Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar

19 reviews

beholder's review against another edition

funny relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Like, this is genuinely funny and well written. The characters are all believably, humanly flawed (Blair is petty, Serena is egocentric, Dan thinks Serena's the dream manic pixie girl to his normie guy, Chuck is Chuck, Nate is an Enneagram 9). I also liked the choice of tense -- past tense, with the occasional comment in present tense, as if the narrator was telling the story to you in real time.

I really liked losing myself into this world where there was both character types I recognized from real life, but also, such a complete lack of concern for mundane problems that it was escapist. Also, kudos to how well and subtly the narration made fun of all these people. Dan's parts were especially laugh-inducing.

To me personally, it lost a bit of steam around the 47% mark, which is why it's not rated higher.

But yes, to me, it's a genuinely fun, well written book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Fatphobia and Vomit

Eating disorder: There's a detailed description of bulimic character's disordered eating behavior in the first two or so chapters. After that, her behavior is just implied throughout the book. She does not consider getting help or recovery or anything of the sort. Related/implied: there is disdain for fat people throughout the book.

Sexual harassment/assault: Chuck's character sexually harasses Serena in some of their scenes, and harasses and assaults Jenny at the end of the book, although

her brother Dan comes to her help before it can escalate further

. Chuck, to my understanding, was a criticism of that type of person: the narration says that, were their families not old money/powerful/so focused on appearances, a person like Chuck would have been shunned and properly dealt with a long time ago.

Drug use: Almost every scene involving the teenagers, except for ones at school, Barneys, and Jenny and Dan's house, involved alcohol consumption. Nate smokes weed more and more as the book goes along.

abookishlesbian's review against another edition

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

hexed_goldfish's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

nonfluorescent's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

regalreads's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

rcsreads's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.5

Truly terrible. Badly written, no plot, characters are one dimensional twats.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

thenonmouse's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Vomit, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

panickat123's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder and Sexual harassment

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

If you asked 13/14 year old me what my initial thoughts about this book were - I would say scandal / something my mother would never have let me read if she ever saw it in my backpack. Thankfully/ surprisingly? My middle school and high school had this series in their collection so I was able to check the books out without anyone being none the wiser at my house lol. 

  A part of me knows I was intrigued by the idea of reading about teenagers doing things my friends and I didn’t - drinking, smoking, being on their own essentially with minimal parent involvement, sex…

Now in my early 30’s - re-reading this makes me wonder if there ever is a grain of truth to these fictional stories about rich kids. The writing itself isn’t the best and sometimes the dialogue is cringey. But each character has their own persona embedded into this book.

Blair is second rate, always passed over. Serena is the golden girl, literally & figuratively. Nate is in love with Serena but doesn’t know if he wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Dan is dramatic poet emo kid personified. Vanessa is a try hard lol. Jenny is painfully naive. Chuck is scum

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual harassment