Gossip Girl Season 2

Title: Gossip Girl Season 2
Claims to Fame: Leighton Meester and Blake Lively
Grade: A
Rating: TV-14

Summary: (Amazon)
It's senior year for our beloved Upper East Siders, and the drama is at an all-time high. Applying for college is only one small part of the story, as new romances (and some not-so-new romances) bloom and fade, scandals erupt at every turn and alliances shift even faster than Gossip Girl can send an update. Families and reputations are destroyed and made; so are fortunes. And even the strongest friendships are tested. In this sizzling 25-episode, 7-disc Season Two, you never know what's next for Serena, Blair, Dan, Nate, Jenny, Chuck and Vanessa. Good thing Gossip Girl is always there to provide us with the latest, juiciest info!

Title: 5/5
I love how the title is the same as the book. It wouldn’t have gotten as much publicity and would have been strange if they changed the title for this tv series.

Cover: 4/5
The art on the second season cover was even better then the first! I loved how glamorous all the pictures were. What bugged me was the one picture where Jenny and Dan appear to be snuggling. Too close for comfort guys!

Plot: 5/5
The plot thickens in this second season. There is more to be discovered as many secrets begin to unravel. The final episode leaves you wanting more! Good thing I waited till recently to start watching Gossip Girl. I don’t know how I would have waited so long for season three!

Acting: 5/5
The acting in the show is superb! I couldn’t think of better people to play the parts then those who were casted. I feel like I’m actually watching someone’s real life, not a scripted TV show.

Theatrical Thursday

Title: Gossip Girl Season 1
Claim to Fame: Blake Lively, Leighton Meester
Grade: A
Rating: TV-14

Summary: Amazon.com
Gossip Girl is a delicious not-too-guilty pleasure, a visual feast of couture and perfectly coiffed hair. The elite high-schoolers of New York's Upper East Side throw red-carpet parties, live in five-star hotels, and plot dastardly deeds against each other. Their actions are reported--and often exposed--by an omniscient presence known as Gossip Girl (voiced by Kristen Bell), an anonymous Web master who posts updates via her blog and text messages to the student body. Her primary target is the social circle of Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), best frenemies who lean on each other (save for the occasional throwdown). The show opens as Serena returns from a semester at boarding school, determined to put her hard-partying ways behind her. But she's chock full of secrets, one of which is that before her abrupt transfer she'd slept with Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford), Blair's boyfriend. In season one, Blair becomes embroiled in her own triangle between Nate and slimy womanizer Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick); the two guys also happen to be best friends. Serena, meanwhile, steps into a romance with studious Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), an aspiring writer on scholarship whose rocker dad (Matthew Settle) once dated Serena's gold-digging mom (Kelly Rutherford, Melrose Place)--got all that?

Title: 5/5
Love that they kept the title the same as the books. It fits perfectly.

Cover: 5/5
The picture on the cover is creative and fits perfectly. The picture really drew me in.

Acting: 5/5
They found the perfect person to play each character. The acting was flawless.

Plot: 5/5
The plot is super unique. I love how it is constantly changing.

Killer

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Title: Killer
Author: Sara Shepard

Grade: A
Rating: TV-14

Summary: (From amazon.com) In picture-perfect Rosewood, Pennsylvania, ash-blond highlights gleam in the winter sun and frozen lakes sparkle like Swarovski crystals. But pictures often lie—and so do Rosewood's four prettiest girls.
Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily have been lying ever since they became friends with beautiful Alison DiLaurentis. Ali made them do terrible things—things they had to keep secret for years. And even though Ali was killed at the end of seventh grade, their bad-girl ways didn't die with her.
Hanna's on a mission to corrupt Rosewood's youth, starting with a very attractive sophomore. Aria's snooping into her boyfriend's past. Spencer's stealing—from her family. And pure little Emily's abstaining from abstinence.
The girls should be careful, though. They thought they were safe when Ali's killer was arrested and A's true identity was finally revealed. But now there's a new A in town turning up the heat. And this time Rosewood is going to burn.

My Thoughts: Anyone who has been awaiting Killer’s release date won’t be let down. The new “A” has some information and it appears he or she has changed their dirty, blackmailing ways. The boy drama was funny in the hope it never happens to you way. There were so many devastating secrets you just couldn’t resist the urge to keep on reading. The only bad thing about this book was that it ended!!! One last thing… somebody is back. Who it is, will shock your socks off.

