I was a die-hard, loyal fan of Sex and the City, so when I found out Candace Bushnell was going to be writing a YA series about Carrie as a teenager, I was over the moon! The first book was pre-ordered, and I read it as soon as I opened the package.
One big difference between a TV show and a book, is that the TV shows do not always follow the books it's based on. I watched Sex and the City before I read the book; and I can say that Bushnell's writing style is much different than any other author I've read, and there were definite differences in the book and the TV show - where the TV show was way better. But I wasn't really concerned about reading her YA Series, because really, it was an extension of a show that was now off the air and I was craving way more Carrie, Sam, Miranda, and Charlotte.
The writing style was the same as I remembered, and it's hard to really explain what makes it so different. It can be difficult at times, and my mind would wander too, not really grabbing my attention fully. And if you cannot separate this series from the TV Show, then you probably won't really enjoy it because it is not the show, and Bushnell never claimed it would be.
But this post is more about how AMAZING the TV show is, rather than the two books in the series - which I thought there were supposed to be more, I just cannot find anything online about whether there will be or not. But the TV show is loosely based on the Carrie Diaries books, but that's about it. They do not follow the same story lines or anything.
Anna-Sophia Robb plays out favorite curly blonde writer, Carrie Bradshaw. I cannot even begin to tell you how perfect she is to play a young Carrie, and how much I absolutely ADORE her! It's so easy to see her as a younger version of Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie, but yet Robb holds her own. She brings her own personality to young Carrie, while still doing SJP's Carrie justice. In The Carrie Diaries, Carrie lives at home still, as she is 17, and lives with her father and 14-year-old sister, Dorrit. Dorrit is played by Stefania Owen, who does a great job at the rebellious, back-talking teen who is everything completely opposite of her big sister.
Playing Carrie's BFFs are Katie Findlay as Maggie, Brendan Dooling as Walt, and Ellen Wong as Mouse. This group of friends are tight-knit and have known each other forever! The series starts out with Maggie and Walt dating, but that doesn't last as Walt has secrets that break them up and thrust him into a entirely unfamiliar world he never thought he'd find himself in.
Carrie's extended entourage include her boss at Interview Magazine in NYC, Larissa, and in season 2, we meet Samantha Jones! Freema Agyeman plays fast talking, guy loving Larissa, and she owns the role! She expects nothing but 110% from Carrie and doesn't let her slack no matter what is at stake. She keeps Carrie on her toes and in the trendy NYC Loop. I cannot imagine anyone more perfect to play a young Samantha Jones than Lindsey Gort. That was just genius casting right there! She, like Robb, is able to encompass all that is Kim Catrall's Samantha in Sex and the City, while bringing her own personality and style to Sam's character. She's just as wild and crazy, but hasn't been successful in business yet. We still have the boy-crazy Sam that we all love from SATC, she's just younger and more free.
And last, but certainly not least, we have Carrie's frenemy, Donna LaDonna, who happens to be Samantha Jones' cousin, and the love interest and ever sexy Sebastian Kydd. I love both of these characters! Sebastian is drool-worthy and the chemistry between him and Carrie is just... OMG! And Donna LaDonna is the girl you love to hate. She has been a bitch but we do see another side to her as the series progresses. Overall the casting for this show is just incredible!
I love the dynamics of the characters and the writing is wonderful! It's enough to catch you and hold you while not turning it into a soap opera. It's amazing to see the 1980's with a modern spin on the clothing and fashion, and to see what issues teens in the 80's were dealing with as opposed to what we deal with today. When being gay was taboo, and AIDS was never talked about, it's great to have a show tackle the tough issues.
Overall, if you love fashion, sex, and drama mixed with amazing friendships and incredible characters, I would recommend this show to you. It's so addicting, and season 1 is on Netflix now!
Happy Reading Watching!
Laura
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I have never watched The Carrie Diaries or (wait for it...) Sex and the City. *hides* I KNOW! I think it was a lack of having HBO that really was the cause and I can't imagine watching the reruns on cable now because obviously they are edited. That's really not an issue for this new one so I should try to fins time to check it out!
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