This was fun, like Gossip Girl set in Philadelphia, and written as a series of blog entries. ( )

Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com

As series' centered on the over-privileged and private school become even more popular, Micol Ostow creates her take on this popular genre for teens with her new series featuring Bradford Prep.

The story features three main characters: Paige Andrews, the queen bee of the group; Madison Takahashi, the unique and most famous of the three; and Spencer Kelly, the narrator of this installment.

Although she is the quiet one, Spencer still has a mind of her own.

It's the beginning of a new year at Bradford and already it starts off extremely complicated. Strolling with her new boyfriend, Tyler, Spencer bumps into her ex, Jeremy. She may have thought that she was over him, but with this encounter all of her old feelings come rushing back.

Of course Paige doesn't approve of Jeremy, and is quick to remind Spencer that she wouldn't even be dating Tyler if it wasn't for her. Despite this, however, Spencer understands that her feelings toward Jeremy are too strong to ignore, and it's impossible to even try when he is everywhere she turns.

A new year comes with a new student. Regan Stanford has just transferred in to Bradford and already she's creating a ton of buzz. In no time, she befriends Spencer and Madison, who both find her a breath of fresh air. The only one to object to this is Paige. Everyone already knows a little of Regan's past, but no one knew that it included queen bee Paige... at least not just yet.

Join these alpha girls in their new year at Bradford, as relationships are torn, sabotaging the enemy is the game, and where scandals and discovering who your real friends are is crucial. Spence has one long year ahead of her, and in the end it just has to be survival of the fittest.

Let's just hope she can endure what fate has in store for her... it isn't pretty.

The first series to be accompanied with its own website, GOLDENGIRL is written in a blog format. All That Glitters is the blog that belongs to Spencer, and most of the time the privacy setting is set at vault, which basically is just for Spence and the readers to get the full scoop. It is accompanied by The Bradford Blog, updated by one of the three girls, which is to let all of the students, even the lower class, to know what's hot and what's so not.

Readers will find the BRADFORD series to be refreshing, as already the queen bee is taken down a notch, and the narrator does not entirely conform to all of her demands. GOLDENGIRL is a very promising start to a very unique and original series. ( )

This was a gossipy, scandalous, fashionably good time! I really liked reading the thoughts of Spencer via her blog posts, especially the little love triangle that she has gotten herself into. Because most of the blog posts are from her point of view (in this book) I felt I got to know her the best of all the characters. It was also really nice hearing from some of the other characters on the school blog, The Bradford Blog, I hope to get to know them just as well in future books.

What initially attracted me to this book was how it's working on multiple platforms, we have the book, which is essentially a collection of blog posts and a few emails and then probably a good dozen or so websites, from myspace profiles, to twitter pages, a Bradford Prep official website, and websites for other locations in the book. I loved the idea of being able to poke around online and get to know the characters better.

I think most of the fashion and label references got lost on me since I don't know much about fashion, so I wouldn't have minded a few less, but I'm sure there are people out there that love them! Also, I don't know if this is showing my age or what but some of the acronyms I had to look up. A little glossary of terms in the back of the book would have been very helpful to someone like me!

I'm definitely looking forward to where the second book, Fashionista picks up! There is somewhat of a mystery brewing and I really want to know the truth! ( )