‘The Gossip Girl prequel: It Had to Be You’By Cecily von Ziegesar

Publisher: Poppy416 Pages$17.99

Everyone has a guilty pleasure. Some people read tabloids while others watch particularly awful reality television.

I read ‘Gossip Girl’ novels.

‘The Gossip Girl prequel: It Had To Be You’ by Cecily von Ziegesar, the latest installment in the best-selling series, definitely qualifies as a guilty pleasure. While it is a fluffy read, it works as a great retreat from the boring required reading college students are so often swamped with.

The first ‘Gossip Girl’ book was released in 2002. The fluff-packed series, which follows the lives of high school-aged socialites with little supervision and lots of money on New York’s Upper East Side was a quick success.

This fall, the series even got its own TV show, made by Josh Schwartz, the creator of ‘The OC.’ Like the books, the show quickly nabbed a loyal following.

And while most readers may not be able to relate with beautiful and mysterious blonde, Serena, or her Audrey Hepburn-obsessed best friend, Blair, they certainly want to read about them.

The books are framed around a gossip Web site run by the elusive Gossip Girl, a socialite who knows everyone’s secrets but never shares her own big secret: her identity.

‘It Had To Be You,’ the 12th and final book of the series, was released this October. While the 11th book left the spoiled rich crew at high school graduation, the prequel takes readers back to the characters’ sophomore year.

Any series that can stay on the Best-Sellers List for 12 books obviously has a hook.

With ‘Gossip Girl,’ it’s sex, drugs and alcohol.

Cliche, I know, but it’s part of the book’s charm: escapism at its best. The lives of the beautiful and glamorous characters are so outrageously unbelievable, it’s like reading celebrity tabloids, only better.

The hard-partying teenagers smoke marijuana in Central Park, drop thousands at New York department stores and sip martinis in hotel bars – all while filling out their Ivy League applications.

For those who have never read the series, the prequel is a great place to start. For loyal followers, the prequel answers some unanswered questions. And for viewers of the show, the book offers a fun addition.

While the book is no literary accomplishment, it also never tried to be. When taken for what it is – a fun guilty pleasure – the book is quite a success.

Published on October 29, 2007 at 12:00 pm