Thursday, August 16, 2012

Review: Semi-Charmed Life

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Semi-Charmed Life
Nora Zelevansky
Publication date: July 3rd 2012
by St. Martin’s Griffin

 

In Nora Zelevansky’s hilarious debut, Semi-Charmed Life, an Upper West Side naïf, Beatrice Bernstein, gets swept up in the seemingly magical life of socialite Veruca Pfeffernoose, while ghost writing her blog. Veruca’s glitteringly opulent world soon seduces Beatrice away from her own insular, arty family with a promise of fancy parties, travel outside Manhattan (for once) and one desperately cute guy. But when her new glitzy lifestyle starts to take on dark undertones, Beatrice has to decide who she is—once and for all. With her own magical touch, Zelevansky deftly explores the world of rarified Manhattan in this sparkling modern fairy tale of first love, finding one’s voice and growing up.

*A copy was provided by St. Martin’s Press for review purposes*

What started out as adventurous and New York chic, this quickly turned into a bizarre magical contemporary. When you include an overwhelming quantity of references that went way over my head, Semi-Charmed Life ended up being an exceptionally tedious and confusing read.

I absolutely adore New York City. I visited a year ago and I was dazzled by the lifestyle and how it seems to be in its own world. Since, I’ve come to love books set in the Big Apple. I can revive the energy I felt walking the streets, hear the strangely refreshing noise of people living lives like no other, re-experience the city that never sleeps. It’s what compelled me to initially pick this book up, and I was especially pleased with how much the NYC setting came alive. Hence, at the beginning I was actually quite enchanted by it all, staying convinced that I was truly going to enjoy it.

Then… strange writing in her notebook starts to appear and disappear. (What is this book supposed to be? O_O). Then, constant parties with extreme detailing keeps putting me to sleep. Then, talk of tatamis, and beef negimaki, and rogan gosh, and ryokan, and Mark Rothko, and caipirinhas, and remarks that go like: “[…] preach-to-the-choir debates about neo-postmodernism in a postmodern age or the revival of modernism in an antimodernist millenium or ever Fairway belly lox versus Zabar’s nova” …*blinks*… Dude! What am I reading here? I so did not go to Harvard! Name dropping after name dropping, reference after reference; nothing from my generation, and definitely not things a simple small-town Canadian girl in her 20s would know of. Since they would come in bursts I kept hoping it was just to give a feel of NYC, where people can be more elite and talk about fried sopaipillas and Proust studies, unfortunately it never let up and halted my enjoyment of this novel exponentially.

Another big factor in my displeasure of this novel is the writing style the author adopted. Written in a third person omniscient point of view, it’s extremely hard to get a feel of who the characters truly are. It’s not a perspective I have ever really enjoyed as it keeps the characters’ thoughts and the emotions of the story at arm’s length, detached. Think of it like someone who is telling someone else’s story, not letting it be an experience. This is purely a factor of individual taste, some readers may really like this type of telling, but I, for one, am unable to get captured by a story told in this manner.

What starts as a contemporary read suddenly turns on the strange side when mysterious messages start to appear, and simple lofts suddenly become luxurious first class accommodations. I was not expecting anything supernatural from this novel. It caught me off guard and I’m not convinced it really fits in the story. It may give it a magical flair, but it remains off-putting. It’s like Gossip Girl meets the Encyclopedia, meets cameos of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

There is one positive thing I can mention about this book: The characters are fabulous. Regardless of being kept at arm’s length, I enjoyed the personalities that run through these pages with their exotic natures. There are a lot of names to keep track of, but the ones that are prominent have made this enjoyable enough that, despite having so much trouble getting through the story, I never quit, though at times I really wanted to.

With that said, I think this book calls for a certain readership. An older generation who loves perpetual references and an over the top lavish lifestyle (and vocabulary) may just be the perfect audience for this novel.

1 Cold Espresso

Cover Reveal: Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ Nobody

Posted by on 08/16/2012 • 24 Comments

NobodyJennifer Lynn BarnesSeries: StandaloneRelease date: January 22nd 2013by Egmont USA

 

There are people in this world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away.

That’s why they make the perfect assassins.

The Institute finds these people when they’re young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated.

Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring. But now they’ve ID’ed her and send seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit. It’s as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the…

Waiting on Wednesday (49)

Posted by on 08/15/2012 • 40 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  My pick this week:

Panic Sharon M. Draper Release date: March 12th 2013by Atheneum Books for Young Readers  

Diamond knows not to get into a car with a stranger.

But what if the stranger is well-dressed and handsome? On his way to meet his wife and daughter? And casting a movie that very night—a movie in need of a star dancer? What then?

Then Diamond might make the wrong decision.

It’s a nightmare come true: Diamond Landers has been kidnapped. She was at the mall with a friend, alone for only a few brief minutes—and now she’s being held captive, forced to endure horrors beyond what she…

Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Posted by on 08/14/2012 • 39 Comments

SpeechlessHannah HarringtonPublication date: August 28th 2012by HarlequinTeen

 

Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can’t keep a secretUntil now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she’s ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.But there’s strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she’s done. If only she can forgive herself.

*A copy was provided by Harlequin Teen for review purposes*

Can you imagine not…

The Treachery of Beautiful Things Tour Stop

Posted by on 08/13/2012 • 43 Comments

The Treachery of Beautiful Things is a highly anticipated novel for lovers of fantasy, and especially perfect if you’re looking for an old-fashioned fairy tale. Today I’m very happy to have Ruth Frances Long over for an interview, and you can win your very own copy!

The Treachery of Beautiful ThingsRuth Frances LongPublication date: August 16th 2012by Dial Books

 

A darkly compelling mix of romance, fairy tale, and suspense from a new voice in teen fiction The trees swallowed her brother whole, and Jenny was there to see it. Now seventeen, she revisits the woods where Tom was taken, resolving to say good-bye at last. Instead, she’s lured into the trees, where she finds strange and dangerous creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them…

Xpresso Weekly: Stacking the Shelves (16)

Posted by on 08/12/2012 • 58 Comments

Xpresso Weekly is my edition of Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews featuring the books I got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week. This week at Xpresso Reads

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all taking advantage of the last weeks of summer *sniffs* I can’t believe how fast it went by. I don’t know if you remember on my last Stacking the Shelves I got a book that had the cover hidden – Nobody – well, sorry but I still can’t show you the cover until the 16th, >.< BUT, you can enter to win an ARC and, get this, four other books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes are included in the prize pack! I also posted a new giveaway along with my review…

Review: Feed by Mira Grant

Posted by on 08/11/2012 • 39 Comments

FeedMira GrantSeries: Newsflesh, #1Publication date: May 1st 2010by Orbit

 

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.  NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.

“The zombies are here, and they’re not going away, but they’re not the story. They were, for one hot, horrible summer at the beginning of the century, but now they’re just another piece of the way things work….

Fresh Batch (August 12th – 18th)

Posted by on 08/11/2012 • 20 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

False MemoryDan KrokosSeries: False Memory, #1Release date: August 14th 2012by Hyperion

 

Miranda wakes up alone on a park bench with no memory. In her panic, she releases a mysterious energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her. Except Peter, a boy who isn’t at all surprised by Miranda’s shocking ability.

Left with no choice but to trust this stranger, Miranda discovers she was trained to be a weapon and is part of an elite force of genetically-altered teens who possess flawless combat skills and powers strong enough to destroy a city. But adjusting to her old life isn’t easy–especially with Noah, the boyfriend she can’t remember loving. Then…