This review was originally published on The Teenage Girl’s Survival Guide
Candace Bushnell brings sparkling vivacity and humour to her latest novel and sequel to The Carrie Diaries. Now a hit TV show on the C.W Network, this series is perfect for a younger audience.
Bushnell follows the young Carrie Bradshaw’s summer at a writing course in the Big Apple and all the entertaining travails that come with growing up. Carrie learns some serious life lessons in love, dreams and friendships as she embarks on the most exciting Summer of her life yet!
What’s great about The Carrie Diaries, is Bushnell’s encouragement to follow your dreams and become the person you want to be even against great odds. Carrie’s character is inspirational in that she breaks against the mould by leaving her small town when, like her old friend tells her, “No one ever really thought you’d become a writer”.
Carrie’s voice is entertaining and energetic, matching the fast paced buzz of her favourite city in the world! Her character is realistic and likable as she makes plenty of mistakes in her desire to be a real sophisticated New Yorker. This girl is sure to be a hit among teen girls.
A major plus is getting to meet the real Sex and The City girls, Samantha and Miranda, for the first time. These characters are well developed by Bushnell, with authentic voices and strong personalities that come through the text. Samantha is of course career driven and appearance centered. While she strives to be a rich chic New Yorker with the perfect husband, she reinforces the importance of being a strong woman, “I’ll tell you one thing about Samantha Jones. She can’t be bought. At any price.” Hoping her neighbours die so she can get their bigger apartment and cheaper rent, Samantha is utterly fabulous!
Characters from the original Carrie Diaries also feature, including Carrie’s former BFF Maggie and Walt. Maggie’s character serves to represent Carrie’s old life in suburban Connecticut and the person she will eventually leave behind for good in her adult life. Maggie is flirtatious and opinionated. She constantly complains about New York and disapproves of the new Carrie. Her “All American prettiness” makes her the object of lust which she is more than happy about.
Now let’s talk about the guys! Carrie meets her fair share over the Summer, including the irritatingly arrogant Capote Duncan, sweet Ryan, the playwright and “genius” Bernard Singer and the “infamous” Bobby Nevil. She learns that appearances can be deceiving and love and relationships can be a hell of a lot complicated.
Carrie’s summer is one of self-discovery and a real coming of age story as she develops from being a “sparrow” to “A pigeon. The official bird of New York City”. While Carrie is told “The whole idea is that Carrie Bradshaw never wins”, I think it’s safe to say Carrie is most definitely a winner.