YOUTH IN EXILE (C.D. Payne) - February 11/10

Although I did admittedly enjoy the last 30 pages or so - in which Nick finally consummated his relationship with Sheeni and also became a wart-watch millionaire - Youth in Exile is primarily an extraordinarily tedious experience that just feels like Payne is spinning his wheels. Desperate to keep the Nick Twisp story going, Payne offers up a whole host of entirely underwhelming subplots and forces Nick to spend much of the book disguised as Carlotta (I mean, really). It's so far from entertaining that it forces the reader to wonder what they ever liked about this series in the first place. ** out of ****