Joisey Review: Semi-Charmed Life by Nora Zelevansky

Since my knees were feeling somewhat better, I decided to go to a Gilt City book event located at this Lower East Side boutique 143 Ludlow which the address of the boutique is also the name of the boutique. Kinda of quirky in its own right I gathered. The boutique was used for a book launch with champagne and cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes. I did not imbibe in either as I do not drink and the cupcake looked to be more frosting than cake. Now I do like cupcakes but I want cake not cake with my frosting. The boutique itself was small and got very crowded due to the subject matter of the book whose title is Semi-Charmed Life by Nora Zelevansky. Most of the time I sat outside until it was time to hear a reading from the book which made me laugh as well as receive my copy and a gift bag filled with various beauty products from Aveda, Stila makeup, and Liz Earle. This event was sponsored and coordinated by Gilt City, like I said above.

The book which is Nora Zelevansky’s hilarious debut, Semi-Charmed Life, is about 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 explores the world of Manhattan in this modern fairy tale of first love, finding one’s voice and growing up.

Immediately when I read the description, I thought "Oh it is another version of The Devil Wears Prada" but as I delved into the book more it is simply not that. The writing is superb and much easier to understand. It is quirky, laugh out loud, fun. This book has so many twists and turns that you will not want to put it down, which I didn't, for three days. Hey I am a bookworm...what did you expect? If I had to compare the writing with its various art and pop culture references, Nora is a twin of screenwriter Amy Sherman-Palladino whose work is most known for the television show Gilmore Girls and we all know how much I adored that television show.

If this is the type of book that you enjoy, prepare to be fully charmed! Definitely recommend. Semi Charmed Life by Nora Zelevansky is available on July 3rd at your local Barnes and Noble or you may get the Kindle version/Nook version on that date as well.