The Carrie "Die-aries"

 

I finished The Carrie Diaries a few days ago, and all I can say is that I am extremely disappointed. I have never wanted to shred, destroy, or burn (whoops, sorry Ray Bradbury!) a book more than this one. Hence the name, "The Carrie Die-aries". I know, I know- lame twist on words...

I guess I'm kind of a sucker for happy endings, and this book did not have one. Well, at least the kind of happy ending I was looking for. SPOILER ALERT- Carrie's idiotic ex-boyfriend Sebastian is caught kissing Carrie's best friend, Lali, which ruins their friendship. If that's not bad enough, then he decides to go off and kiss Lali's younger sister, which ends up just as bad as it is disgusting. So, out of curiosity, I searched the book up on Wikipedia, and this is literally the definition of Sebastian Kydd: "Carrie's extremely pretty on-off boyfriend." Even the exceptionally verbose Wikipedia couldn't come up with something to say.

Another reason for my disgust is the fact that the actress for Carrie in the The Carrie Diaries TV series looks nothing like I had imagined. As I was reading the books, this was the Carrie I saw in my mind:

Carrie described herself as a 12 year old and stated, "I was twelve and starting to go through an awkward stage. I had skinny legs and no chest, two pimples, and frizzy hair. I was also wearing cat's eye glasses and carrying a dog-eared copy of What About Me? by Mary Gordan Howard." (Bushnell 53).

Sure, people can change, but keep in mind Carrie is still only 17.


Guess what the real Carrie looks like?


And the worst part is, she was accepted to Brown and a prestigious writing camp! I really try not to judge a book by its cover, but seriously? Ugh...Carrie and her perfect blonde curls and perfect outfits and perfect writing skills can go die in a hole. OK, so maybe I'm a little (just a little) jealous. But she looks so...perfect. I guess what happened with Sebastian could balance things out.

Overall, this book wasn't too terribly dreadful. Actually, the drama and fights and breakups and makeups were all pretty intriguing to me. It was like I was watching a science experiment unfold before my eyes, where the frantic specimens interacted with one another, occasionally producing foul language and tears. It was a guilty pleasure, but I won't indulge myself in the second book in this series, even though the first one ends on a huge cliff-hanger. I don't regret reading the book, but too much of this "stuff" and my brain will be fried.

So yes, I was disappointed and frustrated with this book, but I also enjoyed it very much. If that didn't make any sense just ignore me.

So what do you guys think: Is The Carrie Diaries a book you would check out (even if it's just out of curiosity) or something you would never look at in a million years?

The Carrie Diaries

So recently, I started reading the first book in The Carrie Diaries series. Unfortunately, since I live under a rock, I had no idea that this series is a television show and the prequel to $@# and the City (I hope you know what the random symbols stand for...I couldn't include that in my school blog).

Anyways, this story follows the life of a 17 year old girl named Carrie Bradshaw, who is growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. She's just your average highschool girl- inseparable from her best friends, boy crazy, and trying to stay afloat among the sea of jocks and "popular" girls at school. She has big dreams of becoming a writer, and this book follows her path to success. Along the way, she meets a guy named Sebastian. You know, since there is ALWAYS a guy involved in chick lit. Let's just say that he makes her life a whole lot more complicated...

And with juicy secrets, betrayals from so called "best friends", and highschool coming to an end, Carrie is realizing that it's finally time to go after everything she ever wanted.

So now that I'm done with that long, boring summary, we can get onto the important stuff- like what Sebastian looks like (Just kidding, but in case you were actually curious, I'll get a picture just for you).


Sebastian Kydd

Carrie seems like an interesting person to me. I don't think I'd want to be her friend, but she would be a great source of entertainment. She is emotional, courageous, and fun...everything I'm not, I guess.

I will be finishing this book soon, so stay in touch!








Favorite Book Last Trimester

My favorite book last trimester was Divergent. I loved this book, mainly because of the interesting setting and the plot. The setting is a dystopian Chicago world, where everyone in society is divided into 5 different factions. I had never seen anything like this before, so that really made the book stand out to me. The plot of the book is also fantastic. There are many twists and unexpected events, so the book stays fresh and unpredictable. I think Veronica Roth did a great job in carefully crafting a suspenseful and intricate story.

I do think that some of the characters lacked...personality. Tris seemed robotic to me in the beginning, but as the story went on, her personality developed into something deeper and more sophisticated. I liked how that happened, because it really emphasized how her actions shaped her into a unique person. Also, I think that the book lacks enough background information. How the factions came to be was an unresolved issue for me. Overall, Divergent was an exciting book with romance, suspense, and lots of action. It was the best book I read last trimester.