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.

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.

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.

As this creepy tome to teen angst amongst the elite at a boarding school begins with the brutal murder of a classmate and then goes downhill from there, I found myself wondering if these are really the kids that our kids are straining to emulate. For all our sakes, I believe that Kate Brian's little world of money, mayhem and revenge among the boarding school set is not even close to becoming the norm for "cool" for regular teenagers. Judging from the reaction of my own teenagers, I don't think that it is.

Obviously aimed at the Gossip Girl, MTV set, "Last Christmas,' tells the story of Ariana, the secretly troubled "good girl," who through overly-wrought circumstances finds herself stuck over a snowy winter break at the Easton Academy with gorgeous troubled James Dean-type, Thomas Pearson. Since this book is a prequel to her "Private" series about this boarding school, the book starts with Pearson's murder at Ariana's hands, and then proceeds to go back and show the reader all that has led up to this horrific event.

That the author feels the need to add revenge murder, as well as an earlier revenge loss-of-virginity, to her smarmy mix at this upper echelon haven for psychotic losers really turns me off, and does not make me want to run out and buy the rest of the series for my teenage daughters.

That said, I did give the book to my three girls -- all in high school and supposedly part of the demographic at which this trash is aimed. The two who tried to read it said it was "not what they were expecting because it was more murder mystery than teen romance," and said they didn't want me to purchase the rest of the series. These are three teens who devoured the popular The Twilight Saga; the The It Girl series; and the series which begins with Uglies (all of which I also read and enjoyed), so I don't think that our mutual distaste at this series is because we disapprove of current teen reading trends, per se. I think it's because Ariana's story seems derivative -- all sort of (yawn), "been there, done that" in its plot and characterizations.

The characters in this novel do not begin to equal the depth or interest level of The Twilight characters, nor do the plot lines hold one in thrall unless you truly do enjoy wallowing at the taste level of the current Paris Hilton BFF search on telelvison. Then this might be your cup of tea. However if your reading tastes are on a slightly higher plane, I don't recommend this book, and neither do my teenager daughters.

I find myself looking to the YA shelves more and more these days. Why? Because they seem to be the best place to go when I just want a good guilty pleasure read. Not too long or particularly brilliant titles perfect for just reading for the fun of being entertained! Lately the young adult shelves are packed with novels like this one, Last Christmas, a prequel to a series centered around the wealthy and elite.

Admit it. While everyone loves a good underdog, outcast type hero, we all secretly want to be the popular, perfect villain. Being the villain is just so much more fun. In the case of books like these half the fun is seeing not so much any villains, but breaking down the illusion of happiness and perfection that comes with having money. Money makes the world go 'round but it certainly can't buy fidelity in a marriage or mental health for a parent.

Though the rest of this series is from the perspective of Reed Brennan, this prequel is all about Ariana Osgood and the beginning of her downward spiral. I chose the prequel because I thought it'd set me up with a good idea of what to expect from the series. The tough part of that is that I ended up really liking Ariana and from what I learned looking into the rest of the series I don't think I'd be getting to really enjoy reading about her again.

The book itself is exactly what you'd expect. Plenty of label-dropping, obsessing over virginity, under-aged drinking and prescription drug-abuse. The romance between Ariana and Thomas is just believable enough to be enjoyable. Ariana's own mental issues are somewhat unrealistic, forced and make her seem a little too inhuman for most readers to truly relate to her. I think, however, that anyone who enjoys the series will enjoy this change in perspective and knowing what motivated Ariana's madness.

It was a very quick read and I actually didn't see the plot twist coming because I'd been so well lead to another conclusion it never occurred to me there could be another. A perfect book to pour through over Christmas break, enjoy!

As this creepy tome to teen angst amongst the elite at a boarding school begins with the brutal murder of a classmate and then goes downhill from there, I found myself wondering if these are really the kids that our kids are straining to emulate. For all our sakes, I hope that Kate Brian's little world of money, mayhem and revenge among the boarding school set is not becoming the norm for cool for regular teenagers. Judging from the reaction of my own teenagers, I don't think that it is.

