My So-Called Life

Rating:
Summary: For those of you who never saw the series...
Review: ...or forget what they *did* see of it, don't bother buying the book. TV tie-ins are only interesting if you've seen the show, and this one is no exception. It seems to gloss over a lot of things, and leaves the reader feeling unfulfilled. I imagine if I had seen every episode, I would have appreciated it, but to those who haven't - don't bother reading this.

Rating:
Summary: My Unreal Life
Review: Angela's life and friends are very unrealistic (no way in anyone's life would she have got near Jordan Catalano) but anyone who liked the original series, or anyone who missed it (as I did) and wanted to remember / find out the intricacies of her feelings will like this book. However, don't expect anything new, or even half the detail of the original series.

Rating:
Summary: if you loved the show, this is a must-read
Review: Catherine Clark does a good job writing this story in the voice of Angela, and incorporating the most memorable episodes from the series. There is also a note from Winnie Holzman (sp?), praise of the show from viewers, and bios of the actors in the back.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great retelling of a fascinating tale
Review: How do you turn 19 episodes of powerfully written, acted and directed telecinema into a pocket book? It's not an easy job, but Ms. Clark makes a credible effort, using the scripts and some fill-in material as the basis for much of this novella. Just seeing Angela on the cover is an inspiration, and some interesting bio material on the actors, writers and directors makes the book worth having. Winnie Holzman gets some well deserved credit for some superb script writing that helps the book come to life. It's certainly a must for anyone who appreciated this short-lived gem of television at its best. The on-screen promise may have died half unfulfilled, but at least the book lives on.

Rating:
Summary: WHAT 8 pages of color photos?
Review: I bought this book because the "eight pages of color photos" were mentioned in NUMEROUS reviews.Imagine my dismay when I received the book and found the only pics it has are the one on the front cover,and a few tiny ones on the back cover.NONE inside! So be forewarned-buy this only for the text,NOT for pictures!

Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: I loved it! So realistic. I could be Angela Chase or one of her friends- that's how real they are. And I don't blame Rayanne for sleeping with Jordan Catalano. She just wanted to be Angela, and Jordan just wanted to be with Anglea. Cool book!

Rating:
Summary: For those of you who never saw the series...
Review: I originally read this book to reminisce about the show. The show came out when I was a senior in high school, and Angela was a sophomore. I loved the show. I thought the book would go into even more detail, but it didn't. I was very disappointed. It just did not capture the feel of the show at all. It seemed to be too vague. It just didn't develop the characters well enough and merely listed situations. I would get frustrated when things would not be described exactly as they happened in the show. I had the show pretty much memorized, and I was always like--Rickie did NOT say it like that. It is a very poorly written book. The writer of the actual show was probably much better. He or she should have written this book, or Claire Danes, who played Angela and knew her inside and out. But, if you are looking to merely reminisce because you miss the show, it can somewhat do the trick. It's pretty much one of the few books of the show that exist and would probably make a great collector's item. But it's only an "okay" book. The show is much better. If you are the bookworm type looking for a fantastic read, you're not going to find it with this book.

Rating:
Summary: This makes a good show look lame
Review: I originally read this book to reminisce about the show. The show came out when I was a senior in high school, and Angela was a sophomore. I loved the show. I thought the book would go into even more detail, but it didn't. I was very disappointed. It just did not capture the feel of the show at all. It seemed to be too vague. It just didn't develop the characters well enough and merely listed situations. I would get frustrated when things would not be described exactly as they happened in the show. I had the show pretty much memorized, and I was always like--Rickie did NOT say it like that. It is a very poorly written book. The writer of the actual show was probably much better. He or she should have written this book, or Claire Danes, who played Angela and knew her inside and out. But, if you are looking to merely reminisce because you miss the show, it can somewhat do the trick. It's pretty much one of the few books of the show that exist and would probably make a great collector's item. But it's only an "okay" book. The show is much better. If you are the bookworm type looking for a fantastic read, you're not going to find it with this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great-As Far as I know...
Review: I really liked this book. The author made Angela Chase, so REAL, I guess would be the word. While I can't compare it to the TV show, (it was before me) I liked it very much as a novel. It seemed so true. With the exception of a few parts. I doubt some of the Jordan parts would have happened in reality. But I guess you had to see the show.

Rating:
Summary: My So-called Life, this novel, like the series-was good!
Review: I thought this novel was interesting but still a good and well written book. It states a lot of the true things the average highschooler has to go through in their highschool years. The novel shows more than one perspective of what one highschooler thinks of highschool, compared to what another highschooler thinks. The book shows that highschoolers must deal with drinking, and choose to do it or not. Which is very true in highscool. When you're a girl, you must deal with all the boy problems that come with highschool. Which is very true also. The novel describes a couple months inside a teen's mind and how she delt with the things she has encountered. It's a good novel to learn about highschool life.(If you're going into highschool, or getting ready for it, or if you're still in Junior Highschool and you want to know what highschool life is like.)