Natasha
New To Stoneybrook
BSC Reread Update: no 115:Jessi's big break.
Posts: 198
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Post by Natasha on May 7, 2017 9:21:01 GMT -5
Dawn's a spoiled brat in this one. A shame, she used to one of my favourite characters. And since she's no longer in the BSC she has no business having her own book.
What is wrong with not acting your age? I'm nearly forty and I certainly don't act it! And 30 isn't old. But I guess for teens, it is. I felt bad for Carol, Dawn didn't even give her a chance really. She basically got away with stealing her dad's credit card too. How on earth she managed to travel that far alone without anyone questioning her is beyond me.
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Post by Kylie90210 on May 7, 2017 21:36:37 GMT -5
Hahaha I love your observations! Dawn really did start to go downhill!
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LadyDru
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 373
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Post by LadyDru on May 14, 2020 8:34:14 GMT -5
Kind of ironic how she tells the readers to stop gagging at the veggie chips (which I use to love but not anymore) when she gags at nonveggie stuff..hypocrisy much? I hold the same sentiments she does at refined sugar except I feel just telling Stephie not to eat too much cake would have sufficed. It was satisfying seeing Dawn feel of her parents' wrath..and the notes Mary Anne wrote were really sweet.
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Post by merrymelody on Jun 11, 2020 17:25:15 GMT -5
This book is funny to read in wake of California Diaries, as in that, Sunny's mom is terminally ill, and Dawn constantly bitches about how Sunny is running from the situation (like a 13 year old is supposed to maturely go 'ah well, everything has its season, we had a good run, Mom!) and at one point runs away to the beach. Here, Dawn runs across the country, at great expense, and for a much less important reason. I'd say either this or CD was out of character, but I think actually, hypocrisy is one of Dawn's key traits.
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Post by chirpchirp on Jun 13, 2020 15:07:56 GMT -5
I really like the CD books but I have trouble picturing them as taking place in even the same universe as the BSC. I just try to think of it as a stand-alone series with different characters with some of the same names. I don’t really recognize the characters and the WLKC being abruptly disbanded and barely mentioned seemed a little contrived.
At one point in the CD I remember Maggie gets a dramatic short haircut that is supposed to be a symbol of her rebelling and relinquishing her perfectionism or something (bear with me, I read this almost 20 years ago lol) except it is undermined by the fact that for most of the BSC books she was a punk chick with a green mullet. :/
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on May 19, 2022 2:32:17 GMT -5
What was her problem with Carol anyways? After learning they were engaged Dawn picked on every little thing Carol did. It was clear Dawn hated her and Carol didn't even do anything wrong to Dawn. I hated Dawn in this book the selfishness of what she did. Bad the way she treated poor Carol.
And she said her dad crowded her out of his life. How did he do that? I think it was all in Dawns head. She never thought about anybody else except herself when she ran away. I thought she got off lightly.
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Post by anzuhana on May 19, 2022 7:19:56 GMT -5
I know that Dawn had to pay her parents back for the tickets. What sort of punishment do you think would've fit, livvy?
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on May 19, 2022 13:59:28 GMT -5
I know that Dawn had to pay her parents back for the tickets. What sort of punishment do you think would've fit, livvy? My parents are divorced and if I ever did what Dawn had done I would have been made to pay my dad back and got grounded.
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Post by oldmeanie on Nov 25, 2022 13:24:00 GMT -5
This is one of the ones I was looking forward to the most, and honestly, it is one of the most exciting BSC books. Whether or not you agree with Dawn's decision, you have to admit it's pretty wild lol.
Lots of food in this book (I highlighted it all): vegetable chimichangas, soba noodles with sesame paste and watercress, Thai food, "overcooked chicken carcass" (in several books Dawn is okay with chicken so idk), more sesame noodles. There's probably more, but I might have missed it. Idk my obsession with food lol.
So, I have mixed feelings about what Dawn did. On one hand, I think she's totally a spoiled brat and hurt a ton of people (I feel really bad for Carol) with the stunt she pulled, but on the other, I have no clue why her parents didn't consider therapy for her. Dawn clearly needed it. I think it's mostly on the parents. Sharon's decision to move across the country really doesn't sit well with me, Dawn's 6 month stay is weird as hell if I'm being honest (I get staying for a summer, but going in the middle of the school year would really mess up her education) and I feel like there should've been real consequences for stealing her dad's credit card and flying across the country. Yes, she had to pay him back, but aside from that, nothing really came of it. So weird.
I thought it was kind of funny that Jeff thought what she did was cool. Idk why. It just feels so much like something a 10 year old boy would say.
I don't see what's so bad about Carol, but if I'm honest, I don't think that Dawn dislikes her because of who she is. I think she dislikes her because of the change she brings to her life. As it is, she's dealt with too much change for a 13 year old girl. That being said, I really, really don't think Carol deserves how Dawn treats her. Carol seems like a good person and is actually a pretty interesting character (and I really like how she and Sunny are really close inthe CDs), so I just feel really bad for her. So she comes on too strong, so what? She's super nice! She offered to chauffeur Dawn's SIX friends around for 2 weeks and even took time off! Argh.
I really remember the Kristy subplot being a bigger deal. It takes up very little time, but is pretty funny nonetheless. I like when one of her "great ideas" falls flat. Also, yeah, the BSC really doesn't need more publicity. It's interesting that the tension between Kristy and Dawn is brought up so much in this book, because it was barely mentioned in the series after the 30s. I'm glad, though, because it did seem that the books implied they were cool with each other.
It's weird that the W<3KC gets so much business in this book and seems pretty solid, then just goes defunct in the CDs (also, Dawn doesn't miss baby-sitting in those. What?!). Maybe they just never got organized, or they got too much business and didn't like their lives being more structured idk (which is fair).