Recommendation: Fans of mysteries, girl drama and murder must read this series.

Listening to: Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes of (By?) and Go Girl (Pitbull)

After The Moment

Title: After the Moment
Author: Garret Freymann-Weyr

Grade: B
Rating: TV-14

Summary: (From Barnes and Noble) Maia Morland is pretty, only not pretty-pretty. She’s smart. She’s brave. She’s also a self-proclaimed train wreck.
Leigh Hunter is smart, popular, and extremely polite. He’s also completely and forever in love with Maia Morland.
Their young love starts off like a romance novel—full of hope, strength, and passion. But life is not a romance novel and theirs will never become a true romance. For when Maia needs him the most, Leigh betrays both her trust and her love.
Told with compassion and true understanding, After the Moment is about what happens when a young man discovers that sometimes love fails us, and that, quite often, we fail love.

My Thoughts: I would first off like to thank my contact for the chance to read this lovely book. Secondly I would like to thank Garret for addressing the issues within this novel so openly. This novel discusses sexuality as it being normal. I would have to agree and am finally glad that an author was willing to be so honest with the audience.

This novel also addressed the issue of self-mutilation, seen with both cutting and burning. This is such an important issue that so many authors hide. I loved that Garret was able to share the emotions of all the people affected by these choices, rather then just the self-mutilator.

A final aspect I found important was rape versus regret. I will not get into this and give you specifics, as that would ruin an important plotline. So many girls get drunk and have sex that I believe there has to a line drawn somewhere about what truly is rape. Garret seems to agree in the way she expresses herself on the issue.

Recommendation: I would say this is an important novel to read. I recommend you be at least fourteen to read this because the issues are so deep and dark.

Slept Away

Title: Slept Away
Author: Julie Kraut

Grade: B
Rating: Tv-14

Summary: From Barnes and Noble: Laney Parker is a city girl through and through. For her, summertime means stepping out of her itchy gray school uniform and into a season of tanning at rooftop swimming pools, brunching at sidewalk cafes, and—as soon as the parents leave for the Hamptons—partying at her classmates’ apartments.But this summer Laney’s mother has other plans for Laney. It’s called Camp Timber Trails and rustic doesn’t even begin to describe the un-air-conditioned log cabin nightmare. Laney is way out of her element—the in-crowd is anything but cool, popularity seems to be determined by swimming skills, and the activities seem more like boot camp than summer camp.

Splattered with tie dye fall out, stripped of her cell, and going through Diet Coke withdrawal, Laney is barely hanging on. Being declared the biggest loser of the bunk is one thing, but when she realizes her summer crush is untouchably uncrushable in the real world, she starts to wonder, can camp cool possibly translate to cool cool?

Summer camp might just turn this city girl’s world upside down!

My thoughts: When I received this novel in the mail I was ecstatic. I had been waiting forever to get my hands on a copy of this (thanks again to my contact within the group). I slipped it into my “to be reviewed” pile and plowed through the books before it. I loved this book. Now when you see the B you are probably like “what?” Let me start off by telling you I have been grading books too easy. So sadly this was the first book where I decided to be tougher. It was almost an “A” but there were a couple to many times where I was not being drawn in enough. I loved the differences between the girls and the whole swap of popular to not. So many characters, so many differences.

Recommendation: Because of some major swearing and reference to the boy’s anatomy as the d-word I would say 13 or 14 at least before reading. Remember this is a general recommendation; some people mature at different times. Use your own common sense.

Up Next: Pure

Kiss and Blog

Title: Kiss and Blog
Author: Alyson Noel

Grade: A+
Rating: Tv-14 for language

Summary: (From Amazon.com) While not as nasty as Cecily von Ziegesar's "Gossip Girl" series (Little, Brown), this is no sisterhood story either. Winter and Sloane have been best friends in Laguna Beach since third grade and they've conspired all summer to get into the A-list group as sophomores. Sloane is accepted and summarily dumps her former friend. Winter gets even with a blog, referring to Sloane as "Pink Princess." Readers know that Winter isn't really as mean-spirited as her blog; she's mostly devastated by the betrayal. Luckily, this novel takes a mostly funny approach to revenge and has a lot more going for it than shallow teens. Winter's mom is fixated on '60s culture, even though it was way before her time, and she runs a café that offers smoothies based on songs of that era. She has recently hired a 16-year-old, Rey, who befriends Winter. During an impulsive trip to New York to see her father (Why, oh why do so many chick-lit main characters have former rock stars as dads?), she has a fling with his art-gallery intern. Winter shows real growth throughout the novel and finds her way with new friends, a boyfriend, and even her mother. A good choice for reluctant readers, the story also has enough substance to appeal to any reader, whether or not they'd do in those who done them wrong.

