Semi-charmed Life: A Novel

by Nora Zelevansky

In Nora Zelevansky's hilarious debut, "Semi-Charmed Life", an Upper West Side naif, Beatrice Bernstein, gets swept up in the seeming 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 (gasp!), 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.

• ISBN10: 1250001188
• ISBN13: 9781250001184
• Publish Date: 3 July 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 11 December 2013
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Saint Martin's Griffin,U.S.
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

You know that scene in The Sweetest Thing when their apartment is full of all of their neighbors, firemen, cops, and they all break into song? That's what Semi-Charmed Life reminded me of. Not that anything like that happens. It just had that same kind of random humor. It also felt like a State Farm insurance commercial, since things just appear out of nowhere! Needless to say, this book was super weird. And it works!

Semi-Charmed Life starts with Beatrice finally getting her own place. Unfortunately, it's not the loft apartment she was expecting. Instead, she's in the basement, in a janitor's closet turned tiny, bug ridden apartment. It's a nightmare. But soon, she gets an offer that she can't refuse. A socialite wants Beatrice to shadow her and write her blog! Living accommodations, wardrobe, and travel included! Bea gets swept up in this wild life, alienates her friends and family, and ultimately realizes that some things are too good to be true.

So, under all of the bizarre happenings, and weird humor, there's a really good New Adult story buried here. Semi-Charmed Life is all about Bea trying to figure out who she is, who she wants to be, and what she wants to do. She just knows that she doesn't want to live with her parents anymore and maybe be a substitute teacher. But her ghostwriter gig opens up a whole new world for her. This middle part of the book was my favorite, since the humor gets dampened down a bit and really focuses on Bea's discoveries about herself and those around her.

Then there was a twist! It was so random and out of nowhere, but I found that I liked it! Normally, this kind of thing would turn me off, but it fit the oddness of the overall story. It's a kind of mystery, investigative journalism type thing and Bea has to put all of the pieces together with help from unexpected sources. It was just really weird, but wrapped up well.

I wound up liking Semi-Charmed Lifee a lot more than I thought I was based on those opening chapters. The beginning is super ridiculous and felt like a parody of Manhattan high society, but super over-the-top. It levels out as it goes along, with just a few jokes scattered throughout. The humor didn't always work for me, but I can't deny that this was a fun and unique read.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.