I Will Always Love You (GG #12) created by Cecily von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

They chose each other.

Just then, the dark sky lit up with fireworks. A cab sailing the street honked in celebration . In the night air, Nate thought he could hear Serena and Blair's laughter, though he knew that was impossible; they were too far away by now.

But as we know, in this city anything is possible.

Flashback to 2008 or 2009: in a surprising move due to the popularity of the then-hit television series, Gossip Girl came back for one final look into our beloved teenagers lives as they explore adulthood and come home for the holidays during breaks in university. Much like the final books and spin-offs of the original series, it is penned a ghost writer and not Cecily herself.

I Will Always Love You, or as I like to call it: the pitiful (but still fun) attempt at drawing in fans of the television series and unnecessarily destroying the characteristics of the books, takes place over the course of four years and is told in the usual rotating narration and blog entries. We’re split up to focus ONLY on the four years of holidays our kids have as breaks from classes.

(I’m being a bit dramatic: the installment wasn’t horrible it just wasn’t Gossip Girl in the way longtime readers wanted it to be. There were some redeeming qualities to it, though, like the endgames. Which is why I've still given it a high review like the rest of the series.)

Don't You Forget About Me (GG #11) created by Cecily von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

At last, summer is coming to an end for our kids but their exploits are far from over. Drama boils over as love triangles grow and decisions are made. We’re reunited for one final party in the city before everyone departs for college. Dan’s sexuality is explored and his mother makes a surprise appearance. Don't You Forget About Me is Gossip Girl in all its glory: pure fun and sarcasm and romance and fashion.

Although university is just around the corner; their changes are only just beginning and this summer is sure to end on a high note. Who will actually follow through with their plans for university? Can Blair, Nate and Serena work out their problems?

We start off with the return of Blair and Nate; they have spent the last few weeks of their summer together on a romantic getaway. Passion was high, the sun gave them that perfect tan others will surely envy and they are preparing to start at Yale together.

Or so Blair thinks. There’s that little matter of Nate not actually receiving his diploma…

Would I Lie to You (GG #10) created by Cecily von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

You can expect the usual realistic and sloppy portrayal of the teenage mind in this hot installment. Gossip Girl continues to cater to its audience–light, juicy, fashionable and fast reads that leave you giggling a little bit to yourself. It’s dizzily trashy and that’s what makes it dazzling. Yes, it is the perfect summer treat for those who want to kick back, lose themselves in luxury and drama.

Summer lives on as the drama reaches an all time high in Would I Lie To You? the second to last installment in the original series. And with filming at an end for Breakfast at Fred’s, Blair and Serena wind up staying in the Hampton’s as fashion muses for a very famous designer.

Of course, this doesn’t mean they will be the face of this designers new line and have to share the spotlight with their own lookalikes. Neither duo seems to be happy about this, and Blair feels that the models are very much so up to something.

They happen to be living next door to Nate, too, and because of this their love triangle is back on. Blair, Nate and Serena reunite as the best friends that they are but there’s always more lingering in their hearts. While things heat up between Nate and Blair once more, Serena begins to question her feelings for Nate and comes to the conclusion that she has loved him all along.

Only in Your Dreams (GG #9) created by Cecily von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

Summer is here and things are heating up for our recent high school graduates in the ninth book of the pop culture phenomenon that is Gossip Girl. Sadly, Only In Your Dreams is the first of the series to be written by a ghost writer instead of Cecily von Ziegesar and it definitely shows.

But the ghost writer does capture Cecily’s series in a way the mimics her style perfectly. While it isn’t the best of the series, it is still juicy and stylish in the way that only Gossip Girl can be.

Everyone’s favorite Upper East Siders are nearing adulthood and have vowed to make this summer their best yet. Serena’s begun production as the lead in Breakfast at Fred’s, only to find out acting isn’t quite as easy as she thought. Her only saving grace is her looks and her ridiculously adorable and sweet costar, whom she definitely develops a crush on.

But is this something she can pursue? Or is he just not that into her?

And then there’s Vanessa who, after getting booted from her apartment by her older sister Ruby’s return, finds herself temporarily homeless.

Luckily for her, with Serena’s help, she is able to land a job on the movie set. And she moves in with the Humphrey’s. Rufus is surprisingly cool about it and soon she finds herself staying in Jenny’s old room. It’s a cozy little set up and things look up for our favorite edgy, badass, bald, budding filmmaker.

