Customer Reviews

Notorious: An It Girl Novel (The It Girl Series)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Sophomore Jenny Humphrey is finally settling into the groove at the prestigious Waverly Academy in Upstate New York. And now that the hard part is done, she's ready to infiltrate the groups of beautiful people waltzing around Waverly. Finally she'll have her chance to turn herself into a sophisticated individual who can do just as well in the country as she can in the city. The fact that she's rooming with two of the most beautiful and popular girls at Waverly - Brett Messerschmidt and Callie Vernon - and sleeping in Tinsley Carmichael's old bed doesn't hurt either. Sure, things haven't been totally smooth-sailing since her arrival at Waverly. Jenny almost got kicked out of the elite school on day one, but after taking one look at Callie's adorable, shaggy-haired boyfriend, Easy Walsh, she knew that this place was right for her. And now that Easy seems to be ignoring Callie, and focusing his affections on Jenny, she's utterly ecstatic. That is, until the notorious Tinsley returns to Waverly - after being expelled for Ecstasy last year - and takes up residence in Jenny's bed, leaving Jenny to find comfort in a small cot. Tinsley sees the way people are talking about Jenny, making it like she's the new "It" girl, and Tinsley's not having it. She refuses to let some short, big-chested city girl steal her claim to fame, and take away all of her admirers. And she most certainly won't allow Callie and Brett off the hook that easily - not after she took the fall for them last year. Now it's their turn to get what's coming to them, and find out who - Tinsley, Jenny, Brett, or Callie - will be the new "It" girl. Because there's obviously not enough room for all of them to claim that title.

Cecily von Ziegesar knows the lives of the rich, famous, beautiful, and elite like the back of her hand, and that knowledge shines through every time she touches pen to paper. Her new IT GIRL series is no exception. Taking busty Jenny Humphrey, and creating a spin-off series in Upstate New York was a delightful, yet unexpected turn in the GOSSIP GIRLS series, and truly gives die-hard fans the chance to see how the country folk live - taking them away from the city, and creating storylines at a boarding school. Jenny, as always, is sweet and innocent, as well as oblivious to her feminine wiles; while Tinsley Carmichael is the girl everybody loves to hate - complete with a to-die-for wardrobe, and amazing good looks. An addicting new series that is as satisfying as a box of chocolates.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

The first It Girl book was pretty good, but this one was awesome. I hope they keep getting better!

The book starts off with Tinsley Carmichael, the beautiful queen of the Waverly elite, coming back to school after being expelled at the end of last year. She moves back into her old room and tries to regain her position on campus, pushing Jenny, the new It-girl, aside. Meanwhile, things are heating up between Jenny and Easy, who share a love of art. Things would be perfect, but Jenny is torn between choosing the awesome guy she really likes or her friendship with her roommate, who happens to be his ex-girlfriend. Brett keeps seeing her hot advisor, but once he meets Tinsley, things start to change a little. As if she's not causing enough trouble, Tinsley decides to start a secret society, girls-only, though they seem to end up doing a lot of things with boys... things that get them all in trouble.

The same boys in the last book show up -- sleazy Heath, and sweet Easy (I love him!), and poor Brandon, who's still so in love with Callie. And Tinsley, even if she's slightly-evil, is pretty fun -- at least she's never boring. But Jenny is my favorite. She's so cute and funny, and I love that she's this kind of normal girl thrown in with all these rich, beautiful kids.

Can't wait for the next one!

so, notorious is out at last. this book is definitely even better than the 1st of this series "It Girl". It's a typical book for teenage girls aged 14 up till, well let's say, 20. It's got all the teen girl drama in it, such as problems with hot guys, bitchy room mates and all the other gils who just seem to live for delicious gossip...
in this book popular "Gossip Girl" character Jenny Humphrey has arrived at Waverly academy, but just when she's beginning to be the "it girl" at her new school, the former "It girl" Tinsley shows up again. This is where all the drama and this novel begins. Trouble with her other room mate Callie Vernon is to be expected, because of the really sweet and romantic Easy Walsh, who can no longer focus on his girlfriend Callie and is falling hard for our cute Jenny. Brett's affair with her handsome teacher is also not going to be everlasting since Tinsley's got an eye on him, too...

Jenny: a bit insecure, with an enormous crush on Easy, really cute in this book
Tinsley: a real bitch, a bit cliché'with the whole beautiful but bitchy thing, but it fits
Callie: still very in love with Easy, steps back from Jenny and Brett, cause she's jealous of Jenny's relationship with Easy, she's also very annoying when she tries to keep up with Tinsley (T's the dream of almost every boy/man in Waverly)
Brett: becomes a really good friend for Jenny in this novel, has a hard time cause her teacher acts like a big jerk
Easy: oh boy.. romantic, handsome, cute, funny, dreamy... ok to shorten things up : the boyfriend every girl dreams about, I'd say...

so girls, read this book, it's cute and funny, fashionistas will be pleased to read about the students excellent (and expensive..) fashion taste... and the whole Easy-Jenny thing is just so cute and sweet to read, so..
can't wait for the 3rd novel, coming november 2006 !

I got addicted to the Gossip Girl series and it is one of those deliciously wicked things that I feel a bit guilty enjoying as much as I do. This spinoff series is as fun as Gossip Girl, featuring short and busty Jenny Humphrey in an elite boarding school.

