New year, same book series. I have just finished the 10th book in the series and we only have three left…and one parody and then the spin offs haha but I think I’ll stick with the main series and then move on to other things.
So yeah, this book was…okay, though I was Googling to find out how many books I had left and it looks like the previous book, this one and the next one were all written by a ghostwriter. Which might explain why I am not enjoying them as much, something about them makes them less interesting than before.
I also tried to look up why they were ghostwritten but nothing really comes up when I search it so who knows. But that being said Cecily von Ziezegar does come back for the last two books which are a prequel and a sequel so we see what happens.
So yeah anyway this book. I don’t know what about it made it seem shorter than the others but it just was. Which meant the storylines were kind of weak.
Let’s start with Dan again because his story is kind of funny. So Dan is still working at his bookstore and ignoring Vanessa and all that but he makes friends with a new coworker who wants to hold a literary salon because ya know…books.
They selectively choose people to attend through an application process and the night arrives and Dan gets super drunk on absinthe and decides to make out with his new coworker Greg. He has a little freakout before just announcing to Jenny and himself that he is gay lol. Like okay Dan, why not. He goes through so many different phases in life why not let this be one of them.
I didn’t see this coming for him and honestly it’s kind of terrible. On the bright side he and Vanessa didn’t get back together for five minutes and break up again without saying words to each other.
Though that might have had something to do with Vanessa going off to the Hamptons because her babysitting job was taking her there. She lasted there about five minutes and then she realised she hated it and was lonely so she goes to a party in search of Blair and Serena, some friendly faces.
Only to discover the girls are nowhere to be found but it’s okay because she has become a fashion muse and ditches babysitting for that. Not really sure if she actually told anyone she was quitting or just never went back but yeah, that happened.
The fashion muse thing also only lasts for five minutes after Bailey Winter catches Vanessa in his sacred birdhouse and says she can’t film in there, however she did it anyway. Plus she felt kind of restricted in Bailey’s home and ended up just going back to the city, where she found out about Dan being gay possibly and that’s where we leave it for Vanessa. Wondering around aimlessly and not really sure what she’s doing – very much a mood.
Also side note we heard from Jenny a little bit in this book. She sent Dan some letters so at least we know she’s enjoying her summer.
Moving on down to Serena and Blair, they were Bailey Winter’s original muses and Bailey had hired fake European lookalikes to be the models for his campaign (no idea why he couldn’t use the real B and S but okay). Sadly the two could not get along with their lookalikes as B was convinced the fakes were up to something.
She got her revenge on them anyway in true Blair fashion. S just went along with it because she just wanted to have a fun carefree summer with her BFF. Though to be honest I they kept acting like these fake girls were up to something super sinister but all I know is they were just putting hair removal cream in shampoo which is, kind of tame and also boring.
Anyway, once the girls were done with their dopplegangers, they fled and ran into everyone’s favourite stoner Nate Archibald who happened to live next door.
Nate was still working for the Coach, but he was out of town and Nate was being harrassed by his wife, so it was a no brainer for him to hit the road once B and S showed up.
The three of them planned to go to the city and go sailing on the Archibald family boat but once getting to the city they find that Nate’s dad has taken the boat elsewhere.
While crashing at Serena’s apartment, S realises something weird is going on with Nate and Blair. Of course something is going on between them because there’s always something.
Basically Nate realises he just really wants to be with Blair because he believes their soulmates. Blair also wouldn’t hate being back with Nate either. And Serena is left feeling like a third wheel.
Worse than that, it’s Serena’s birthday. So before the gang hit the road on the search for the Archibald boat they stop to visit Serena’s brother Erik who has thrown a party for S’s birthday. Cute.
Sadly S does not enjoy a party that consists of all Erik’s friends and like six girls. Bummer. Not to mention she saw Blair and Nate on the stairs and Nate confessed he finally loved Blair. Now Serena is feeling super left out.
She kind of just goes away to pout and figure out how she’s feeling and she discovers that maybe she’s in love with Nate and should tell him. Even though her best friend just admitted she loves Nate and he loves her back. So she writes a letter and leaves it for him in the glovebox of his car.
I’m kind of surprised that Serena wasn’t a fan of the party Erik had. I feel like she usually can make the best of every situation. Plus her leaving a guy that once loved her and running away sounds just like her but using him to distract her from Nate and Blair – seems again weird for her.
I guess she just doesn’t want to lose her friends again to their bubble and be third wheeling at Yale. At the same time just because your friends are telling each other they love you, that doesn’t mean you just think like “maybe I love Nate too”. Like we established that you guys would always be in each other’s lives but not romantically. So…yeah I see a flaw.
As for the lovebirds, they headed out early, ditching S on her birthday (kind of rude), in search of the Archibald boat. While they are on the road they decide to go for a pitstop and this is where Nate is reminded of the consequences of ditching the Coach.
He gets a voicemail and the Coach is not happy about him ditching or smoking weed on the job. Naturally. So does this mean that Nate won’t actually graduate? Not that he cares in the moment when he’s got the girl but it would be interesting if he didn’t.
Then there’s B who discovered Serena’s letter in the car. Yikes. I guess those two aren’t BFFs anymore. It’s never good to find a letter addressed to your on-again off-again boyfriend from your best friend telling him she loves him. So she does the rational thing and tears up the letter before Nate sees it and the wind carries it away.
At around this same time Serena has come to her senses and wants to take the letter back but sadly discovers that Nate and Blair have already gone.
And that is where we end it.
Again, nothing great to be honest. The Dan is gay thing was kind of funny though.
Also I never expected Vanessa to be the type to just give up her film making to be a babysitter? Plus I never believed she would also quite the fashion muse thing so quick but I guess it’s not the kind of film she likes to make.
As for this love triangle of Nate, Blair and Serena…well I would have preferred if Serena had stayed out of it haha. I mean I guess without her there’s no drama but realistically Blair and Nate would have found something else to fight over sooner or later.
But yeah, I guess we see where we go from here. I think the next book is technically the proper end to the series, with the next two books being add-ons after that so I’m interested to see where it ends. Like I said I had a feeling it would end once everyone got into college, which is why they stretched this summer out for two whole books, but I’m hoping summer ends in the next book because it’s kind of boring.
Before I gear up to read the last few books of the series I think I’ll take a break and read something else. It seems to be my pattern to read three Gossip Girl books and something else so, why break that now. But don’t worry, I’ll be back with our favourite Upper East Siders before you know it.
~ Courtney x
poor girl
Courtney's Blog 