Books for Christian Girls: "The Jerk Magnet" by Melody Carlson

{{This is an updated review. Originally posted October 20^th, 2014, it was updated on November 18^th, 2019 to the Official Rating System.}}

About this book:

“When Chelsea Martin's future stepmother helps her transform from gawky and geeky into the hottest girl at her new school, Chelsea is pretty sure it's the best thing that ever happened to her. But her hot new look has a downside. She's attracting lots of guys who all have one thing in common: they're jerks. And stealing the attention of all the guys in school doesn't endear her to the girls either.
Chelsea finally finds a true friend in Janelle Parker, and a non-jerk, Nicholas, catches her eye. Janelle keeps telling her to be herself, but Nicholas is the only guy around who doesn't give her a second look. Can Chelsea and Janelle come up with a plan to get his attention? Or will Chelsea's new image ruin everything?”

Series: Book #1 in the “Life at Kingston Hill” series.

Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned; Prayers; Talks about God, being a Christian, & judging; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Going to youth group events, hearing sermons/lessons, a Christian camp, & a Christian concert; At the concert, Chelsea prays for God to come into her life; Many mentions of youth groups, services, singing, churches, & pastors; Mentions of God, Jesus, & Christians; Mentions of prayers & praying; A couple mentions of sinners; A mention of a blessing over food; A mention of missionaries;

*Note: A mention of a room that’s like a shrine.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crud’, a ‘doggone’, two forms of ‘dumb’, four ‘duh’s, and six ‘stupid’s; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Mentions of acne; A few mentions of PTSD and overseas fighting; A few mentions of the possibility of someone being a serial killer; A few mentions of divorces; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of rumors & gossip; A couple (teasing) mentions of hoping a sibling drowns; A couple mentions of beer & drinking; A couple mentions of hatred; A mention of a life of crime; A mention of the international slave market; A mention of a tattoo;

*Note: Many, many mentions of brand names, celebrities, actresses, movies, & TV shows; Mentions of Rob Pattinson & his character, Edward Cullen (Chelsea calls him “dreamy”), Twilight, & Dracula; A few mentions of Facebook; A couple mentions of car brands.

Sexual Content- a cheek kiss; Chelsea (before the make-over) believes she’s plain unattractive, bordering on ugly; Guys check out/gawk at girls & look like they want to gobble them up (including Chelsea); Chelsea’s dad warns her that boys only have one time on their minds when it comes to girls (he also mentions that church boys are the worst) and it’s discussed again later that some guys were only interested in an attractive girl because of her looks and to steal a kiss or something more intimate; A teacher flirts with Chelsea and tries to come on to her (barely-above-not-detailed, but because nothing happens, he is not reported even though there are rumors of his reputation); Another guy tries to kiss Chelsea (ends up a cheek kiss) & her friend is worried that he dragged her away to have his way with her; A bit of hand holding; Noticing & Nearness (including guys’ muscles, barely-above-not-detailed); An offensive word is cut-off, a ‘slut’, a ‘smoking’, ten ‘babe’s, and twenty-eight forms of ‘hot’; All about many mentions of boys, boyfriends, girlfriends, exes, breakups, being pressured, dating, dates, & crushes; Mentions of jealousy & girls being petty towards each other; A few mentions of kisses, kissing, & embracing; A few mentions of a honeymoon; A couple mentions of a dad having an affair; A couple mentions of asking if a girlfriend is pregnant (she is not); A couple mentions of people falling in and out of love all the time; A mention of wondering if a couple break up because of sex & if a guy took advantage of a girl; A mention of a guy who wants to own Chelsea “body and soul”; A mention of a part of a play that is not supposed to be steamy; A mention of guys wanting wrist candy; A mention of a blonde bombshell; Boys, boyfriends, dating, & all that drama;

*Note: Chelsea wears two skimpy bikinis as a test of her self-confidence (she is worried if her dad sees her wearing them); Chelsea also wears things to accentuate her legs and curves; Many mentions of breasts (getting them and the lack of them), bras, underwear, bikinis, & figures (including about people taking notice of Chelsea’s figure); Mentions of body dysmorphic disorder, what those with that disorder think, & the symptoms; A few mentions of AIDS and HIV; A few mentions of testosterone & hormones; A couple mentions of shorts & tank tops; A couple mentions of making a character in a play unisex; A couple mentions of wearing a burka to keep guys from gawking; A couple mentions of a chubby girl (Chelsea wonders how she became friends with an attractive guy); A mention of a Brazilian wax job.

-Chelsea Martin, age 16
P.O.V. of Chelsea

217 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{ Ratings would be higher for those in Public School or older girls who have been in these situations.}

This is my second time reading this book, but my thoughts feel the same. As a homeschool graduate, I really couldn’t have related to Chelsea’s problems in the public school sense, but I did understand what she mentions often about outward appearance and how people treat others because of that appearance.

Rereading this book though, I noticed more about certain actions Chelsea did or certain comments of her or Kate’s that I personally do not agree with. After her makeover, Kate (Chelsea’s stepmom-to-be) buys her a couple skimpy bikinis and Chelsea ends up wearing the skimpiest one as a test of her self-confidence. Once she goes through a very uncomfortable encounter, she tells her dad that she won’t be wearing it again, but later wears them somewhat-often in their new backyard. Later she decides to forgo the bikini.

Kate also comments prior that if Chelsea works out a bit her figure would be flawless and once she wears the right clothes, people would notice her figure. I really don’t support this train of thought, but it should be noted that nothing is said is Kate is a Christian or not.

Another character, Nicholas, comes across as a judgmental Christian towards pretty girls and really only talks to those considered “unpretty”. There is learning and conversations about this and why he’s being like this that show better growth on his end towards the end of the book.

All in all, it’s an interesting read, but definitely not my favorite series by this author.

See y’all on Wednesday!