Obviously aimed at the Gossip Girl, MTV set, "Last Christmas,' tells the story of Ariana, the secretly troubled "good girl," who through overly-wrought circumstances finds herself stuck over a snowy winter break at the Easton Academy with gorgeous troubled James Dean-type, Thomas Pearson. Since this book is a prequel to her "Private" series about this boarding school, the book starts with Pearson's murder at Ariana's hands, and then proceeds to go back and show the reader all that has led up to this horrific event.

That the author feels the need to add revenge murder to her smarmy mix at this upper echelon haven for psychotic losers really turns me off, and does not make me want to run out and buy the rest of the series for my teenage daughters.

That said, I did give the book to my three girls -- all in high school and supposedly part of the demographic at which this trash is aimed. The two who tried to read it said it was "not what they were expecting because it was more murder mystery than teen romance," and said they didn't want me to purchase the rest of the series. These are three teens who devoured the popular The Twilight Saga; the The It Girl series; and the series which begins with Uglies (all of which I also read and enjoyed), so I don't think that our distaste at this series is because we disapprove of current teen reading trends, per se.

The characters in this novel do not begin to equal the depth or interest level of The Twilight characters, nor do the plot lines hold one in thrall unless you truly do enjoy wallowing in the current Paris Hilton BFF search on telelvison. Then this might be your cup of tea. However if your reading tastes are on a slightly higher plane, I don't recommend this book.

Not having read the private series I was probably at a disadvantage going in reading this one first. It starts off with the leading lady Ariana Osgood murdering the supposedly love of her life then goes back to the first chapter telling you how it all happened to end that way.

The kids in this book are all rich snobby kids who needs to get a grip on reality. We have Ariana whose parents are together but not really together. Her mother is back and forth at mental asylums and her father is cheating on her mother. Her boyfriend is only with her to score according to what she finds on his computer and she is falling in love with the bad boy who is also supposedly a drug dealer.

They both get stuck on campus during a snow storm and they aren't supposed to be there, ends up sleeping together, she ends up murdering two alleged stalkers and blackmailing a teacher who sleeps with a fellow student who wanted a good grade.

Apparently not a book that I would my tween reading or recommend to anyone who wants a good book to read. Just pure trash!!

yes, i know you are looking at the cover of this book and thinking it will be a warm cozy fluffy Christmastime-at-a-boarding-school romance. It isn't.

before you even touch this book you should read Private, Invitation Only (Private, Book 2), Untouchable (Private, Book 3) and Confessions (Private, Book 4) or this book will just seem pointless, idiotic, frustrating and more than a bit psychotic. (and i'm being kind, trust me.)

i loved the first 5 books of this series hence the 3 stars i'm giving this, which (as a stand alone) it really doesn't deserve. (i haven't read books 6, 7 and 8 yet but i still plan to!) so this book was a disappointment for me. I never liked Ariana from the beginning but was hoping this book would give me insight about her (and i always liked Thomas so getting to read more about him was a bonus too.) unfortunately all the insight i got about these kids were of the 'boo hoo i'm rich and privileged and my parents drink and fight and hate each other, feel sorry for me, waah!' kind.

I was not impressed by the fact that there was not one but TWO psycho stalkers in this book, three if we count Ariana herself. I mean wow Kate Brian what are you doing??? it's really hard to suspend disbelief when stuff like that happens in a book, sorry. Just one psycho (Ariana) should have been enough!!

In all the other Kate Brian books i've read, the different chapters jump between characters which makes for variety and breaks up the tedium. Not so with is book. All 260+ pages were all Ariana all the time. A significant portion of the fist half was spent with me going HURRY UP AND DO IT ALREADY!!! As Ariana and Thomas kept getting c**k-blocked on their mission to have sex for the 1st time. it finally happens and we get like literally four sentences. great. (okay fine i wasn't really expecting anything anyways it's a YA book. a YA book with three psycho stalkers and three murders. whee!)

Ariana's paranoia grated on my nerves. and it was sad we never got to see kiran and taylor. And she kept calling Thomas a "drug dealer". please, a dude that peddles unprescribed vicodin and adderall tablets to his classmates, i'd call an "unlicensed pharm-tech", save words like "drug dealer" for the people who sell heroin and cocaine on the streets. and as rich as Thomas "My inheritance" Pearson is i don't understand this whole "drug dealer" business. all his classmates can afford to go to doctors, fork over some $$ and get their painkillers and ADHD pills the legal way. Kate Brian tries to use this "drug dealer" title to make Thomas sound like a bad boy but it just comes out looking naive and silly.

all in all this book is made of suck and fail but if you're a fan of the Private series, you'll read it anyway and try to convince yourself it wasn't really that bad. i got through it in like 3 hours.

