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Serena Caroline van der Woodsen is a deuteragonist and the second main female character (after Blair Waldorf) in Gossip Girl novel series.
Novel Series[]
Serena is described as a tall, blonde, slim, and beautiful teenage girl from the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. She is not particularly academically skilled, but she is often told that she is not meeting her full potential. This continually causes problems with her best friend, Blair Waldorf, as Serena is able to waltz her way easily through life while Blair has to work for things Serena attains via her charm. Her father, David van der Woodsen, runs the same Dutch shipping firm his great-great-grandfather founded in the 18th century, and her mother, Lillian van der Woodsen, is a socialite, art collector, and philanthropist. Her mother and father are on the boards of all major charities and art organizations in the city. She also has an older brother, Erik, who attends Brown University. The van der Woodsens reside at 994 Fifth Avenue, a ritzy, white-gloved doorman building directly across the street from The Met and Central Park. Serena and her family own half the top floor in a 14-room penthouse.
Serena has a nail-biting habit and also cuts her split ends off, mainly during her classes at school. Though exposed and aware of the on-goings in the fashion world, she, unlike Blair, is not as meticulous about her fashion choices and wardrobe. Serena goes to Yale at the end of the series. Similar to the television adaptation, she dates a variety of different boys, including Nate, whom she lost her virginity to. Through the books, she realize that she truly loves Nate, but he is still Blair's boyfriend. In the thirteenth novel, she decides to stay in New York to be with Nate, but at the end, he leaves to not get in between her and Blair.
Style and appearance[]
Serena is described as 5'7, with golden, long, blond hair and big, dark-blue eyes. She is slim and ethereally beautiful, often described as "perfect" in the books. She is very smart, but is often told that she is not working to her full potential. Her personality is not always as well regarded as her physical attributes.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- David van der Woodsen (Father)
- Lillian van der Woodsen (Mother)
- Erik van der Woodsen (Brother)
Romances[]
- Dan Humphrey
- Nate Archibald
- Aaron Rose