I can't say this is one of my favorites (I do like it, but Dawn is obnoxious), but it's definitely an interesting one.
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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Nov 26, 2022 17:39:17 GMT -5
So this book definitely comes after California Girls. In that one, Dawn HATES Carol, complains about her every chance she gets, blames her for everything that goes wrong with her friends. Then when Carol acts like an adult after Stacey's car crash, Dawn decides she respects her and doesn't she tell Jack that if he wants to marry Carol, she's fine with it? Then she steals Jack's credit card and flies back to Connecticut in this one because she can't take the news that Jack and Carol are engaged. So did Dawn go back to hating Carol after deciding she's ok with her?
Like I said in the California Girls thread, I feel part of why Dawn hated Carol so much was she couldn't handle someone else dating her dad or thinking Carol wasn't good enough for her dad. Kind of like Kristy's initial attitude to Watson when he first started dating her mom.
It's been years since I read this book but I really liked it and I was also shocked when Dawn stole her dad's credit card and flew back to Connecticut. I couldn't blame Sharon for being pissed! I agree with whoever said on here Dawn was probably expecting Sharon to sympathize/agree with her reaction.
And Kristy trying and failing to get the BSC even more publicity is always hilarious.
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Post by booklover85 on Nov 27, 2022 22:26:56 GMT -5
I can't believe that Dawn had stole her Dad's credit card and flew back to Stoneybrook just like that. The ghostwriter really went there in that one.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,251
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Post by oldhickory on Nov 28, 2022 9:42:11 GMT -5
No kidding. In some parts, this book feels like bad fanfiction that got the greenlight.
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Post by oldmeanie on Nov 28, 2022 10:39:41 GMT -5
So this book definitely comes after California Girls. In that one, Dawn HATES Carol, complains about her every chance she gets, blames her for everything that goes wrong with her friends. Then when Carol acts like an adult after Stacey's car crash, Dawn decides she respects her and doesn't she tell Jack that if he wants to marry Carol, she's fine with it? Then she steals Jack's credit card and flies back to Connecticut in this one because she can't take the news that Jack and Carol are engaged. So did Dawn go back to hating Carol after deciding she's ok with her? Like I said in the California Girls thread, I feel part of why Dawn hated Carol so much was she couldn't handle someone else dating her dad or thinking Carol wasn't good enough for her dad. Kind of like Kristy's initial attitude to Watson when he first started dating her mom. It's been years since I read this book but I really liked it and I was also shocked when Dawn stole her dad's credit card and flew back to Connecticut. I couldn't blame Sharon for being pissed! I agree with whoever said on here Dawn was probably expecting Sharon to sympathize/agree with her reaction. And Kristy trying and failing to get the BSC even more publicity is always hilarious. According to this book, she doesn't hate Carol. I really get the sense that she doesn't like her much, though. Even in the CDs, she seems easily annoyed by her. I think they clash, but unless it's similar to early Kristy and Watson like you said, I really don't get her dislike of Carol at all. Honestly, her reaction does come across as really OTT in this book. There isn't much buildup to it aside from her feeling homesick for Stoneybrook. I can see how it can read as a bad fanfic lol. But at the same time, it's very entertaining. Forgot to say this in my original post, but I'm kind of disappointed that we didn't see much of a reaction from the other W<3KC members. They're mostly surprised and confused, and Maggie is annoyed that she faked being sick. But that's it. I'm surprised they weren't hurt by the stunt (probably were, but I don't think it's brought up again aside from Dawn mentioning having to pay Jack back).
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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Nov 29, 2022 18:37:31 GMT -5
So this book definitely comes after California Girls. In that one, Dawn HATES Carol, complains about her every chance she gets, blames her for everything that goes wrong with her friends. Then when Carol acts like an adult after Stacey's car crash, Dawn decides she respects her and doesn't she tell Jack that if he wants to marry Carol, she's fine with it? Then she steals Jack's credit card and flies back to Connecticut in this one because she can't take the news that Jack and Carol are engaged. So did Dawn go back to hating Carol after deciding she's ok with her? Like I said in the California Girls thread, I feel part of why Dawn hated Carol so much was she couldn't handle someone else dating her dad or thinking Carol wasn't good enough for her dad. Kind of like Kristy's initial attitude to Watson when he first started dating her mom. It's been years since I read this book but I really liked it and I was also shocked when Dawn stole her dad's credit card and flew back to Connecticut. I couldn't blame Sharon for being pissed! I agree with whoever said on here Dawn was probably expecting Sharon to sympathize/agree with her reaction. And Kristy trying and failing to get the BSC even more publicity is always hilarious. According to this book, she doesn't hate Carol. I really get the sense that she doesn't like her much, though. Even in the CDs, she seems easily annoyed by her. I think they clash, but unless it's similar to early Kristy and Watson like you said, I really don't get her dislike of Carol at all. Honestly, her reaction does come across as really OTT in this book. There isn't much buildup to it aside from her feeling homesick for Stoneybrook. I can see how it can read as a bad fanfic lol. But at the same time, it's very entertaining. Forgot to say this in my original post, but I'm kind of disappointed that we didn't see much of a reaction from the other W<3KC members. They're mostly surprised and confused, and Maggie is annoyed that she faked being sick. But that's it. I'm surprised they weren't hurt by the stunt (probably were, but I don't think it's brought up again aside from Dawn mentioning having to pay Jack back). I definitely got the impression it was very spur of the moment. Like Jack and Carol got engaged and then Dawn left for Stoneybrook right away. As for Carol, I only read a few books with her in it and I know Dawn complained that she tried acting young (doesn't she roll her eyes at Carol using "bodacious" in this book?) but Carol was in her 30s so she WAS young! I think Dawn was just super hard on her, I wasn't bothered by her or anything.
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