Mood:
incredulousTopic: Entertainment
I recently finished reading The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell. While it is her sixth book, it is her first in the teen genre, as it is Carrie before Sex and the City.
As I've mentioned before, the Carrie in Sex and the City (the television series) is much different than the Carrie from Sex and the City (the book). However, both characters don't reveal much of anything about her past...so The Carrie Diaries were a chance for us to see where she came from.
Truthfully, I don't think I gained any real insight on Carrie, but it was still a good story—I definitely would have enjoyed it as a teen, too. Carrie is growing up as the oldest daughter of three, raised by her widowed father. Like most high school seniors, she struggles with fitting in, dating, and planning for the future.
While she wants to be a writer, her father wants her to be a scientist and study at Brown. Carrie makes an attempt to gain entry into a prestigious summer writing program, but fails on her first try. She makes an effort to get better at writing, by joining her school newspaper staff, which brings on an adventure.
She also begins dating the most popular boy in school, who packs quite the drama between Carrie's friends and even her family. The Carrie we have come to know and love can be seen in the way she acts toward the boys she likes—she isn't herself, and does whatever they want her to do (Hello, Mr. Big). Her fashion sense is the same, and her dream of living in New York City is bigger than ever.
According to a review in People Magazine, there will be a second installment of The Carrie Diaries next summer. Is Bushnell the leading lady on marketing to women readers? I mean damn!
The book was good and I would recommend it to any Sex and the City fan even though it isn't as revealing as we probably all wish it was. Since we don't know anything about Carrie's past from the start, Bushnell could've made it any past she wanted it to be. However, at the end of the book, there is a definite hook that only Sex and the City fans will understand.
