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Book Reviews of So Not Happening (Charmed Life, Bk 1)

So Not Happening (Charmed Life, Bk 1)
So Not Happening - Charmed Life, Bk 1
Author: Jenny B. Jones
ISBN-13: 9781595545411
ISBN-10: 1595545417
Publication Date: 5/5/2009
Pages: 329
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 17

3.9 stars, based on 17 ratings
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

4 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

ashleyw avatar reviewed So Not Happening (Charmed Life, Bk 1) on + 3 more book reviews
Bella Kirkwood -New York socialite, fashionista, school advice columnist and Oklahoma Cowgirl? Bella doesnt think so either, and shes determined to get a one-way ticket back to her glamorous life in the city, one way or another. But, God has other plans, like new friends, and irritating editor and a mystery that Bella just cant help but stick her nose in.
So Not Happening is the funniest book Ive ever read, and my favorite read of this year. I mean, youd be hard pressed to find a YA novel where the characters dont morph, turn or transits into some mythical teen creature, with really good taste in clothes. Jenny B. Jones has written a snarky New Yorker, named Bella, and I cant tell you how much I LOVE her. She is so fresh, salad would be jealous, and in Bellas mind, her life is a royal mess, but as long as her Jimmy Choos dont have cow poop on them, its not completely over. Bella is very real and believable, and I feel like she could be my sister from another mister. LOL And dont even get me started on Luke Sullivan. He is super hot without even having to take his shirt off. Edward, without the lame sparkles and freaky pale skin. Jacob, without the long Rapunzle hair and need to howl at the moon. Like Justin Timberlake, before.well, you get what mean. Anyways, even with all the hilarity, the book carries a strong Godly message about being open to whatever God may have planned for you, whether that means talking to strange people, or moving to a Podunk town in the middle of Oklahoma, and all without having to bore you to tears.
And though its summer, there was some serious chemistry between Bella and her too-handsome-for-words, cowboy editor, Luke. I love theyre love-hate relationship. Bella cant stand Luke, and for that matter, neither can Luke, but there are more than just snarky words flying between these two. I cant wait to see where Ms. Jones takes her A Charmed Life characters next, and since I came into this series late, it wont be long. This book is the perfect summer read, for the young adult and young at heart!
Cindy84 avatar reviewed So Not Happening (Charmed Life, Bk 1) on + 118 more book reviews
Taken from my blog: www.princessbookie.com

My Thoughts: The first time I saw this was down the book aisle at Wal-mart. It caught my eye. I just knew I had to read it. We meet Bella who is just a normal girl from New York. She likes fashion and is somewhat spoiled. She is forced to move to a country town in Oklahoma because her mom got remarried to some guy she met on the Internet. Bella gets stuck with two stepbrothers, one which is around the same age as she is. We also meet her boyfriend Hunter from New York. I did not like him at all, from the get go. Something about the guy just annoyed me. We also meet Luke, who works on the newspaper at the new school with Bella. Now, I did like him. Bella finds a interesting story with the football players of town. I don't want to give away the book but this is such a cute story. There were a lot of laugh out loud moments throughout the book. Also, enough quality characters to keep the story interesting. Even though i could see what was going to happen with Bella's best friend, I still wanted the smack the best friend a few times! Arrg! I also really liked Bella and Luke. Their first kiss was so amazing, it had me smiling as it was happening! What is the mystery story behind the football players? What about with Bella and Hunter? Bella and Luke? I can't wait to read book 2.

Overall: Really liked it a lot. Liked the characters and it was a cute story.

Cover: Makes me want to know the story between the green purse and the pig.
robin-titan avatar reviewed So Not Happening (Charmed Life, Bk 1) on + 34 more book reviews
Rating: 3.6/5
Age R: 13+
Release Date: May 5
Thoughts:
So Not Happening is about 16 year old Bella Kirkwood who's mom gets married to a guy she barely knows, Jacob Ralph Finley. Unfortunately the "fun" doesn't stop there, she is forced to leave her home sweet home in NYC and move to Oklahoma. This is something Bella absolutely hates! She does not want to live in a place where people can't tell the difference between "Payless shoes and Prada." Besides that, she now has two new step brothers, one of which seems unberable!
Bella at first seems to be fitting in at her new high school but then she does something that gets everyone to hate her. For that part in the book, a LOT of people can relate because for a while she's a complete outcast. My heart went out to her there even if she somewhat deserved it. Because of her mistake she ends up stuck working with the editor of the school newspaper, a guy that is just not nice! Something fishy seems to be happening with the football players and it's up to her and the editor, Luke, to find out what it is before people get hurt (actually, before more people get hurt).
This book was pretty cool, I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't love it. The writing, story, characters and suspense kept my interest but there were some things I just did not like.
When you get to a point in chapter three it's as if the Bella changes completely. You already get that she's a brat but it becomes more emphasized really fast and it seems like she becomes a completely different person, which is weird. I get what the author was trying to do, but it just wasn't done well.
I had a huge issue with the fact that most of this story is almost exactly the same as this episode of Smallville where there is something fishy going on with the football players since the coach is a nut job. Oh and there's this dream Bella has that is very similar to the scene with the fire in that episode. Obviously the author's a fan because the guy's last name is Sullivan who's an editor (remember Chloe Sullivan anyone?), he looks like Tom Welling, there are references to Smallville, and the little boy's almost always dressed as Superman. On the other hand the author does a nice twist to the story so that's pretty cool and cute. :)
I also wasn't really a huge fan of the protagonist, Bella. She was just such a brat!! Her personality just kept getting on my dang nerves! Even when her life is threatened, she still acts like a brat, it really irked me. Another thing that just made me angry with her was that she is so superficial. A girl from her school, Linda, asks her to help her get a guy to like her and guess what Bella does? She completely tries to change the girl and turn her into a brat too. Basically Bella thinks that there's no way the guy would like Linda for who she is, as if she has too change her hair color, attitude, and clothes in order to get his attention. I was NOT a fan of Bellas's way of thinking.
The story was also somewhat predictable which is a no-no for me. You could just tell that Bella was going to start off like a brat and most likely change for the better. This didn't really happen, but...it seems like it will later on in the series. Okay that's not the predictable part though. What was predictable was the whole mystery part of the story, I won't elaborate because I wouldn't want to spoil it.
If you don't mind that then you'll probably like this book way more than me. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad read, it's pretty good, it's just not for everyone.

-tvandbookaddict.blogspot.com
reviewed So Not Happening (Charmed Life, Bk 1) on + 5 more book reviews
Interesting characters, mystery and humor made this a nice read if you like teenage heroines.