A waste of money, in my opinion.

Cecily, if you ever read this, know I love you, but I just didn't...couldn't love this. When you feel like putting together a Chuck/Blair assassination agency or a snappy buddy-cop story, let me know. Otherwise, I'll just go back and watch GG Season One on DVD.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Do you like your books bloody? October 21, 2011

By Brenna

Format:Paperback

Way back in the day, when I was young(er) I read Gossip Girl. All the time. Constantly. I felt like I was always waiting on the new one to come out and I just had to know what was going to happen. And thirteen books, two spin off series, and a TV show later I thought it was over.

Reasons to Read:

1. Longtime fans:
Honestly, this book probably won't mean much to you if you aren't already a fan of Gossip Girl (either the books or the TV show). It isn't necessary to have read the books before reading PK, but it will give you a fuller idea of what the changes are between the two books.

2. A twisted sense of humour:
This isn't for the faint-hearted. And honestly, I appreciated it because in retrospect after reading that entire series, this book makes a whole lot more sense than the rest do. Serena and Blair are psychotic. Yes, finally. We know the truth.

But fair warning: you won't like this if you don't like extremely gory imagery. Cecily von Ziegesar does NOT shy away from describing the graphic and brutal murders of many of the characters. It's violent, and it's gratiutous. The whole book is like that. And it made me sqirm, and I felt kind of squeemish at times. I mean, eyeballs exploding and eyelids being ripped off with an eyelash curler? Yikes. And that's only TWO of the scenes.

Gossip Girl has always poked fun at itself, but Cecily takes it to a new level with Psycho Killer. I haven't read any of the Quirk books (although I'd like to) and it definitely has a similar vibe to those. This is almost like the special extended edition of Gossip Girl with bonus material where most of the characters are killed off. But SOMEHOW (somehow) it kind of works. I was so sick of Serena and Blair and Nate bouncing back and forth around to each other in the other series, so there was something appealing about this. Because they are not normal teenage girls.

If you're looking for a quirky, disturbing Halloween read, and enjoy slasher films then this might be the one for you. But be warned- it's messy. Very messy.

Review copy received from Hachette Book Group Canada in exchange for my honest review; no other compensation was received.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Spiked Heel of an Awesome Read! November 26, 2011

By D. Previte

Format:Paperback

Cover Response At First Glance? Gag!

Why On Earth Did I Want To Read This Book? The sick cover and the bizzare summary

What Does This Make Me? Possibly a little nuts :i

Hence,The Rather Wacked Review:

Juicy, hot, freakin' preppies on pomegranate martinis and god-only-knows-what-else! This is an insider's guide to life in the fast lane of the forgotten and pushed-aside children of high-flying NYC parents. Teen aged children who, I might add, are deadly angry to the point of murder and madness.

Oh, how I loved this parody of the NYC life of those anxiety-ridden kids whose only consistency is private schools which over-cultivate and ignore them, charging them to the inth-degree in preparation for ivy league colleges and life in the fast lanes for which they've been born and (semi) bred. Here also is the petri dish for insanity and murder without reservation, reaction or consequence. Oh, it's the world of the pedigreed, pinched and pruned 'til it hurts bunch.

Laughable, fun and nauseating, this is a romp that has to be read with a grain of salt and at least a very Dirty Martini in hand. I loved it, choked on my olives and laughed all the way through! You have to get the book just for the frozen concoctions it mentions if nothing else.

Some of the really entertaining parts are reading about the trendy fashions, the menus, the over-the-top drinks, and the museum "artistes." I loved the raucous descriptions of baby blingers, day school uniforms, hair dressers, college placement counsellors; and, maids who covered and cleaned up without blinking an eye...well; naturally, because to admit awareness would mean they'd be looking for alternative employment.

Blair and Serena, the psychopathic protagonists primarily featured are not only murderous, they are social and fashion icons. Too funny, and too true to life. Everyone is drawn by the beautiful madwoman, aren't they? So much to chew on as a reader. And, who is the Gossip Girl, anyway? That's the question, and the answer lures us on (at least me) like a vintage Chanel bag. Or, perhaps I just wanted to know who else was getting their desserts...and how....

Having not seen the TV version of Gossip Girl, nor having read any of the previous books, may have put me at a disadvantage here. But, I can tell you that I hadn't read anything like this book before, and I enjoyed it tremendously as a change from the ordinary fare. Rather like trying steak tartare with a long-handled, monogrammed, silver teaspon from an antique Staffordshire bowl.

Highly recommended, I think. Or, maybe you just have to be a little odd and crazy to love the book. Or have been there in some fashion or another. (I'm Mom to 5 preppies who lived to tell their stories!)

It did get a little excessive...so that took it off the 5 star mark for me. But I appreciated the fact that it was tongue-in-cheek, at least in some part. And, it was fun having a twist of the knife.

You can see how the whole thing has made me blood thirsty and giddy just reading and reviewing it!

4.5 blood-curdling stars w/ a spiked heel