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| Last Christmas: The Private Prequel (Private) | 
 enlarge | Author: Kate Brian
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $9.65
You Save: $7.34 (43%)
New (33) Used (14) from $9.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 2704
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 1416913696
EAN: 9781416913696
ASIN: 1416913696
Publication Date: October 7, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Ariana Osgood has everything an Easton Academy girl could want: straight A's, the perfect boyfriend, and a coveted spot in exclusive Billings House. But on the first night of Christmas vacation, a blizzard traps her on campus with irresistible bad-boy Thomas Pearson. Alone. Instead of snuggling with her boyfriend next to a cozy fire in Vermont, she's huddling for warmth with Thomas in Ketlar House. As the snow transforms Easton into a winter wonderland, Ariana finds herself falling for Thomas. But someone is watching their clandestine romance unfold, someone intent on turning their holiday weekend into a nightmare... Last Christmas reveals the secret of what really happened before Private began -- and the shocking truth will change everything for fans of Kate Brian's bestselling series.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Last Christmas. November 24, 2008
Last Christmas is definitely in depth and intense.
Last Christmas does not only cross over the borderlines of irony, foreshadowing, and the direct usage of murder and insanity, but it also cites psychological issues with those given enough power and stress. This book is a must read for any Private fan. Although it is disappointing without Reed, it's in depth intensity makes up for the nostalgic nod to Reed's point of view. Kate Brian does an excellent job to seamlessly cross over into another personality, leaving no trail of emotion from Reed behind. If you're paranoid on whether the book will be good or not I assure you now the book is amazing. It is the most direct form of irony and at many points the biggest heart clenching and shocking moment of the Private series. Then again, any Private fan would know that all the books are full of heart clenching surprises! Last Christmas is definitely a valid extension of such a phenomenal series.
Last Christmas wasn't so private after all November 20, 2008
Having not read the previous books in this series, I was afraid I would be totally lost while reading this book. Even though I've read other YA fiction like Gossip Girl or The A List, somehow the Private series never really appealed to me. And after reading this book, I'm still not sure if it does. This is apparently a new trend in the publishing world, to have a prequel come out in between ending a series and then starting a new spin off.
The characters, at least in this book, aren't very likable. Ariana doesn't have a backbone, her boyfriend is controlling, her roommates and other friends are rich spoiled socialites, and the "bad" boy isn't very bad. Something that kind of bugged me throughout the book was if Ariana and Thomas were in a dorm that was freezing and had no heat, how could they even possibly think about having sex? Why would you remove clothes? It kept taking me away from the story.
I noticed less fashion talk that other YA novels which was refreshing. Alcohol consumption is frequent, because obviously drinking laws don't apply to rich kids. Sex is a big factor in the story as usual. A great deal of the story is focused on Ariana picking a time and place to lose her virginity. I did not notice much cursing throughout the book, at least not as much as the Gossip Girl books use.
What does make the story unique is more violence with a mystery in the plot. And after reading some interviews with the author, that was the intention of the series. I wasn't too surprised to see the characters act so callously about death/murder. Money tends to numb your senses. It makes for a very interesting story and it does make me want to go back and see what happens now to Ariana and Thomas. It's just I feel like I don't really care about these characters and the book didn't convince me enough to do so.
Good teen book November 18, 2008
I'm an adult who still likes to read the occasional teen novel like when I was in high school. I know I would have totally loved this story as a teenager. Even now I am intrigued enough to order more books from the Private series.
Since this book was called a "Prequel", I figured I wouldn't need to be familiar with the Private stories to follow it. And I think that is pretty much true. The book can stand on its own. The story starts out with a prologue that pretty much gives away the book's ending, but the path getting there is still interesting enough. I must say, I never expected Ariana to turn out the way she did. I don't want to spoil anything, but I guess anyone who has read the "sequels" to this story already know.
I recommend this book for teenage girls. I think they'll be hooked.
 A Little Too Dirty for Something Skewed so Young November 17, 2008
Call it a prequel, call it a teen-thriller, but to be perfectly frank, Last Christmas is a book about sex and a psychotic homicidal teen. And while the subject matter might be fine for a book aimed at adults, it was unsettling in a book aimed at younger readers, featuring characters who are worried about high school term papers, boyfriends and peer pressure. Something doesn't jibe here.
This book start with a private boarding school girl offing her boyfriend, then leaps back in time to describe how good-girl Ariana Osgood came to be so "naughty". Was it the arrogance of her classmates? Was it the duplicity of her boyfriend who wanted to take her virginity under false pretenses? Or was it the power of true love that drove her to the brink of jealous insanity?
To be fair, Last Christmas was a decently written book, with good dialog and great descriptions of a preppy campus during a holiday blizzard. The book's plot was well-conceived, building tension convincingly, and the character development was fine, too.
However. This book is very, very dirty and very, very violent. Video taped teacher-student sex. Murder. Losing one's virginity in one's boyfriend's dorm bed, with his rival. I'm not sure the audience. No one over 15 would want to read it; no one under 15 should.
Makes you want to read all the books in the series November 16, 2008
I was intrigued by the first chapter as it described a killing by Ariana Osgood who is a privileged student at Easton Academy. What drove her to kill her lover? She appears to have it all on the surface but hidden depths compell her to protect what she deems is hers.
She falls in love with Thomas Pearson during Christmas break and tries desperately to hide it from her current boyfriend Daniel who seems perfect for her. They are not supposed to be on campus so they must sneak around and hide from staff. Daniel is waiting for Ariana to join him to meet his parents but by the time she does she is plotting how to break up with him so she can be with Thomas. What happens when they return to school after the break ends with Pearson's chilling death and makes you want to read the rest of the books to find out what happens with Ariana and if she is found out as a murderess.
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