The Carrie Diariesby Candace Bushnell
2010
400 pages
A bit of an untraditional style of review for me, but I just wasn’t sure what to make of this book
Before Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw was a small town girl dreaming of being a writer. She's ready for real life to start, but first she must navigate her senior year of high school. Up until now, Carrie and her friends have been inseparable. Then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture, and a friend's betrayal makes her question everything. (summary from book cover)
The Carrie Diaries was a real mixed bag for me. I’m a huge fan of Sex and the City, but I’ve always felt disconnected from Bushnell’s Carrie, simply because I think SJP made her a much more dynamic character. It was therefore not a surprise that I couldn’t connect to Bushnell’s teen Carrie. However, once I was able to separate them in my mind, I started to enjoy the book a lot more. However, I’m not sure where it fits in YA. I think her writing style is a little off base for YA audiences, and I think having it set in the 80’s might have made it hard for some teens to connect to the story. I also didn’t think the supporting characters were all that strong, nor was Sebastian an interesting enough character. I did enjoy reading it; I’m just left a little perplexed by its purpose and audience. I’m interested to hear if you’ve read it and thought otherwise.
Rating: W2/4 C2/4 P2/4 O2.5/4 PP2.5/4 CR3/4
Grade Level Interest: S
Before Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw was a small town girl dreaming of being a writer. She's ready for real life to start, but first she must navigate her senior year of high school. Up until now, Carrie and her friends have been inseparable. Then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture, and a friend's betrayal makes her question everything. (summary from book cover)
The Carrie Diaries was a real mixed bag for me. I’m a huge fan of Sex and the City, but I’ve always felt disconnected from Bushnell’s Carrie, simply because I think SJP made her a much more dynamic character. It was therefore not a surprise that I couldn’t connect to Bushnell’s teen Carrie. However, once I was able to separate them in my mind, I started to enjoy the book a lot more. However, I’m not sure where it fits in YA. I think her writing style is a little off base for YA audiences, and I think having it set in the 80’s might have made it hard for some teens to connect to the story. I also didn’t think the supporting characters were all that strong, nor was Sebastian an interesting enough character. I did enjoy reading it; I’m just left a little perplexed by its purpose and audience. I’m interested to hear if you’ve read it and thought otherwise.
Rating: W2/4 C2/4 P2/4 O2.5/4 PP2.5/4 CR3/4
Grade Level Interest: S
Posts
3 comments:
I haven't read it, but I'm not really a Sex and the City fan. I guess I sort of missed the boat on that one haha Great review, but I'm not sure this one is for me :)
Yeah, it wasn't really the right one for me either.
I have a hard time reading the book if I've already gotten attached to the movie or TV Show first, I can't help but picture the other version of the character and it always makes it hard for me to relate to the book version. Thanks for the honest review!
Post a Comment