AGAIN, do not bother reading this book if you haven't read books 1-4 of Private. Do no read this book FIRST and then start the series. It will ruin the story if you do.

I still believe in Kate Brian and I'll definitely read the other books in the series. actually i'm probably gonna read 1-5 over again with the new knowledge i gained about Ariana in this book, it should be interesting...and creepy...

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RV9R94G0D94WO Loved this book - it sets the stage perfectly for the new Privilege series starring Ariana Osgood, and gives us some answers to go with Revelation.

Looking through the Amazon Vine selection, I decided to choose something escapist and likely lowbrow. This is the worst book I've read in years and I'm embarrassed to admit I've read it. But since I ordered it and committed to review it, here goes.

"Last Christmas" is the prequel to a series by author Kate Brian called "Private", utilizing the shopworn cliche of rich, East coast preparatory academy students who are thoroughly and morally corrupt. The 'plot' centers around Ariana Osgood, one of Easton's students who is suffering from the strains of student life. Conveniently caught on campus in a snowstorm with Thomas (everyone else is gone...almost), Ariana's virginity is soon lost on the dormitory bed of her boyfriend Daniel who is waiting for her to arrive in Vermont for vacation. However, someone is following and photographing them and since their being on campus during vacation is against the rules with the threat of expulsion, Ariana turns into a serial killer. First, she kills the suspected stalker, then later kills the actual stalker when she learns the truth about her. Ariana morphs from a shy, insecure girl to a murderess in a few very short chapters.

The writing style is truly terrible. Designer names are forced into the narrative at every turn; from pages 21 to 34 we read about Chloe, Gucci, Chanel, Perrier, Louis Vuitton, M.A.C., Michael Kors, Hermes along with Martha's Vineyard, the Hamptons, etc. and that's just a sample -- this device is used throughout the book. Author Kate Brian also utilizes the Period. After. Each. Word. for emphasis way, way too often. Original much?

All the characters have severe moral challenges and are already jadedly bored with life and cruelly play one another for amusement. Two-dimensional and cardboard, these prepsters are completely predictable and uninteresting except perhaps Thomas who is at least given a bit more of a personality than the others. This is shallow writing at its worst.

As a middle-aged male, it's difficult for me to understand the attraction of this kind of 'literature'. I understand the author attempting to tap into the vicarious thrills of her readers as they read about the perils of being young, rich, and bored. However, writing to a young audience about rampant fornication including sex with a teacher for grades (knowledge Ariana uses to improve her own grade), substance abuse and drug dealing as if a bored normality, revenge and back-stabbing using personal information, and murdering people who are inconvenient causes me to conclude that Kate Brian is simply writing to the lowest common denominator and cashing in on the basest desires -- her own. Perhaps Brian is writing about her own fantasies and the life she wished she could have enjoyed and now can due to the depressing success of this series.

Parents, be warned. There are many, many better books your girls can be reading.

This is a story about snobby academy rich-kids, which is probably why I wasn't really drawn into it (the characters are not likeable, in my opinion). I also didn't like that the first chapter tells the end of the story, then the next chapter goes back to the previous year and starts telling the events leading up to the ending. The last chapter (& eplilogue) of the book still takes place a month before the "ending" that you read about in the first chapter, so there's not really much to motivate someone to get through the book because you already know what happens. And its a horrible thing that I wanted a resolution to.

Perhaps you have to read the other books in this series to appreciate this one, since it is a prequel. I was not familiar with any of the other books, which may have put me at a disadvantage in giving an adequate review, but I wouldn't be inclined to read any of the others.

****SPOILER ALERT**** For readers who haven't read beyond CONFESSIONS in the PRIVATE series, this book is best left unread. Details in LAST CHRISTMAS will ruin much of the suspense in the first four books of the series.