My Thoughts: Kiss and Blog was nothing like I expected. It was soooo much better! We all know how the typical mean girl/ revenge story goes; this paved a new path for those categories. The revenge plot involving a blog was great. It was like Frenimies and Faketastic for older girls. The plot had you begging for more all the way through, you didn’t want it to end. Don’t miss this incredible novel. It was my first Alyson Noel book, and what a way to lose my A.N. virginity :P. For fans of the Gossip Girl series as well as those of books involving the “nerdy” girl. All will find love within.

Recommendation: Any high school girl can find their inner mean girl in this story.

Up Next: Sleep Away

Killing Britney

Killing Britney
Sean Olin

Grade: C
Rating: tv-14

Summary: (From Amazon) Winter in Madison, WI, can be chilling enough without a serial killer on the loose. Now the La Follette Rabid Raccoons have one more thing to turn their blood cold. Britney Johnson is the ugly duckling turned swan who has reinvented herself with dramatic results. She's slim, blonde, and beautiful and begins dating the captain of the school's ice hockey team. What's not to envy? But it looks like someone is taking envy to another level by killing off her friends and family. Olin has created an atmospheric, moody horror novel filled with vivid depictions of evisceration and gunshot wounds to the head. Readers are guided from scene to scene as though the events were unfolding across the movie screen. Gritty language and even grittier situations conjure up powerful images of death and sex. Teens will be left guessing until the very end as to who is behind the mayhem.

My thoughts: When I first heard of this book I was so excited. It sounded amazing and I figured I would be finding a new love. It turns out that this book was not my thing. I would not go so far as to say this was a dumb book because it was far from dumb. The book was written incredibly and the story was captivating. With all this praise you may be wondering why I gave it a C. The C is simply a statement of my like for this book. I could not grasp the need for certain aspects and the story was just a tad to creepy. I prefer books that do not give me the chills nor keep me up at night. Would I tell people to read this book? Absolutely! Would I tell people like me to read this book? No way!

Recommendation: This novel is very dark and has lots of passion. Not for the faint of heart or younger readers. High School and up preferred.

Release: This novel has already been released to the public.

Up Next: The Blonde of the Joke

Important

Weekly mail call will not happen this week!

A review is taking it's place.

A Bad Boy Can Be Good For a Girl
Tanya Lee Stone

Grade: A+ or 5 Kisses
Rating: Tv-14 for extreme sexual content

Summary: (From Amazon.com) Three girls succumb to the charms of one sexy high school senior and emerge wiser for the experience in this energetic novel in verse. Josie is a self-assured freshman who values her girlfriends over boys until a hot jock focuses his attention on her and her simmering hormones break into a full boil. Confused by her behavior, yet unable to control her desire, she acts out every romantic cliché she has ever disdained, until the boy drops her and she experiences the chill of rejection. It is Judy Blume's Forever that sparks Josie's fire again, and finding a few blank pages at the back of the library's copy, she sends a warning to the girls of her school. Next readers meet Nicolette, a junior who sees her sexuality as power. A loner, she's caught by surprise at her own reaction when this popular boy takes notice of her. Suddenly she thinks she sees the difference between sex and love, and then, just as suddenly, he's gone. Finally, Aviva, a pretty, smart, artsy, and funny senior, is stunned when the jock seems to want her. She gives up her virginity, only to be disappointed in both the sex and the boy. Furious, Aviva heads to the library to check out Forever, now crammed with the words of girls who suffered the same fate at the hands of the same boy.

Thoughts: This was one of those books. You know the kind you just can’t put down no matter what. I read this book so quickly, it’s funny. I loved how Forever was included in the story line as that is one of my favorite books of all times. The three characters were so different yet they all had something in common that was major. I couldn’t believe how great this book was. When I first got it in the mail I figured it to be so-so. I was so wrong, as this is one of the most intriguing stories I have read in such a long time.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to High School girls, as well as their mom’s. It captures the emotions of the popular guy romance so deeply that you can feel as if you are the main character.

