Sunday, August 23, 2009

Confessions of a Shopaholic


I was certain that I'd enjoy this novel. After discovering Sophie Kinsella's Remember Me? sometime last summer, I knew her writing style would be something that I could fall into easily -- that's including her use of 1st person, which I'm sure is evident by now that I don't really care for. With that said, I was surprised at how much Confessions of a Shopaholic infuriated me.

Trust me, though, that's a good thing. The novel was great. It was written well; it had me laughing -- literally -- out loud. I couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable (and quick) read, considering how much I've failed at life recently. What had me so infuriated wasn't the novel so much as it was Becky Bloomwood.

In the beginning, she was cute and funny, if a little idiotic and immature, but I thought those characteristics were endearing. It wasn't until the story progressed and she lied to a mutual acquaintance-(later)-turn-boyfriend about a dead aunt (which, really wasn't resolved to my liking), chucked every VISA statement and letter from her bank, and utterly refused to acknowledge reality did I get a mite annoyed.

Obviously this book was about a shopaholic who gets herself in a monetary bind (understatement), so I should have known what I was getting myself into. But some things were a little too much for me. Namely the dead aunt thing. Not cool, Miss Bloomwood.

Despite that, I really did enjoy the book! I'd say the amount of times I rolled my eyes in annoyance were outweighed by the times I giggled and "awwww'd". The awww-ing was mostly in regards to her relationship with her friend Suze. Suze was such a sweetheart. I would have liked more awww moments with Luke, but I guess I'll have to read the rest of the series to get those.

At any rate, good novel. Not my favorite by Kinsella, certainly not my favorite in general, but it was a pleasant enough read for me to want to continue with the series.

Next, I'm gonna tackle I'll Scream Later. Pretty stoked about that one.

2 comments:

Sheila (bookjourney) said...

I liked reading your review of this. I havent read the book but seen the move and wasnt real impressed. I like that you say that the author has better books out there. I may try one of them. :)

Rachel said...

Thanks! The movie is pretty different from the book, which isn't unusual. I saw during the opening credits that it encompasses both Confessions and then the second book in the series, which is Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. I haven't read that one but I will. Actually, I just finished the movie about ten minutes ago; I'm going to write up another blog about the movie compared to the book when I get home from errands.

Thanks!

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