LAST CHRISTMAS is a great addition to the series by Kate Brian. The story gives much needed background insight into Ariana Osgood, the Billings girl arrested for the murder of Thomas Pearson.

The story begins near Christmas break of Ariana's junior year. When we meet Ariana in the first book of the series, PRIVATE, she is one of the privileged senior girls at Easton Academy. But in LAST CHRISTMAS, she is the naïve, innocent roommate to Noelle Lange. Ariana is the good girl that does what is expected of her. She gets top grades, lives in the most respected dormitory, and has the perfect boyfriend, Daniel Ryan. Her mother couldn't be prouder of her.

Daniel isn't 100% perfect though. He's incredibly jealous and protective of Ariana. At the Winter Ball, he torments Sergei, a Latvian exchange student, because he caught Sergei taking photos of Ariana throughout the dance. Ariana is to spend the two weeks of Christmas break at a ski resort with Daniel and his family. And Daniel is expecting her to have sex with him while they are there. They are both (supposedly) virgins, and Ariana didn't want their first time to be in a dorm bed.

It's the final day before the school break, and Ariana has yet to finish an English paper. If she doesn't turn it in before 6pm, she will fail the assignment. So she has Daniel and his twin sister, Paige, head out without her. She promises to take a later train.

But she gets sidetracked by Thomas Pearson. He has been showing up in unexpected places over the last few days. And he shows up in the deserted classroom building as she turns in her completed paper. In a split second, Ariana gives up fighting the electric attraction she's been feeling for Thomas.

From that moment on, the snowball of her actions grows until innocent people start to get hurt. A snowstorm hits campus and strands Thomas and Ariana. Neither can be caught, because Headmaster Cox made it perfectly clear that anyone caught on campus who was not scheduled to be there will be expelled, no exceptions.

LAST CHRISTMAS is the perfect companion to the PRIVATE series. Ariana's specter hangs over the entire series long after she is carted away for Thomas' murder. This gives an inside look to her growing mental problems after she becomes involved with Thomas. I believe it also gives a good basis for the spin-off series, PRIVILEGE, due out in December 2008.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

I was extremely excited when I finally saw "last christmas" when I was at the bookstore, because I knew that Kate Brian would eventually write a prequel to the "Private" series, and while I was definitely satisifed with how it turned out (no matter how dramatic and somewhat ridiculous some of the plotlines can get, the author always manages to keep you on the edge of your seat!) I was a bit disappointed to realize that the book was basically all about Ariana, and her downward spiral. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but I was looking forward to reading about the rest of the all-powerful Billings Girls, especially Noelle, who is only briefly in the book. And like someone else mentioned, taylor and Kiran weren't mentioned at all in the book. What's up with that?

But dont get me wrong, like I said, I was satisfied with the book and read it in a few hours because I couldn't put it down (all the books in this series tend to have that affect on me)

"Last Christmas" is based on Ariana and tells of her downward spiral and explains how she came to be a bit...well psychotic as I'm sure you may know if you've read the other books in the private series. The story takes place Christmas time during Arianas junior year, before Reed Brennan ever stepped foot at Easton Academy. Ariana is a seemingly good girl, with the "perfect" boyfriend and a member of Billings, the most exclusive house on the campus of her boarding school. So it may seem that Ariana is the perfect girl, with the perfect life, but she's really hiding a dark past, and when she falls for campus bad boy Thomas Pearson, her life begins to unravel, thus leading to her downward spiral.

And ill also mention that even though I was upset that Noelle wasn't really in the book, the parts that she was in were interesting to read because its kind of a relief to know that she wasn't always so powerful and seemingly perfect as she is in the rest of the series!

