GGRP: Nobody Does It Better.

Welcome, welcome, to the seventh post in the Gossip Girl Review Project. I can't believe it. We're officially half way through this thing now. Only six more to go and I will have completed this ridiculous task. So, let's get on with the review of the seventh book in the series, Nobody Does It Better. 

Synopsis

There are only a few weeks left of high school and it's time for the seniors to decide what college they'll be attending next year. Nate and Serena are both seriously contemplating Yale but neither of them want to upset Blair, who still isn't sure if she's in or not. Dan is, of course, not thinking much about college because he's in this cool band now. Not that that lasts very long. Vanessa is looking for a new roommate and somehow ends up with Blair, who decides, in a stroke of genius, to set Vanessa up with Aaron. Jenny has decided she wants to go to boarding school and instead of just asking her father like a normal child, she decides that getting in as much trouble as possible is the way to go. Nate steals his parents' boat.

Familiar scenes

As per usual, there's nothing exactly the same, but Jenny's shenanigans while trying to get sent to boarding school certainly recall a little of the Jenny I know from the show. Especially the part where she keeps lying to her father about where she is so that she can spend all of her time in hotel rooms with rock stars who think she is actually Dan's older sister. That feels very show-Jenny.

What's different?

Nate. Steals. A boat.

Fanciest fancy party

The girls only Senior Spa Weekend at the Coateses' estate. Not necessarily the fanciest party, per say, but certainly the most drama filled. Jenny, Elise, Dan, Nate, Chuck, and Aaron all sneak in. Blair finds out that she did get into Yale after all, only to immediately walk in on Serena and Nate making out in a bathtub. She then throws a classic Blair tantrum, which ends in her diving into the pool in front of everyone, wearing nothing but Mrs. Coates's white, jewelled hair turban. 

Most conniving scheme

This time the prize goes to Jenny, who, in her quest to get sent to boarding school so she can be more like Serena, convinces Dan's entire band that she is older than him, spends a lot of nights with those band members while Rufus thinks she is with Elise, and flirts the band into giving her Dan's spot as lead singer.

What is Chuck Bass up to?

Trying to convince some of the girls to enrol in military school next year so that he won't be alone. This:

Chuck Bass was wearing a black Prada jumpsuit, unzipped so his tanned, recently waxed chest was clearly visible, and creamy white leather Camper sandals that showed off his smooth, manicured feet. On the floor beneath his desk, Chuck's pet snow monkey, Sweetie, poked his fuzzy white head out of Chuck's orange-and-red leather Dooney & Bourke tote bag and bared his teeth.

That is Chuck in English class. I love him.

How off the rails is Jenny Humphrey?

Why doesn't she just tell her dad she wants to go to boarding school???

Of course, Jenny will eventually get her wish and go to boarding school. I know this because there is a series of spin-off books that follow her there. So the question now is, for how much longer will 'How off the rails is Jenny Humphrey?' be a category on these reviews? And will Chuck be promoted to being part of the main cast after she is gone? Probably not but I can dream.

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Respryn.

This past bank holiday Monday, I went for a little walk around the woods out at Respryn with my mum and dad. We saw a whole lot of butterflies on a lilac tree and lots of people walking lots of adorable dogs and it actually stayed sunny the whole time we were there. I doubt there'll be much more of that now this year.

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GGRP: You're the One That I Want.

I figured out the other day that if I read and review one GG book every other week I can totally still hit my original goal of completing the Gossip Girl Review Project by the end of the year. So buckle up, kids, it's about to get real Gossip Girl heavy on this blog.

Synopsis

It's college acceptance letters time. Serena and Nate are in everywhere, including Yale, but Blair, who has literally decided to name her baby sister 'Yale' (and her mother and stepfather are going along with this for no reason I can understand) only got into Georgetown and was waitlisted at Yale. Obviously she takes this out on Nate and Serena because that's what Blair does. Dan moves in with Vanessa and a weird girl with a ferret just decides to move in too. Serena visits a bunch of colleges and falls in love with a different boy at every one of them. Jenny decides she wants to become a model. Nate completely flips out. Chuck is relegated to the background again. Blair's baby sister is born!

Familiar scenes

Blair freaking out about Serena getting into Yale when she was only waitlisted. Serena managing to fall in love with a number of boys in a matter of hours. I mean, that exact thing doesn't happen with TV-show-Serena, but it might as well have.

What's different?

Nate decides that the only way to solve his problem of just getting into too many excellent colleges is to be a supreme jerk to the college reps who have been sent to woo him into choosing their schools. Some random band convinces Dan that his poems are actually songs so, drunk on half a bottle of vodka, Dan spontaneously agrees to be their new frontman.

Fanciest fancy party

It is decidedly not a fancy party but Vanessa throws a party at her loft for her birthday and it gets pretty out of control. It is at this party that a drunken Dan rips his shirt off and starts screaming his poems along with the band.

Most conniving scheme

This was going to go to Blair volunteering to join the army if they get her into Yale but Blair was beaten at the last minute by the weird girl with the pet ferret who claims that Vanessa's sister said she could stay in her apartment but it turns out she was actually a previous occupant and this is a little con she regularly plays.

What is Chuck Bass up to?

Poor Chuck. He may have his own apartment and Sweetie the monkey for company but he didn't get into any colleges and now his father has decided the only thing to do is to send him to military school. I'm just not sure that's going to work out.

How off the rails is Jenny Humphrey?

Okay so Elise, Jenny's only friend, accuses her of just trying to be Serena all the time and Jenny decides to disprove this by... asking Serena to use her modelling connections to get Jenny her own modelling job. When that job turns out to be a little embarrassing Serena helps Jenny pick herself back up again, which is nice. Honestly Jenny just needs to calm down.

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August book haul.

I bought a lot of books this month. Too many books. Far too many books for someone who is supposed to be on a book buying ban. So I thought I'd better do a haul. I had a lot of fun doing my update videos for the BookTubeAThon last month so I decided to make a little haul video.

And it was an absolute pig to colour correct so don't look forward to too many of these in the future.

The books:

Beginnings, Middles, & Ends by Nancy Kress
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle
His Last Bow & The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

I may have realised a couple of weeks ago that the particular editions of the Sherlock Holmes books that I started collecting last year are now out of print and very expensive to buy new and I may have slightly panicked and ordered secondhand copies of all the remaining books in fear that they might become expensive soon too. I regret nothing.

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