Tinsley Carmichael is back this semester after having been expelled, and she buddies right up with Callie again, and moves into her old spot in her old room, knocking Jenny into a cot. Brett Messerschmidt isn't so fast to accept Tinsley's friendship back, which is a move she may regret, since Tinsley is nothing if not vengeful. Jenny, of course, is in trouble from the moment Tinsley realizes Jenny had taken her place.

With a party in New York, a secretly developing relationship between Jenny and Easy, and Tinsley plotting behind the scenes to ruin everybody's fun, you can bet that this is a semester they won't forget.

This second book in the It Girl series is compulsively readable and a lot of fun!

NOTORIOUS contains more scandalous activity than a grocery store tabloid and is a far better read. Tinsley, Callie, and Brett were all best friends in room 303, living life at the top of the social food chain at Waverly Academy, until Tinsley is expelled and is replaced with another roommate, Jenny. Somehow Tinsley manages to gain re-admittance and quickly springs back into action, stirring things up with the new girl--and everyone else for that matter.

Jenny desperately wants to gain Tinsley's acceptance and finally be a part of the popular crowd, but along the way she begins to wonder what price she will have to pay for the life she dreamed of. To make matters worse she falls, hard, for Callie's estranged boyfriend, Easy, and is forced to choose between the boy she thinks she loves and her new friends.

The Waverly student body dresses in a wardrobe that will have every Sex in the City fan aching with jealousy and behaves in ways that would make Paris Hilton proud! Everything is described in perfect detail, and while some of the situations may seem a little far-fetched to the average reader, the thoughts and dialogue in the book are perfect. Although it is the second book in the series, you can quickly pick up where the story left off, and the characters are developed so completely that it feels as though you know their pasts already... or do you? The story ends in a way that will leave readers dying for the next book in the series and yet ties up most of the story lines contained in NOTORIOUS. Be prepared, though, because this is a hard book to put down!

Reviewed by: Allison M. Rotonda

Notorious, an It Girl novel, is written by a "ghost writer." It was created by Cecily von Ziegesar, but not actually written by her.

Swearing, sex, smoking, drinking, and drugs make up the amateur writing, which teens will automatically find keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat good.

But the fact is, the story demonstrates no point, and in the end, makes you wonder why you just read the book. It is nothing like wonderful books such as Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, or To Kill A Mockingbird.

However, the book is still fun to read and to get laughs out of. The book is more realistic and mature than idiotic books such as the Clique series, and a good book to fill your time with. It also demonstrates real things teens do (swearing, sex, smoking, drinking, and drugs) which is not "inappropriate" because teens actually do them. Also, in general, teens will know not to smoke, drink heavily, or do drugs, because of the damage it does to their body.

Therefore, the book is realistic and fun to read (although it wasn't as good as book no. 1), and teens will love it.

This was my first experience with an It Girl novel, but after reading Notorious (in record time), I can understand how these series have become so popular. The plot is as turbulant as a day at Waverly for Jenny, Callie, Brett, and Tinsley, and kept me totally enthralled. But more important than the impressively twisty plot were the characters themselves. Even usually selfish and cruel Tinsley has moments when her (okay, maybe only a few) redeeming qualities are revealed. Each character (and there are a lot) is fully developed, not just the stars of the Waverly soap, Jenny and Tinsley. Brandon, Heath, and Easy, all the boys, are written with enough detail and compassion that you can picture them and, more imporantly, like them (well except for Heath, but that's a personal preference).

If that's not enough to convince you to take a look, there are many, many moments in Notorious that had me laughing, yes in the LOL way. It's that funny.

It doesn't matter whether it was Cecily von Ziegesar who wrote this book or someone else. The writing is descriptive and engaging, and frequents the landscape of those cringe-worthy moments that all high school girls experience - even the elite of Waverly. I can't wait for the next one!

This Book was the best It just instantly was great...the drama between tinsely , callie, brett , and jenny was Crazy.. The ending is even better its One soo unexpected and I cant wait till the next book comes out on Novemeber because this ending left me Wanting soO much More .... I honestly Hope that easy and Jenny dont get messed up because of the ending of this story I def. recomend this Book its past 5 stars its more like 10 !!

I was a huge fan of the Gossip Girl series when they first started up. After a while they got repetitve and boring, so when The It Girl series started with Jenny Humphrey going away to boarding school I thought this would make up for it. I really enjoyed the first one and this sequel didn't let me down any. The new girl, Tinsley, who's back in town is even more nasty than the girls in Gossip Girl. She'll start trouble and things go bad. Now I can't wait for the THIRD in The It Girl series!

Jenny Humphrey is much more annoying in the Gossip Girl series, but here she's quite tolerable, compared to the company she keeps. Callie Vernon is old money; her mother is Atlanta's governor. Brett Messerschmidt's parents are Jersey gauche; her dad a cosmetic surgeon, and her mum a big fan of animal print-leggings. And Tinsley Carmichael is the biggest bitch of all, but we're supposed to hate her.

In this instalment, Brett's been having a sexless affair with her adviser, and Tinsley decides to break them up. Callie's ex Easy Walsh is now with Jenny; Tinsley decides to break them up. She's not just breaking up romances, though - she's dividing friendships, too. Tinsley could never be accused of not keeping things interesting.