Sunday, July 8, 2012

Review: I'm So Sure by Jenny B. Jones (A Charmed Life Book 2)


A Charmed Life

'A Charmed Life' is a bind up of three books. Here is my review of the second book:

THE BIND-UP DETAILS:
Pages: 976
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Release Date: 01/05/2012


Received via Netgalley.



Bind up includes the three books:
'So Not Happening', 'I'm So Sure' and 'So Over My Head'

THE DESCRIPTION:
Living in Truman, Oklahoma wasn't 100% miserable for Bella. Sure, she misses Manhattan, couture clothes, and her dad. But she was making new friends at Truman High and almost enjoying her work at the school newspaper. Then the whole stepdad-wrestler-reality-show issue hit and her life is now being splashed across weekly tabloids and broadcast news.
As if having a camera crew following her around isn't bad enough, Bella soon discovers a conspiracy against the Truman High prom queen candidates. And the closer she gets to the answer, the more danger she's in.

As her relationship with Luke teeters between friendship and romance, Bella's ex-boyfriend Hunter reappears and vies for Bella's attention. Denying allegations of a love triangle, working to solve the prom queen mystery, and trying to keep her cool on national television finally motivate Bella to start talking--and listening--to God more.

THE REVIEW:
I really enjoyed the first book in this series 'So Not Happening' and so, I had high expectations for this one. Many of the things I liked about the first book were also present in 'I'm So Sure' though I didn't enjoy this book as much. I think all of the "new and exciting" hyper feeling that comes from reading a first book in a series was wearing off a little bit and I began to notice some flaws.

Like the last novel, this one had plenty of humour in it. I really liked how the author changed a lot of popular, overused metaphors or similes to suit the personality of the main character. Normally I don't appreciate this sort of thing, as it can get a bit cheesy, but somehow this author managed to nail it.

I thought Bella's personality improved a fair bit during this novel. Apart from a few bratty moments (And let's face it, we all have those moments) she handled things pretty well. She had cameras following her, making everything she did seem more scandalous then it really was and capturing every humiliating moment. She also, had a future step-mother and step-sister to worry about.

I was a little disappointed at the relationship development (or rather, lack of) in this novel. I guess you could say that it was more realistic for the relationships to progress at snail pace, but I was kind of hoping they would get more of a move on. The only relationship that even got anywhere, was an attraction that began in this book. So hopefully, the others will actually get together in the next one. Hopefully!

I also thought, that for a small town Truman got a little bit too much disaster. In the first novel I didn't mind, but now it seems that crisis after crisis is taking place. Add a reality TV show to the equation and hello un-realistic! That's when it occurs to me that this definitely is crafted by an author.

Overall I gave this 4/5 stars. I would have given it less, given it a worse rating, but I'm already so interested in the story. I really want to know what happens and there were still plenty of things that I liked. Hopefully the next book will be an improvement on this one and everyone will finally have their happy ending!

Review of 'So Not Happening'

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Natalie

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