Friday 30 October 2015

Book review: Shopaholic to the rescue

Disclaimer: I was sent this novel, pre its release date, by Penguin Random house in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own and have not been influenced in any way.

Shopaholic to the Rescue
Shopaholic to the rescue
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Published: 2015
Number 8 of the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella follows the borderline farcacial journey of Becky and a mottle collection of friends, family and enemies, across America in search of her Father and Tarkie: husband of Suze, who are believed, by many in the cramped RV, to be brainwashed - what could possibly go wrong? As one would expect from any continuation of the Shopaholic series there is fun, laughter, dramatics, friendship and, of course, shopping; everything I love and expect from this series, and exactly what I needed to read about at the end of a stressful, work-filled, university day. It was a light, easy, quick read with a lot of laughter, and a little frustration but most importantly it was the perfect escapism after having my head stuck to a research methods text book.
Goodreads synopsis
Becky Bloomwood and a hilarious cast of beloved family and friends (plus one enemy!) set off in a van to find her missing father, last heard from in Las Vegas.
Becky’s father Graham and her best friend’s husband, Tarquin, have disappeared from Los Angeles saying simply they have “something to take care of.”
But Tarquin’s wife Suze who is Becky’s best friend, and Becky’s mother Jane, are convinced the two men are hiding something and are in danger—their imaginations run wild. They must track them down!
Hijinks ensue as husband Luke drives Becky, daughter Minnie, Jane, Suze and other favorite Kinsella characters across country from LA to Las Vegas in search of the missing men.
Becky feels deeply guilty about ignoring her father while he was in LA, in addition Becky feels her enemy Alicia is threatening her friendship with Suze.






The whole gang is back for this novel and their personalities are out in force - from Danny to Elinor, Alicia to Janet, everyone has an opinion and everyone wants to be heard and in a situation that is causing everyone's nerves to become frayed, sparks were bound to fly and fly they did! Suze has become best friends with Alicia-Bitch-Long-Legs and left Becky out in the cold, Elinor is getting drunk and experiencing her very first hangover and Danny is simply overjoyed with all the inspiration that he is gaining for his new fashion line. Everyone has an agenda - positive or not - and everyone wants to get what they want but inevitably, something has to give.

I love the Shopaholic series and couldn't wait for the parcel from Penguin Random House to land in my postal pigeon hole. It has to be admitted that I was a little concerned with how well the shopaholic charm was going to hold up - number 8 is a long way to stretch a characters development and antics without it feeling overdone - but it held up well. No, I cannot claim that this is my favourite book in the series nor am I entirely sure that a 9th will work, but I am very happy that Becky was back with a new adventure for my enjoyment and I highly recommend that, no matter how dubious the fan, any fan of Becky, Luke, Suze and the rest of the colourful characters picks up this book. After all, winter is definitely upon us and what can be better than a comfy chair, cosy blanket, hot chocolate and a laugh-out-loud book to blow away the winter blues.

Rating: 4/5

No comments:

Post a Comment