The last three books in the Gossip Girl series really were the climax and resolution all in one. These three books cover the summer after senior year. The characters are all getting ready to go to college, and many of them experience some major changes along the way. The author really focused on the recently graduated characters through these three books. Although Jenny is only a sophomore, she is usually included with the older students. Interestingly enough, Jenny is conveniently on vacation to see her mom in Europe all summer. As if the senior's lives weren't crazy enough during high school, they only get crazier after graduation. An interesting character to follow through these three books is Dan. He seems to be the character that makes the most radical changes through this summer.
Like most graduated high school seniors, Dan chose to get a job over the summer. Of course, Dan lands a perfect job for him in a bookshop. This is really a turning point for him, and it gives him an outlet to meet new people and experience new things. He really doesn't have anyone to hang out with since he broke up with Vanessa and his sister is gone. At the bookstore, Dan meets Bree who is totally not his type. I'm not sure if Dan wanted to try something new or if he just didn't realize it, but Bree is not someone that he would hang out with. In fact, on the first day he talks to her she asks him to stop smoking. Seeing as Dan is an avid chain smoker, he should have realized right then that this girl was not his type. Unfortunately, they are both young and slightly stupid, so they end up dating for a while. Bree takes Dan to a yoga class. I found this part of the book hilarious, because I could never see Dan doing yoga positions in the nude. Bree really influences Dan though, and gets him to start thinking outside the box. He starts reading several inspirational and self help books, which are completely opposite from his literary works that he would read before. Eventually though, these two figure out that they really aren't meant for each other, so they break up.
The interesting thing about this relationship is that Bree really influenced Dan. By causing him to think from a different perspective, Bree made Dan question many things that he took for granted in his life. One major thing that Dan starts to question is his sexuality. Again at the bookstore, Dan meets a new worker named Greg. Greg and Dan are very like-minded, and end up starting a literary salon together. At the first meeting, everyone ends up having a little too much to drink, and Greg and Dan end up kissing. At this point, Dan really starts to question his sexuality. As a reader, it seemed obvious to me that he was straight, because there had really never been any signs that he wasn't. It was a really shocking turn of events, mainly because Dan had just broken up with Bree. I feel like if he wouldn't have learned what he did from Bree, Dan would have never started questioning himself. Through his questioning, Dan sends a simple note to his sister telling her that he is gay. Unfortunately, things get blown out of proportion when Jenny tells their mother, who quickly shows up in New York to "celebrate" with Dan. This was also a very interesting twist in the plot, because Dan and Jenny's mother had not seen them for about ten years.
Personally, I was surprised that Dan's mother even cared enough to come back and see him for this. I felt like it was made pretty clear throughout the whole series that Dan and Jenny's mother had left when they were young, and never really paid much attention to them after that. Maybe his mother was just looking for a way to connect with him, and she found that when she was told he was gay. Whatever the reason behind it was, Dan's mother did not go about the celebrations in the right way. She threw a party without telling him, and invited basically everyone Dan knew. Although this was really upsetting to Dan, because he was not ready to tell too many people about his recent change in sexuality, it actually helped him in the long run. His new "boyfriend", Greg, met a new guy at this party. When Greg finally came to tell Dan he wanted to break up, it really made Dan's decision clear. Now that Dan was freed from the commitment of a same sex relationship, he could really think about his decisions. As always, it takes a talk with Vanessa for Dan to realize the obvious. He was drunk and not thinking clearly when he kissed Greg, and he was certainly not gay. Just because Dan made a bad decision at a party, does not mean that he is gay. Speaking with Vanessa again, made Dan realize all of this. Conveniently, he figured this out right before he went away to college.
Overall, this was not a bad book series. Despite how different the characters are from me, I still found them relatively easy to relate to. It is not really a series that makes you think much though. Although all the character's had their ups and downs, they all ended up happy. I found it interesting that the author chose to end the series after the characters go to college. Seeing the crazy stuff they did in high school, I can only imagine the things they do in college would be even crazier. I guess the author just has a strong connection with high school though, because her next series focuses on high school students as well. Nevertheless, Gossip Girl did not disappoint, and I enjoyed analyzing the many characters in the series.