Release: This novel has already been released. Go buy a copy, NOW!

Up Next: Killing Brittney, Khy has been so kind as to let me borrow it!

Giving Up The V

Giving Up the V
Serena Robar

Grade: A or 5 kisses
Rating: Tv-14 for sexual content and minor violence

Summary: Barnes and Noble, as well as Amazon had no summaries available at this time. I’ll give you a quick little peek into the world of Giving up the V with out giving too much away. A certain main character is taken to get birth control for her sixteenth birthday. This brings up the discussion of who should take her virginity. She has no interest in it, but all her guy friends would love to step on up and hit a home run. When a certain athlete shows up at her school, she thinks she has found the ONE to deflower her. But has the guy she been looking for been there all along?

Thoughts: When I first received this book I thought it would be just like Forever or Anatomy of a Boyfriend. I am pleased to tell you it was far from either of those. Don’t get me wrong, both of those were great, but the whole aspect of this book was not firsts and dating. There were quirky things thrown in to make it a lighter book, needless to say I laughed a few times. I also liked the notes the author put in at the end. They were adorable and you got a deeper understanding of how the book came to be.

My recommendation: This book is definitely for more mature readers. I would NOT tell any middle school kids to read it as you should enjoy middle school without all the sex. High School girls will love this book and remember it forever. Come on, you know you can’t resist a book about losing IT!

Release: This will be released in June! Be sure to snatch a copy!

Up Next: A Bad Boy Can Be Good For a Girl

Impulse

"...know I'm alive, despite the living death."

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

~Break it Down~

Characters 9/10

Uniqueness 10/10

plot 9/10

well developed 9/10

Grade: 37/40

Language 6/10

Sexual Content 5/10

Violence 8/10

Darkness 5/10

Rating: 24/40

~From the Back~

Act on your impulses, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest.

Tony's painful childhood memories can be quelled only through pills. Vanessa has a secret that keeps her coming back to the blade. And Connor seems to have the perfect life on the outside, but his inward battle with his parents, his peers, and himself give him one last choice-to pull the trigger.

~My Thoughts~

This book was great but definitely not for younger readers. It faces suicide, abuse and rape in a way that a lot of books avoid. This novel was dark on its own but the fact that it was exactly 666 pages long added to the chill factor. I'd recommend this book to teens who like dark stories or people interested in psychology.

Wintergirls

"She called me."
What is the cover like? You'll have to peak at amazon!

Title: Wintergirls
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Age: 15+
Rating: 5 of 5

Summary:
Lia is very sick. Not in the cough-cough cold sort of way. You see, Lia is starving herself. She is never satisfied with her weight. 110, 104, 98, 90 pounds are all to much. To add to her problems Lia's former BFF has just died of complications due to her eating disorder. Cassie called Lia thirty-three times that night. Lia didnt answer. Now Cassie is haunting her. Can Lia heal? Does she even want to?

Review:
I really enjoyed this book. Laurie Halse Anderson is an incredible author who can get inside the minds of her charectors. The book is rated 12 and up but I'd say 12 is to young. Some parts of this novel were so dark and graphic that even I was feeling sick. Through out the story eating disorders and self mutilation were prominent. Death is also a large aspect. Not a book for the faint of heart.

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Model

Pretty Girl. Ugly Business.

Title: Model
Author: Cheryl Diamond
Age: 14+
Rating: 4.5/ 5

From the back:
Every year, hundreds of the most beautiful people in the world come to New York to become models. At age fourteen, Cheryl Diamond was one of them.
Living on her own in a run-down apartment, Cheryl spent her days on go-sees, runways and photoshoots. She watched other girls make mistakes, and swore she wouldn't be a victim... until a career-altering event changed her life and nearly ruined her shot at her dream.

My thoughts:
With so many memoirs the story is boring. Nobody cares what you had for breakfast, move on. That was not the case with Model. I am one of those read in the bathtub girls and this book hade me taking hour long baths. Inspirational and entertaining wrapped in the same package. Model read like a novel but gave off a certain strength only a memoir could give.

Overall grade:
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