You're the One That I Want (GG #6) by Cecily von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

You’re the One That I Want is the sixth installment in the pop culture phenomenon that is Gossip Girl and is my personal favorite of the series of books. For a series that is as messy and poorly written as GG is, it’s still thoroughly entertaining, stylish and engaging.

And in this installments case, the writing has improved immensely.

In true GG fashion, its main plot line is fueled by teenagers misbehaving and narrated by the queen of gossip herself. Most of our favorite UES teens are nearing the end of their high school careers (graduation is just months away!) and seem to be branching out more and more as they discuss what their adult lives will soon hold for them.

YTOTIW promises its usual array of scandal, gossip, fashion, luxury and sex. It’s the perfect combination of teenage angst, hormones and boredom. Which is what makes it fun and appealing to teenagers. Each character is different and yet still obtainable. They can all be extremely horrible to each other, yet you want to root for them in many ways.

Gossip Girl: The Carlyles created by Cecily von Ziegesar and written by Annabelle Vestry | Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5)

I'll be honest here, guys. I am complete and utter Gossip Girl trash and always will be, but it took me years to actually pick up this spinoff and give it a go. The Carlyles came out not too long after the television adaption of the original series was running and at the time, I just wasn't feeling the idea of it. Gossip Girl already had a killer spinoff in Jenny's adventures at boarding school called The It-Girl and I saw no real point in introducing a batch of new characters.

So for years, I procrastinated reading this series. And by chance, a couple of weeks ago while thrifting, I found all four of The Carlyles books in perfect condition and for a wicked $3. How could I pass that up? Short answer: I couldn't. At least, I found myself giving this next generation a chance and while it doesn't quite live up to the original series, I was pleasantly surprised.

Although Cecily wasn't the author of this spinoff, Annabelle Vestry provides the same snarky voice to Gossip Girl and the world of Manhattans elite perfectly. Just as the original series, it's cringe worthy and has just the right amount of teen angst that it feels undeniably teenager. If you didn't notice that this spinoff wasn't written by Cecily, you honestly wouldn't be able to tell -- she has a very similar vibe in her writing and it's all in good fun. Vestry captures the scandal and intrigue and fashionable adventures we came to know in the original series and builds onto it perfectly without interrupting what we already knew.

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★★

Gossip Girl was, and always will be, one of my favorite trashy young adult book series. I love that the novels are short and easy to devour and that they sound like actual conversations with teenagers. You get a glimpse into the lives of a group of shallow rich teenagers and the so-called-glamor of it all. I love that it doesn’t take itself seriously and at times is sincerely cringe worthy. How absurd are these characters, right? I’m delirious with love for this light and fluffy read.

I’d say that it is my guilty pleasure except I don’t believe in such a thing.

Needless to say Gossip Girl is my biggest weak point in young adult literature and frankly, I can’t explain why, it’s just so fun and the easiest way to blow off some steam after a long day. I feel like I grew up with everyone’s favorite Upper East Siders and really, there’s no going back from that.

From the moment I picked it up as a preteen exploring Barnes and Noble, I knew I was hooked. Over ten years later, there’s still no going back.

As I said before, the only way to enjoy this series is to understand it isn’t supposed to be serious. It’s soapy, it’s satirical, it’s dramatic and it’s steamy. And another thing you should do, is separate it from the television series of the same name.

There’s no real outstanding plot to the series, just sprinkles of teen angst, romance and fashion set all in a world that is virtually unobtainable to many of its target audiences. It’s easy to let your imagination take over and even without the television adaption, you can see it come to life as you’re reading.

Gossip Girl: Psycho Killer by Cecily Von Ziegesar | Rating: ★★★★☆

"Best keep a safe distance. Unless you’re skilled with a knife. And — like me — you just can’t stay away. You know you love me, Gossip Girl."

As many know, before there was the CW’s loose adaption Gossip Girl was a set of bestselling novels that ran from the 2002-2007 and eventually went on to release both a prequel and a follow up/sequel novel (the follow up novel was released during the shows run, and featured plotlines that were out of character for some book characters to attract fans of the television series, and spanned through the entire college characters of all the main characters).

These novels were never meant to sound serious and are targeted at young girls who typically won’t read beyond the pages of Vogue. They are fashionable, juicy and full of humor in the sarcastic narration. And for the genre, these books certainly provide an entertaining amount of gossip, romance, friends and fashion. Did we mention backstabbing?

Cecily Von Ziegesar came back with a surprise rewrite of the first novel and really played on the backstabbing themes we’d come to known in the series. You know except this time with actual backstabbing.