The Private series centers on Reed Brennan, a scholarship student, and the chains of events that unfold when she enters the Easton Academy and moves to the Billing House -- the most exclusive and sought-after girls dormitory in campus. Those who have read the series knows that she falls victim to Ariana Osgood after she starts dating seventeen-year-old resident hottie and rogue Thomas Pearson. Now we finally get Ariana's side of the story -- the things that occur before Reed sets foot at Easton. Ariana Osgood has always been a good girl. A constant overachiever, she gets the best grades in school, is a Billings girl, has a boyfriend who is a big Easton legacy, and has her eyes set on Princeton. But no one -- not even her best friend Noelle -- knows that she does it all to make her mother, who suffers from a mental illness, happy. She's never done what she wants. In fact, she doesn't know what she wants. That is until Thomas Pearson, the school's drug dealer, begins to seduce her. They end up stuck at Easton during a big blizzard on Christmas vacation. They are not supposed to be there, and they have to hide from the staff as well as from people who might rat their flirtation out to her boyfriend. Falling for Thomas changes Ariana in ways she had never imagined. But she doesn't want to upset her mother, which means she has to continue to live a lie. She is torn between living a lie and living her dream of being Thomas's girlfriend. Not to worry, because they will be together soon, won't have to hide any longer. Thomas loves her, after all -- doesn't he?

I like what Brian has done with this prequel. It is consistent to the things that go on in the Private series and manages to put on a few surprises as well. As usual in this unpredictable series, there are some twists and turns that will leave you gaping and wanting more. Ariana is humanized in this book, so much so that I felt sorry for her. The characterization is excellent. She has psychotic and obsessive tendencies long before everything unfolds. They are subtle, and Brian shows this rather than tell it, which makes it all the more brilliant. Speaking of great characters, Thomas is wonderful. He has his flaws, of course, but he is a far more interesting male character than Gage, Dash, and even Josh. If only Brian hadn't killed him so soon in the series. The disappointing thing in this book is that Noelle seldom appears in this book. However, it is nice to see her in a position where she isn't as powerful or as influential as she becomes later on. Also, Taylor and Kiran are MIA in this book, which kind of confused me. When did they join Billings? And finally, I am scratching my head as to how the police found out that Cheyenne's death wasn't a suicide. The author didn't explain that. Other than that, I loved Last Christmas. It was like getting an early Christmas present. I so look forward to reading Privilege and Paradise Lost.

The Private series centers on Reed Brennan, a scholarship student, and the chains of events that unfold when she enters the Easton Academy and moves to the Billing House -- the most exclusive and sought-after girls dormitory in campus. Those who have read the series knows that she falls victim to Ariana Osgood after she starts dating seventeen-year-old resident hottie and rogue Thomas Pearson. Now we finally get Ariana's side of the story -- the things that occur before Reed sets foot at Easton. Ariana Osgood has always been a good girl. A constant overachiever, she gets the best grades in school, is a Billings girl, has a boyfriend who is a big Easton legacy, and has her eyes set on Princeton. But no one -- not even her best friend Noelle -- knows that she does it all to make her mother, who suffers from a mental illness, happy. She's never done what she wants. In fact, she doesn't know what she wants. That is until Thomas Pearson, the school's drug dealer, begins to seduce her. They end up stuck at Easton during a big blizzard on Christmas vacation. They are not supposed to be there, and they have to hide from the staff as well as from people who might rat their flirtation out to her boyfriend. Falling for Thomas changes Ariana in ways she had never imagined. But she doesn't want to upset her mother, which means she has to continue to live a lie. She is torn between living a lie and living her dream of being Thomas's girlfriend. Not to worry, because they will be together soon, won't have to hide any longer. Thomas loves her, after all -- doesn't he?

I like what Brian has done with this prequel. It is consistent to the things that go on in the Private series and manages to put on a few surprises as well. As usual in this unpredictable series, there are some twists and turns that will leave you gaping and wanting more. Ariana is humanized in this book, so much so that I felt sorry for her. The characterization is excellent. She has psychotic and obsessive tendencies long before everything unfolds. They are subtle, and Brian shows this rather than tell it, which makes it all the more brilliant. Speaking of great characters, Thomas is wonderful. He has his flaws, of course, but he is a far more interesting male character than Gage, Dash, and even Josh. If only Brian hadn't killed him so soon in the series. The disappointing thing in this book is that Noelle seldom appears in this book. However, it is nice to see her in a position where she isn't as powerful or as influential as she becomes later on. Also, Taylor and Kiran are MIA in this book, which kind of confused me. When did they join Billings? Other than that, I loved Last Christmas. It was like getting an early Christmas present. I so look forward to reading Privilege and Paradise Lost.

i am a huge fan of this series and was dying to read this book. i just finished it and thought it was one of the best books of the series. if you're a fan of kate brian, you have to read this.